Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Story Idea!

Okay, so it's getting later on at night. Haven't drawn shit, but HAVE taken time to think about the stories.

Our main thing now, it seems, is deciding about our story, and how it'll roll. We were all "Yeah lets change this sucker up" and then our leica got some good reactions, so now it seems like we're split even?

Our choices go between Death LIKING Evil Stevil and WANTING him to live, and Death HATING Evil Stevil and WANTING him to die.

You know what? I think that we can make both these stories exactly the same, and then just decide on which Death character to go with.

BOTH these Death's have an opinion on Evil Stevil. BOTH of them have a goal, of either LIFE, OR DEATH (kinda black and white)

The difference between the two is how they act when Evil Stevil dies, but, I think BOTH stories can have Death learn the lesson at the end, that life/death isn't everything, Evil Stevil only wanted his goal.

Here is the interpretation I came up with, and this is of course the very bare bones of each story

Story 1.) Death wants to save Evil Stevil's life. Story begins, yadda yadda, Evil stevil chokes, Death comes in, saves him. Evil Stevil says jump works! Death says NO WAY (he is SAD, because Evil Stevil may die) and tries to talk him out of it. Evil Stevil does the jump anyways, lands it, dies. Death is SAD, because he's dead. ES doesn't give a rat's ass, ALL he cared about was the jump. Death realizes that living your life to the fullest is better then living longer and boring(er)

Story 2.) Death wants to END Evil Stevil's life. Story begins, blahblah, ES chokes, Death comes in, EGGS HIM ON, tries to take him, ES slaps him away, saves himself. Evil stevil says JUMP WORKS! Death says NO WAY (This time he's HAPPY, since ES might die) and tries to make it go as fast as possible. ES does jump, lands it, dies. Death is HAPPY, since he's dead. ES doesn't give a rat's ass, All he cared about was the jump. Death realizes (again) that dying once a dream is accomplished is no loss at all.

So it might be redundant, but I am just trying to point out the both ways could work EQUALLY. SOME might point out that there should still be a moment in story 1 where Death realizes he has to let Evil Stevil go, but, I feel like that could be the very END of the story, so he's all worried and terrified the entire jump, towards the end he starts cheering for him, he's ECSTATIC when he makes it, then suddenly devastated when he fails, but ES shows him that it's not a huge deal.

Of course, this is only what's turning in my addled brain, so if anyone thinks this is a terrible interpretation of it, feel free to change my mind! I love seeing other people coming up with ideas, so I can't wait to hear what other people come up with.

I am still undecided which version I like better, but that will change as we hear other people's ideas!

Come on everyone :) Either make a new post or add on to another one. If we can't meet up we can always talk here.

-Tracy

P.S I think when we're going through the story, we need to have more solid answers for certain questions, pertaining to a character's personality. We need to be SURE of ourselves in this, imo if we're not confident, the audience won't feel it either, and it needs to be either YES, or NO, or YES/NO with an exception, and the exception needs to be JUSTIFIED CLEARLY. EG: Does Evil Stevil ever say thankyou/sorry. NO. ONE exception is at the end where he is dead (old leica btw) and he vaguely thanks Death for saving his fanny, because well, Death DID save his fanny. EG#2: Would new Death (ie evil stevil hatin death) KILL people outright instead of waiting for him to die? NO, never, yadda yadda something. Does that make sense? I feel like if we are more certain about what a character is likely to do, the certainty reflects on how solid the character is

5 comments:

Frank Macchia said...

i def agree with you tracy...if people have issues with the story...they need to offer a solution...people cant just say "i dont like the oarachute part." and thats it...that doesn't help at all...we need to say what we dislike, but then offer a solution

Frank Macchia said...

I was just thinking about your post tracy...you raise a really interesting point in regards to who similar the stories are with the different character ization of death...so at that point..it becomes a practical decision...which take on death can our story benefit from more?

Death wants evil stevil to live:

Pro:
- more emotionally rich
- deeper characters
- more unique

Con:
- requires more of an explanation
- more time
- less opportunity for humour

Death wants ES to die:

Pro:
- simpler
- shorter
- more opportunity for humour

Con:
- cliche
- flatter characters

it all depends on what kind of a film we want to make...do we want the heart felt epic?...or the managable comedy?

Frank Macchia said...

haha i just caught something else now...youre so right with the certanty!...i know, i know...rich characters...character arcs...character growth..blah blah blah...but in a short film..doesnt that just confuse? how can you have a character grow and change in under 4 minutes and have it believable and not feel rushed?...i dont think you can...easily. we need certanty, clarity. Death needs to be like THIS, evil stevil needs to be like THIS, with no excpetion, except a slight one at the end. I agree wit hyou 100% tracy...clear cut characters will make our film feel a lot tighter, rather than flakey characters who change and flip back and forth...they need to clearly contrast...Death needs to be a clear bad guy...ES needs to be a clear good guy. or visa versa...depending on how we go with it

i feel that ES is more of a hero in the version where death is his adversary...in the version where death wants ES to live...its almost like Death is the hero...which makes ES what? a second hero?...a villian?..its not clear

Jason (Joonhyuk) Park said...

I personally like the version when Death tries to take Stevil, but Stevil's too stubborn to die.

The first story has rich character and story. But that likely means we lose some humour and it will require too much time as we all saw in Leica. As much as I like the first story, I think we will need more than 4 minutes to make it as good as we want and not very rushed.

The second story I think we won't have too much trouble fitting it in 3 minutes while maintaining lots of comedy. I thought that was our original goal in September... To have a short funny film?

But I'm not much of a story person so that's just my humble opinion. >.<

Frank Macchia said...

hey man, your opinions appreciated...i think your right on the ball in refering back to our original goal of quality not quantity