The Community Brainstorming Thread

sorry, thought I was on the other "Name that screen grab" thread.. jk..
Its Richard Dawson.. hosted family feud, A US TV show, also played an announcer in The Running Man which is pretty apropos to the character you described..
 
Well then, i guess he's a benchmark that we should exercise and emphasise.

The question would be, if that is everybody is interested in this idea, whom would create the TV show? It is undoubtedly the thread that ties all the small-stories together.
 
well, the TV show is one possible setting for the tie in character.. its a good one, but might be too resource intensive to be practical..

A back room clerk in some huge bureaucracy works too


Either way, we will have to build in OPTIONS for anything that might require such specific sets etc.. maybe its not a TV show, but a home based video blogger who is the tie in and is a COUNTER point to the TV host..
 
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Well, looks like you guys had a nice fun chat! :D

One potential problem with the organ donor storyline is that we would want the tension to come to a climax at the end and, logistically speaking, this could provide a problem when it comes to editing.

But I do think that this could be both visually striking and dramatic. There's a film called Live! which is about live Russian Roulette and, in a way, that's kind of similar.

Even more similar now I think of it (and probably subliminally where I got the storyline from) is the Dutch show called 'The Big Donor Show' which turned out to be a spoof to raise awareness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Donor_Show

Are we in danger of running too close to this idea?
 
OK, what else would elicit the same kind of reactions as an organ lottery?

to reproduce
to migrate (colonize off world.. seems like plenty of books but not many movies)
to live ... various cause.. new vaccine, organ lottery would be under this category
...
 
We could certainly work something out relating to a new vaccine. Perhaps there has been some sort of virus and they only have enough vaccine for 10,000 people across the globe. The film would then follow several different people in the days preparing to find out whether they've received the vaccine or not. Some of the characters would, some wouldn't. If they received the answer by mail it might also be easier (practically speaking) than producing a television broadcast...

I think we're on to a fairly good idea here, these are all powerful images and storylines. Obviously fine points would need some considerable tweaking.

If there is anyone on the forum who has looked at this thread and though 'Hey, that's a good idea!' or 'Wait a minute, that doesn't add up!' or 'Just one sec, sir, I think I've got a better idea' then please post your thoughts! Even the most inane ramblings will give us somewhere to go. I like the direction we're heading in at the moment, but if you think we're crazy then please do say so!
 
why i like it is that the DETAILS, fine points if will, can be vague at this stage.

working very lose at this point..

what we have..

for some reason, a small percentage of the world wide populace will be selected by random drawing to receive a life saving treatment. Our story will follow several groups and individuals who must have the treatment or die as the hour of the drawing approaches.

the rest is wide open..

could be an anti-zombie treatment
could be an "immortality" treatment (sci-if)
could be an organ transplant
 
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I find nothing crazy about it-I think there are some pretty cool ideas here!

I don't know much about Organ Donation that I could add at the moment, just kudos to some pretty cool ideas!
 
mail is good, easier than TV show, simultaneous courier delivery could be even better.. the build up to a single moment in time is compelling and makes for a fixed DEAD LINE. Instead of the drama of watching the live TV show, we end with the envelope being handed to each....

This does reduce the opportunity for exploring the "social cometary" that PTP was interested in.. because if it WAS important it WOULD be on tv.. lol which is a cometary in itself..
 
wheatgrinder said:
for some reason, a small percentage of the world wide populace will be selected by random drawing to receive a life saving treatment. Our story will follow several groups and individuals who must have the treatment or die as the hour of the drawing approaches.
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I think that is the strongest concept that we've come up with and certainly leaves us room for maneuver. I think that the organ transplant idea is probably the most interest issue on a social level, but they all have potential to work.

If we were to run with the mail idea then it wouldn't be terribly plausible to hand courier a letter to every member of the population! Who would hand courier to the couriers? :D

But www could still use the TV as a plot device. Perhaps a bunch of infomercials 'The cure lottery and what it means for you', 'Coping with missing out' or 'Learning to be happy with what you've got'.

I've already got lots of visually striking ideas that are popping up in my head and it's getting me quite excited. I like the interesting way this storyline leads not just on an ethical level, but on a human level. How do you cope with missing out on the cure? Resignation? Anger? And how do you cope with receiving the cure? Happiness? Guilt? How does it feel knowing that you'll survive but your family are still doomed? Are you relieved, proud to be chosen? Do you believe that God has chosen you for this task? Would someone be willing to give up their cure? Or perhaps someone can't live with knowing that they, out of so many, are going to survive...

I feel a lot of potential here for something really dramatic and poignant...
 
Okay, here's a tie in/twist. Its a lottery right. Who likes to rig the lottery. The mafia. (stay with me)

So, the whole lottery is run by the mafia and they are making a shit ton of money off of it, legit.

But like the mafia always is that's not good enough. They select the winners early and give them a

chance to pay a bribe to win. Here's the twist: If you don't have enough money to pay, they go to

the next guy until they find someone who can. Then, just for spite, who ever the guy was preceding

the "winner" they go back to him and harvest his organs on "principle".

Yea I know its crazy.
 
Murdock said:
Okay, here's a tie in/twist. Its a lottery right. Who likes to rig the lottery. The mafia. (stay with me)

So, the whole lottery is run by the mafia and they are making a shit ton of money off of it, legit.

But like the mafia always is that's not good enough. They select the winners early and give them a

chance to pay a bribe to win. Here's the twist: If you don't have enough money to pay, they go to

the next guy until they find someone who can. Then, just for spite, who ever the guy was preceding

the "winner" they go back to him and harvest his organs on "principle".

Yea I know its crazy.
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Hmmm, personally speaking, I'm not sure about this.

I think it would detract from the human element of the drama and possibly stretch the credibility of an already incredible premise. In that story it would be a matter of 'can they raise enough money in time?' which, whilst interesting, would be a more difficult story to tell + would detract from the tension a little.

The thing I like about the lottery idea is that you can subvert expectations. You could show the story of a 27 year old single mother with two young children and build her up as a really worthy recipient, just to have her miss out. Whereas you could have a lonely, unpleasant old man who gets the cure. If you bring money into the equation then you're taking out the element of uncertainty and circumstance.

Plus gangsters always look wrong in indie movies, in my opinion :D
 
Fine, I quit!! :) JK. It is pretty convoluted. I had Sluggworth in the back of my mind when I thought of it. You remember, the creepy looking guy that tried to bribe the children in the original Willy Wonka. Something not front and center but creeping in the bachground.
 
Thats a great story unto itself Murdoc! So in a MICRO or as a remote unit story, you COULD tell something very close to that..

Me I was thinking something similar, my main character might NOT be the sick one, rather he is a guy PAID by someone who is very rich to STEAL someone elses winning ticket.. .. so you tell your story pretty much how you want to.. just context will be more LOCAL.. and most mafia is LOCAL in influence..
 
I agree that that sort of storyline could be applied to a specific remote unit. If it was well done it could certainly be an effective statement about human corruption...etc.

However I think we'd also need to be carefully not to have radical changes in tone between the different threads. If we have five threads that are extended commentaries on the vulnerability of human nature and the extraordinary events that force people to reevaluate their lives, and then another thread which is full of car chases and mafia meetings things might look a little bit messy.

But I certainly think that it will be up to each remote unit to decide what to do with their segment. I reckon, when we have enough interest/have settled on an overriding storyline, then each of the contributing writers/directors can put together a treatment for their section. Advice and criticism can follow that and we can make sure at that point that everyone's pulling in roughly the same direction...
 
NickClapper said:
However I think we'd also need to be carefully not to have radical changes in tone between the different threads. If we have five threads that are extended commentaries on the vulnerability of human nature and the extraordinary events that force people to reevaluate their lives, and then another thread which is full of car chases and mafia meetings things might look a little bit messy....
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When was the last time you read/saw/heard about a mafia chase/meeting?? No my friend, when it is done in the proper manner, you never hear of it. Only the results are seen, and they are accepted as normal....point being: The vulneralbility and the extraordinary events that cause people to reevaluate their lives might not be the warm and cuddly that you might have had in mind. Just might be, that the baddies win in the end.

I do admit it would make it more difficult to film, but who are we to neglect a challenge??
 
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Hey everyone,
right now, all ideas rare rough and open, we should avoid critiquing specific examples, its very unlikely that anything we discuss with that level of detail will make it past the rest of the planning. Its good that folks contribute low level ideas.
 
:) <---- I forgot to put one of these. I was being serious but certainly didn't want to come off as confrantational. Sorry if I did.


I should also add, I have no problem dropping the mafia thing entirely. It was just a tie in idea.
 
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