Ideas

[H.G. Hansen]

Dec 25, 2023 10:24:39 GMT -7 alextheman said:

That’s what I think I’m going to do. I have a few ideas. Like having the queen bee popular girl character be a closet lesbian and it similar to a film like Election has multiple perspectives. Another character I came up with is this new principal who is trying to end the female on female bullying.

Quick idea (use it or not) you should base that character on some form of Bridget Ziegler. I personally think there's a story about someone like her and what's going on with her right now.

[alextheman]

I had this idea. It seems pretty manageable to write. It’s a dark comedy called Anarchy. It’s set between January and June 2016. I say this because the election especially Bernie Sanders’s campaign is the backdrop for our main character’s revolutionary vibe.

The movie is about a high school senior at a private school dealing with senioritis who decides to do as rebellion do graffiti and do pranks on the school with a code name Fidelio.

The vice principal Mr Thompson who’s also the main character’s advisor tries to hunt Fidelio down.

[alextheman]

I want to write one last high school theatre movie. I’m getting sick of the genre. I know LRF audiences and critics are getting sick of it. I thought I was never going to write a movie about high school theater again after The Actors. The Alex Conn theater movie is a tired genre at LRF.

I read something on social media about a drama teacher clinging on to his high school drama days and writing a play for the students to perform based on his experiences. I thought that idea has some potential.

[H.G. Hansen]

Would a movie about a group of different male characters taking adult sex ed classes with the teacher played by someone like Scarlet Johansen or Jennifer Lawrence in the comedic style of Taika Waititi mixed with the overall tone of THE FULL MONTY work? I got submitted this idea from someone here and it sounds intriguing. I always like doing stories that explore sex and elements of it tastefully.

[THE REAL LON CHARLES]

Feb 11, 2024 19:54:16 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

Would a movie about a group of different male characters taking adult sex ed classes with the teacher played by someone like Scarlet Johansen or Jennifer Lawrence in the comedic style of Taika Waititi mixed with the overall tone of THE FULL MONTY work? I got submitted this idea from someone here and it sounds intriguing. I always like doing stories that explore sex and elements of it tastefully.

There's a lot I don't understand about your idea. Why are a group of men taking an adult sex ed class? The style of Waititi and the tone of The Full Monty combined doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Taika Waititi's comedic style is wacky, zany, silly (and occasionally sad). The Full Monty is not silly, drawing comedy and drama out of relatable and ordinary situations. I don't think the tones and styles you're throwing out could really co-exist in one project. Sounds like another situation of too many ideas to work as a whole, like you just had with Forever Hold the Peace. I suggest narrowing your influences and focus more on one thing/style/tone.

[H.G. Hansen]

Feb 11, 2024 20:08:27 GMT -7 THE REAL LON CHARLES said:

Feb 11, 2024 19:54:16 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

Would a movie about a group of different male characters taking adult sex ed classes with the teacher played by someone like Scarlet Johansen or Jennifer Lawrence in the comedic style of Taika Waititi mixed with the overall tone of THE FULL MONTY work? I got submitted this idea from someone here and it sounds intriguing. I always like doing stories that explore sex and elements of it tastefully.

There's a lot I don't understand about your idea. Why are a group of men taking an adult sex ed class? The style of Waititi and the tone of The Full Monty combined doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Taika Waititi's comedic style is wacky, zany, silly (and occasionally sad). The Full Monty is not silly, drawing comedy and drama out of relatable and ordinary situations. I don't think the tones and styles you're throwing out could really co-exist in one project. Sounds like another situation of too many ideas to work as a whole, like you just had with Forever Hold the Peace. I suggest narrowing your influences and focus more on one thing/style/tone.

First off, thank you for answering. Every note given is helpful. I mean like guys who are either awkward, clueless, or hopeless who join thinking it'll help them out in some form. I mean the Full Monty by like you said with taking relatable issues people face with sex. I meant Waititi's style by having the teacher give unconventional methods to break these guys out of their rut (or whatever you'd call it). Idk it's just an idea. If it's not worth it, then it can go to the shredder.


Also, if you wouldn't mind for academic purposes, could you expand on that note for Forever Hold the Peace? ik the length would be a problem bc I was gonna edit it down to 3k words like I just got done recently for a directors cut. But what else needed work? I just wanna get better.

[THE REAL LON CHARLES]

Feb 11, 2024 20:33:07 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

Feb 11, 2024 20:08:27 GMT -7 THE REAL LON CHARLES said:

There's a lot I don't understand about your idea. Why are a group of men taking an adult sex ed class? The style of Waititi and the tone of The Full Monty combined doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Taika Waititi's comedic style is wacky, zany, silly (and occasionally sad). The Full Monty is not silly, drawing comedy and drama out of relatable and ordinary situations. I don't think the tones and styles you're throwing out could really co-exist in one project. Sounds like another situation of too many ideas to work as a whole, like you just had with Forever Hold the Peace. I suggest narrowing your influences and focus more on one thing/style/tone.

First off, thank you for answering. Every note given is helpful. I mean like guys who are either awkward, clueless, or hopeless who join thinking it'll help them out in some form. I mean the Full Monty by like you said with taking relatable issues people face with sex. I meant Waititi's style by having the teacher give unconventional methods to break these guys out of their rut (or whatever you'd call it). Idk it's just an idea. If it's not worth it, then it can go to the shredder.


Also, if you wouldn't mind for academic purposes, could you expand on that note for Forever Hold the Peace? ik the length would be a problem bc I was gonna edit it down to 3k words like I just got done recently for a directors cut. But what else needed work? I just wanna get better.

Grown men taking such a class would seem a bit odd to me, but younger dorky guys (17-25) could work (like the group of friends in The Girl Next Door). I don't see any Waititi in that concept, even if the teacher's methods are unconventional. His style seems like it would take that in more random and silly directions. A Full Monty-styled approach would suit the plot better in my opinion. Make the young men clueless but still likable by giving them relatable issues (maybe one is afraid of talking to girls, another could be a virgin with a more experienced girlfriend he fears disappointing in bed, etc.).

For me, the biggest problem that kept Forever Hold the Peace from working was the all-around issue of "too much". Too much of everything, not just length. The issue of too much caused the issue of length, not the other way around. Too many characters, too many relationships to keep track of, too many interactions that don't actually affect the story, etc. Forever Hold the Peace is a pretty simple plot that if you had kept things simple for the audience, would have have worked a lot better for me. About half of the characters could have been cut (and in turn their scenes with the main characters) and you wouldn't lose anything important or that really change anything for the main characters.

[H.G. Hansen]

Feb 11, 2024 20:49:19 GMT -7 THE REAL LON CHARLES said:

Feb 11, 2024 20:33:07 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

First off, thank you for answering. Every note given is helpful. I mean like guys who are either awkward, clueless, or hopeless who join thinking it'll help them out in some form. I mean the Full Monty by like you said with taking relatable issues people face with sex. I meant Waititi's style by having the teacher give unconventional methods to break these guys out of their rut (or whatever you'd call it). Idk it's just an idea. If it's not worth it, then it can go to the shredder.


Also, if you wouldn't mind for academic purposes, could you expand on that note for Forever Hold the Peace? ik the length would be a problem bc I was gonna edit it down to 3k words like I just got done recently for a directors cut. But what else needed work? I just wanna get better.

Grown men taking such a class would seem a bit odd to me, but younger dorky guys (17-25) could work (like the group of friends in The Girl Next Door). I don't see any Waititi in that concept, even if the teacher's methods are unconventional. His style seems like it would take that in more random and silly directions. A Full Monty-styled approach would suit the plot better in my opinion. Make the young men clueless but still likable by giving them relatable issues (maybe one is afraid of talking to girls, another could be a virgin with a more experienced girlfriend he fears disappointing in bed, etc.).

For me, the biggest problem that kept Forever Hold the Peace from working was the all-around issue of "too much". Too much of everything, not just length. The issue of too much caused the issue of length, not the other way around. Too many characters, too many relationships to keep track of, too many interactions that don't actually affect the story, etc. Forever Hold the Peace is a pretty simple plot that if you had kept things simple for the audience, would have have worked a lot better for me. About half of the characters could have been cut (and in turn their scenes with the main characters) and you wouldn't lose anything important or that really change anything for the main characters.

Okay, I like those suggestions. I guess my initial thought was kinda leaning towards TFM more. Using younger people does make more sense, it can give opportunities to those who I believe deserve them.

I guess yeah it's a lot of characters. Tbh there were SO many things left on the cutting room floor initially like there was the kid Hazel babysits, Wallaby's flight attendant friends, a cameo scene of Hazel's mom. There was way more to the beginning showing Hazel's drawing of her mother b4 she died and more on her hangups, Hazel being high like she imagines the dog talking & seeing a high version of herself, there was a scene on a beach which was the one they went to later, and a joke about a nature documentary showing the tragic mother of seals. The first draft was almost 10k words bc we kept trying to round the story up.

My newest problem has been using too much of the supporting characters. I like using the casting of people like Plimpton, Moreno, & Morrone. It feels like I'm wasting them if they have nothing to do.

[THE REAL LON CHARLES]

Feb 11, 2024 21:07:47 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

Feb 11, 2024 20:49:19 GMT -7 THE REAL LON CHARLES said:

Grown men taking such a class would seem a bit odd to me, but younger dorky guys (17-25) could work (like the group of friends in The Girl Next Door). I don't see any Waititi in that concept, even if the teacher's methods are unconventional. His style seems like it would take that in more random and silly directions. A Full Monty-styled approach would suit the plot better in my opinion. Make the young men clueless but still likable by giving them relatable issues (maybe one is afraid of talking to girls, another could be a virgin with a more experienced girlfriend he fears disappointing in bed, etc.).

For me, the biggest problem that kept Forever Hold the Peace from working was the all-around issue of "too much". Too much of everything, not just length. The issue of too much caused the issue of length, not the other way around. Too many characters, too many relationships to keep track of, too many interactions that don't actually affect the story, etc. Forever Hold the Peace is a pretty simple plot that if you had kept things simple for the audience, would have have worked a lot better for me. About half of the characters could have been cut (and in turn their scenes with the main characters) and you wouldn't lose anything important or that really change anything for the main characters.

Okay, I like those suggestions. I guess my initial thought was kinda leaning towards TFM more. Using younger people does make more sense, it can give opportunities to those who I believe deserve them.

I guess yeah it's a lot of characters. Tbh there were SO many things left on the cutting room floor initially like there was the kid Hazel babysits, Wallaby's flight attendant friends, a cameo scene of Hazel's mom. There was way more to the beginning showing Hazel's drawing of her mother b4 she died and more on her hangups, Hazel being high like she imagines the dog talking & seeing a high version of herself, there was a scene on a beach which was the one they went to later, and a joke about a nature documentary showing the tragic mother of seals. The first draft was almost 10k words bc we kept trying to round the story up.

My newest problem has been using too much of the supporting characters. I like using the casting of people like Plimpton, Moreno, & Morrone. It feels like I'm wasting them if they have nothing to do.

Personally, I'm a big proponent of keeping a concept simple. I don't see how any of those extra ideas you had would actually help the story of Forever Hold the Peace. A think a lot of writers think that having a simple concept results in a simple story, but I don't think that it is the case. And everything in the story should relate to that simple concept. If it doesn't, then it doesn't belong in that story. A concept should be able to be explained in simple, short language, like a basic 1-2 sentence log-line. Your sex ed story has a nice simple concept, but if you end up with more than eight or so characters with a concept like that, you're trying to cram too much into a simple premise. If it feels like you're wasting a character with casting, you may want to take a look at how necessary that character is in the first place. Looking at Forever Hold the Peace again, the characters played by Fred Armisen, Nicholas Hamilton, Nell Tiger Free and Erin Kellyman are all extraneous and could have been easily cut without losing anything important to the story. Some of the scenes they had, could have been cut or even tweaked to utilize more necessary characters instead. It would beef up the parts of the more important roles, while keeping things more simple for the audience and production.

[John Malone]

I've been thinking about doing a film set during the Crusades for a little while now. I have a very rough idea, but it is still quite early. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions of books, comics, films, historical figures, etc. depicting that era that I could use for thematic or story influences? Thanks ahead of time.

[H.G. Hansen]

Feb 28, 2024 20:36:03 GMT -7 John Malone said:

I've been thinking about doing a film set during the Crusades for a little while now. I have a very rough idea, but it is still quite early. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions of books, comics, films, historical figures, etc. depicting that era that I could use for thematic or story influences? Thanks ahead of time.

Like what exactly? I just googled essential books to read to study the Crusades. It entirely depends if you want to make a realistic movie about what happened and what's known or do an English patient version of popular events everyone already knows.

[H.G. Hansen]

Feb 28, 2024 20:36:03 GMT -7 John Malone said:

I've been thinking about doing a film set during the Crusades for a little while now. I have a very rough idea, but it is still quite early. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions of books, comics, films, historical figures, etc. depicting that era that I could use for thematic or story influences? Thanks ahead of time.

But you should do the movie bro. If anyone could do it, it'd be you. Fingers crossed for you.

[John Malone]

Feb 28, 2024 21:56:15 GMT -7 H.G. Hansen said:

Feb 28, 2024 20:36:03 GMT -7 John Malone said:

I've been thinking about doing a film set during the Crusades for a little while now. I have a very rough idea, but it is still quite early. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions of books, comics, films, historical figures, etc. depicting that era that I could use for thematic or story influences? Thanks ahead of time.

Like what exactly? I just googled essential books to read to study the Crusades. It entirely depends if you want to make a realistic movie about what happened and what's known or do an English patient version of popular events everyone already knows.

I was thinking along the lines of centering the story on a fictional/composite character who takes part in a major event(s) and interacts with historical figure(s) from the time. It's very early on - not even sure which Crusade it will be set during.

I've read a few books and watched a handful of movies set in the period. I was just wondering if anyone in the LRF community could throw something out (in terms of media) that I hadn't thought of taking a look at.

[alextheman]

I was thinking about writing something about the Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow Scotland

[H.G. Hansen]

Mar 11, 2024 9:45:18 GMT -7 alextheman said:

I was thinking about writing something about the Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow Scotland

I don't think the event is interesting enough without a documentary to showcase what could be done. how about a film with a story inspired by it? I think that could work