Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Links to my Work
This is the link to my website with all my work:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/
This is the specific link for my Final Learning Essay:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/FinalLearningEssay.html
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/
This is the specific link for my Final Learning Essay:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/FinalLearningEssay.html
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Link to Screenplay
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/MachinimaScreenplay.html
There's also a link to a PDF version of the screenplay. To view the PDF version, just click on the link "PDF SCREENPLAY"
There's also a link to a PDF version of the screenplay. To view the PDF version, just click on the link "PDF SCREENPLAY"
ScreenPlay
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bxlssk-WiEdfYWIyNjc2ZTMtNWMyNS00ODhkLTk1ZTUtM2ViMTlhMzgwOGRk&hl=en
I was having issues with my website. I uploaded it to a google doc and added you to see it.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Script
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WhNgyxI6vsxVpUPm-053NEm3PKANkApa5LGRT1-tMFg/edit?hl=en
Having publishing problems
Having publishing problems
Final Screenplay
Here is a link to my final Screenplay. The link is at the bottom of the page
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/mbanerjee/storypitch.html
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/mbanerjee/storypitch.html
Monday, May 9, 2011
Screenplay
PLAIN BLACK TITLE PAGE
ABRUPT ENTRANCE INTO SCENE
Camera angle is aerial and askew – MARCUS YALLOW (normal looking young male) sits on a park bench – seems to be Spring – he is motionless and life moves around him.
MARCUS (V.O.)
My name is Marcus Yallow.
(Abruptly looks up and focuses on a woman with a severe haircut (CARRIE) across the park)
Out loud: It couldn’t be.
FLASHBACK – CARRIE is interrogating MARCUS.
CARRIE
Well, hello again. We won’t let you die. If you stop breathing, we’ll make sure you start again. So don’t worry about it. (marcus coughs) See? Not so bad. Welcome home, M1k3y. We’ve got somewhere very special to take you.
(Take him to prison)
Do you know what waterboarding is, M1k3y? You get strapped down like this and we pour water over you head, up your nose, down yourmouth………You won’t be able to fight the feeling that you’re dying.
FLASH INTO PRESENT.
MARCUS (V.O.)
She tortured me out of spite. She exacted revenge for a crime I never committed. All I ever did was stand up for something I believed to be true. Maybe I broke her rules, but I never once forgot the Constitution. They took away my freedoms and she took away my youth. My dignity.
FLASH TO PRESENT
MARCUS (V.O.)
I wasn’t the only one who lost something. I wasn’t the only one….
FLASHBACK – DARRYL is sitting at a desk with his hands tied behind his back, with CARRIE standing over him. He is crying. Scene switches to view of DARRYL thrown in a jail cell.
MARCUS (V.O.)
Darryl was my best friend. He took things a lot worse than I did. He was there for so long. I just don’t think he will ever be the same.
SCENE FLASHES – Darryl is being rescued by Marcus. They stand awkwardly looking at each other.
FLASH TO PRESENT – MARCUS is still restless on the bench.
FLASHBACK – Marcus is talking to MRS.YALLOW (older woman) who has her hand on his shoulder and appears to be consoling him while they look at a newspaper.
MARCUS
I can’t believe she went free. (Pause) There just isn’t any justice. We suffered so much and we can never go back. I just want to make her feel my pain. If I ever saw her (Pause) I don’t even know what I would do.
FLASHBACK – Messy, dark bedroom. MARCUS is curled up on the bed next to ANGE (young, pretty female). He is crying while she attempts to console him. She obviously gets no reaction, but stays anyway.
FLASHBACK – MARCUS is sitting alone on a couch staring at a blank TV. A moment goes by and then MR. and MRS. YALLOW enter the room and sit on either side of him on the couch.
FLASHBACK – MARCUS sitting at a computer typing. ANGE is with him. MARCUS is intent on something.
MARCUS (V.O.)
If it were not for my parents (pause) and Ange, I don’t know what I would have done. I would not have been the person I am today. I would not have found my passion.
FLASH INTO PRESENT – ANGE is standing in front of the bench, seeming unsure. She sits down next to MARCUS, follows his gaze and sees CARRIE. ANGE tentatively grabs MARCUS’S hand. MARCUS is sheepish, pulls his hand away and stands up. MARCUS looks at the woman across the park. He turns back to ANGE.
MARCUS
Let’s get out of here.
ANGLE SWITCHES to a view of MARCUS and ANGE walking away hand in hand.
MARCUS (V.O.)
There is no going back, but really, I suppose, there is no time like the present.
FLASH to a scene of DARRYL alone in a messy house with his head in his hands.
BLACK.
ABRUPT ENTRANCE INTO SCENE
Camera angle is aerial and askew – MARCUS YALLOW (normal looking young male) sits on a park bench – seems to be Spring – he is motionless and life moves around him.
MARCUS (V.O.)
My name is Marcus Yallow.
(Abruptly looks up and focuses on a woman with a severe haircut (CARRIE) across the park)
Out loud: It couldn’t be.
FLASHBACK – CARRIE is interrogating MARCUS.
CARRIE
Well, hello again. We won’t let you die. If you stop breathing, we’ll make sure you start again. So don’t worry about it. (marcus coughs) See? Not so bad. Welcome home, M1k3y. We’ve got somewhere very special to take you.
(Take him to prison)
Do you know what waterboarding is, M1k3y? You get strapped down like this and we pour water over you head, up your nose, down yourmouth………You won’t be able to fight the feeling that you’re dying.
FLASH INTO PRESENT.
MARCUS (V.O.)
She tortured me out of spite. She exacted revenge for a crime I never committed. All I ever did was stand up for something I believed to be true. Maybe I broke her rules, but I never once forgot the Constitution. They took away my freedoms and she took away my youth. My dignity.
FLASH TO PRESENT
MARCUS (V.O.)
I wasn’t the only one who lost something. I wasn’t the only one….
FLASHBACK – DARRYL is sitting at a desk with his hands tied behind his back, with CARRIE standing over him. He is crying. Scene switches to view of DARRYL thrown in a jail cell.
MARCUS (V.O.)
Darryl was my best friend. He took things a lot worse than I did. He was there for so long. I just don’t think he will ever be the same.
SCENE FLASHES – Darryl is being rescued by Marcus. They stand awkwardly looking at each other.
FLASH TO PRESENT – MARCUS is still restless on the bench.
FLASHBACK – Marcus is talking to MRS.YALLOW (older woman) who has her hand on his shoulder and appears to be consoling him while they look at a newspaper.
MARCUS
I can’t believe she went free. (Pause) There just isn’t any justice. We suffered so much and we can never go back. I just want to make her feel my pain. If I ever saw her (Pause) I don’t even know what I would do.
FLASHBACK – Messy, dark bedroom. MARCUS is curled up on the bed next to ANGE (young, pretty female). He is crying while she attempts to console him. She obviously gets no reaction, but stays anyway.
FLASHBACK – MARCUS is sitting alone on a couch staring at a blank TV. A moment goes by and then MR. and MRS. YALLOW enter the room and sit on either side of him on the couch.
FLASHBACK – MARCUS sitting at a computer typing. ANGE is with him. MARCUS is intent on something.
MARCUS (V.O.)
If it were not for my parents (pause) and Ange, I don’t know what I would have done. I would not have been the person I am today. I would not have found my passion.
FLASH INTO PRESENT – ANGE is standing in front of the bench, seeming unsure. She sits down next to MARCUS, follows his gaze and sees CARRIE. ANGE tentatively grabs MARCUS’S hand. MARCUS is sheepish, pulls his hand away and stands up. MARCUS looks at the woman across the park. He turns back to ANGE.
MARCUS
Let’s get out of here.
ANGLE SWITCHES to a view of MARCUS and ANGE walking away hand in hand.
MARCUS (V.O.)
There is no going back, but really, I suppose, there is no time like the present.
FLASH to a scene of DARRYL alone in a messy house with his head in his hands.
BLACK.
rough screenplay
James Satterberg The Watcher
John Davidson pulls into his parking space at the Department of Homeland Security, and walks into the building and walks down a long hallway. As he walks , we hear John’s voice in the background, though his lips do not move.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: The boss called me in earlier than usual. I didn’t mind. I loved my job. As far as I knew, it was another day at the office.
John walks into the office, a large room filled with computers and TV monitors used for surveillance. John is about to walk past Greg’s desk, but Greg stops him.
GREG: Hey John, tough loss for those Redskins yesterday.
JOHN: Tell me about it Greg.
GREG: Maybe you oughtta teach them how to tackle, huh?
Greg laughs at his own joke. John does not.
GREG: Well, other than that, how was your weekend?
JOHN: I worked all weekend. They wanted me to come in. Lauren was out of town. I figured I might as well.
GREG: Wow, do you ever take a moment off?
John begins to walk away to his nearby desk.
JOHN: Later, Greg.
GREG: Later, John.
John walks to his desk and sits down. As he sits, the monologue returns.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: I sat down and got to work. I’m a button pusher. My main job is to monitor the security cameras we placed all around the city. If I see anybody committing crimes, I push a button. Then the cops show up.
John is sitting at the computer at this point. The camera flashes to show the monitor showing a street from the point of view of a security camera. The monologue continues.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: You know how some kids like to shine a magnifying glass onto bugs and watch them burn? My job’s just like that.
On the monitor, two bums are fighting in an alley
JOHN: Take it inside, drunkies. Inside a cell.
John presses a button. The camera goes to the monitor, and a cop car shows up.
GREG: Hey John, I see some suspicious characters on the corner of Oak and Lincoln. You should take a look.
JOHN: I’m on it.
Three male teenagers are standing on the street corner. They are joking around, doing nothing.
JOHN: Truancy and loitering. Probably have drugs too. Party’s over boys.
John presses the button. Four cop cars show up.
GREG: Check out this guy on 26th. Looks like he’s trying to run from something.
John’s monitor turns to a man running down the sidewalk.
JOHN: Let’s see if he has a reason.
John pushes the button. A cop car cuts off the running man.
GREG: Nice work John. I’m going to get some coffee, you want any?
JOHN: Sure.
Greg walks out of the room. John looks around and presses a button marked WIFE TRACKER. The screen changes to show Lauren, wearing sunglasses and a dress, walking down the street. She sees a man, they hug, and they walk together holding hands.
JOHN: Who the hell is that?
John reaches for his phone and dials a number. Lauren answers on the monitor.
JOHN: Hey baby, just calling to see what you’re up to.
LAUREN: I keep telling you, you don’t have to do that ten times a day, John. I’m at work.
JOHN: At work?
LAUREN: Yep. I have to go to a meeting now. Love You.
JOHN: Love you too.
Lauren hangs up.
JOHN: What’s going on here?
Lauren and her male friend get into a car and drive away.
JOHN: I have to see what this is about.
The camera follows Lauren and the Mystery Man as they walk to a car, enter the car and drive away. The camera follows the car, abruptly switching angles, implying that John is watching this on his computer using security cameras. The car pulls up to the driveway of a house, and Lauren and MM go inside. The camera switches back to John’s stunned face. Greg walks back into the room with coffee.
GREG: John, I have your coffee here (John turns to him with the same stunned expression) What happened to you?
John quickly gets up and runs to Greg
JOHN: Greg, what would you do if you thought you saw your wife sneaking around with another man?
GREG: Well, with Stacy I don’t think that I really have to worry about-
JOHN: (yelling) DAMMIT GREG, THIS IS NOT A HYPOTHETICAL, WHAT WOULD YOU DO!?!?
GREG: (scared) uh, uh, I‘d probably follow them.
JOHN: THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!
John runs past Greg and out of the office
GREG: Do you still want your coffee?
The camera follows John as he runs out of the office and into his car. He starts the car, and there is a very short scene where he is driving the car to fast, intense music. John then pulls up to the house, gets out of the car, runs to the door, pauses, then opens the door and enters.
John enters to find that he is alone in a quiet, empty living room. However, he hears a woman screaming out from a nearby doorway, which the camera flashes to. John walks to the doorway, pulls his gun out, and opens the door.
Inside he finds Lauren sitting alone on a made bed. There is a radio next to her.
LAUREN: JOHN, PUT THE GUN DOWN!!
John puts the gun away.
JOHN: What is going on here Lauren?
LAUREN: John, for a long time now, I have felt like wherever, I am, no matter what I am doing, I can’t ever be alone.
JOHN: Look, baby-
LAUREN: (interrupts) John, I love you, but I can’t get away from you. You call me twenty times a day. You always want to know where I am and what I’m doing. I needed to know how much you spied on me. John, this was a setup.
JOHN: What do you mean, a setup?
LAUREN: I figured you might be spying on me at when you’re work, but I needed to know. That man I was with is a friend from college. He agreed to help. We aren’t having an affair, and he’s gay anyway. It doesn’t matter anymore now. I’m leaving you.
JOHN: Lauren, baby, please, I Love you. I just need to know that you’re safe.
LAUREN: There is a thin line between feeling safe and feeling caged, and with you I crossed that line a long time ago. You had your gun out when you came in. Were you going to shoot me if I had been cheating on you?
JOHN: I thought something bad might have been happening to you. I wanted to protect you.
LAUREN: Protect me? You clearly don’t trust me, and if you can’t trust me, you don’t respect me. I can’t be with someone that doesn’t respect me. I going to my lawyer and getting a restraining order against you.
Lauren gets up and begins to walk out the door.
JOHN: Lauren, don’t do this to me please, I Love You, I Need you!!
LAUREN: I’ll send someone to get my things. I’ll be moving far away. Goodbye, John.
The Camera follows Lauren as she goes to the car she arrived in, gets in, and leaves. The camera goes back to John in the bedroom alone. John pulls his gun back out. He looks at it, then puts it back, and walks out the door.
Credits Roll
John Davidson pulls into his parking space at the Department of Homeland Security, and walks into the building and walks down a long hallway. As he walks , we hear John’s voice in the background, though his lips do not move.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: The boss called me in earlier than usual. I didn’t mind. I loved my job. As far as I knew, it was another day at the office.
John walks into the office, a large room filled with computers and TV monitors used for surveillance. John is about to walk past Greg’s desk, but Greg stops him.
GREG: Hey John, tough loss for those Redskins yesterday.
JOHN: Tell me about it Greg.
GREG: Maybe you oughtta teach them how to tackle, huh?
Greg laughs at his own joke. John does not.
GREG: Well, other than that, how was your weekend?
JOHN: I worked all weekend. They wanted me to come in. Lauren was out of town. I figured I might as well.
GREG: Wow, do you ever take a moment off?
John begins to walk away to his nearby desk.
JOHN: Later, Greg.
GREG: Later, John.
John walks to his desk and sits down. As he sits, the monologue returns.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: I sat down and got to work. I’m a button pusher. My main job is to monitor the security cameras we placed all around the city. If I see anybody committing crimes, I push a button. Then the cops show up.
John is sitting at the computer at this point. The camera flashes to show the monitor showing a street from the point of view of a security camera. The monologue continues.
JOHN Voiceover monologue: You know how some kids like to shine a magnifying glass onto bugs and watch them burn? My job’s just like that.
On the monitor, two bums are fighting in an alley
JOHN: Take it inside, drunkies. Inside a cell.
John presses a button. The camera goes to the monitor, and a cop car shows up.
GREG: Hey John, I see some suspicious characters on the corner of Oak and Lincoln. You should take a look.
JOHN: I’m on it.
Three male teenagers are standing on the street corner. They are joking around, doing nothing.
JOHN: Truancy and loitering. Probably have drugs too. Party’s over boys.
John presses the button. Four cop cars show up.
GREG: Check out this guy on 26th. Looks like he’s trying to run from something.
John’s monitor turns to a man running down the sidewalk.
JOHN: Let’s see if he has a reason.
John pushes the button. A cop car cuts off the running man.
GREG: Nice work John. I’m going to get some coffee, you want any?
JOHN: Sure.
Greg walks out of the room. John looks around and presses a button marked WIFE TRACKER. The screen changes to show Lauren, wearing sunglasses and a dress, walking down the street. She sees a man, they hug, and they walk together holding hands.
JOHN: Who the hell is that?
John reaches for his phone and dials a number. Lauren answers on the monitor.
JOHN: Hey baby, just calling to see what you’re up to.
LAUREN: I keep telling you, you don’t have to do that ten times a day, John. I’m at work.
JOHN: At work?
LAUREN: Yep. I have to go to a meeting now. Love You.
JOHN: Love you too.
Lauren hangs up.
JOHN: What’s going on here?
Lauren and her male friend get into a car and drive away.
JOHN: I have to see what this is about.
The camera follows Lauren and the Mystery Man as they walk to a car, enter the car and drive away. The camera follows the car, abruptly switching angles, implying that John is watching this on his computer using security cameras. The car pulls up to the driveway of a house, and Lauren and MM go inside. The camera switches back to John’s stunned face. Greg walks back into the room with coffee.
GREG: John, I have your coffee here (John turns to him with the same stunned expression) What happened to you?
John quickly gets up and runs to Greg
JOHN: Greg, what would you do if you thought you saw your wife sneaking around with another man?
GREG: Well, with Stacy I don’t think that I really have to worry about-
JOHN: (yelling) DAMMIT GREG, THIS IS NOT A HYPOTHETICAL, WHAT WOULD YOU DO!?!?
GREG: (scared) uh, uh, I‘d probably follow them.
JOHN: THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!
John runs past Greg and out of the office
GREG: Do you still want your coffee?
The camera follows John as he runs out of the office and into his car. He starts the car, and there is a very short scene where he is driving the car to fast, intense music. John then pulls up to the house, gets out of the car, runs to the door, pauses, then opens the door and enters.
John enters to find that he is alone in a quiet, empty living room. However, he hears a woman screaming out from a nearby doorway, which the camera flashes to. John walks to the doorway, pulls his gun out, and opens the door.
Inside he finds Lauren sitting alone on a made bed. There is a radio next to her.
LAUREN: JOHN, PUT THE GUN DOWN!!
John puts the gun away.
JOHN: What is going on here Lauren?
LAUREN: John, for a long time now, I have felt like wherever, I am, no matter what I am doing, I can’t ever be alone.
JOHN: Look, baby-
LAUREN: (interrupts) John, I love you, but I can’t get away from you. You call me twenty times a day. You always want to know where I am and what I’m doing. I needed to know how much you spied on me. John, this was a setup.
JOHN: What do you mean, a setup?
LAUREN: I figured you might be spying on me at when you’re work, but I needed to know. That man I was with is a friend from college. He agreed to help. We aren’t having an affair, and he’s gay anyway. It doesn’t matter anymore now. I’m leaving you.
JOHN: Lauren, baby, please, I Love you. I just need to know that you’re safe.
LAUREN: There is a thin line between feeling safe and feeling caged, and with you I crossed that line a long time ago. You had your gun out when you came in. Were you going to shoot me if I had been cheating on you?
JOHN: I thought something bad might have been happening to you. I wanted to protect you.
LAUREN: Protect me? You clearly don’t trust me, and if you can’t trust me, you don’t respect me. I can’t be with someone that doesn’t respect me. I going to my lawyer and getting a restraining order against you.
Lauren gets up and begins to walk out the door.
JOHN: Lauren, don’t do this to me please, I Love You, I Need you!!
LAUREN: I’ll send someone to get my things. I’ll be moving far away. Goodbye, John.
The Camera follows Lauren as she goes to the car she arrived in, gets in, and leaves. The camera goes back to John in the bedroom alone. John pulls his gun back out. He looks at it, then puts it back, and walks out the door.
Credits Roll
Scene 1:
Marcus’ House
Marcus, although only a teenager, receives a phone call from the DHS in regards to a possible position at the DHS.
Marcus: “Hello”
Woman on phone: “We need you”
Marcus: responds hesitantly: “Whatever you need”
Scene finishes with camera fading out from Marcus’ face.
Scene 2: Marcus at DHS headquarters finds out what he needs to do
Man: “Marcus we need your expertise to fix this mess”
Marcus: “What mess?”
Man: “Surveillance”
Marcus nods and the camera pans around the room centered around Marcus and the man as they continue to talk.
Scene 3: Marcus is watching surveillance tapes and sees surveillance trucks driving by, people being interrogated.
Marcus: “This is ridiculous, this can’t go on.”
Camera zooms in on another security tape of Marcus’ friends being interrogated on the street
Scene 4: Marcus goes on TV and makes a speech.
Marcus: “It has come to my attention that surveillance is ruining the lives of so many innocent people and I am here to inform all of you that I hereby remove all effective means of surveillance.”
Camera flashes to homes of people jumping up and down cheering and everyone is excited. Following the same themes the book Marcus holds the same view on surveillance and begins to rapidly eradicate all forms of surveillance because he believes society will be able to function properly without any forms of surveillance. Surveillance trucks no longer patrol the streets and the only form of enforcement is the police.
Scene 4: Filming Marcus walking down the streets
Everyone is excited and everyone is behaving perfectly. No disorder.
Scene 5: 2 Weeks later. The city is going crazy, terrorist attacks are something to expect and the down is in utter chaos. Marcus has no security tapes to look at so he walks down the street and becomes a victim of robbery.
Robber: “Give me your wallet”
Marcus: “Do you know who I am?”
Robber: “You’re the man who made this robbery possible”
Scene 6: Once San Francisco becomes a free for all, Marcus steps in and executes his authority over all of the citizens. Marcus then falls for the power fallacy, the abuse of power. Marcus with his sudden increase in power becomes worse than Severe Haircut lady.
The camera starts with Marcus lying in bed when he suddenly realizes he needs to step in. We watch as Marcus talks to other DHS employees and he formulates a plan.
Scene 7: He begins installing key loggers in everyone’s computers, Internet spyware, webcam monitors and changes society into the most invasive society. Everyone in society is being detained, even his friends.
Scene 8: With this a new form of rebellion takes place but does not target Marcus the same way Marcus targeted the DHS. The rebellion is violent and small mobs of people gathered to capture Marcus
Scene 9: The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he is the absolute leader.
Scene 10: Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus.
Scene 11: When Marcus finally has enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs.
Scene 12: They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
Marcus’ House
Marcus, although only a teenager, receives a phone call from the DHS in regards to a possible position at the DHS.
Marcus: “Hello”
Woman on phone: “We need you”
Marcus: responds hesitantly: “Whatever you need”
Scene finishes with camera fading out from Marcus’ face.
Scene 2: Marcus at DHS headquarters finds out what he needs to do
Man: “Marcus we need your expertise to fix this mess”
Marcus: “What mess?”
Man: “Surveillance”
Marcus nods and the camera pans around the room centered around Marcus and the man as they continue to talk.
Scene 3: Marcus is watching surveillance tapes and sees surveillance trucks driving by, people being interrogated.
Marcus: “This is ridiculous, this can’t go on.”
Camera zooms in on another security tape of Marcus’ friends being interrogated on the street
Scene 4: Marcus goes on TV and makes a speech.
Marcus: “It has come to my attention that surveillance is ruining the lives of so many innocent people and I am here to inform all of you that I hereby remove all effective means of surveillance.”
Camera flashes to homes of people jumping up and down cheering and everyone is excited. Following the same themes the book Marcus holds the same view on surveillance and begins to rapidly eradicate all forms of surveillance because he believes society will be able to function properly without any forms of surveillance. Surveillance trucks no longer patrol the streets and the only form of enforcement is the police.
Scene 4: Filming Marcus walking down the streets
Everyone is excited and everyone is behaving perfectly. No disorder.
Scene 5: 2 Weeks later. The city is going crazy, terrorist attacks are something to expect and the down is in utter chaos. Marcus has no security tapes to look at so he walks down the street and becomes a victim of robbery.
Robber: “Give me your wallet”
Marcus: “Do you know who I am?”
Robber: “You’re the man who made this robbery possible”
Scene 6: Once San Francisco becomes a free for all, Marcus steps in and executes his authority over all of the citizens. Marcus then falls for the power fallacy, the abuse of power. Marcus with his sudden increase in power becomes worse than Severe Haircut lady.
The camera starts with Marcus lying in bed when he suddenly realizes he needs to step in. We watch as Marcus talks to other DHS employees and he formulates a plan.
Scene 7: He begins installing key loggers in everyone’s computers, Internet spyware, webcam monitors and changes society into the most invasive society. Everyone in society is being detained, even his friends.
Scene 8: With this a new form of rebellion takes place but does not target Marcus the same way Marcus targeted the DHS. The rebellion is violent and small mobs of people gathered to capture Marcus
Scene 9: The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he is the absolute leader.
Scene 10: Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus.
Scene 11: When Marcus finally has enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs.
Scene 12: They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
ScreenPlay Discussion & XtraNormal Movie
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/MachinimaScreenplay.html
For my screenplay, I wrote an epilogue for Little Brother. My story is about Marcus gaining control of the government after the events of Little Brother and becoming a corrupt leader. My main characters are Jolu and Van, who are trying to stop Marcus. I wanted my story to have some type of interesting twist. Thus, I began the story with Van being captured and Jolu thinking it was Marcus's doing. However, Jolu later finds out that Van faked the abduction and has formed a rebel group to fight against Marcus. I thought that my storyline was fairly interesting and would suck the audience in. However, some problems was that I couldn't really get great character development. Also, my ending doesn't really END the story. It's more of an ending that implies what will happen, but doesn't show it. I made it this way because there wasn't enough time to fit a whole lot into a 5 minute film. Even with these shortcomings, I feel like my screenplay was very well done. I just need to shorten the dialogue if anything.
Xtranormal Short Video URL:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/MachinimaXtranormal.html
For my screenplay, I wrote an epilogue for Little Brother. My story is about Marcus gaining control of the government after the events of Little Brother and becoming a corrupt leader. My main characters are Jolu and Van, who are trying to stop Marcus. I wanted my story to have some type of interesting twist. Thus, I began the story with Van being captured and Jolu thinking it was Marcus's doing. However, Jolu later finds out that Van faked the abduction and has formed a rebel group to fight against Marcus. I thought that my storyline was fairly interesting and would suck the audience in. However, some problems was that I couldn't really get great character development. Also, my ending doesn't really END the story. It's more of an ending that implies what will happen, but doesn't show it. I made it this way because there wasn't enough time to fit a whole lot into a 5 minute film. Even with these shortcomings, I feel like my screenplay was very well done. I just need to shorten the dialogue if anything.
Xtranormal Short Video URL:
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/smyoung/MachinimaXtranormal.html
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Outline
Scene 1: Marcus, although only a teenager, receives a phone call from the DHS in regards to a possible position at the DHS.
Scene 2: Marcus finds out that he is asked to become the president of the DHS and that they are in desperate need of a new security policy.
Scene 3 following the same themes the book Marcus holds the same view on surveillance and begins to rapidly eradicate all forms of surveillance because he believes society will be able to function properly without any forms of surveillance. Surveillance trucks no longer patrol the streets and the only form of enforcement is the police.
Scene 4: With that being the case society begins to go out of control because the town is no longer under heavy fire by the DHS.
Scene 5: Once San Francisco becomes a free for all, Marcus steps in and executes his authority over all of the citizens. Marcus then falls for the power fallacy, the abuse of power. Marcus with his sudden increase in power becomes worse than Severe Haircut lady.
Scene 6: He begins installing key loggers in everyone’s computers, internet spyware, webcam monitors and changes society into the most invasive society. With this a new form of rebellion takes place but does not target Marcus the same way Marcus targeted the DHS.
Scene 7: The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he is the absolute leader. Scene 8: Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus.
Scene 9: When Marcus finally has enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs.
Scene 10: They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
Scene 2: Marcus finds out that he is asked to become the president of the DHS and that they are in desperate need of a new security policy.
Scene 3 following the same themes the book Marcus holds the same view on surveillance and begins to rapidly eradicate all forms of surveillance because he believes society will be able to function properly without any forms of surveillance. Surveillance trucks no longer patrol the streets and the only form of enforcement is the police.
Scene 4: With that being the case society begins to go out of control because the town is no longer under heavy fire by the DHS.
Scene 5: Once San Francisco becomes a free for all, Marcus steps in and executes his authority over all of the citizens. Marcus then falls for the power fallacy, the abuse of power. Marcus with his sudden increase in power becomes worse than Severe Haircut lady.
Scene 6: He begins installing key loggers in everyone’s computers, internet spyware, webcam monitors and changes society into the most invasive society. With this a new form of rebellion takes place but does not target Marcus the same way Marcus targeted the DHS.
Scene 7: The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he is the absolute leader. Scene 8: Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus.
Scene 9: When Marcus finally has enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs.
Scene 10: They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
"The Disappeared" Scene by Scene Outline
1) A young man, Crow and his beautiful girlfriend, Robin, are sitting peacefully under a tree during a hot summer day in the park. They are enjoying each other’s company and cuddling; they are lovers. Enter scene with them randomly talking. Robin nonchalantly asks Crow if he’s heard about the mysterious abductions in San Francisco recently. Apparently, the population is becoming more scared that they will be abducted next, and people are beginning to act paranoid and crazy.
2) Robin gets up and walks towards a nearby water fountain. Before she reaches the fountain she is taken against her will (struggles to escape) by two men in dark suits and thrown into a nearby van. The van takes off almost immediately afterwards.
3) Crow jolts and runs through the city after them, screaming and yelling for them to stop, trying to catch up to his girlfriend. He eventually loses the van and kneels down, panting and tired. He cries out in despair.
4) Crow returns back to his and Robin’s apartment. Bent on finding his girlfriend before something happens to her, he uses his superior skills in technology to hack and infiltrate the city’s numerous security cameras. Using the recordings, he is able to pinpoint an area that he assumes the headquarters of the kidnappers. He rushes off.
5) Crow is seen getting off a bus, nearby what seems to be a dark abandoned building. Crow secretly infiltrates the headquarters and makes his way into the central room, where he finds his beloved Robin. However something is amiss, Robin isn’t in danger, and she is leading the organization of abductors. Crow is shocked and speechless, eventually demanding she explain what’s going on. Robin reveals that people themselves ask to be kidnapped in order to escape the government (which has been recently turning more Totalitarianism) and fake their own death to leave their old identity behind and start up a new life elsewhere. Robin is sorry for not telling Crow the truth and explains she had to fake her kidnapping to get the police off of her trail. Crow takes it all in, then bursts out that this is ludicrous. He says that these abductions have been affecting the population very negatively and that the families of the disappeared are probably worried. He takes off without letting Robin say another word; Robin lets him leave without causality.
6) Crow is walking on the street, talking to himself. He is thinking of turning in Robin and her secret group to the police/government. Crow thinks that it isn’t right for a few people (minority) to escape life and get what they want, when it will affect everyone else (majority) and make them fearful of abductions they think lead to murder.
7) He’s near the local police station now, about to enter, when he sees something. Three police men are beating up a woman wearing a business suit. He overhears the policemen saying something along the lines of “We warned you once already! No one can leave this state, the government forbids it! This is your punishment, and if you try something like this again, you’ll get worse!” Crow stops, and realizes what’s happening to his beloved state. The government situation is truly becoming a problem, overpowered by greed and corruption. He realizes that not only a select few need to escape this now becoming hell hole, but that everyone would benefit from leaving if they knew how. He runs back towards the abandoned building.
8) Crow rushes in and interrupts Robin, mid in conversation with a man. Crow tells her he would love to help their organization, that he realizes that the state has become evil and that people need help leaving/escaping. Crow explains that Robin has been right. If the people can escape, then the government has no one to govern over, and that’s how they will be stopped! Robin nods in agreement.
9) Garbed in black, Robin, Crow, and two others leave the building. You see them walking off into the distance. Screen fades-enter credit scene.
2) Robin gets up and walks towards a nearby water fountain. Before she reaches the fountain she is taken against her will (struggles to escape) by two men in dark suits and thrown into a nearby van. The van takes off almost immediately afterwards.
3) Crow jolts and runs through the city after them, screaming and yelling for them to stop, trying to catch up to his girlfriend. He eventually loses the van and kneels down, panting and tired. He cries out in despair.
4) Crow returns back to his and Robin’s apartment. Bent on finding his girlfriend before something happens to her, he uses his superior skills in technology to hack and infiltrate the city’s numerous security cameras. Using the recordings, he is able to pinpoint an area that he assumes the headquarters of the kidnappers. He rushes off.
5) Crow is seen getting off a bus, nearby what seems to be a dark abandoned building. Crow secretly infiltrates the headquarters and makes his way into the central room, where he finds his beloved Robin. However something is amiss, Robin isn’t in danger, and she is leading the organization of abductors. Crow is shocked and speechless, eventually demanding she explain what’s going on. Robin reveals that people themselves ask to be kidnapped in order to escape the government (which has been recently turning more Totalitarianism) and fake their own death to leave their old identity behind and start up a new life elsewhere. Robin is sorry for not telling Crow the truth and explains she had to fake her kidnapping to get the police off of her trail. Crow takes it all in, then bursts out that this is ludicrous. He says that these abductions have been affecting the population very negatively and that the families of the disappeared are probably worried. He takes off without letting Robin say another word; Robin lets him leave without causality.
6) Crow is walking on the street, talking to himself. He is thinking of turning in Robin and her secret group to the police/government. Crow thinks that it isn’t right for a few people (minority) to escape life and get what they want, when it will affect everyone else (majority) and make them fearful of abductions they think lead to murder.
7) He’s near the local police station now, about to enter, when he sees something. Three police men are beating up a woman wearing a business suit. He overhears the policemen saying something along the lines of “We warned you once already! No one can leave this state, the government forbids it! This is your punishment, and if you try something like this again, you’ll get worse!” Crow stops, and realizes what’s happening to his beloved state. The government situation is truly becoming a problem, overpowered by greed and corruption. He realizes that not only a select few need to escape this now becoming hell hole, but that everyone would benefit from leaving if they knew how. He runs back towards the abandoned building.
8) Crow rushes in and interrupts Robin, mid in conversation with a man. Crow tells her he would love to help their organization, that he realizes that the state has become evil and that people need help leaving/escaping. Crow explains that Robin has been right. If the people can escape, then the government has no one to govern over, and that’s how they will be stopped! Robin nods in agreement.
9) Garbed in black, Robin, Crow, and two others leave the building. You see them walking off into the distance. Screen fades-enter credit scene.
Scene by Scene Script
Mr. Mathers is your typical government worker going to work everyday, performing surveillance tasks for the government then returns home not knowing what the government is exactly doing with the info that he is collecting. You see Sean Mathers works for the Department of Homeland Security, a company hired by the Government to perform surveillance. At first people were skeptical on whether or not it was a good idea to put the job of surveillance in the hands of a outsourced company. The Government however assured the people that strict guidelines and regulations are going to be placed on the DHS. All goes well for awhile till Sean Mathers discovers that the DHS is in fact using the surveillance for their own personal gain and to black mail government officials causing corrupt officials in office. Now Sean Mathers must stand up against the DHS and show the people of the
Scene One
Setting: News Cast
President Barack Obama addresses the nation that due to a need for increase in security and surveillance the
President Obama: Good evening my fellow Americans. Tonight the United States Government is here to inform you that we will be increasing our surveillance of the American Public to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the population. We hope that these steps will help further the growth of our nation. The surveillance will be conducted by a United States Company called the DHS. Through outsourcing we hope to relieve so pressure off of government officials so they can focus on revamping our economy.
Scene two
Home of Sean Mathers
Speaking to his wife Sean sees the making the DHS the head of surveillance an opportunity to get a valuable job and help his family financially. After being a survivor of the 9/11 attacks he thinks the nation needs more security.
Sean: Jane it will be a great job that will help support us financially while helping to maintain a safe country in the process.
Jane: You know I support you in whatever you do. I feel like this will be a nice place for you to get back on your feet after 9/11.
Scene Three:
At the DHS Headquarters Sean receives very minimal information about the company and is told to not leave the room he is in because they cannot miss anything on the cameras.
Scene Four:
While the American population is off at school and work the DHS goes into every home and places cameras in them. They believe that in order to fully do their job that they need to observe the United States citizens while in their homes.
Scene Five:
While sitting on his couch watching television with his wife Sean realizes something odd. There is a black shiny dot that is on the ceiling of his living room. He checks it out and realizes that it is a camera and starts to speculate on what it could be for.
Scene Six:
Sean sneaks into his bosses office while there is an all company meeting and searches the computers. He finds out that the DHS is no longer using the surveillance for means of safety but rather for a means of exploiting the American population.
Scene by Scene outline
Scene 1: John walks down a hallway into the office where he works, which is a room full of computers and TV monitors. A monologue is heard in the background illustrating who John is in the first person, though John's lips do not move. The monologue is in the past tense.
Scene 2: John has a conversation with a Co-worker (Greg), which further illustrates John's background. This short conversation informs the viewer of John’s marital status, his satisfaction with his job, and his future plans (vacation). The purpose of this is to give the viewer a glimpse of John’s personality and background before the events to come.
Scene 3: John pulls up to his chair with a monitor in front. The monologue returns, showing John's thought process as he sits down and starts to work.
Scene 4: Camera goes to the monitor. eventually John's wife (Laura) walks across the screen holding a stranger's hand, as if they are together
Scene 5: Camera flashes to John's face and reaction, then flashes back to moniter as the couple get into a car and drive to a house, all the while being followed virtually by John (variety of camera angles necessary here)
Scene 6: John gets out of the chair, runs out of the office, and runs into his car. There is another monologue illustrating John’s thought processes (feelings of betrayal, planning course of action, etc). The monologue begins when John enters the car and continues as the camera shows john driving to the house.
Scene 7: John parks in front of the house, gets out of the car, and opens the door.
Scene 8: John is alone in the main room of the house. He hears loud shreiks coming from a room with a closed door. John pulls out his handgun and opens the door.
Scene 9: John opens to door to find Laura sitting alone, waiting for him. John puts down the gun. Laura explains to John that she was not really having an affair, but wanted to see if John was using his work to stalk her. John tries to explain, but Laura tells him that she is tired of being watched and wants a divorce. Laura walks out of the room.
Scene 10. John is in the room alone. After a close up of John's face, John leaves behind his gun and his cell phone and walks out of the room.
Scene 2: John has a conversation with a Co-worker (Greg), which further illustrates John's background. This short conversation informs the viewer of John’s marital status, his satisfaction with his job, and his future plans (vacation). The purpose of this is to give the viewer a glimpse of John’s personality and background before the events to come.
Scene 3: John pulls up to his chair with a monitor in front. The monologue returns, showing John's thought process as he sits down and starts to work.
Scene 4: Camera goes to the monitor. eventually John's wife (Laura) walks across the screen holding a stranger's hand, as if they are together
Scene 5: Camera flashes to John's face and reaction, then flashes back to moniter as the couple get into a car and drive to a house, all the while being followed virtually by John (variety of camera angles necessary here)
Scene 6: John gets out of the chair, runs out of the office, and runs into his car. There is another monologue illustrating John’s thought processes (feelings of betrayal, planning course of action, etc). The monologue begins when John enters the car and continues as the camera shows john driving to the house.
Scene 7: John parks in front of the house, gets out of the car, and opens the door.
Scene 8: John is alone in the main room of the house. He hears loud shreiks coming from a room with a closed door. John pulls out his handgun and opens the door.
Scene 9: John opens to door to find Laura sitting alone, waiting for him. John puts down the gun. Laura explains to John that she was not really having an affair, but wanted to see if John was using his work to stalk her. John tries to explain, but Laura tells him that she is tired of being watched and wants a divorce. Laura walks out of the room.
Scene 10. John is in the room alone. After a close up of John's face, John leaves behind his gun and his cell phone and walks out of the room.
scene by scene outline
First Scene:
Alarm goes off and Marcus gets out of bed. He goes to the bathroom and looks in the mirror.
Scene Two: Flashback to the creation of Xnet and all the work he has put in to bring down the DHS.
Scene Three: Gets dressed and leaves house
Scene Four: Meets with girlfriend Masha
Scene Five Flashback to meeting Masha and the strengthening of their relationship.
Scene Six : Masha and Marcus sitting in a café talking about the day before. Masha brings up how the DHS has announced that someone is hacking their system. Marcus makes up a story of what he did the other day. They both get up and leave the café.
Scene: Seven: Masha is walking down the street and she enters a big building. She is patted down by security and enters the elevator.
Scene Eight: Masha is working at her desk and thinks to herself it is rather odd the story Marcus told her about what he did yesterday. Things don’t seem to add up. Someone next to her has cracked into X net and she works on the new lead.
Scene Nine: Marcus is working with Jolu on the X net planning their next move. They’ve made a lot of progress and talk about how close they are to bringing the DHS down once and for all. Marcus finds it suspicious that Masha knows so much about the DHS. How does she know what’s happening before he does?
Scene Ten: Marcus and Masha meet for dinner at an Italian restaurant. They sit and chat for a little about how their days at “work” went, then Masha gets up to use the restroom and leave her phone on the table face up. When Masha is out of sight the phone vibrates and the screen reads “Masha we’ve decrypted X net. We know who’s running it. Call for verification ASAP” Marcus reads the screen looks around the room in confusion shock and panic as music fills the background and he gets up and runs out of the restaurant. Masha comes back and notices Marcus is gone. She reads her phone, runs to the side walk sees no one and calls DHS to confirm that it’s Marcus.
Scene Eleven: Marcus reaches Jolu’s house where he spends the night explaining what happened and how they know it’s him. Jolu freaks and starts packing, but Marcus calms him down and convinces him to help him work through the night to bring the DHS down the next day. They work all night and Jolu passes out. Marcus goes out to get a cup of coffee.
Scene Twelve: Masha is secretly following Marcus around every corner. When he reaches an alley way right before the café she tackles and handcuffs him. She picks him up and brings him inside the coffee shop. She orders a cup and they sit and talk. As Masha explains her story, she flashbacks to being tortured by the DHS and given a choice to either continue being held captive or set free to work with the DHS in bringing down the X net. Marcus explains how close they are to bringing down the DHS. She can join the X netters and bring down the DHS. Masha thinks about it, the camera closes up on her face and tears form in her eyes as she tells him no. She says she has no choice. She picks up and they walk out of the café. Marcus breaks free from Masha’s grip and sprints free.
Scene Thirteen: Marcus shows up in the early hours of the morning at a famous journalist’s doorstep. He begs to come inside and she lets him in. He explains everything to her about the DHS and the X net. She tells Marcus she will do everything in her power to make the story public and hopefully bring down the DHS.
Scene Fourteen: Marcus leaves the journalist house and goes into hiding.
Scene Fifteen: Marcus wakes up the next day and sees the paper headline- DHS ordered to shut down all operations in the State and are being charged with counts of torture and false imprisonment.
Scene Sixteen: Marcus walks to the café. Before he goes inside he sees Masha through the window sitting by herself at a table crying. He stares at her for a few moments reaches for the door but decides to keep walking instead.
Alarm goes off and Marcus gets out of bed. He goes to the bathroom and looks in the mirror.
Scene Two: Flashback to the creation of Xnet and all the work he has put in to bring down the DHS.
Scene Three: Gets dressed and leaves house
Scene Four: Meets with girlfriend Masha
Scene Five Flashback to meeting Masha and the strengthening of their relationship.
Scene Six : Masha and Marcus sitting in a café talking about the day before. Masha brings up how the DHS has announced that someone is hacking their system. Marcus makes up a story of what he did the other day. They both get up and leave the café.
Scene: Seven: Masha is walking down the street and she enters a big building. She is patted down by security and enters the elevator.
Scene Eight: Masha is working at her desk and thinks to herself it is rather odd the story Marcus told her about what he did yesterday. Things don’t seem to add up. Someone next to her has cracked into X net and she works on the new lead.
Scene Nine: Marcus is working with Jolu on the X net planning their next move. They’ve made a lot of progress and talk about how close they are to bringing the DHS down once and for all. Marcus finds it suspicious that Masha knows so much about the DHS. How does she know what’s happening before he does?
Scene Ten: Marcus and Masha meet for dinner at an Italian restaurant. They sit and chat for a little about how their days at “work” went, then Masha gets up to use the restroom and leave her phone on the table face up. When Masha is out of sight the phone vibrates and the screen reads “Masha we’ve decrypted X net. We know who’s running it. Call for verification ASAP” Marcus reads the screen looks around the room in confusion shock and panic as music fills the background and he gets up and runs out of the restaurant. Masha comes back and notices Marcus is gone. She reads her phone, runs to the side walk sees no one and calls DHS to confirm that it’s Marcus.
Scene Eleven: Marcus reaches Jolu’s house where he spends the night explaining what happened and how they know it’s him. Jolu freaks and starts packing, but Marcus calms him down and convinces him to help him work through the night to bring the DHS down the next day. They work all night and Jolu passes out. Marcus goes out to get a cup of coffee.
Scene Twelve: Masha is secretly following Marcus around every corner. When he reaches an alley way right before the café she tackles and handcuffs him. She picks him up and brings him inside the coffee shop. She orders a cup and they sit and talk. As Masha explains her story, she flashbacks to being tortured by the DHS and given a choice to either continue being held captive or set free to work with the DHS in bringing down the X net. Marcus explains how close they are to bringing down the DHS. She can join the X netters and bring down the DHS. Masha thinks about it, the camera closes up on her face and tears form in her eyes as she tells him no. She says she has no choice. She picks up and they walk out of the café. Marcus breaks free from Masha’s grip and sprints free.
Scene Thirteen: Marcus shows up in the early hours of the morning at a famous journalist’s doorstep. He begs to come inside and she lets him in. He explains everything to her about the DHS and the X net. She tells Marcus she will do everything in her power to make the story public and hopefully bring down the DHS.
Scene Fourteen: Marcus leaves the journalist house and goes into hiding.
Scene Fifteen: Marcus wakes up the next day and sees the paper headline- DHS ordered to shut down all operations in the State and are being charged with counts of torture and false imprisonment.
Scene Sixteen: Marcus walks to the café. Before he goes inside he sees Masha through the window sitting by herself at a table crying. He stares at her for a few moments reaches for the door but decides to keep walking instead.
Scene by Scene
Scene Opens with an askew view of a typical young adult male (Marcus) sitting on a bench. The weather is nice. it sppears to be Spring. People are walking around, maybe children playing. Suddenly he looks up and focuses on one woman in particular. She has a very severe haircut. He gasps and says, "It couldn't be."
Flashback into torture scene. The woman is torturing the young man and asking him for information. (Use actual dialogue from book). Inner-monologue continues and he briefly explains what happened.
Flash into present. On park bench. Monologue: "I wasn't the only one who was tortured."
Flashback. Scene is a different young male being tortured, thrown into jail cell. Monologue: My best friend, Darryl, was with me. He will never be the same. Scene flashes to Darryl's rescue and a sad hug between Marcus and Darryl?
Flash into present. Maarcus begins to get restless. Monologue: I can't believe she went free. There is no justice. I suffered so much. Darryl suffered so much. We can never go back. I want to make her feel my pain. But what could I say to someone so evil?
Flashback into messy, dark room. Marcus is curled up on the bed next to young woman (Ange). He seems to be crying.
Flash into present. Ange is standing in front of the bench, seeming unsure. She sits down next to Marcus. Follows his gaze and sees the woman. Ange tentatively grabs Marcus's hand. Marcus is sheepish, pulls his hand away and stands up. Marcus looks at the woman across the park. He turns back to Ange and says, “Let’s get out of here.”
Angle switches to a view of Marcus and Ange walking away hand in hand. Monologue: There is no going back, but really, I suppose, there is no time like the present.”
Flash to scene of Darryl alone in a messy house with his head in his hands. Black.
Flashback into torture scene. The woman is torturing the young man and asking him for information. (Use actual dialogue from book). Inner-monologue continues and he briefly explains what happened.
Flash into present. On park bench. Monologue: "I wasn't the only one who was tortured."
Flashback. Scene is a different young male being tortured, thrown into jail cell. Monologue: My best friend, Darryl, was with me. He will never be the same. Scene flashes to Darryl's rescue and a sad hug between Marcus and Darryl?
Flash into present. Maarcus begins to get restless. Monologue: I can't believe she went free. There is no justice. I suffered so much. Darryl suffered so much. We can never go back. I want to make her feel my pain. But what could I say to someone so evil?
Flashback into messy, dark room. Marcus is curled up on the bed next to young woman (Ange). He seems to be crying.
Flash into present. Ange is standing in front of the bench, seeming unsure. She sits down next to Marcus. Follows his gaze and sees the woman. Ange tentatively grabs Marcus's hand. Marcus is sheepish, pulls his hand away and stands up. Marcus looks at the woman across the park. He turns back to Ange and says, “Let’s get out of here.”
Angle switches to a view of Marcus and Ange walking away hand in hand. Monologue: There is no going back, but really, I suppose, there is no time like the present.”
Flash to scene of Darryl alone in a messy house with his head in his hands. Black.
Daryl has been locked up on DHS Island for 2 months now. He has been tortured, abused, and malnourished. For his close friends Jolu and Marcus hope is beginning to fade and they may have to deal with the fact that their friend died because of their cowardly inability to act. Daryl’s parents have completely given up hope and begin their new life without him. Back on DHS island Daryl overhears a prison guard talking about how the national government is about to crack down on DHS island and that all of the prisoners will be killed in an attempt to destroy evidence. Daryl has many flashbacks to the "good old days" with his father and mother at the parks looking out at DHS island not knowing that in a few short years he would be facing a sense of impending doom. Daryl figured it out. He must escape.
He begins to acquire small ketchup packets. He then takes ketchup packets, puts them together into a jar and begins concentration them in the sun by adding his own source of urea, a nitrogenous base from urine, and stomach acid. He ends up making a batch so potent that it eats through the metal bars that hold him captive. At night he makes his escape. In traditional San Francisco escape fashion he makes a boat from inflated rain coats. Word gets out that a prisoner has escaped and the alarm is sounded. Lights from the watch towers are franticly looking around the ocean. They finally fixate on Daryl. The head DHS agent starts freaking out about what the implications if a prisoner leaked to San Francisco, their whole jig is off. She orders a sharpshooter to take him out. the sharp shooter takes aim, takes the shot and Daryl is hit, only wounded but hit in the leg. He begins to bleed into the ocean. The salt stings his gushing wound. He begins to notice that his improvised raft is beginning to fail. Slowly his raft starts to sink. Fatigued, hypovolemic, and discouraged, he slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, his efforts to escape have failed.
Scene 1
Daryl is locked up on DHS Island, being tortured by some of Carrie’s minions. There is no dialogue just a narrator explaining Daryl’s situation and pertinent events that preceded his arrival on DHS Island.
Scene 2
Daryl goes back to his cell and whimpers; he starts to put together flash back scenes of himself getting walked all over by his friends, different varieties of strength, comes to the conclusion that he does not have a backbone
Scene 3
Starts to try and grow a backbone, he starts mouthing off to the guards and to severe haircut lady. He ends up getting tortured and his few rights taken away but still fights.
Scene 4
His badassery begins to get noticed by other inmates and at lunch he begins to get a small croud of followers.
Scene 5
In his cell Daryl overhears a prison guard talking about how the national government is about to crack down on DHS island and that all of the prisoners will be killed in an attempt to destroy evidence
Scene 6
He begins to acquire small ketchup packets. He then takes ketchup packets, puts them together into a jar and begins concentration them in the sun by adding his own source of urea, a nitrogenous base from urine, and stomach acid. He ends up making a batch so potent that it eats through the metal bars that hold him captive. He makes a raft out of rain jackets.
Scene 7
Him and his cell mates dissolve the metal bars and start their escape
Scene 8
Word gets out that a prisoner has escaped and the alarm is sounded. Lights from the watch towers are franticly looking around the ocean. They finally fixate on Daryl. The head DHS agent starts freaking out about what the implications if a prisoner leaked to San Francisco, their whole jig is off. She orders a sharpshooter to take him out.
Scene 9
Fatigued, hypovolemic, and discouraged, he slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, his efforts to escape have failed.
Escape from DHS Island
Scene 1
--Open with Daryl about to get tortured.
Daryl: I’ve been tortured, abused, and malnourished for what seems like forever... The days have faded together to form a single haunting memory that clouds every bit of my thinking.
--Zoom in on Daryl getting water boarded
Daryl: At first it was just simply question and answer, stern but humane. Then my food got taken away. I guess they thought I was hiding something.
--Show Daryl in his cell looking hungry, clutching his knees to his chest. Show him dirty and fatigued
Daryl: Food came irregularly, when it did it never felt like enough. The pit in my stomach ate at me daily. My gut started to fade. I slowly became numb.
--Go back to Daryl getting tortured by getting burned
Daryl: slowly the agents lost their patience with me; the questioning sessions became torture. The fresh wounds always hurt the longest. My body covered with scars has started losing sensation. Acclimating to their evil is the only way to cope.
…Pause
Daryl: The torture continues, I see no end in sight.
End Scene 1
Scene 2
--Flashback to times with Marcus and friends, at a café getting ignored
Daryl: Hey guys I was thinking we could have people over this weekend to my house.
Marcus: Daryl you know you’re house isn’t that much fun, and your mom doesn’t let us stay up late anyways, lets go to Vans house instead.
Van: Yeah that’s fine, ill have my mom make those noodles you guys like.
Marcus, Jolu: Yeah! Awesome.
Daryl: wait, I can’t stay over at Vans house, my mom wont let me.
Daryl is ignored.
Marcus: This is going to be awesome, Ill bring my extra 2 hard drives, we’ll install them tonight
Daryl: no wait Marcus those are mine you borrowed those
--Daryl looks down at the table while Marcus and Van
Marcus: What’s wrong D? What’s on your mind?
Daryl: well, I just feel like… pause…. oh never mind
Marcus: Alright Daryl, whatever man
--Scene changes back to Daryl’s cell
Daryl: They walked all over me; they only cared about themselves.
--Daryl starts to whimper to himself
Daryl: I shouldn’t have let them treat me like that; I didn’t even stand up for myself, I just took their shit. I can’t let that keep happening, I wont let happen.
Scene 3
Scene opens from Daryl’s POV watching a guard bring him some nasty grub
Guard: Daily special haha
Daryl: looks great, (he throws it back at the guard sternly)
Guard: ohhh a tough guy huh, how about no food for the rest of the weekend?
Daryl: Keep giving me that slop and it’ll keep coming your way
--Camera angle changes to see other prisoner’s cells
Other prisoners start hooting and hollering
Guard to another guard: go grab Carrie and see what she things about this
--Severe Hair cut lady enters smoking a cigarette
Story
My screenplay is a story about Marcus post-rebellion. Marcus, although only a teenager, receives a phone call from the DHS in regards to a possible position at the DHS. Marcus finds out that he is asked to become the president of the DHS and that they are in desperate need of a new security policy. Following the same themes the book Marcus holds the same view on surveillance and begins to rapidly eradicate all forms of surveillance because he believes society will be able to function properly without any forms of surveillance. Surveillance trucks no longer patrol the streets and the only form of enforcement is the police. With that being the case society begins to go out of control because the town is no longer under heavy fire by the DHS. Once San Francisco becomes a free for all, Marcus steps in and executes his authority over all of the citizens. Marcus then falls for the power fallacy, the abuse of power. Marcus with his sudden increase in power becomes worse than Severe Haircut lady. He begins installing keyloggers in everyone’s computers, internet spyware, webcam monitors and changes society into the most invasive society. With this a new form of rebellion takes place but does not target Marcus the same way Marcus targeted the DHS.
The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he the absolute leader. Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus. When Marcus finally as enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs. They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
The citizens of San Francisco continue to rebel and do not let Marcus’ technology affect them at all but Marcus becomes enraged that crime rates continue to rise so instead of targeting people for the sake of stopping terrorism, Marcus targets all of the citizens to show he the absolute leader. Marcus turns San Francisco into a sort of prison where everyone is under investigation to see if they are obeying Marcus. When Marcus finally as enough he starts to imprison everyone, while Marcus is roaming the streets he gets kidnapped by a group of underground thugs. They beat and torture to return San Francisco back to the way it should be. Marcus has a sudden realization that absolute power corrupted him and resigns from his position of power and hands it back to Severe Haircut lady who puts San Francisco back to the way it should be.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Story Pitch
A man lays around his messy house and grieves for his missing son. His house is dirty and it is a physical representation of how he feels. He sees a picture of his son and remembers the day it was taken. It was not a happy day and the man was not nice to his son at all. The man had good intentions but was not able to express them the right way and instead came across as angry. After three weeks of misery, this memory seems to be a breaking point, and the man decides to take action. He gets up from the couch. He walks down a hallway and sees the front door. It brings up another painful memory of a time when the father wouldn’t let his son go to school because the son’s bed wasn’t made properly. The son sobs and looks from the window as the father stands on the sidewalk and waves the buss past. Again, the dad had good intentions, but it ends in disaster. The man makes his way to the basement to where his workbench is located. He remembers another time when the father and his son were supposed to make a box car, but the man became strict and controlling again, and the fun activity turned into another fight. Once at the bottom of the stairs, the man sees a box of his ex-wife’s things. It brings up the night when she left him. She told him some angry things about his personality and where it would take him with the rest of his life. The man also sees a second place ribbon for a baseball tournament the son played in. The father remembered how awful he was to the son. The memories continue to get worse and the man becomes more miserable the closer he gets to the workbench. He arrives at the workbench and ties a noose to kill him self. He is about to end it when he sees a picture of a happy time the father and son shared and it makes him realize that he made some mistakes, but he wasn’t completely terrible. He gets down and the doorbell rings. It’s his parents and they bring him good news about his son. The two are reunited and the father vows to do a better job.
Pitch
Mr. Mathers is your typical government worker going to work everyday, performing surveillance tasks for the government then returns home not knowing what the government is exactly doing with the info that he is collecting. You see Sean Mathers works for the Department of Homeland Security, a company hired by the Government to perform surveillance. At first people were skeptical on whether or not it was a good idea to put the job of surveillance in the hands of a outsourced company. The Government however assured the people that strict guidelines and regulations are going to be placed on the DHS. All goes well for awhile till Sean Mathers discovers that the DHS is in fact using the surveillance for their own personal gain and to black mail government officials causing corrupt officials in office. Now Sean Mathers must stand up against the DHS and show the people of the United States that they are not as safe as they think.
Story Pitch
My story takes place in the eyes of Charlie, who one could argue is one of Marcus's main enemies in Cory Doctorow's, "Little Brother." The story begins with Charlie taking on the role as the annoying, pain-in-the-butt, teacher suck up that everybody hates. Following the Bay Bridge explosion, Charlie learns that fully conforming to authority may not always be a good thing. By the end of the story, Charlie is able to see Marcus's side of the story as well. An possible addition to the story is an alternative ending: we see Charlie helping Marcus with exposing his story through Barbara, and even goes to Barbara to notify the police of Marcus's second chapter by the end of the book.
Pitch
Mr. and Mrs. Parnevick- Two teens fall in love without knowing the secret identity of their partner. One works with the FBI and the other is a successful criminal.
Jasper Parnevick is the sixteen year old version of the most interesting man in the world. He is sexy and suave, and loves to break the law. He's most recent criminal activity involves robbing banks with fraudulant checks. He's super sneaky, and one day falls in love with the girl of his dreams. Her name is Jenny Peterson and she secretely works for the FBI investigating Americas most wanted criminals. Jasper is the first on her list, however she has no idea what he looks like. They start a relationship and become very close without knowing the others true identity. As the story progresses they become more and more supsicious of eachother until it appears quite evident that they will both figure it out its only a matter of who does first. Its an action packed drama love story.
Jasper Parnevick is the sixteen year old version of the most interesting man in the world. He is sexy and suave, and loves to break the law. He's most recent criminal activity involves robbing banks with fraudulant checks. He's super sneaky, and one day falls in love with the girl of his dreams. Her name is Jenny Peterson and she secretely works for the FBI investigating Americas most wanted criminals. Jasper is the first on her list, however she has no idea what he looks like. They start a relationship and become very close without knowing the others true identity. As the story progresses they become more and more supsicious of eachother until it appears quite evident that they will both figure it out its only a matter of who does first. Its an action packed drama love story.
Story Pitch
This story is about a boy who loses his girlfriend to unknown agents and goes on a journey to stop them, only to find out that the leader of the agents is someone very close and important to him. The story's true conflict will be an emotional one that the main character, Crow, will have to decide.
The first scene in some detail will be something like this:
Crow and his girlfriend, Robin, sit peacefully under a big tree on a sunny day. Birds chirping. They are sitting close to one another, cuddling under the warmth. They’re at a park in San Francisco, surrounded by tall buildings and such. The two talk and you can sense a deep connection. They talk about one topic in particular. Apparently there’s been a group of people committing random murders throughout the city. The only trace of evidence is a piece of paper with the words “Life=no more”, which is always found at the residence of the person who was kidnapped and assumed dead.
Soon however, Robin walks off to drink water from a nearby water fountain, when two shady men in dark suits, quietly and quickly grab her and throw her into a van. No one sees this but Crow, who yells and runs after them. He loses them and worries about his girlfriend for the rest of the day, calling the local police. He finds a piece of paper slipped under he and his girlfriend’s house door the next morning with the words “Life=no more” on it. He pursues the secret agency the only way he knows how: Hacker style.
What happens after in summary, is that you realize Crow is quite a selfish person and throws his family's concerns out the door. Crow then uses the city's security cameras to track the whereabouts of the secret agency that took his girlfriend. He finds out that the agency used the cameras as well, to track and kidnap their victims. The agents try to track and find Crow, but he uses stealth and trickery (hacking the system) to lose the agents. After the stealth battle of technology is over, Crow is able to find and infiltrate the enemy's headquarters. At the same time, the public is going paranoid and crazy over fear from being the next victim to be abducted. Can Crow stop the evil organization before it's too late?
SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING SUMMARY:
Crow finds out that Robin, his girlfriend is actually the leader of the agency. He is shocked. Robin explains that the organizations true goal is to pretend to kidnap and kill people who want to start a new life under a new name. This way their old identity is dead, and they can start anew, elsewhere. She explains she loves him but had to fake her death to stop the police’s investigation on her. Crow knows that if he turns her and her organization in, they will be arrested for kidnapping and hacking into government security cameras, even if it was for a good cause. But he can’t just bat an eye away from this situation; hundreds of families are in deep pain because they think a loved one was kidnapped and murdered. Plus, he knows if this charade goes on, the fear of all the random kidnapping and assumed murders will truly negatively affect the public. Crow, sad yet determined of his choice, decides to turn in his girlfriend and her agency, for the greater good of the people. Crow is saddened that Robin is in jail, but he continues his life. He isn’t as selfish and quiet as he once was. He now has a legal business that’s sole purpose is to help people who are in debt or in trouble with their lives in anyway. He shows his compassion and helps others, rather than himself.
The first scene in some detail will be something like this:
Crow and his girlfriend, Robin, sit peacefully under a big tree on a sunny day. Birds chirping. They are sitting close to one another, cuddling under the warmth. They’re at a park in San Francisco, surrounded by tall buildings and such. The two talk and you can sense a deep connection. They talk about one topic in particular. Apparently there’s been a group of people committing random murders throughout the city. The only trace of evidence is a piece of paper with the words “Life=no more”, which is always found at the residence of the person who was kidnapped and assumed dead.
Soon however, Robin walks off to drink water from a nearby water fountain, when two shady men in dark suits, quietly and quickly grab her and throw her into a van. No one sees this but Crow, who yells and runs after them. He loses them and worries about his girlfriend for the rest of the day, calling the local police. He finds a piece of paper slipped under he and his girlfriend’s house door the next morning with the words “Life=no more” on it. He pursues the secret agency the only way he knows how: Hacker style.
What happens after in summary, is that you realize Crow is quite a selfish person and throws his family's concerns out the door. Crow then uses the city's security cameras to track the whereabouts of the secret agency that took his girlfriend. He finds out that the agency used the cameras as well, to track and kidnap their victims. The agents try to track and find Crow, but he uses stealth and trickery (hacking the system) to lose the agents. After the stealth battle of technology is over, Crow is able to find and infiltrate the enemy's headquarters. At the same time, the public is going paranoid and crazy over fear from being the next victim to be abducted. Can Crow stop the evil organization before it's too late?
SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING SUMMARY:
Crow finds out that Robin, his girlfriend is actually the leader of the agency. He is shocked. Robin explains that the organizations true goal is to pretend to kidnap and kill people who want to start a new life under a new name. This way their old identity is dead, and they can start anew, elsewhere. She explains she loves him but had to fake her death to stop the police’s investigation on her. Crow knows that if he turns her and her organization in, they will be arrested for kidnapping and hacking into government security cameras, even if it was for a good cause. But he can’t just bat an eye away from this situation; hundreds of families are in deep pain because they think a loved one was kidnapped and murdered. Plus, he knows if this charade goes on, the fear of all the random kidnapping and assumed murders will truly negatively affect the public. Crow, sad yet determined of his choice, decides to turn in his girlfriend and her agency, for the greater good of the people. Crow is saddened that Robin is in jail, but he continues his life. He isn’t as selfish and quiet as he once was. He now has a legal business that’s sole purpose is to help people who are in debt or in trouble with their lives in anyway. He shows his compassion and helps others, rather than himself.
Pitch
A torture victim has the opportunity of a chance encounter with his torturer, and he contemplates how his life has been affected. The scene begins with Marcus sitting at a bench in a park. He spots a woman with short hair walking at somewhat of a distance from where Marcus is sitting, we all know her as Severe Haircut Lady. Marcus’s inner-monologue begins. His monologue is framed by flashbacks. So the scene goes back and forth from the present and Marcus’s past. He goes through the back story, which explains to the viewer how Marcus and others were tortured at this woman’s hands. One other character who is spotlighted is Darryl, whose effects seem to be much more permanent and scarring than Marcus’s. In the present, Marcus contemplates how this encounter is such a one in a million chance; it’s so unexpected. He wants so badly to be able to say something to her that will make her experience as much pain as he went through. He wants to make it fair. She never got punished, she was let free, but the effects of his torture stayed with him. But then he thinks about all the more or less positive effects that came fro his torture. He will never be the same, but the person he has become isn’t necessarily bad. He thinks about his girl friends, his job, his happiness, and he decides to not say anything to the woman.
This monologue, character-centered plot is meant to highlight the effects of torture. It shows how some people never recover from something so scarring, as seen with Darryl. But it also shows how a strong person, with a strong support system and something to be passionate about can survive, and be all the better.
This monologue, character-centered plot is meant to highlight the effects of torture. It shows how some people never recover from something so scarring, as seen with Darryl. But it also shows how a strong person, with a strong support system and something to be passionate about can survive, and be all the better.
Screenplay pitch
John Davidson is an All-American man: he has a house in the suburbs, a family, and a job working for the DHS in their surveillance department. John is the envy of his peers, having been a college football player who married the prom queen and settled down in a nice neighborhood. It begins as just another day at the office for John, scanning the streets virtually for signs of crime or trouble, when suddenly on the TV monitor he sees his wife holding hands with a man John has never met. John calls his wife and he watches as she answers the phone and tells John that she is at work. John could let it go or confront his wife later, but instead he chooses to follow his wife and the stranger as they step into the man’s car and drive off. He watches as the car drives into a driveway John has never seen before, and the man and John’s wife go inside. John leaves the office and runs to his car. He drives to the house he saw on the television screen and after trying to open the door sneaks into the house. Once he makes it into the house, John hears a scream coming from one of the rooms. He opens to door to find his wife, sitting alone on the bed in the room next to a radio, which is playing a recording of a woman screaming. John’s wife reveals to him that she had recently been feeling smothered by John and had grown beyond tired of his jealousy. She was afraid that John was stalking her when he was at work without her permission. She admits that she had tried to set John up so that it would look like she was cheating on him, and that by having fallen for her trap, John had confirmed her fears. John’s wife tells John that she wants a divorce, and then leaves the room. The final scene is John sitting on the bed with a blank expression on his face, getting up, leaving his phone on the bed and walking out of the room.
Pitch
One man alone must stand against a foreign army to defend his country and bring safety to his home.
Chase Ward is an ex-CIA agent living in his secluded cabin in the woods. His life is calm and normal, and he has stayed away from other people as long as possible. This all changes when a foreign army commits nuclear attacks against the United States and destroys all of the major cities. Chase must now try to save the country that he loves, and help defeat an invading army to secure his freedom. He will have to leave his humble home, and travel across the nation dodging attacks from the invaders, and meeting friends along the way to reach whatever form of U.S. government is left. Unfortunately Chase’s CIA training has left him in a position where he can eliminate his enemies, but he must also learn to trust people he doesn’t know to help achieve his goal. Chase will encounter individuals that are very different from the ones he knows. With the help of a San Francisco Police department cop, a little girl, and a one of the top real estate agents in the area he will try to stop the diabolical general in charge of taking over the state of California. Using the unique skills of each individual he will learn to trust his new friends, and devise a plan to eliminate the enemy opposition in California, and eventually across the nation. With his expert killing skills, Chase will slowly make his way to the commanding general. But once he gets close enough he will have to make a decision between the people that he has just recently learned to trust and support, or saving the rest of his nation. This is a story of the ability of people to influence another’s decision, and how strong the true bond of friendship can actually be. Chase Ward will make decisions that will haunt him for the rest of his life, but can he stop the evil invading general? Only time will tell in this epic tale.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Treatment
For my screenplay I want to create a whole different story, but with a character that is somewhat almost like Marcus' character.
My story will begin with a group of 4 high school girls that have graduated high school and plan a trip to rasarito, mexico to vacation before they all go off to different states for college. Cristina the protagonist, asks her parents for permissio, and her parents immediately say no. They say it's too dangerous for 4 young girls to go to mexico on their own. Cristina gets really upset and she really wants to go so she makes up a fake fieldtrip for the graduating clas and tells her parents they are going to orlando studios. Her parents believe her and give her money for her trip, and cristina ends up going to mexico with her friends. In mexico the second night they are out they get kidnapped and cristina has to deal with a loss of her friend and other abuse. In the end cristina is able to escape alone and makes it back home. Although her parents werent aware of anything that had happened in mexico , she decided to tell them because she feels guilty.
My story will begin with a group of 4 high school girls that have graduated high school and plan a trip to rasarito, mexico to vacation before they all go off to different states for college. Cristina the protagonist, asks her parents for permissio, and her parents immediately say no. They say it's too dangerous for 4 young girls to go to mexico on their own. Cristina gets really upset and she really wants to go so she makes up a fake fieldtrip for the graduating clas and tells her parents they are going to orlando studios. Her parents believe her and give her money for her trip, and cristina ends up going to mexico with her friends. In mexico the second night they are out they get kidnapped and cristina has to deal with a loss of her friend and other abuse. In the end cristina is able to escape alone and makes it back home. Although her parents werent aware of anything that had happened in mexico , she decided to tell them because she feels guilty.
Treatment First Draft: Retrograde Amnesia
This story starts just like how many end: with happiness. But we all know happy endings are overrated, let alone really exist, so this story is one not of happiness; but rather, one of fear, confusion, and the sudden realization that what one always believes to be real, truly isn't. The storyline begins with a narration of Phil and his daily happenings. Phil is your average guy. 32 years-old, he works as a high school teacher at PS 118, is single, lives in a single apartment above a flower shop, and is liked by many. Quiet, conservative, and keeps to himself, Phil has never left the city, the city her grew up in. As this story starts with Phil's simple, but happy life, it soon changes one Wednesday morning, September 11, 2011.
Treatment First Draft: Paranoia Turned Reality
Jim is an ex-CIA agent living in San Francisco, CA, pre-September 11th, 2001. Jim has always had a psychological fear of national security and personal safety. He has a paranoia about safety, terrorism, attacks, and invasions, which is what inspired him to get involved with the CIA to begin with. Jim no longer works with the CIA because his paranoia caused him to get into constant arguments with his colleagues regarding their personal beliefs on national security.
Since leaving his job at the CIA, Jim has become increasingly paranoid about the safety of his country because he is no longer privy to information regarding their safety. Jim is undertaking the task of increasing national security by taking over-the-top measures in order to ensure the security of citizens. His connections from his career with the CIA have allowed him to get in touch with Tom, the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Tom is very against increasing security measures because nothing has happened to the nation yet, and his agents working with him from across multiple departments of the U.S. government have no reason to believe that they are in danger. Jim's battle against Tom for implementing more security measures comes to an all-time high just as the date becomes September 11th, 2001 and the Twin Towers are struck.
After this attack, Tom is forced to take measures to protect his citizens and national security, finally realizing that you can never be safe enough. Although he does not become as paranoid as Jim is about security, but he begins to realize that the world is not as safe and loyal as it once was. Working together, Jim and Tom and the rest of the DHS begin to implement an overwhelming amount of security measures, even some that could be borderline in terms of breeching personal privacy rights.
Since leaving his job at the CIA, Jim has become increasingly paranoid about the safety of his country because he is no longer privy to information regarding their safety. Jim is undertaking the task of increasing national security by taking over-the-top measures in order to ensure the security of citizens. His connections from his career with the CIA have allowed him to get in touch with Tom, the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Tom is very against increasing security measures because nothing has happened to the nation yet, and his agents working with him from across multiple departments of the U.S. government have no reason to believe that they are in danger. Jim's battle against Tom for implementing more security measures comes to an all-time high just as the date becomes September 11th, 2001 and the Twin Towers are struck.
After this attack, Tom is forced to take measures to protect his citizens and national security, finally realizing that you can never be safe enough. Although he does not become as paranoid as Jim is about security, but he begins to realize that the world is not as safe and loyal as it once was. Working together, Jim and Tom and the rest of the DHS begin to implement an overwhelming amount of security measures, even some that could be borderline in terms of breeching personal privacy rights.
Treatment(Surveillance)
Tim woke up to the screaming of his alarm clock ringing. The clock read 4am on a Monday morning. Throwing on his suit and grabbing his briefcase Tim headed out the door and on his way to work. On his way to work he spotted an S cubed and started thinking," I wonder what kind of stuff I am going to be seeing today." He arrived in front of a tall glass building that read National Surveillance Association in glowing letters at the top of the building. This is where Tim began his long work day. As a external surveillance watcher Tim would use the S cubed to monitor the happenings that were going on in the United States. Tim began working for The NSA five years ago when they were founded to enforce laws and regulations of the United States more strictly. When a watcher sees a law or regulation being broken immediate disciplinary action takes place at the scene of the incident. Everyday at sundown Tim leaves his work and passes by the same group of people going into his very office but he never once suspected anything. That is, until he found the cameras that are mandatory in all buildings. Time becomes suspicious and decides to investigate what the cameras are really for. Who would have thought? The cameras installed in Tims house were in fact place there by the NSA in an attempt to monitor the home. This is where a line is crossed with Tim.
Treatment First Draft: Mr. and Mrs. Yallow
After Marcus returns to the City from Gitmo by the bay he starts working on Xnet to bring together people in his fight against the DHS. As the operation becomes more and more efficient, the DHS notice the interference from Xnet. They recruit a young tech savy teen named Ange to join the Xnet and figure out who's running it so they can bring him down. Ange and Marcus meet through mutual friends and fall in love. While Marcus works to bring down the DHS once and for all, Ange is working with the DHS to find whoever is running Xnet. As their relationship grows stronger they begin to notice the identities of the each other. It soon becomes a matter of time before one or both of them realize who the other is.
Treatment first draft (The Threat)
Chase is alone against an invading army. He must figure out who his an enemy is, take them out and defend his country all at the same time. He is situated in his house in the woods outside of the city of San Francisco when a nuclear attack from an outside enemy destroys almost all of the major cities in the united states. Alone he must figure out what has happened and defend himself. Being ex-CIA he is prepared for his task, but even a trained agent can't take down an entire army. He will infiltrate his way through the woods to find where leader of the outside army is comanding the invasion, and figure out how to stop it.
As he slowly starts to make his way through the country staying hidden from the enemy and searching for a way to stop the invading army he meets a variety of people that join him to help him in his cause. Chase must now deal with protecting the lives of his companions while searching for whoever is commanding the invading army. He will learn just how hard the U.S. has been hit, that what is left of the government is in shambles. He will search for what is remaining of the government and work with them to try and stop the invasion.
As he slowly starts to make his way through the country staying hidden from the enemy and searching for a way to stop the invading army he meets a variety of people that join him to help him in his cause. Chase must now deal with protecting the lives of his companions while searching for whoever is commanding the invading army. He will learn just how hard the U.S. has been hit, that what is left of the government is in shambles. He will search for what is remaining of the government and work with them to try and stop the invasion.
Treatment First Draft: One Hacker to Another
This story is about Marcus using the technology an evil corporation uses agaisnt them to put an end to their abductions, thereby saving the city of San Francisco. Marcus is a 17 year old nerd who is great with hacking into surviellence, among other technological feats. He is brilliant. He has a girlfriend who loves him more than anything, Ange. One day however, a secret force uses surviellence and hacks into Ange's home security cameras to invade her house and capture her. A few days later, Marcus recieves a note saying that Ange was tortured and killed. Many people have had this happen to them throughout SF. Marcus then uses the technology the secret force used to find Ange, to find the whereabouts of this secret force. He sneaks in and makes his way to the room where the leader is, only to find out that the leader is none other than Ange herself. She faked her death so that Marcus would never have to find out that she was the leader behind the evil secret force. Stunned, Marcus has to choose between saving his girlfriend, whom he loves for his own personal gain, or take her down for the benefit of the city.
The audience cares for Marcus because they want him to get revenge agaisnt the secret force, unknowing that Ange is the antogonist. The main interesting obstacle is the choice between taking down the secret force led by Ange, or letting her go free. What's at stake for others is their safety, yet Marcus risks living sadly or living with a girlfriend who is evil. This emotional charge is what makes Marcus complex.
The audience cares for Marcus because they want him to get revenge agaisnt the secret force, unknowing that Ange is the antogonist. The main interesting obstacle is the choice between taking down the secret force led by Ange, or letting her go free. What's at stake for others is their safety, yet Marcus risks living sadly or living with a girlfriend who is evil. This emotional charge is what makes Marcus complex.
Treatment first draft: The Overseer
The story begins with John Davidson, who is a surveillance officer for the DHS, at work, looking at the screens showing surveillance cameras on the streets of San Fransisco, a few miles from his office. John then sees his wife walk by, and he decides to digitally follow her . He then sees a group of men kidnapper her and drive off in a van. John reacts by assuming it is his responsibility to rescue her. John then goes to his car and follows the van with his wife inside. He had previously planted a tracking device in her phone without her knowledge and is using it to follow the van. He speeds in order to catch up to her and finally does. He follows the van carefully and watches the men force his wife to go into a house a gunpoint. After they come in , John approaches the door with his own gun and opens it, preparing for a gunfight. instead, he enters and finds only his wife. His wife explains to him that this was all a test, as she felt smothered by her husband and wanted to see how much he had been stalking her. She tell him that she will file for divorce, then asks him to leave. John, stunned, walks away from the house, dropping his phone on the ground as he walks away to end the film
Treatment First Draft - "an opportunity"
The scene takes place at a park. Marcus is sitting at a bench, ostensibly waiting for someone. He spots a woman with short hair walking at somewhat of a distance from where Marcus is sitting, we all know her as Severe Haircut Lady. The inner monologue of Marcus begins. He starts explaining the history between him and this woman. He briefly explains being picked up by the DHS as a suspected terrorist. In detail, he recounts how he was tortured. He also includes what happened to Darryl. Each one of these scenes is a flashback, where we see the torture, or interactions occur. We see Darryl being rescued. We see him now as a scared, semi-vegetable. Marcus keeps thinking about how this encounter is a one-in a lifetime opportunity. He thinks of what he could say to her. He wants her to hurt like he is hurting. She got released. She was not at all punished for the terrible acts she committed against him and the other victims. Marcus reflects on how his life has changed. He talks about being scared. He also mentions the good that has happened. His relationship with Ange. He has a better, more open relationship with his parents. he explains that yes, he is scarred. But he has also grown up. he will never be the Old Marcus again. And that is when he makes the desision. He has nothing to say to her. What could he say? He let's her walk away. Ange comes. He gets up and leaves with her.
All together this, story shows the effects of torture. It shows how Marcus is changed for life, but he took what he could from the fear and doubt and he became the best person he could be, etc.
All together this, story shows the effects of torture. It shows how Marcus is changed for life, but he took what he could from the fear and doubt and he became the best person he could be, etc.
Treatment First Draft
An Idea Worth Stealing
James was doing research in his lab when suddenly his computer crashed and a skull appeared on his screen with highlighted text that read "Thanks for the idea... " James was a computer science major who was on his final line of code for his start up company. James couldn't believe that his idea was stolen so using computer forensics he was able to trace the IP address of the person who stole his idea. It came out to be from the same building he was working in. James began conducting more and more research as to who it could have been. Only 10 people worked in his building so he knew all of the canidates. He began investigating and created a surveillance system that monitored everyones computers. Finally, he figured out who it was and it turned out to be his mentor. Dr. Seuss. James was flabbergasted. He told Seuss he was going to turn him in but Seuss raised an important point, James had illegally hacked into everyone's computer to find out the culprit... Now if James tells the truth he will go to jail and the idea will be lost forever or he will give up the idea and suffer from being unable to benefit from the idea he spent his life creating. James turns himself in and the idea is lost. Seuss is put in jail by Bames Jond and later sentenced to death.
James was doing research in his lab when suddenly his computer crashed and a skull appeared on his screen with highlighted text that read "Thanks for the idea... " James was a computer science major who was on his final line of code for his start up company. James couldn't believe that his idea was stolen so using computer forensics he was able to trace the IP address of the person who stole his idea. It came out to be from the same building he was working in. James began conducting more and more research as to who it could have been. Only 10 people worked in his building so he knew all of the canidates. He began investigating and created a surveillance system that monitored everyones computers. Finally, he figured out who it was and it turned out to be his mentor. Dr. Seuss. James was flabbergasted. He told Seuss he was going to turn him in but Seuss raised an important point, James had illegally hacked into everyone's computer to find out the culprit... Now if James tells the truth he will go to jail and the idea will be lost forever or he will give up the idea and suffer from being unable to benefit from the idea he spent his life creating. James turns himself in and the idea is lost. Seuss is put in jail by Bames Jond and later sentenced to death.
Treatment First Draft (Rock Bottom)
Ron Glover laid on his family room couch, surrounded by empty beer cans and microwave dinner trays. Empty he thought, just like his life has been since Darryl disappeared. He sulks for weeks over his presumed to be dead son. The feeling of loss is not unfamiliar to him. During the war, he had lost many friends. He remembers the pain of losing them as well as his own son. He continues to sulk. His mental state is deteriorating and he has burst of anger where he hurts himself. This leads to a moment where he goes to the bathroom to kill himself. Ron is about to slit his wrists when he hears a knock on the door. It's Marcus and his parents along with Ron's ex-wife and Ron's parents. They say they have been calling for days. They have good news. They know where Darryl is and they are going to help get him back. Alive.
pitch
Dayrl has been locked up on DHS island for 2 months now. he has been tortured, abused, and malnourished. For his close friends Jolu and Marcus hope is beginning to fade and they may have to deal with the fact that their friend died because of their cowardly inability to act. Dayrls parents have completely given up hope and begin their new life without him. Back on DHS island Dayrl overhears a prison guard talking about how the national government is about to crack down on DHS island and that all of the prisoners will be killed in an attempt to destroy evidence. Dayrl has many flashbacks to the "good old days" with his father and mother at the parks looking out at DHS island not knowing that in a few short years he would be facing a sense of impending doom. Dayrl figured it out. He must escape.
He begins to acquire small ketchup packets. He then takes ketchup packets, puts them together into a jar and begins concentration them in the sun by adding his own source of urea , a nitrogeous base from urine, and stomach acid. he ends up making a batch so acidic that it eats through the metal bars that hold him captive. At night he makes his escape. in traditional San Francisco escape fasion he makes a boat from inflated rain coats. Word gets out that a prisoner has escaped and the alarm is sounded. Lights from the watch towers are franticly looking around the ocean. they finally fixate on Dayrl. the head DHS agent starts freaking out about what the implications if a prisoner leaked to San Francisco, their whole jig is off. She orders a sharpshooter to take him out. the sharp shooter takes aim, takes the shot and Dayrl is hit, only wounded but hit in the leg. He begins to bleed into the ocean. The salt stings his gushing wound. He begins to notice that his improvided raft is begining to fail. Slowly his raft starts to sink. Fatigued, hypovolimic, and discouraged, he slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, his efforts to escape have failed.
He begins to acquire small ketchup packets. He then takes ketchup packets, puts them together into a jar and begins concentration them in the sun by adding his own source of urea , a nitrogeous base from urine, and stomach acid. he ends up making a batch so acidic that it eats through the metal bars that hold him captive. At night he makes his escape. in traditional San Francisco escape fasion he makes a boat from inflated rain coats. Word gets out that a prisoner has escaped and the alarm is sounded. Lights from the watch towers are franticly looking around the ocean. they finally fixate on Dayrl. the head DHS agent starts freaking out about what the implications if a prisoner leaked to San Francisco, their whole jig is off. She orders a sharpshooter to take him out. the sharp shooter takes aim, takes the shot and Dayrl is hit, only wounded but hit in the leg. He begins to bleed into the ocean. The salt stings his gushing wound. He begins to notice that his improvided raft is begining to fail. Slowly his raft starts to sink. Fatigued, hypovolimic, and discouraged, he slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, his efforts to escape have failed.
Proposed Screenplay
Interesting obstacles:
Stakes for everyone:
What makes the character complex?
Jimmy is in an average sweet-toothed seven year-old in Bellevue, Washington. He has recently been getting into lots of trouble due to his eating habits in which he chooses to eat his dessert after his dinner. The antagonist in my screenplay are the parents, who have total control over what their child does. While Jimmy might not think it is fair for them to get mad at him and force him to eat dinner before dessert, he has no choice and no power to do anything about it. The primary stakes for Jimmy is his justice and freedom of choice while the main stake for the parents is that they want their child to grow up healthy, even if it means scolding Jimmy.
The thing that makes Jimmy a complex character is that he is so young yet able to recognize the unfairness that has been bestowed upon him and other kids his age. He is an elementary school kid who tries to defy his parents and seeks justice in making his own decisions. The movie is set in a normal familial household with a child, two parents, and possibly an older sibling who has more authority simply because he/she is older. The major revelation in this story is that Jimmy comes to an agreement with his family that he is allowed to eat his dessert first so long as he eats his entire dinner.
Stakes for everyone:
What makes the character complex?
Jimmy is in an average sweet-toothed seven year-old in Bellevue, Washington. He has recently been getting into lots of trouble due to his eating habits in which he chooses to eat his dessert after his dinner. The antagonist in my screenplay are the parents, who have total control over what their child does. While Jimmy might not think it is fair for them to get mad at him and force him to eat dinner before dessert, he has no choice and no power to do anything about it. The primary stakes for Jimmy is his justice and freedom of choice while the main stake for the parents is that they want their child to grow up healthy, even if it means scolding Jimmy.
The thing that makes Jimmy a complex character is that he is so young yet able to recognize the unfairness that has been bestowed upon him and other kids his age. He is an elementary school kid who tries to defy his parents and seeks justice in making his own decisions. The movie is set in a normal familial household with a child, two parents, and possibly an older sibling who has more authority simply because he/she is older. The major revelation in this story is that Jimmy comes to an agreement with his family that he is allowed to eat his dessert first so long as he eats his entire dinner.
After watching Machinima episodes like Red Vs Blue a lot of things caught my eye. It seems like in order to make a successful Machinima you must first decided what type you are going to produce. For example are you going to produce several short episodes to make a mini series or one long movie? Then once that is figured out you must decide if you want it to be a parody of the show or an accurate depiction with your own personal fan fiction added on or just a visual representation of the exact story line.
Now that I think I know what it takes to make a successful Machinima, I think I know what I am looking to produce. I found Red Vs Blue hilarious and I want to make a parody of Little Brother because I feel that a parody could highlight the key themes in the book. I also like how some of the episodes have more dialogue than others. Dialogue seems to be an extremely important part of Machinima because actions are very hard to mimic in certain games so one of the few ways to capture your audiences attention is through voice overs.
After looking at numerous scripts it is clear how difficult it will be to construct a solid script. Humor is very hard to put into a script and it all depends on how the lines are read and the scenario and the response from the other actors. I still believe a parody will be a good representation of Little Brother and that watching more Machinima and reading some of the most successful scripts will benefit in creating a successful representation of Little Brother.
Now that I think I know what it takes to make a successful Machinima, I think I know what I am looking to produce. I found Red Vs Blue hilarious and I want to make a parody of Little Brother because I feel that a parody could highlight the key themes in the book. I also like how some of the episodes have more dialogue than others. Dialogue seems to be an extremely important part of Machinima because actions are very hard to mimic in certain games so one of the few ways to capture your audiences attention is through voice overs.
After looking at numerous scripts it is clear how difficult it will be to construct a solid script. Humor is very hard to put into a script and it all depends on how the lines are read and the scenario and the response from the other actors. I still believe a parody will be a good representation of Little Brother and that watching more Machinima and reading some of the most successful scripts will benefit in creating a successful representation of Little Brother.
Script/Machinima Discussion
The three Machinama’s I ended up watching all the way through were Secret Lives, Addiction, and The Fixer. All three of these films were quite different. The Secret Lives seemed to play off of the TV show, The Secret Life of the American Teen. I didn’t enjoy it very much because the dialogue was not very well written, but it was a good example of using setting to convey ideas. Also it showed the use of school scenes, which could be helpful in our Machinimas. Addiction was a good example of overlaying voice on top of scenes in which the person isn’t actually talking. This is an interesting concept to think about using. I thought The Fixer was the most well-done film. The plot was interesting, but it seems it was borrowed from a real movie anyway. Beside that, it was interesting and the use of action was good.
I really enjoyed reading through a couple of the scripts. Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a movie I have always enjoyed in the past and so reading the script made re-realize just how brilliant it is. I also enjoyed reading the scripts for Godfather I and II. I haven’t seen the movies but I have always wanted to. In some of the other classics, such as Casablanca and Some Like It Hot, it was also interesting to be reminded that why those movies were classics was because of their brilliant scripts. The movies themselves are very simply done, but they have amazing dialogue and simplistic but intrinsic stage movement.
Reading scripts has always been enjoyable for me because I wrote a couple in high school, for one-act play festivals. I have also participated in various stage productions, so I have seen all that goes into interpreting scripts. This experience reading movie scripts combined with my previous experiences gives some idea of what kind of script would be best for this situation. For this situation where we all have little knowledge of the functions of Second Life and the programs we will be using, a script that focuses heavily on dialogue or monologue, rather than movement and camera angles is ideal.
I think this can be used to our advantage. The types of films that center on dialogue are usually character-based, rather than plot-based. This means that the script should incorporate more character development than action. It is of course necessary to also include plot and action, but for our purposed, a character-based script should be used. Some ideas I have: a couple scenes in which Marcus meets the Severe Haircut lady after she is released and they have some sort of interaction. This would show how the characters have changed once the tables have turned. Also, maybe a situation in which Marcus is grown up and one of his kids goes through a similar experience, showing that social change is slow, etc.
I really enjoyed reading through a couple of the scripts. Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a movie I have always enjoyed in the past and so reading the script made re-realize just how brilliant it is. I also enjoyed reading the scripts for Godfather I and II. I haven’t seen the movies but I have always wanted to. In some of the other classics, such as Casablanca and Some Like It Hot, it was also interesting to be reminded that why those movies were classics was because of their brilliant scripts. The movies themselves are very simply done, but they have amazing dialogue and simplistic but intrinsic stage movement.
Reading scripts has always been enjoyable for me because I wrote a couple in high school, for one-act play festivals. I have also participated in various stage productions, so I have seen all that goes into interpreting scripts. This experience reading movie scripts combined with my previous experiences gives some idea of what kind of script would be best for this situation. For this situation where we all have little knowledge of the functions of Second Life and the programs we will be using, a script that focuses heavily on dialogue or monologue, rather than movement and camera angles is ideal.
I think this can be used to our advantage. The types of films that center on dialogue are usually character-based, rather than plot-based. This means that the script should incorporate more character development than action. It is of course necessary to also include plot and action, but for our purposed, a character-based script should be used. Some ideas I have: a couple scenes in which Marcus meets the Severe Haircut lady after she is released and they have some sort of interaction. This would show how the characters have changed once the tables have turned. Also, maybe a situation in which Marcus is grown up and one of his kids goes through a similar experience, showing that social change is slow, etc.
Machinima
I spent most of time watching Red vs. Blue for ideas about Machinima. What really struck me in the videos that they produced was the quality of humor. I often found myself actually laughing out loud while watching the videos, and thought a lot of their humor was pretty original. I also found myself getting attached to the story line of the Red vs. Blue videos, and their writing is actually very well done. I felt like i was watching a movie when viewing the episodes in order. For some of their videos they used technology that allowed the characters in the game to break their normal restricted amount of moves, and allowed the characters to do pretty much whatever the creators wanted. This made the episodes look a lot more realistic, and allowed me to see past the fact that it was just a video game. Also they used camera angles and shots that are often used in movies, and it this helped me view it as a lot more realistic than a video game. When i looked at the screenplays i noticed that i was focused on what the people were saying, and how i never seemed to notice that as much when i watch the actual movies of these screen plays. I usually focus on the scenery as well as the dialogue in movies, and with out an actual visual representation in front of me the only thing i focus on is the actual dialogue.
For my screen play i would really like to write about what could have happened after the terrorist attack on the bay bridge. I was thinking about having the attack actual be a country invading the U.S. such as Russia, or China. I would have my screen play focused on what you see and the action, and not as much on the dialogue. I although i think it would be fun to try and include a little bit of humor in the dialogue, just to see how funny i can be.
For my screen play i would really like to write about what could have happened after the terrorist attack on the bay bridge. I was thinking about having the attack actual be a country invading the U.S. such as Russia, or China. I would have my screen play focused on what you see and the action, and not as much on the dialogue. I although i think it would be fun to try and include a little bit of humor in the dialogue, just to see how funny i can be.
Machinima/Screenplay
After watching some machinima and reading movie scripts from the Godfather and Lawrence of Arabia, I have begun to formulate a few possible ideas for my machinima. First, I would like to talk about a few inspiring items I read and saw. In the Godfather, I found that the descriptions of characters emotions to be very helpful in visualizing the scene. In an exchange between the Don and another character asking for a favor, just reading the descriptions of what each was doing, and their emotions built a sense of suspense in me. When I write my script I want to make sure that I note the characters facial expressions and tone of voice to make sure that the actors properly convey the vision of the scene in my head to the audience.
I also was able to draw some useful ideas from the machinima that I watched. I watched a few episodes from the computer girl series that we watched in class. In those, the dialogue was more the focus than visuals. I thought that the creators did a very good job in emulating real life camera shots by switching back a forth during dialogue. Something I noticed was that some shots eliminated the constant switch back and forth between characters during dialogue by having both the characters in frame. I thought this was a good way of reducing the amount of work, while still maintaining the quality of the film. In addition to computer girl, I also watched a couple episodes from series that featured Halo as the game used to film in. A few of these episodes had some action in them, and I thought that it got a bit confusing trying to follow what was going on, because some characters looked very similar. I would remedy this by making sure that if I had a lot of motion or action going on during a scene, the characters involved would be very distinguishable.
A few ideas I have for machinima would probably be more dialogue focused than action focused. I would like to look at Darryl’s dad during the darker days when Darryl was missing. I would have sort of a monologue with the father’s character while he viewed the world with a depressed mindset. I would include a shot of him in a dark room with trash all around laying on the couch with the glow of the television set lighting his face up. He might provide his thoughts on the news and current situations, as well as perhaps a flashback to his days in the Navy. I think it could be interesting to have his father as a Vietnam veteran and perhaps have the loss of his son bring back some memories of losing a buddy during the war. I would also like to have a close up shot of his unshaven face as maybe an introduction. I would end the story with Marcus and his parents bringing Darryl’s father the news about his son, and hint and the upward shot his life takes from there.
I also was able to draw some useful ideas from the machinima that I watched. I watched a few episodes from the computer girl series that we watched in class. In those, the dialogue was more the focus than visuals. I thought that the creators did a very good job in emulating real life camera shots by switching back a forth during dialogue. Something I noticed was that some shots eliminated the constant switch back and forth between characters during dialogue by having both the characters in frame. I thought this was a good way of reducing the amount of work, while still maintaining the quality of the film. In addition to computer girl, I also watched a couple episodes from series that featured Halo as the game used to film in. A few of these episodes had some action in them, and I thought that it got a bit confusing trying to follow what was going on, because some characters looked very similar. I would remedy this by making sure that if I had a lot of motion or action going on during a scene, the characters involved would be very distinguishable.
A few ideas I have for machinima would probably be more dialogue focused than action focused. I would like to look at Darryl’s dad during the darker days when Darryl was missing. I would have sort of a monologue with the father’s character while he viewed the world with a depressed mindset. I would include a shot of him in a dark room with trash all around laying on the couch with the glow of the television set lighting his face up. He might provide his thoughts on the news and current situations, as well as perhaps a flashback to his days in the Navy. I think it could be interesting to have his father as a Vietnam veteran and perhaps have the loss of his son bring back some memories of losing a buddy during the war. I would also like to have a close up shot of his unshaven face as maybe an introduction. I would end the story with Marcus and his parents bringing Darryl’s father the news about his son, and hint and the upward shot his life takes from there.
Machinima/Screen Play Inspirations
There were multiple things that inspired me in these machinima films and screen plays. Most of the machinima films I watched had some sort of music in them, and the movies that I was able to connect with the most were the movies with music that fit the tone of the plot.When characters were angry, there was angry music playing in the background. When characters were feeling emotional, there was music that had deep emotional undertones to it. It really set the feelings of the characters and gave off vibes that allowed the audience to better connect to the characters and scenarios.
Another aspect that I admired was the short flashes of video clips/pictures in the beginning, middle, or end of a film. When there was a variety of clips quickly shown, it helped set the tone, as well as provide insight to the actions of characters. When these montages of video clips were at the beginning, they gave a good introduction to what was going to take place in the film and they set the scene up nicely. When they were in the middle of the scene, they provided a good background of what had taken place and what was going to take place. When they were at the end of the film, they really tied the whole film together and acted as a nice conclusion to the film.
The sound effects and music choices were always things that stood out. The videos that were really effective were the ones that used sound effects to highlight and emphasize certain words and/or actions. It helped focus the audience's attention to what the creator wanted you to focus on and pick up on.
The camera angles and viewpoints were also inspiring. There were numerous viewpoints that I saw, and the one that I found to be very effective when used at the appropriate times, was the viewpoint of someone above the characters and the set, looking down on what was taking place. It gives the audience an interesting perspective on the entire situation taking place at one time.
The screenplays that I read were interesting, and having never read a real screenplay, I learned that much of them is description of the scene and characters. I really enjoyed the Forrest Gump screenplay and the Field of Dreams screenplay because the descriptions of the settings were very detailed. It was cool to see how the flashbacks in Forrest Gump were written.
After watching a film where different people were betrayed, bullied, defeated, or beaten down, I had an idea for my remix of Little Brother. One idea that came to mind was to film Marcus and his crew during various interactions with the DHS, his parents, school officials, and each other. He could be shot in times of personal struggle where he was arguing and losing, being defeated, and betrayed by his friends abandoning him. These different clips could be partly narrated and then have angry, sad, or frustrating music fade in while the actions of his interaction were still being shot. Throughout the video, the scenes of struggle would gradually ease up, slowly having Marcus win and overcome his struggles. As he moves toward overcoming them, the music that accompanies the scenes would become more and more triumphant and glorious sounding.
Treatment First Draft
The beginning opens with the ambiguous end through a huge explosion. The camera focuses on the telephone in Van's hands as she drops it and runs out her front door to stop her parents but as they enter their car an explosion occurs. And then from her eye she is interrupted by Jolu and it takes them to the present day coffee shop when she is having a conversation but she is zoned out. Van asks if her and Jolu can reschedule their girls outing and Van heads home. The camera pans on different pictures of her parents and family photos throughout their house. Van sits on the couch depressed and focuses back on her eye and then zooms back out to the flashback scene before the explosion. Her parents say "we will be back, we are just going to get our passports to get ready for our departure." (*the phone rings) And her parents nonchalantly ask Van to handle it while their gone. She answers and it is a government agent of North Korea. The agent on the phone with Van says "cherish this and say farewell to your makers". And the first scene of Van running out and dropping the phone happens exactly the same. Van goes to the ground in tears and utter shock. But her parents appear from the rubble barely alive. As they are walking out of the catastrophe, her mom mouths "help, help, help" it is slightly inaudible but it focuses on Van's eye again and she blinks and it transitions back into the present day an shows her mother opening the door saying "Help" with a large bag of groceries. And Van again runs to her mother and father as it fades out.
Treatment, First Draft [Unfinished]
Escape From Treasure Island
The story is a flashback by Zeb, the mysterious escapee who told Marcus that Darryl is alive. In the aftermath of the destruction of the DHS, he writes a blog post on Xnet, chronicling his experience while he was in Treasure Island.
Before the explosion, Zeb was just like any LARP-ger. He would go online to update himself on all the Harajuku Fun Madness clues, he had already figured out all of the past puzzles and he has all the gadgets and gizmos that any successful LARPer should have. He had his wifi detector, his jailbroken cellphone and his laptop with all the hacks and codes that he would need in order to win the game. Zeb, above all other LARPers, has an upper hand. He is a college student who is majoring in Computer Engineer. A geek at heart, he decided to skip his Logical Algorithms class that fateful day in order to solve the new Harajuku Fun Madness puzzle.
Zeb drove his car all alone going to San Francisco. His team, comprised of his fellow geeky college peers, did not want to skip their classes for that "stupid game". Zeb, however, was determined to be the first one to finish the puzzle. He drives past the Bay Bridge towards the deserted store (where Marcus and friends were) when all of a sudden, the explosion occurs. He is not able to drive back to his house so, being the nerd that he is, he takes all of his gadgets and hides in the nearest alley he could find. He waits for the crowd to die down as he flips open his laptop and tries to contact the police, his family, friends and loved ones, all of which was to no avail.
After hours and hours of waiting, the DHS picks Zeb up and, just like Marcus, blindfolds him, cuffs him and throws him inside the
The story is a flashback by Zeb, the mysterious escapee who told Marcus that Darryl is alive. In the aftermath of the destruction of the DHS, he writes a blog post on Xnet, chronicling his experience while he was in Treasure Island.
Before the explosion, Zeb was just like any LARP-ger. He would go online to update himself on all the Harajuku Fun Madness clues, he had already figured out all of the past puzzles and he has all the gadgets and gizmos that any successful LARPer should have. He had his wifi detector, his jailbroken cellphone and his laptop with all the hacks and codes that he would need in order to win the game. Zeb, above all other LARPers, has an upper hand. He is a college student who is majoring in Computer Engineer. A geek at heart, he decided to skip his Logical Algorithms class that fateful day in order to solve the new Harajuku Fun Madness puzzle.
Zeb drove his car all alone going to San Francisco. His team, comprised of his fellow geeky college peers, did not want to skip their classes for that "stupid game". Zeb, however, was determined to be the first one to finish the puzzle. He drives past the Bay Bridge towards the deserted store (where Marcus and friends were) when all of a sudden, the explosion occurs. He is not able to drive back to his house so, being the nerd that he is, he takes all of his gadgets and hides in the nearest alley he could find. He waits for the crowd to die down as he flips open his laptop and tries to contact the police, his family, friends and loved ones, all of which was to no avail.
After hours and hours of waiting, the DHS picks Zeb up and, just like Marcus, blindfolds him, cuffs him and throws him inside the
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