Page created 15 Mar 2003 by OutsideInfluence , last modified 15 Mar 2003 by OutsideInfluence
I've noticed that the great majority of us are the creative type in some form or another, and alot of us do write so I wanted an entree that addressed this. This entree is for:
1.)Posting your original fiction or fan fiction stories, whether complete or incomplete, short stories or very long ones.
2.)Posting responses, constructive criticism, and feedback about other stories. (Please, be respectful of other people's work)
3.)Posting and brainstorming story ideas for all fiction including screenplays, novels, comic books, including collaborative projects. Perhaps even song lyrics, if we're so inclined.
4.)Providing links to interesting fiction based web sites, and commentary on them.
I've talked to blvdgirl (and pedro, I think) about the fact that we now have enough talented people in different areas to collaborate on a film someday. And of course it will be the breakout hit of the indie film world. But seriously, we have some damn fine writers, actors, and other assorted artists here at the diner and I think it's high time we start collaborating on something. I immediately think of andronicus' extraordinarily brilliant scripts at NPU (especially Robots Don't Die, They Rust. Also "Give Way" from raskol and "The Invisible Man" from ulyssess. So I'm open to starting a process and see where it goes.
I'm sure I could make a food name for everyone given enough time. Anyway, I hear that ulysees00 makes films. Is that right? We've gotta make us a film if that's the case, Grade-meister. I guess I should wait to know you a bit better before making up horrible middle-school-esque nicknames for you, huh? I'll be posting some brainstorming ideas soon. Anyone can feel free to put their 2 cents in, as well. In fact I encourage it.
i do plays.instantcofi is in school for film too.
that being said, i'm still interested. ive acted in a student film and would jump at the opportunity to do it again.
I am certainly interested in putting something together. I've got some half-finished scripts (that chump Robert DeNiro didn't want my last treatment) and ideas floating around. If we went the DV route, I've got a copy of Final Cut Pro. We certainly have actors in this group, not to mentions musicians and technical types. scinafilm, where do you live now?
Here are some of the ideas I have that I've been kicking around for years. Some have partial scripts, other are just an outline. The majority of them can be made on the cheap.
Video Game Geeks: A group of social maladjusts have their pathetic little world turned upside down when an attractive female gamer begins working at their favorite video game store. I see endless possibilities for humor in this project with my 2 main characters, Toby (who is obsessed with Super Mario) and Guy (a gamer with anger management issues). Partial Script available.
Lucas and Julia: A romantic comedy with a "small world" principle (i.e., every character has more than one scene and there are around 30 characters). Lucas is an artist who works at Home Depot, and creates sculptures with the products sold there. Julia is an aspiring actress on the verge of her big break. They each have a group of friends that play predominantly into the storyline. To me, a romantic comedy where the characters hate each other or don't meet until the final scene is total BS. I need to believe that these characters flirt and are genuinely attracted to each other from the beginning. They are separated in the middle of the film through random chance events and are reunited in the end, but because you loved them together you actually cheer for them to find each other again. This project is particularly interesting because everyone who wants a part can have one, but the budget is a bit more considerable. We can improvise though. Partial script available.
The Unrelated Family: A single man, single woman, two foster children, and a pet are put into home together for a sociological test. Does genetics make a family, or does the act of living together make a family? Right when this reluctant family begins to bond, the funding for the experiment is pulled and they struggle with going back to their lives as they once were, or attempting to reunite. With reality television so big now, it's funny that I created this story idea back in high school. Script outline available.
Now that I opened the flood gates, I'd like to hear what all of you have as partial scripts. I've got some more myself. I just have to scrounge around and find them. I welcome any comments or questions anyone might have.
Generic Man: As kind of a superhero parody, Generic Man is a masked hero who has a cobbled together homemade costume, and sometimes finds himself taking the city bus. It's primarily poking fun at the fact that comic book heroes have an unlimited budget, while a real life hero would be strapped for gear and supplies. I've been toying with the idea of having villains named The Kicker, Thief, and other generic sounding monikers. It's a throw away type of an idea, but maybe we can do something with it.
Campus Conspiracy: This story idea came from the fact that while at college you see a lot of people over and over again that you don't necessarily know, or even know the name of. You may come up with funny nicknames for them in your head, but what if some of those people were paid to watch you, or follow you. I started to visualize a beginning where a creepy old man (seen often around campus) gives these two friends a small wooden box while at a near campus diner, and then the old man walks out without saying a word. They pay their bill and follow the man to ask him about it, but find him dead -- Obviously shot by a sniper. The box contains a key that leads further along a series of clues. One of the friends disappears suddenly and a woman claiming to be his girlfriend shows up looking for him, and no one has every met this woman before. After that it's all suspense, Hitchcock style. Who do you really know and trust, after all?
If you guys ever want to collaborate and do a web comic, Tastytronic Industries would be honored to host it.
One of the ideas that I've worked sporadically on is called New Federalia and it's a post-apocalyptic comic strip focusing on a boy and his three-legged dog and the few surviving people in his New Mexico ghost town.I started working on it a few months ago... I'm sure I'll add to it someday.
cool work up there.
my friend luke and i were walking around the neighborhood one day recently and i started up with this idea of a half world. we ended up getting really outlandish with it, but it started out with a "whole world" converting to half a world with really bizarre things being halved, but always with a level of reason to it. we even ended up halving the unborn children: after conception, to allow children to fit into the new world, the tiny creature would be halved and born healthy, but not "whole" and the animals would be halved at their middles and learn to walk on just two legs.
I'm not sure that I understand the "half world" thing, Barefootjumper, but I've gone through some pretty bizarre ideas myself. I had an idea for a world made entirely of Nerf. You could get run over by a Nerf car on a Nerf road, and not even be stunned. You could jump off a Nerf building, and if you didn't twist your ankle on the landing, you'd be okay. Of course, I came up with this at age 12, and in no way should it ever be a movie. Perhaps, a commercial for Nerf, though.The term "What if?" surfaces quite a bit in my stories. I have one called No Man's Planet, about an earth of the future after encountering extraterrestrials with no male gender, the aliens harvest most of the males on earth and kill off the rest -- leaving a planet populated entirely by females. The social ramifications alone could be a master thesis paper in sociology. The technology for gene splicing and cloning already exists. If men were to die out in this manner, two women could genetically have a child using gene splicing and cloning in tandem. My story revolves around a world where there simply are no men. What would change about women, about everything? Instead of humanity, I have the characters refer to their species as womanity -- Little things like that. I guess I'm in touch enough with my feminine side to create an outline, but I'd really be out of my element to write it alone, without some female writers.
D for Dexariah
I'm living in beautful Bozeman, Montana these days. I am in the process of starting a production company. I also have Final Cut Pro and I am in pre-production for a feature-length documentary that I begin fundraising for next week and I begin shooting in three to four weeks. One of the goals of the early fundraising efforts is to purchase a DV camera in the $4-6,000 range, along with sound gear and media storage and a new G4. So with any luck, I will be able to produce any film that we want to put together. And from what i understand, there are some of us, like barefoot, mercurymouth and oldpossumus, that have some experience in front of and/or behind the camera. For more info on what I'm up to, andronicus, check out a diary entry I posted in early January.
I've always wanted to do a film in the style of The phantom Tollbooth or Alice in Wonderland. It sounds like barefoot's got a good idea going.I love doing spy stories and comic book superhero stories. I thought Mystery Men, and it's lesser-known sibling, The Specials, were both great fun.
I've also toyed with some time travel stories. Of course, lukas would have to work out the Physics cause my head is still spinning from Linda and Larry (God bless him).
Scinatfilm, surely you must have a bunch of film ideas. From what I hear, you know more about film than I do, and film (as a medium) has been the most influential force in my creative life. In college I was majoring in psych and film studies, until I ran out of money. If you're familiar with the Batman comic Knightfall, there's a character in there called Film Freak, who appears to have cinema Touret's Syndrome. I have the same condition. I'll randomly spout out a movie line to see if someone picks up on it. Mostly it goes unnoticed. My sister, having been influenced buy her big bro, gets every single one.Pedro, where the heck did that link you posted lead to? It was like some bizarro world version of the diner. Was it a special, because it had a non-entree title? I've never seen PedrosOldLady post before either. I thought she was mythical -- like unicorns. I mean, I've met her in real life, but on the diner she's a person seldom seen.
PS. If anyone has film idea synopsis... synopsees... synopsissies. Oh, you get the idea. Post 'em.
I had this idea for a film called Modern Messiah, about a Jesus in our times. I neither meant it to be reverent or sacreligious, just a character study of Jesus the man. I mean think about it, Jesus walked around with the apostles who were NOT in any way upstanding members of the community. I guess I got most of my inspiration from thinking of alternative modern-day apostles. Judith instead of Judas, Pedro instead of Peter (that one's kind of funny, because of it's relation to you, Pete). Would any of the modern day apostles be gay, or transgendered? These are things that society has yet to accept -- especially the religious right wing. Who would kill a modern Jesus? Most likely, the media would kill him. At least, they'd directly lead to his death. Either the media, or the 700 Club.
i started witing a modern day nativity story.mary and joseph were on a road trip to be with family for haunakah, and then their car breaks down in a snowstorm and the nearby motel is full, but they stay in a storage shed or something, and some truckers (the shepherds) hear about it from some angels and then spread the word over the CBs or something... wow, i havent thought about that story in years.
I have a screenplay with a working title of "The Aiden Story." It revolves around three characters. Aiden is in the middle of a love triange, but not really. He has a best friend whom he shares everything with, but is there a deeper level to their friendship? He then meets a mysterious woman who ends up being a part of his life very quickly. The story itself plays very subtlely with the flirtations and attractions of the characters. It's the dilemma that the majority of people face -- do you continue to take a chance on dating people who may be wrong for you, or do you choose a love closer to friendship? The real crux of the story is that neither of the two females are painted as all good or all bad, and the protagonist, Aiden, is just as conflicted. The scenes go back and forth between Aiden with his best friend, and Aiden with this mysterious woman. If done properly you should not really know who to cheer for. Women will cheer for whichever female they relate with most, but men will feel this sympathy for both women, despite the fact that they are two very different people. Out of all my screenplays, it is by far the cheapest to produce. I guess it could be a stage play, too, now that I think of it.
I have a screenplay with a working title of "The Aiden Story." It revolves around three characters. Aiden is in the middle of a love triange, but not really. He has a best friend whom he shares everything with, but is there a deeper level to their friendship? He then meets a mysterious woman who ends up being a part of his life very quickly. The story itself plays very subtlely with the flirtations and attractions of the characters. It's the dilemma that the majority of people face -- do you continue to take a chance on dating people who may be wrong for you, or do you choose a love closer to friendship? The real crux of the story is that neither of the two females are painted as all good or all bad, and the protagonist, Aiden, is just as conflicted. The scenes go back and forth between Aiden with his best friend, and Aiden with this mysterious woman. If done properly you should not really know who to cheer for. Women will cheer for whichever female they relate with most, but men will feel this sympathy for both women, despite the fact that they are two very different people. Out of all my screenplays, it is by far the cheapest to produce. I guess it could be a stage play, too, now that I think of it.
That must be a hickup on the system that posted me twice.
OI, of all the ideas you've posted so far, I responded to this one most. If you'd like to move forward with something, please let me know. I think you're right: it could be done with a minimum of funds, and I am heading towards purchasing much of the necessary equipment. Let me know...
I had a partial script, but I'm sure that it's lost at this point. I'll begin a rewrite. I'm taking volunteers for cowriters, and let me know if you are interested in acting in it. I need a male lead and two female leads. Also there is at least one male role of a smaller sort, and possibly some bit parts.SCINATFILM: In what capacity would you like to serve - drector, cinematographer, producer? How much control of this project are you asking? I'd just like to know what I'm signing up for.
BUT it would be good to get a head count before we proceed. Just so you know, I wouldn't presume to act when we have the likes of ulyssess, raskol, oldpossumus, mercurymouth, barefootjumper, blvdgirl, and others in our camp. i'm not really up to their level.As to my role, I'll produce and/or direct and/or edit, and I might be sucked into some writing. But I've been in too many situations where I end up carrying the whole thing, senior year at NPU in particular. But if we get a good team going, I'll serve in whatever role the group decides. OI, if you'd like to talk directly, feel free to email me at cmk@teacher.com.
As for control, I work best in a collaborative setting, so again, I'll go with whatever.
He fumbled down the dull gray hallway, dripping on him from above, is sewage from then upstairs apartments. He can't wipe his brow; his hands are full of 6 cans of soda. Orange, two root beer, two colas, and a strawberry pop. The strawberry he saves for special occasions, like when he wins a game of solitaire. Sometimes his caseworker Shelly stops by, then he offers her the strawberry soda, but she always turns it down. Saying she cannot stay long. Secretly, and he knows it's wrong; it makes him happy, because strawberry is his favorite. Fumbling to find his keys while juggling the sodas, he repeats his caseworkers reminder. "Turn the key toward the hand with the birthmark to open, and the hand with the scar to lock." Let's hope he never cuts his left hand, because then he's never remember what to do. He drops the keys and three cans of soda, clutching the pink and red can of strawberry. They roll down the hall and he lumbers down after them. His body is badly battered for only being 39. His mind is even more battered...being that of a 9 year old. The cans roll, somehow signaling Jimmy, Pete and Jermaine. Two are 14 the other is 13. Jermaine is mean, and bitter because his parents gave him a nigger name. That's what he thought anyhow. He tried to get everyone to call him Jerry, but even his best friends Pete and Jimmy loved to jab him daily by referring to him as Jermaine. The three boys walk into the hallway from Pete's apartment. Pete lives there with his aunt, who enjoys extinguishing her cigarettes into his bare feet, whenever he falls asleep on the couch. Many times it is too painful for him to walk. But not today, these 3 boys are feeling extra mean, extra devious, and they're thirsty for some soda. The retard is chasing after his cans down the hall when Jermaine who howls with laughter trips him. The other two boys stand back snickering. The retard, starts crawling up, and apologizing, he's so clumsy, he knows that. He is so sorry. He just was getting his soda. Pete had very sore feet that day, so he was the first to pick up a can of soda and throw it at the retards head...Then Jimmy followed suit, finally Jermaine did also. The retard, covering his head, and slobbering, and weeping, and hollering "stop guys, stop, it hurts!" steps forward only to find that there is no step beneath his foot, and he rolls head over feet down the stairs. The three boys still smiling and laughing, shaking the cans of pop and spraying them all over their handicapped neighbor run after him down the stairs. When he lands his head makes hard contact with a radiator, it is over...But the boys don't care, or don't want to admit to themselves that it is and they kick him, over and over and over and over.This story was inspired by a news article I read today in the paper, most of it is true. But I made up names, and a scenario. I just want to know what happened to us as a people that we are killing defenseless people...It made me weep on the bus...It's so fucked up it makes me not even want to live on the planet earth.
and it shows that sometimes, truth is even stranger (and more depressing) than fiction.
Kudos to Instantcofi for being the first to post actual fiction in the form of her short story. I always want my stories to make you feel something, or make you think about something in a way you may not have seen it before. Most of my best story ideas were hatched in sociology classes. I trust that we can count you with us on creating our little film when the time is right, Instantcofi.Scinatfilm, I will be emailing you soon regarding script details. I'd like to know more about what drew you to this project. To be honest, I'd like to direct this one. I'll leave all the technical cinematography and lighting to you pros, but I have envisioned the settings for this story for so long that I'd be useless to the production team if I didn't have a say in that regard. I'm very easygoing and collaboration is best for a Virgo like myself. I like improvisation from my actors -- a genuine intuitiveness for humanity, and all it's many facets. If you feel something as an actor, try it out. I'm not so high and mighty that I'm married to my own dialogue. It's a creative process, and you have to go with the flow, or you'll have a nervous breakdown.
As far as the production end -- after we've completed the film, we could burn many DVD copies and try to get local video stores to carry our movie, and sell copies to friends and family so that we can finance the next one. I could make the DVD inserts at work on the cheap.
I know nothing of this film you speak of....please tell me more. What's the format, how are you editing, if you need lighting eqip. and what not I can get it from school. I'm really getting back into this filmmaking thing after 7 months of being out of it. So I'm eager. I'm shooitng a couple things this weekend and next...so I'll be in my prime when you guys need help...You can IM me if you want..Instintcofi...thanks.
Instantcofi: you should scroll up to The Aiden Story entry, and as for the technical specs, refer to my main man, Scinatfilm. He's the man with the plan. We'll be at his mercy as far as the equipment goes, unless you've got your own stuff here in ChiTown. I'll wanna be part of the editing, but you two actually know what you're doing in that regard, so talk it out if you're interested.
I'm still waiting to hear from you via email. cmk@teacher.com
my email is down right now. please be patient
I'll be patient. But listen to this, I may be getting published, YAY...I have an online diary, where i write shit, I actually have two. One is more gritty, dirty, and half made up, while the one linked on here is true stories, how I am feeling and what not. I never thought much of them. I love writing, and I like feedback, which is why I post publicly. But I met a guy who really loved some of my work and he is a copy editor at a publishing house. He is editing my work and showing it to his boss this week. I'm patting myself on the back.
congrats on that. It's always nice to be published. I haven't seen my name in print for over five years, and I miss it (not to mention the royalites) I'm still waiting for Outside Influence to contact me so we can discuss it. The ball's in his court. But I will contact you soon about an idea that ulyssess had for a film in Chicago this summer.