archived-videos Escapism in Filmmakers

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keir64

I was recently doing what I usually find myself doing, sitting deep in thought, completely engrossed in my scenes, etc, how they would play out etc. I tend to do this to the point where I am no longer in the 'real world', some people might say. A friend of mines, a psychiatric nurse, recently snapped me out of this and asked me why I was so quiet/distant. I explained to him rather happily what I was doing, and the function it serves. He told me it sounds like escapism. So I was just curious, do any of you do the same? I love it. I'll never stop. :)
 
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I do that with movie scenes...AND, with real life. Much of my plot inspiration comes from daydreaming about a real situation that happened to me, but then I take that event to a fictional conclusion. For example, some guy in a bank parking lot thought I drove a little close to him, so he walked up to my car window and threatened to kick my ass. I didn't say anything and he walked away. That's what really happened.

Now, when I thought back upon the incident, I imagined.......... me saying some smart-ass remark to him, then he grabs me through the window and I hold his arm while stepping on the gas. I side-swipe him onto one of the machines in the drive-through lanes. I ended up using that "side-swipe" scenario at the end of one of my shorts, ROADKILL.

While taking care of a friend's pet tarantula, I was feeding crickets to it and daydreaming about those crickets being people, who are stuck behind the glass with a carnivorous monster. That idea became an alien experiment movie, called TERRARIUM. I also daydream scenes from my scripts, as I usually write them while listening to movie soundtracks. I think getting lost in your work is a good thing. My problem is getting lost (daydreaming) during many of my daily tasks. :)
 
Yes! Thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. I do it all the time. It's amazing! Anyone else got any examples?
 
I kinda do that sorta stuff rather incessantly.

- What if I'm heating up something in the microwave and it lets loose some alien monstrosity from a bug's egg.
- What if the dog comes back inside from his morning business with a tarry black and bloody goo bubbling from his hindquarters?
- What do you feed zombie children for breakfast?
- What if the fog down in the valley was really phosgene gas? What do I tell the kids about school being cancelled for the day?
- What if instead of wrecked car on the mountain I find a mostly dead person in there?
- What if some nutbag with an AR-15 goes on a rampage at my kid's school?
- If I see a guy dressed in grey urban cammies with a big black backpack bouncing on his back running across the school play field toward the school with what looks like two pistols in his hands is it appropriate for me to assume anything and just drive across the field and squish him from behind? What do the cops say to me?
- What if I'm at the library checking out DVDs and I notice I'm in some alternate reality where the only literature and films are all one genre: GLEE!
- What if I open the washing machine and God starts talking out of it? Do I dare open the dryer in case Lu is in there?
- What if I go to pick up my kids from school and they are nowhere to be found and no one reports anything remarkable?
- What if stranger kids hop in the minivan claiming they're my kids?
- What if UPS drops off a box to the house addressed to me, I open it up and there's a bubble-pak bag with biohazard flowers on the outside?
- What if I didn't have normal kids to help do homework with? What if they all had autism or Tourette's syndrome?
- What if at bedtime the news reported a ELE asteroid just appeared and would obliterate the planet before dawn? Do I let the kids sleep in their own rooms or freakishly gather us all together for no particular reason?
- What if I wake up tomorrow and all my whacked-out imagination is gone?
- What if I became an artist trapped inside an IRS accountant's life? :scared:
 
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I suppose it depends, rayw, do you consider these viable film ideas, or idea tangents, or just the 'what ifs' in life we all experience? If so, you worry very imaginatively!
 
I dunno.
I suppose darn near anything can be turned into a decent film premise.
Largely it depends upon execution of the premise.



- What if my kids went to wizard school instead of public school?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
- What if alien life wasn't black and bubbly and gooey? What if it was mechanical in nature?
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- What if vampires lived in the land of cloud and fog? What if that place was a great place for wolves, too?
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
- What if your friends are idiots? What if you're an idiot, too?
The Hangover 2
- What if your ex-girlfriend's dad is a real bastard? What if you and he are after the same job?
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- What if I became a part time theif? I might need something faster than the minivan.
Fast Five
- What if I entered my minivan in a race? What if I discover someone tampering with another contestant's fuel supply?
Cars 2
- What if I get demoted at work for a mistake and my replacement sucks balls, big time?
Thor
- What if my dog likes the catfood more than the cats do and it makes him act freaky?
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- What if I goto HoDePo, get ant spray, and go kill the little bastards that are stinking up house with their funky smell?
Captain America: The First Avenger

http://www.the-numbers.com/market/movies2011.php
 
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Fair enough :)

I'm forever getting lost in my visions for films/scenes. What is the correct term for this anyway? Visualisation I suppose? Envisioning? Something Along those lines. My friend is adamant in my case it borders on escapism. But I thought that was only the case when it affects your everyday life? (hehe...)

I think it's amazing how the simplest thing can set you off on this path of 'envisioning' things. It gets to the point with me where I am not in touch with the real world, I'm not looking at what is in front of me, completely immersed in the scene I am allowing to unfold with the influences of my mind. I think it is a beautiful ability. Some people I have spoken to say they don't work like this, and even struggle to read books because they don't have the capacity to 'see' what they are reading.... What a shame? :(

Anyone else got any insight? :)
 
No, unless it stops you from completing your daily tasks, or affects your health negatively, or affects your social life negatively.

Also by posting here I'm assuming that you are fully aware of your situation, and are in no way denying it so no...you're just bored.
 
For sure, I fully agree that I am not partaking in the same escapism as say someone who had been through traumatic stress. No, I mean purely the level we experience as film makers, and the way we visualise ideas. I'm referring to the extreme level of such, in that we are able to be completely immersed in our visions, and more or less lose touch with reality, fleetingly. We do escape, in some way, in these fleeting moments. :)
 
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