Indie Interconnected Universe

mikemintzdj

mikemintzdj

I just recently wrote and filmed a short Sci-Fi Space exploration type episode. I was thinking about why couldn't it be part of a bigger interconnected universe? Why couldn't indie filmmakers come up with their own characters and tie them all to the main universe of the show. They could be interconnected by themes, common villain's and even communicate over monitors (ala Star Trek).

We could all film from our own locations, message each other to inform them of what you are working on. Even get others to film certain scenes or do voice work for their particular episodes.

Total collaboration, while keeping your own unique style and identity.
 
Science fiction has been doing this in print for decades. One good example would be Harlan Ellison's Medea, which was a one-volume collaboration. Other shared universes in print would be David Drake's The Fleet, which is a series of anthologies about a war against the vicious Khalia.

Of course, the superhero genre has always been about shared universes, and that is shown not just in print but also in movies.

This is therefore not a new idea, but trying to do a whole new shared universe may require someone with prior experience and clout in the filmmaking world.
 
Why couldn't a few of us chat about what we want the universe to be like and then just film separately? We could just write our own stories, loosely connect them to the universe through references and maybe have some cameos.
 
mikemintzdj said:
Why couldn't a few of us chat about what we want the universe to be like and then just film separately? We could just write our own stories, loosely connect them to the universe through references and maybe have some cameos.
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Nothing stopping you, and you could be starting something great. But lots of younger people have great ideas, but those ideas never pan out, for all sorts of reasons. That said, experience is critical to later success, and that means going through the process of failure and getting the nerve and will to try again.

Best of luck.
 
mikemintzdj said:
I just recently wrote and filmed a short Sci-Fi Space exploration type episode. I was thinking about why couldn't it be part of a bigger interconnected universe? Why couldn't indie filmmakers come up with their own characters and tie them all to the main universe of the show. They could be interconnected by themes, common villain's and even communicate over monitors (ala Star Trek).

We could all film from our own locations, message each other to inform them of what you are working on. Even get others to film certain scenes or do voice work for their particular episodes.

Total collaboration, while keeping your own unique style and identity.
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I love the idea. Are you going to lead this project?
 
I would love to lead. Do you think we should start from scratch. Our should we take one of our previous works and build from that?
 
mikemintzdj said:
1. Why couldn't indie filmmakers come up with their own characters and tie them all to the main universe of the show. ... 2.Total collaboration, while keeping your own unique style and identity.
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1. Logistics: By "indie filmmakers" I take it you mean amateur filmmakers? If so, amateurs tend mainly to be driven by passion. Circumstances change, both in amateurs' personal and professional lives plus, passion waxes and wanes. Key personnel drop out, you waste time finding replacements and/or re-writing around the problem, which often dilutes the passion of others involved and means that just finishing a project like this is a major achievement, let alone finishing a project like this which is not seriously compromised.

2. Great in theory but now you've got a whole bunch of scenes with different styles and identities. That's a very poor basis for an aesthetically cohesive film, plus those differences are likely to cause significant technical difficulties; grading, sound, etc.

None of this means your idea is impossible to pull off, just a lot more difficult than it appears you're anticipating and the chances of ending up with a watchable film/series are relatively small.

G
 
mikemintzdj said:
I would love to lead. Do you think we should start from scratch. Our should we take one of our previous works and build from that?
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I think you should take the lead in this and set the rules.
If you have a Universe in mind you should develop that
and lead the rest of us.

APE is the guy that walks into a party with a pin. And pop
every balloon in the area telling us that it's for our own good.
Glad to have him to tell us what we CAN'T do. Always helpful.
 
The nice thing about this universe is that all the projects will be stand alones with tangent connections to each other. And like the marvel universe the tones can vary wildly. Like daredevil compared to captain America. Also if someone stops producing content, that will only be the end of their story, the universe continues.
 
directorik said:
Glad to have him to tell us what we CAN'T do. Always helpful.
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The OP asked why it couldn't be done and I answered his question. I'm not telling you or anyone what you can't do and in fact, I participated in a collaborative project right here on IndieTalk not long ago!

directorik, as a fellow professional I treat you with professional courtesy, even when I disagree with you. Maybe the professional respect I accord you is unwarranted? And, just for the record, a personal attack is hardly "Always helpful" or at least, it's a damn sight less helpful than pointing out genuine filmmaking hurdles!
 
I'm putting together a similar project consisting of a Sci-fi Universe where Humans exist along with another alter Universe called "The Neithur Verse" where Horrors exist and webcams provides a door to enter either Universe

what takes place in The Neithur Verse can effect on a global scale what takes place in the known Universe, so humans have to turn into 3D uncanny valley version of themselves in order to enter into the Neither verse and battle the horrors

in the Neither Verse exist Worlds that are Medieval, Renaissance, Gothic, Halloweenish, Malevolent etc.

a story line is given, it is discussed on a facebook project member's group page

those with their own worlds follow the storyline and upon approval it is edited together with the rest

to explain everything would require me to write a small novel but more can be seem on my website
 
originally posted by Audio Post Expert:

Great in theory but now you've got a whole bunch of scenes with different styles and identities.
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I think you could make this part of the universe - as part of putting these disparate pieces, you as the coordinator would need to come up with a reason to account for these differences rather than trying to ignore them.
 
Could be cool, but not only would you have to worry about directors with different styles, you'd have to work around directors with different skill and experience levels. Regardless of style, you'd need to maintain a consistent level of quality or people might get a bit iffy about watching it. People would skip a bad director and try get to the good one and then the whole thing becomes questionable.
 
I really tend to disagree. I dont watch agent Carter and I can still easily follow the mcu. Actually you could skip most of the individual shows and just follow the series you like and no issues. I think the only way this will work is if each production are stand alones with references to each other and maybe a couple of common villians and places.
 
mikemintzdj said:
I think the only way this will work is if each production are stand alones with references to each other and maybe a couple of common villians and places.
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I think you're right.

The challenge I see in this is creating the Universe. Marvel has a vast
one to pull from. I'm not a comic reader but I am aware of some of the
Marvel Universe and am enjoying all the various projects. Because it's
so vast and known by so many all the different, interconnected series
and movies work.

You will be creating a Universe from nothing. What I like is that other
filmmakers can then contribute which allows the Universe to grow. But
we will need a "bible". A foundation that we all stand on.

So how does this work? Are you going to make the first project and then
other will expand? Are you going to write out that "bible" and others will
pick what they want to expand on? Are you hoping someone else makes
the first project? Or writes the "bible"?
 
Sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been off the grid for most of the holiday season.
So yeah I agree totally with coming up with a bible. I could write it and then have a couple of others take a look at it and we can kinda work out what we like and don't like.
 
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