IndieTalk: The Movie (Story Development)

[aoristic]

Poke, that was crap! Are trying to take the project from me... Haha, no, i personally think this is THE best idea thats been thrown up, even 10 times better than mine I think we should go with it. Lets all put in ideas to add to this one, looks like a winner!

The only problem i see is how it would be filmed. As previously said, the good ole pc screen itsnt that attractive. Maybe voice over or talking to a friend next to the person at the pc might be ideas to over come this problem?

 

[Spatula]

The only problem i see is how it would be filmed. As previously said, the good ole pc screen itsnt that attractive. Maybe voice over or talking to a friend next to the person at the pc might be ideas to over come this problem?

It can be done- have faith. Fast cutting, interesting angles... side shot of the keyboard as fingers tip-a-type, voice over of the forum as we pan past the heads left to right, comedic shot of a shirtless Poke crying and sobbing as he types, conversations that go between the two people, perhaps a fun graphic-heavy re-design of indietalk by a CGI person with funky animations, etc, etc. Just get creative. hehehe

I love the idea Poke.

 

[knightly]

CSI does boring monotony with science (hehe I loved "the lost skeleton of cadavra") every episode...fast music, drifting cameras, fast cuts.

I'll play spatula! covered in fake blood while typing

 

[NicklausLouis]

We can do the segments of people posting as people mentioned: characters sitting in their houses at the computer while they VO what they are typing. I think this would be good as a comedy as well. Spat and Knightly have the right idea -- we should pick a handful of real board members and lampoon them as characters, no need to get too inside with the jokes we can make them ring true to people on the forum, but still have them be funny -- like the Poke character is a house nudist even though his family is disgusted by it (say he still lives with his folks), or the Spat character has an affinity for movie gore, thus he has shelves upon shelves of fake blood that he occasionally opens and pours over himself.

I'm also expanding the idea that we see other key characters outside their houses. But that needs more brainstorming.

Poke

 

[aoristic]

It can be done- have faith

It's not that i dont have faith. In fact i do, but i was just posing the question, to see what we could come up with to combat this. I did throw some ideas up when i said it too

The approach of having some of the characters in the film having the same username as in real life, is a good idea. I actually thought of it when i was at work, came home to say it, but again i was too late I think that, along side of having the movie based on whats real, the website, are good things to have on our side when it comes to marketing the film.

Also, the comedic side here could be very good. My character could potentially be pretty funny to laugh at, cause i'm the type of person that overanalyzes most things, and things that people say. Now with me being producer of a internet/chat made film, i suppose we could make some funny mis-understandings with this.

Also we could make a character from another internet forum sign up with indietalk when he hears about what is happening with the film, and his sole purpose is to make this film not happen.

 

[aoristic]

I also dont like putting things in certain genres and sticking to rules, but having each character bring a different 'genre' to the plot could be effective?

 

[knightly]

Each character could have a distinctive visual style to them, noir for one, that gummy soft light thing for another...etc.

 

[clive]

Taking the antagonist's role for a second.

I'm not convinced.

Given the choice between watching a film about indie film makers sitting at their computers talking about making a film and anything I've got on my shelves and have seen a thousand times, well I'd be flicking through those shelves.

Poke's other ideas were much stronger. IMO

But, I'm open to being proved wrong -- if the script is superb I'll be the first person to eat my words on this.

I just don't see a strong enough objective or obstacles for the protagonist to overcome -- that don't involve typing.

But, maybe this is going to be the film that makes typing fascinating!

 

[NicklausLouis]

Also we could make a character from another internet forum sign up with indietalk when he hears about what is happening with the film, and his sole purpose is to make this film not happen.

That to me is the character Poke, though he doesn't come from another site. He is one of the longest tenured members of the site and he thinks he is the most talented member of the site -- so he starts getting upset when his ideas about the project aren't being accepted -- so he starts running a smear campaign on Contempo through PM messages, which eventually becomes a full blow rebellion, and this is when he steps up to be the leader of the other project -- the anti-Contempo project.

He needs to be the quintessesntial smug filmmaker. The idea that he's a nudist could play into this. Let's say he's just started practicing nudism because he read one of his favorite French directors was a nudist. When his family balks at his new found body freedom, he screams that they don't understand him or his artistic genius. I think all of us know filmmakers like this. He needs to be a Quintessential clueless artiste filmmaker.

At the same time Contempo needs to be the Quintessential filmmaker with actual talent that has an over abundance of self doubt.

It's an interesting battle between a filmmaker who thinks his sh*t don't stink and a filmmaker who thinks his sh*t smells like the inside of a tauntaun. But the key is to make them absolutley, with a doubt perfect representations of that character.

Each character could have a distinctive visual style to them, noir for one, that gummy soft light thing for another...etc.

I think that can get a bit tricky with one filming crew doing most, if not all of the shooting. I like the idea of each character having a preferred genre -- this could make for some great comedy during the story pitch scenes.

I was tossing an idea around in my head today. What if we limited the film to 24 characters, one for every time zone. Of course certain characters would be complete bit players with one or two scenes at the most while others would carry the movie.

The film could open by skipping around the globe as people post -- Start off in L.A. - 3:30 PM, skip to London - 11:32 PM, then to Tokyo - 7:35 AM, Tel Aviv - 1:37 AM, and so on 'til you reach the last intro, our protag in Perth - 6:59 AM. (NOTE: This would not be in real time, it would be an exageration of how members from all around the world could log on in a thirty minute time span).

24 characters might be a bit much but it's an idea to throw out there.

Taking the antagonist's role for a second.

I'm not convinced.

Well allow me to try to convince you.

We wouldn't be seeing them type non stop for two hours. We'd follow a few characters out into the real world -- especially Contempo, Poke, and the director -- to see how they are perceived in real life as opposed to how they are viewed on the forum, and to make the story more visually interesting. We'd have scenes of Contempo interacting with investors, scenes of Poke interacting with his family and people in public, scenes of the director gearing up his crew, and so on.

All the interaction would not take place solely on the forum. We could even have a confrontation scene where Contempo interacts with Poke. Or a scene where Poke flies to {name a place} to get one of the stronger board members on his side. It's all in how we approach it. The forum interaction could be a very small part of the film.

Also, I can see some folks thinking, "Who cares about low budget filmmakers making a movie? I'd rather see {name a type of movie}." And I agree. That's why this can't be the story of a group of filmmakers making a movie -- it has to be a story about one man overcoming everything to accomplish a dream he thought was impossible -- it just happens to be set in the world of filmmaking.

Think of this as a concpet to pitch to investors. What's better, concepts that are strong and interesting like the ones I posted before, or a concept that is strong, interesting, clever, and has a built in marketing campaign? ("Hey'd you hear about the movie that was made by a group of filmmakers from all over the world collaborating through the ineternet?" "What's it about?" "That's what's funny. It's about filmmakers from all over the world collaborating through the internet.")

I think this idea has all those, but I welcome anyone who wants to challenge that.

Poke

 

[spinner]

Hi, Guys!

...well, this is my first chance to really get back to this thread and I have to say that this isn't what I thought you guys were going to do at all. That isn't an indictment of anything, I just didn't think that this was how the idea of this project was going to go.

I guess I will need some convincing as well, because I think that we will need to make sure that we aren't so 'indie' that the only ones who will get the gist of this project is other indie filmmakers.

This is where I thought it was going:

It is 'IndieTalk: The Movie' because IndieTalk members were doing it.

What I thought I saw developing was a project that looked like 'Four Rooms'. The connecting factor was the bellboy. So for this project, I was seeing a single incident/event/happening that would connect the 'vingnettes'. This way, all genres could be represented because the single event would just be the impetus for the storylines, though it would not have to be an integral part of any of the stories. The ideas would be original to the crews that put each one together as most of us could not get to the UK or Australia.

Sort of like Pulp Fiction or Sin City.

...I think I am going to go back over the thread again so I can get a clearer picture of what the story is. Right now, I am a little fuzzy...

-- spinner

...maybe Poke's director trying to fulfill his filmmaking dream can be the connecting factor...

 

[NicklausLouis]

I was seeing a single incident/event/happening that would connect the 'vingnettes'.

That was an idea that was put forth, but I think the conversation turned towards having 1 crew doing 1 movie with the collaboration of the forum coming to play in story development and writing as well as post production (editing, digital coloring, sound editing, music, etc.).

My pitch to make the movie about us making the movie was based on this direction.

Personally, I prefer the vignette idea with multiple (3 or 4) crews shooting the sections of the film. But I don't think the idea I pitched fits this style. If we were to do that, it should be something different.

This is Contempo's baby. I changed my tune after talking to him. My idea is a result of that change of tune.

Poke

 

[knightly]

As for the online interactions, I'm sure there's a way to abstract those...like two people in splitscreen having a phone convo.

 

[NicklausLouis]

As for the online interactions, I'm sure there's a way to abstract those...like two people in splitscreen having a phone convo.

I was thinking of doing it like "You've Got Mail." We see the characters talking to each other over the internet. But it isn't boring because we see the characters reactions to what's being said.

Poke

 

[aoristic]

I too would love to make this a multi-crew project. But we have gone through this, and the reason we aren't is because the simple fact of, or a question of 'will the project ever see the finish line?'. 'Will everyone come through with their part of the movie?'. Now, i would love to let this baby grow up to be that, but the only way for this to happen is for numerous people to definitly say they'll participate in filming their part, with their own crew. Now from all the pm's/conversations & stuff i've done, i dont think we've got many folks putting their hand up to do this. You guys are looking at this from a filmmakers side of things, and when i do that too, i'm on your side, it was my original idea to do this multi-thing. But from a producing side of things, its not workable, only one person has said a yes to filming. So unless we get more "yes im in for that"......

Sorry for sounding like im downing the idea, im really not, but we all could waste alot of time if we dont get that sorted out first. So if we can get a group of yes people, maybe we can go with it.

 

[clive]

I guess I will need some convincing as well, because I think that we will need to make sure that we aren't so 'indie' that the only ones who will get the gist of this project is other indie filmmakers.

I'm still with spinner with this.

If definition of high concept is "A film described in preferably one sentence, where that one sentence completely coveys what the film is about and at the same time makes you want to see it"

well the question is whether

"An international group of indie film makers attempt to make a film by collborating online."

Is a strong enough pitch.

I think what the pitch is missing is the element of either conflict or suprise that would finish that sentence and make it compelling -- that's what's missing -- because at present the idea isn't compelling.

And I think that that's because the making of the film needs to be a sub-plot rather than the plot (if you stick with it)

So a cliched slasher horror version might be

"An international group of indie filmakers attempt to make a film online, only to discover that one of them is in fact a serial killer who intends to turn their slasher horror script into reality."

or Rom Com version

"an international group of indie filmakers attempt to make a film online, but Poke who is a really girl pretending to be a guy and Lillth who is really a guy pretending to be a girl fall in love after many comic misunderstandings"

 

[knightly]

How about:
"An international group of indie filmmakers strive to make a film online. As factions form within the group, tensions flare and the producer questions his abilities. He must make it to the finish line or lose everything."

 

[Media Hero]

RE: the new idea about filmmakers making a movie via the internet....

I think what the pitch is missing is the element of either conflict or suprise that would finish that sentence and make it compelling -- that's what's missing -- because at present the idea isn't compelling.

And I think that that's because the making of the film needs to be a sub-plot rather than the plot (if you stick with it "

Just coming back... offline all weekend. This new idea is a bit bit weak, IMO. I'm with Clive. I don't find this suggestion to be particulary compelling for the reasons he's stated. The gimmick of the idea is interesting, but unless I'm missing something, the opp for conflict between the filmmakers only exists online and not in person. I don't think it's compelling to watch people in conflict who don't come face to face. So, if contempo is the protagonist and poke is the antagnoist and they're arguing via emails, they disagree, they type mean things to each other... then what? The meaningful, face to face conflicts would be in the subplots with secondary characters, like Clive pointed out. And that's pretty faulty, I think.

Other ideas put forth have much more grist.

 

[Lilith]

I can hear Poke now.... See, they're already squabbling- it's a perfect idea. LOL. I was gone most of the weekend, and just got back here this morning....

I really hate to do it, but I concur with Spinner, Clive and MediaHero. This idea is just not sexy to me. It could be, especially if the 'lone man' (Contempo) goes to the mat and comes up smelling like roses. That said, it doesn't push any emotional buttons for me- and that's what the story has to do for everyone- not just here but the audience as well.

 

[aoristic]

Does an indie film, or any film in that matter need to be sexy? Does it need that life changing moment? Why cant we write a in depth film that is VERY character based. Napoleon Dynamite didn't have a in deep script, but the characters were developed enough for the film to succeed. Don't take this the wrong way, i'm not posting to get on peoples sides, its just my opinion.

But i can see how the people sitting in front on a pc wouldnt be that exciting. Maybe we can have a person mobile with a laptop, on the internet, basically anywhere, not just in the house, he could be on top of a building for example??? And them on the pc would probably have to be a smaller part of the movie, with seeing them in their day to day chalanges as previously said. Ok, i can see where this is going wrong, the pc part would have to be a bigger part of the film since thats their way of making the film, and if their day to day lifes were a bigger part of this film, it would just look like a few random peoples lifes, which would be random. Ok, now i'm confused. Ahhhh.

Hey poke, since you came up with the idea, can you see where it was going next, you mentioned you were gonna think about it some more...

 

[clive]

"An international group of indie filmmakers strive to make a film online. As factions form within the group, tensions flare and the producer questions his abilities. He must make it to the finish line or lose everything.

OK that's bettter, but still too generic [and I'm still not sure about it as a device for all the reasons stated above]

However, one way to improve it would be to raise the stakes.

So --

In a drunken arguement about the value of the internet CVF bets his house that he can make a feature film for free in just seven days in seven diferent counties, the only condition is he can't tell anyone involved about the bet, with the clock ticking tensions flare and the CVF questions his abilities, he has to risk everything to suceed.

Do you see how by raising the stakes and putting the protagonist under increased pressure it increases the potential for drama?

I'm still not convinced that even as it stands that it's a winner -- but there is a point about the difference between thrashing around looking for the "perfect" idea and applying concept development to an imperfect one.

The truth is that the starting point is immaterial -- even a good idea needs development and that development is pretty much always about -- How can we raise the stakes? -- How can we build conflict? -- How can we create tension?

Where many indie films fall down, my own included in the past, is insufficient effort put into pumping up the idea.

It's too easy to buy into the idea that concepts come fully formed and don't need any work.

When I criticise Poke's idea it's not because it's a hopeless idea -- it's because honest criticism is part of the development process and film making is ALL about process, not end results.

There are still problems with the concept as it stands -- but that doesn't mean that it can't be fixed [actually I hate that word -- fixed implies that someone was wrong and now is right -- developed is the correct word]

The question is whether this idea fires up the production team [because they are the one that have to the enthusiam to pull it off] and secondly if it is how much can it get pumped up before someone commits to writing.

I think what the project need now is for the producer to commit to an idea for development -- or at least outline which way they'd like to go with this and move the project forward.

Truth is that there are very few ideas that can't get fixed, if people can take the process -- that of course is always a big if -- but you're on safe ground with Poke -- he has the chops for this kind of work.