From Script to screen ideas 1
I have a lot of ideas floating around but with no solid narrative idea in place, I have solid ideas of the theme and even visible lines of dialogue and shots of scenes in my head but with no idea of how to tie them together. The main theme I want to stick with is a 30/50s spirit of adventure, like the Jungle Cruise combined with a mid-century tropical island Tiki aesthetic, however, none of that is useful without a good story. My main shreds of an idea are:
I want the story to be relatively simple, not because I'm lazy or don't have any ideas, but because thats the kind of story I enjoy. Something small, self-contained and fun, like a Tom & Jerry, or early Pixar short. So id like a relatively simple character. My three elements almost go together too perfectly that its hard not to go for a basic idea. With the Archeologist traveling to a tropical island in order to find a clock relic etc. Although something simple, familiar yet fresh I don't know exactly how to go about.
I imagined my archeologist to be quite sleazy, some kind of fraud, maybe an incompetent thief just trying to make a quick buck. I also like the idea of him being some sort of extinct creature, as it relates nicely to how he is trying to find relics from the past, maybe a saber tooth tiger or something. Maybe being a con man or sleazy tour guide.
An idea I really like the idea of is the story having a fake set up at the start, beginning in the middle of the action maybe a train heist or car chase. A character that we assume is our hero is saving the day, has the lady and beating the bad guy only to be killed by the real 'hero' who used them in order to get an artifact with the girl and villain being accomplices in on the scam, sounds confusing but it works in my head. This would be the set up leading to the main plot. But that maybe too large scale.
Another idea I've had in mind is this archeologist and paleontologist, spy vs spy kinda idea. Think Rabbit season/duck season two characters fighting for this mythical clock that can bring back elements from the past they can fight with. The archeologist summoning gladiators, medieval weaponry and war troops, and the paleontologist summoning dinosaurs, prehistoric beasts, and sea creatures. Just a very early, dunno how it will relate to the tropical island.
In terms of my clock other than being a macguffin to hunt for or a relic of power to revert time I've not given it much thought but it works perfectly considering an archeologist works in theory with time and could even be stuck in it. Maybe being an artifact to find or an accessory he uses. Other ideas could literally be time runs away from him, with a clock that he must catch, demonstrating how he is stuck in the past and time is escaping him. Also, numbers on a map are the location of a piece of treasure when all collected to create a clock that could end with the joke of it forming an alarm clock waking the character up. Also thought about ideas of it not being a traditional clock maybe a mental clock or the idea of a sundial holding secrets to the treasure on the island.
A lot of lightbulbs to turn off.
ooh - you might have to tidy this up for me a bit, Louis... Can you rationalise into some more linear ideas for this old git? Ta!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louis - so it's clear your 'brain cinema' is working nicely, but you're right, it's about identifying the sweet spot wherein you can use all the associations of your story components in that classic way, without it just being a 'plot' as opposed to a satisfying story in it's own right.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to add my own thoughts as prompted by your thoughts;
In terms of that tropical island... one immediate association is that your character could be stranded on it - shipwrecked there or plane-crashed there?
In terms of treating this like an action set-piece, I'm thinking inevitably of Indiana Jones opening scenes and booby traps - so, your character collects some kind of artefact from an underground cavern or whatever, and when he does, he sets off 'a clock' - or rather a countdown to a volcanic eruption that will destroy the cavern/temple/tropical island, so he then has to negotiate all-kinds of danger to get off the island - so a sort of homage/pastiche to the films you love... rather like this film in terms of the screen direction:
https://vimeo.com/269277912
However, it does feel as if you're going to need some kind of third act reveal or twist to perhaps reframe the action so we're not simply watching an action set-piece. One thought I had is that maybe, after your hero has just made it out with the artefact - onto the beach - suddenly we see a shadowy figure - his arch enemy! - and the arch enemy is like "Give it to me!" and the hero is like "Never!" and the enemy says "Give it me or I'll tell mum"... and suddenly, there's a sort of reality break, and we see that the archeologist is actually 'a little brother' and the precious artefact is something that belongs to his big sister, and that he's been in her room the whole time (not a temple) - which he's trashed btw... "And stay out of my room!' (slams door).... or something like that. So, in terms of Act 1 & Act 2, you play it exactly like an Indy set-piece, a mysterious temple under a Skull Island-style island, a precious artefact, the collecting of which starts some massive 'timer' triggering the description of the temple etc - lots of action - and then bang! An act 3 reveal that reframes what we've just been watching as make-believe or play... In this sense, I think you could have your cake and eat it - what do you think?