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Hi all. I fell upon this site awhile back and have decided to become a premier member. I am currently working on my first script. I hope to be done in a couple of months or so. My movie will be a teenage romance/drama set in the summer of 1982. It will involve street racing, and I hope to score the film with period hits like Lucas did in Graffiti. And like Graffiti, the star car will be a 55 Chevy hot rod. What do you think?
 
Welcome to the boards! Hope you enjoy your stay with us. ;)
Good luck with your script/movie! You'll have to keep us updated about it.
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. I agree. Cool cars are a great element to any film. I have had this idea for awhile. Since I first saw Fast & Furious. But I thought it would be cool to go back to a time when only hot rodded American V-8's were the only way to fly. I chose 1982 as a period because I was 12 then and remember a group of High School-College aged boys in my own hometown who owned hot rods, and sort of hung out at a local car wash. I got to where I talked with, and knew every one of them. And enjoyed rides in their cars. The leader had a bad-a orange 55 Chevy with the one piece front end, and was reputed to be the "top dog" in the area, or in other words, he was the fastest.
In short, I guess it was a memorable time of my life, and I guess I am trying to re-live some of it. Anyone who remembers 1982 remembers the great music on the radio by Eddie Money, Journey, Paul Davis, Stevie Nicks, Rick Springfield, and such. And you will also remember how cute the girls were with thier feathered hairstyles, halter tops, sergio jeans and the unforgettable "valley girl" lingo.
Sorry for rambling, but thinking about it all excites me!
 
In Northern California (where I'm from) and in many other parts of the country, you can still find good old fashioned drag races with muscle cars... In NorCal, rarely, do the street racer imports ever even show up to these events and when they do... It ain't pretty.

I think however, much in the same vein as TALLADEGA NIGHTS, a muscle car based film with a good story could work today... Especially IF you were to mix it up with some of the more modern street racers... Kind of a THEN vs. NOW concept...

I know you're not going that way but just remember that you still have to weave an outstanding story in there amongst the cars...

Good luck with it!

filmy
 
Film Jumper
Thanks for your comments. In Graffiti, Milner's Yellow Ford was the "hero" car, and Falfa's black '55 was the "villian" car. In my story, the '55 will be the hero and either an '82 Camaro or Trans Am as the villian car. So you will get a THEN vs. NOW concept there. The '55 represents a street racing icon. By '82 they were well respected on the streets. The '82 era Camaro/Firebird represents a dawning of a new era, in which aerodynamics and electronic gadgets played a role in going fast, where the '55 relies on sheer brute horsepower and mechanical tuning know-how to go fast. So, yes I understand completely where you're coming from. I actually thought of first using either the '69 Camaro/'82 Camaro combo or the '66 Mustang/'82 Mustang. But that, to me, wouldn't be as believable as a wrong-side-of-the-tracks kid in his Uncle's hand-me-down '55 Chevy that he fixed himself vs. the popular rich jock in a brand-new Camaro/Firebird that he paid someone to hop up for him.
The story will be mainly a drama/romance combined with the racing action. As remembered by the main character in a flashback/narrative style.
And I do feel the concept of mixing a teen romance with street racing action would appeal to a broad audience. Kind of like "Say Anything" meets "The Fast and The Furious" if that would make any sense.
 
You should see the movie "Catch me if you can"...the old one, not the new one. Directed by Stephen Sommers in 1987ish. I'm in the crowd somewhere :). That was shot in St. Cloud, MN!
 
I actually have other hot rod/musclecar films in mind. But since this one is inspired so much by real experiences in my life I feel this one needs to get done first. Then I will concentrate on the others, if this one is successful.
 
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