The Community Ideas Hub

[NickClapper]

I think it's a great idea PTP, but the problem that it may have is an editing one. In an ideal world we'd be building up to the creschendo by cutting between shots of the different characters and threads and intermittent bursts of the broadcast. So that would mean that the last couple of minutes of the film would have to be handed over to someone to create a dramatic climax that brought together all the different strands.

I think it would look incredible, but can we do it? (

Spoiler

I hope the answer's yes!

)

 

[Papertwinproductions]

I think it's a great idea PTP, but the problem that it may have is an editing one. In an ideal world we'd be building up to the creschendo by cutting between shots of the different characters and threads and intermittent bursts of the broadcast. So that would mean that the last couple of minutes of the film would have to be handed over to someone to create a dramatic climax that brought together all the different strands.

I think it would look incredible, but can we do it? (

Spoiler

I hope the answer's yes!

)

Ofcourse we can.

A nice touch, one i believe, would top it off nicely. A slider. Slide slowly right, across the room. From character to character, country to country, the television set glowing on their intent faces...

This is managable, but those without sliders, may have to commit to a DIY project, or a rental. Just a thought.

On to the broader subject. Yes. The edit could be tricky, but only in the sense of trusting whomever it is that we would delegate to do that final cut. If we where, as we are now, to discuss this, if we made it a certainty as the climax. Then we would put our full energy into doing so.

Not a problem

 

[wheatgrinder]

can we get some leadership here please

Seems we need some direction on what the story is really about. I had been treating the organ lottery as just the setup. Easily replace with any other LIFE or DEATH situation that is left to chance or powers that be.

We seem to be stuck on a BIG organized drawing, which explains the TV connection.. but if we drop the TV show as the connecting character, then we can come up with many more justifications to an organ lottery...

How about Remotely distributed people, for what ever reason are DENIED a transplant by what ever agency decides these things, and have only one choice, PRIVATE transplant sugery, which cost $2.5 Million. None of our characters can afford that (or wont .. depending on what the remote unit comes up with)

Taking matters into their own hands, and throwing good money after a slim hope, these families\individuals all chip in for ONE transplant,.. but WHO will get the transplant? A very TENSE drawing held on a live web feed...

 

[NickClapper]

I think that the slider would look great but just might not be practical. It might be easier to have a required shot of everyone in a similar pose, i.e. on the couch watching the TV... but having to build a DIY anything is tricky for doofuses (or is that doofii?) like myself.

But yes, I think that, regardless of exactly how the climax plays out, we're going to have to consent to have someone cut them all together. It wouldn't make creative or technical sense to have the threads all reaching their climaxes at different points...

 

[wheatgrinder]

Ofcourse we can.

A nice touch, one i believe, would top it off nicely. A slider. Slide slowly right, across the room. From character to character, country to country, the television set glowing on their intent faces...

This is managable, but those without sliders, may have to commit to a DIY project, or a rental. Just a thought.

On to the broader subject. Yes. The edit could be tricky, but only in the sense of trusting whomever it is that we would delegate to do that final cut. If we where, as we are now, to discuss this, if we made it a certainty as the climax. Then we would put our full energy into doing so.

Not a problem

Thats funny, I had though something very similar.. but not track, but dolly in on main character reaction.

Neither require a particularly stable shot.. considering that the final cut editors will be cutting pretty fast between the shots and by necessity will be stabilizing and scaling the footage to keep things lined up.

 

[wheatgrinder]

I think that the slider would look great but just might not be practical. It might be easier to have a required shot of everyone in a similar pose, i.e. on the couch watching the TV... but having to build a DIY anything is tricky for doofuses (or is that doofii?) like myself.

But yes, I think that, regardless of exactly how the climax plays out, we're going to have to consent to have someone cut them all together. It wouldn't make creative or technical sense to have the threads all reaching their climaxes at different points...

Exactly, so define that point. But climax doesn't mean ending. It is natural for the climax to be the announcement of the winner(s) but the ending can step back and review the aftermath in macro.. maybe a heartfelt montage of the losers and how they cope.. short few minutes for the emotional payoff.

So remote units BUILD to climax of the drawing, and wind down with a bit of the aftermath.. I think the aftermath should be far enough away from the drawing date, maybe a year, so that some might just show a gravestone, where others might show a spontaneous remission or something like that..

 

[wheatgrinder]

How about Remotely distributed people, for what ever reason are DENIED a transplant by what ever agency decides these things, and have only one choice, PRIVATE transplant sugery, which cost $2.5 Million. None of our characters can afford that (or wont .. depending on what the remote unit comes up with)

Taking matters into their own hands, and throwing good money after a slim hope, these families\individuals all chip in for ONE transplant,.. but WHO will get the transplant? A very TENSE drawing held on a live web feed...

It occurs to me that a self organized organ drawing like that WOULD be news worthy, which allows the TV to still be the connecting character..

 

[NickClapper]

Personally, I think that the movie should actually end when the winners are announced. The focus would entirely be on the build up and then it would cut off (as PTP says, with the numbers) before we can really see what the effects would've been...

I think that would be the most thought provoking and dramatic way of ending it...

 

[Murdock]

Well I'm out. I don't like where this is going and the planning by commity just doesn't work for me. I wish you guys the best of luck. I look forward to watching it.

 

[wheatgrinder]

In the near future the world population is increasing, the world economy is the midst of a slow economic collapse. In an attempt to fill the largest economic sink hole, All UN member states, including the US, have turned ALL health care over to a UN organization. To reduce cost world wide, the UN Organization has established a lottery for life extending surgeries, specifically vital organ transplants.


I vote super no here.

Yeah me too!

Not that its even up for consideration, I mean, I was just showing how easy it is to come up with a "why" which I thought was unimportant anyway...

Did you take this to mean that I would consider the UN running health care as a good thing? (yikes I hope not, but better take that off list and PM me!)

 

[wheatgrinder]

Dear Committee.

I feel that there is to much focus on what the remote units do.

We need a simple FRAMEWORK for the remote units to fit into, leave the rest OPEN... Dont try and WRITE or DIRECT the entire project.. save that for your own remote unit contribution. Embrace the ambiguity and see what comes of it. Your losing momentum by over detail.

Thanks
wheat

 

[Papertwinproductions]

Dear Committee.

I feel that there is to much focus on what the remote units do.

We need a simple FRAMEWORK for the remote units to fit into, leave the rest OPEN... Dont try and WRITE or DIRECT the entire project.. save that for your own remote unit contribution. Embrace the ambiguity and see what comes of it. Your losing momentum by over detail.

Thanks
wheat

I think the material has taken enough shape to allow this. It was the purpose from the beginning. How one concept can be portrayed by many...but communication, given that festivals have been mentioned, is a must.

The vote is clear. Does everybody participating have any qualms after reading the thread, to what direction the chosen theme is going? If not.

Let's start.

P.S I'm sorry you can't be apart of it, Murdock.

 

[NickClapper]

I would like to reiterate, for the benefit of everyone, that this thread is just discussion. We are not committing in absolute terms to anything proposed here.

If you have an idea then it's essential to air it and see what people think. There's nothing standing in the way of this being really good, but I don't want people to think that every time we mention and discuss and idea then that idea becomes a fixed part of the project.

This is, after all, the Ideas Hub.

 

[Papertwinproductions]

I would like to reiterate, for the benefit of everyone, that this thread is just discussion. We are not committing in absolute terms to anything proposed here.

If you have an idea then it's essential to air it and see what people think. There's nothing standing in the way of this being really good, but I don't want people to think that every time we mention and discuss and idea then that idea becomes a fixed part of the project.

This is, after all, the Ideas Hub.

Indeed.

I think the vote should be quelled, soon. Then we can move on, and solidify our ideas appropriately.

 

[wheatgrinder]

So what decisions if any HAVE been made?

The only solid I see so far is organ lottery.
The open issues with that are:

Why is there a lottery at all?
How does the lottery work? (whose running it, whose eligible, hows it decided who wins etc)


The connecting, I suppose collating is a better term, character seems to be a TV show\announcer.

 

[Papertwinproductions]

So what decisions if any HAVE been made?

The only solid I see so far is organ lottery.
The open issues with that are:

Why is there a lottery at all?
How does the lottery work? (whose running it, whose eligible, hows it decided who wins etc)


The connecting, I suppose collating is a better term, character seems to be a TV show\announcer.

These are the connecting terms that have been proposed. We should decide what we agree on, what we don't.

Organ Lottery. Tick.


1.Thousands of applicants apply, before being chosen at random, to be selected for the Lottery draw.
2.The chosen applicants (500), are then sent a number corresponding to one in the draw.
3.10 numbers are chosen.
4. That all of our material takes place on the day/night of the draw.

The TV presenter on the broadcast is the core of easing the transition. (This would be written/filmed seperately) However, Radio-broadcasts speaking of the big event, are an appropriate tool to help the change-over/make it appear vast and of major importance, too.

Why there is a lottery, is, and should remain open. I'd suggest that we make it appear as close to normality as possible, and that the subject of WHY, or HOW, should be unspoken. We should be with the families/applicants on the final day, and that's it. We live that unimaginable wait, in the knowing of what is, and what could be, without being fully informed of the history behind it.

It's that shock/anticipation factor, that should carry all of our work to a breathstopping end. If only for the watching moment, and not the deliberation afterwards.

 

[letsmakeamovie6]

I like the slider ending idea the best so far with a little back music as we slide past each character. And I like the idea of not saying why the lottery exsists.

 

[knightly]

If there are any common shots that every unit will need to get for doing the ending, credits, opening, anything... we should figure that out before everyone's on set and has access to their actors/locations and a camera without having to recall them.

 

[Papertwinproductions]

If there are any common shots that every unit will need to get for doing the ending, credits, opening, anything... we should figure that out before everyone's on set and has access to their actors/locations and a camera without having to recall them.

Most definitely. It will help miles with the transitioning.

 

[NickClapper]

I've realised that in both the first draft scripts we've seen so far the writers (myself and PTP) have written the end as though it were the end of the film...

I suspect that it would be a good idea to compile a masterscript once we've got polished drafts of all the threads. The slider idea is a difficult but doable one and I'd be happy to consider that.

For now though I think it's best to keep working on the writing without massively worrying about the ending. If we do have a required shot it will be something like the slider shot that's already been mentioned and could be easily adapted into pretty much any script...

But I agree that it's absolutely essential to settle these things before anyone starts shooting.