• Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.

Something from my time

King Goldfish

King Goldfish

I have 3 or 4 Ideas from the 80s.

Is there a term for a film/screen play in which it never happened but could have. Like say, you wrote a story about Russia attacking the US during the cold war. It never happened but it could have. Is there a term for this scenerio?

I have several good ideas, I want to write into a short play for my first short film. Im very much into sci fi, and Im getting better at CGI, so I need some feedback on some ideas.


Some of my favorite films (TV or Theatre films) from the 80s was "The day after". "Red Dawn" and "Night of the comet"

Im into these style of films.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
filmscheduling said:
How about this set up: At the height of the cold war, a Russian vessel gets damaged and accidentally runs aground near Point Hope, a remote village in Alaska, population 757. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Hope,_Alaska)
That could go practically anywhere.
Click to expand...


Like the idea. I was thinking more along the lines of an accidental launch (which i read actually happened from a nuclear sub and another time from a russian missile cilo). both times they detonated the missiles in less then a minute into flight. What if a malfuntion caused more then one missile to launch, the russians couldnt stop the missiles and the US figured it was no accident.

But i was just curious if they have names for different kinds of film scenerios. sort of a "What if" scenerio but not from todays period but yesteryear.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
No specific genre...

King Goldfish said:
I have 3 or 4 Ideas from the 80s.

Is there a term for a film/screen play in which it never happened but could have. Like say, you wrote a story about Russia attacking the US during the cold war. It never happened but it could have. Is there a term for this scenerio?

I have several good ideas, I want to write into a short play for my first short film. Im very much into sci fi, and Im getting better at CGI, so I need some feedback on some ideas.


Some of my favorite films (TV or Theatre films) from the 80s was "The day after". "Red Dawn" and "Night of the comet"

Im into these style of films.
Click to expand...
I'm not aware of a specific genre name for this kind of film... Too many films in too many genres contain the "what if?" question... From what you're describing however, it sounds like a cross between, Science Fiction and Disaster...

Sci-Fi Disaster?

LOL.

filmy
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I think that certain kinds of stories that "rewrite" history are called "alternative reality" stories, in that you're not creating something that requires extraordinary events to occur (like in science fiction or fantasy), you're just pursuing a "what if" scenario in the context of known, shared experience (i.e., historical events recent and distant, large and small). There's an old Rutger Hauer TV movie where the Third Reich has won World War II and it's now the '60s (in the story). Also, one of Philip Roth's latest novels is in the same vein...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I loved "The Wedding Singer". The only Adam Sandler flick worth watching.

IMHO don't worry about the category of the thing- just write it and get it out there. If they can make "Hunt For Red October", they can make yours. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I think it's Fantasy if it could never happen, Alternate Reality is if it could've happened. Then there's a genre that I think originated with Jay Sherman from the animated "The Critic" tv show. A combination of Fantasy and Crap, called "Fanta-Crap"
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
davidchecker said:
I think that certain kinds of stories that "rewrite" history are called "alternative reality" stories, in that you're not creating something that requires extraordinary events to occur (like in science fiction or fantasy), you're just pursuing a "what if" scenario in the context of known, shared experience (i.e., historical events recent and distant, large and small). There's an old Rutger Hauer TV movie where the Third Reich has won World War II and it's now the '60s (in the story). Also, one of Philip Roth's latest novels is in the same vein...
Click to expand...


I'll have to look into that definition. It sounds about right. Anyone remember a movie (I think John Travolta was in) about White people being oppressed by a black society. Kind of reverse rolls where white guys would be harrassed by a mostly black police force, and Blacks being more sucsessful. They never suggest that Whites were the slaves of blacks, so it leaves you kind of clueless as to why the world is that way. Kind of letting people create their own reason as to why it is.

I thought it was a pretty cool film. BTW, does anyone know the name of it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mrde50 said:
It's called Red Dawn. Released in 1984, directed by John Milius and it was the first film to be given the then-new PG-13 rating.

Classic flick. One of my favorites. One of the very few films I've memorized.

"Piss in the radiator!"
Click to expand...


I saw it. It has a very young Charlie Sheen in it. David hit it right on the nail for me. Red Dawn was actually a book written back in the 1960s I believe (could be wrong) after the cuban missile crisis. And at that time, It wasnt really an Alternative to reality but a "Could happen" scenerio. At least while the cold war was going on.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
White Man's Burden

King Goldfish said:
I'll have to look into that definition. It sounds about right. Anyone remember a movie (I think John Travolta was in) about White people being oppressed by a black society. Kind of reverse rolls where white guys would be harrassed by a mostly black police force, and Blacks being more sucsessful. They never suggest that Whites were the slaves of blacks, so it leaves you kind of clueless as to why the world is that way. Kind of letting people create their own reason as to why it is.

I thought it was a pretty cool film. BTW, does anyone know the name of it?
Click to expand...
WHITE MAN'S BURDEN

filmy
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
in literature it's called a "What If" plot scenario, such as Philip Roth's 2004 novel "The Plot Against America" in which he creates a fictional account of "What if Charles Lindbergh, a notorious supported of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, had defeated FDR in the presidential election."
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
FilmJumper said:
WHITE MAN'S BURDEN

filmy
Click to expand...



Interesting film. I should have just looked up Travoltas bio :D

yeah, thanks for find it.

A Man With A Camera said:
in literature it's called a "What If" plot scenario, such as Philip Roth's 2004 novel "The Plot Against America" in which he creates a fictional account of "What if Charles Lindbergh, a notorious supported of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, had defeated FDR in the presidential election."
Click to expand...

I remember seeing him making a anti-semitic speech (from an old newsreel) but in his speech he stated he wasn't being anti-semitic or anti-jew. just anti establishment. or something like that.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top