Film Ideas

So this is where it all starts, basic ideas. But these aren't basic ideas, these are things I've been thinking of for a while. I've gone from the most basic ideas to what you'll see in here. And that's not to say these are final! I've got a while to work on scripts and storyboards, well...a month or two.

It's a bit of a shame that the film won't be much of a surprise to you, but I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about me tearing my hair out, crying, kicking walls, headbutting my laptop, not sleeping, etc. Well, there should be considerably less of that now I've got a pal to help me out! Oh, if only you'd seen my second year work...

And there's going to be a bit of research in a later post to back these up! Sometimes I just need a bit of help, y'know?

Like I said, these posts are going to be text heavy for the time being! There is imagery, and it will be updated soon!

For each idea I've written a brief synopsis that doesn't really give away the plot, the sort of blurb you'd find on the back of a DVD box. In addition, there's a lengthier version which details the entire plot of the film. I've written them more like novels than scripts, just because I find it an easier starting point. I've always loved telling stories, so I used to do this a lot in my spare time when I was younger. But, just for that script-ish feel, I've written them in present tense.

So, without further delay!

Oh, just a quick note, character profiles will come later! But there'll be a list of characters for each film.

Film # 1 - The Last Gift

Characters: -Lily

- Ash

-Rosa

-Hope

-The Dark Warrior

Brief Synopsis:

In a dying world, where forests disappear overnight, one of the last tribes rests at the foot of a great tree. However, a great threat approaches with the intention of sapping the energy of the tree, thus leaving the surrounding lives to perish.

Lily now steps forward to fight this evil, with hope in her heart, hope for a better future. Having already lost her husband, Ash, she refuses to let his sacrifice be in vain. 

Lengthier version:

Ash opens his eyes. He looks around, wondering where he is. His eyes widen in fear, a sudden realisation of his predicament. He stands in a dark, baron wasteland with a single light floating about him. A figure appears before him. Ash’s expression turns from fear to anger.

“Let me go!” Ash’s voice quakes a little with fear, “I’m not ready! They need me!”

There is no answer. Ash drops to his knees.

“By what right do you imprison me?! Do the lives of my people mean nothing to you?”

Still no answer.

“I have a wife, and a child! Without me they will surely not survive! There is a great evil approaching my land!”

The light surrounding Ash begins to close in. He realises his hopelessness, and gazes up at the light.

“If I could see your face just once more… Lily.”

***

Lily opens her eyes in shock. She has been praying in a room filled with candles. She hears faint echoes of a familiar voice.

Rosa is stood atop the settlement gate. Lily approaches.

“Lily! You can’t climb up here with the baby!” scolds Rosa, “Little Hope... She’ll be here soon.”

Rosa looks at Lily’s bump with a faint smile.

“But what kind of a future will I bring her in to?” Lily looks off in to the distance, past the tree. She sees darkness approaching from the valley, “I won’t allow her to grow up with my fears.”

Lily takes her leave. Rosa looks to the distance, a look of concern across her face.

***

From the distance, the Dark Warrior approaches with the intention of stealing the energy from the tree to prolong his own life.

Still staring off at the horizon, Rosa notices Lily running towards the great tree. Full of fear and concern for her friend, Rosa leaps from the gate and begins to run after her.

Lily’s mind races as she runs towards the tree, the tree that her husband sacrificed himself to strengthen for the good of everyone. She wasn’t about to let that power be stolen. She calms herself as she runs, and thought of the future;

“I knew all too clearly what was at stake, and what it was I must do. 

My life had been spent in the darkness, like so many before me. We were too weak to fight for what we believed.

And now I atone for those sins. My past will not be your future. 

If I could wish for one last thing, it would be this; A future where you can smile. 

This will be my last gift. “

Rosa continues to chase after her friend, knowing that she’s already too late to stop her;

“Why did I even try to stop you? I knew all too well, once you have your heart set on something you can’t be stopped!

I always wanted to be just like you. You’re so strong, and kind. 

And even if you fade away, I’ll remember you always. 

You’ll live on forever, through our legends. The two of you will be our saviours.

Now and forever,

Thank you. “

Lily arrives at the tree. Her body begins to glow with energy. A spirit steps out of the tree. Lily recognises it instantly.

“Ash!” She smiles “I knew you would be with me.”

Ash holds out a hand and smiles. Lily takes his hand. Her body glows brightly. Rosa, now not far behind shields her face from the blinding light and trips, falling to the ground.

***

The Dark Warrior stands not too far from the tree. He prepares to sap the energy. However, a bright flash interrupts him, causing him to shield his eyes.

The spirits of Ash and Lily stand before him (Lily is no longer with child it seems).  The Dark Warrior laughs at this seemingly pitiful attempt to stop him. He readies himself again to sap the power of the great tree, but stops when he noticed a vine climbing up his legs. He attempts to stop it, but is unable. The roots grow further up his body, until eventually, they close up around him. Another bright flash emits from Ash and Lily.

***

Rosa raises her head from the ground and picks herself up. A second tree now stands by the great tree, and the great tree appears much larger than it was before. She notices something at the base of the tree. Rosa realises it’s a baby, Lily’s baby. She takes the baby in her arms and looks around. In the distance she sees the spirits of Lily and Ash, their arms around each other. They smile at Rosa.

“I’ll take care of her” Shouts Rosa, with a tear rolling down her face, “You won’t be forgotten. Thank you.”

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Film #2 - The Last Flight of the Isis

Characters: -Claire

-Alexander

Brief Synopsis:

The Isis, one of mankind’s last hopes after World War III left the surface of the planet inhospitable. Aboard this magnificent ship, only one member of crew still remains, a scientist; Claire. Still, she has not lost hope. She believes that she will someday return to the surface of the world on which she was born.  In one final attempt to return humanity to where it belongs, she acts upon her dream.

Lengthier version:

The Isis floats through space with the engines turned off. It seems almost abandoned, ghostly even. However, there is still one passenger aboard the ship; Claire.

Inside, Claire wakes up after a nightmare.

“I had another terrible dream, Alex!” She calls out.

There is no reply to her call, but she is unfazed by this. She presses a button, and she is released from her bed chamber. She floats upwards towards a window. On the way, she passes a room of plants.

“Morning, guys!” She smiles and waves as she floats by.

Claire reaches her window. She looks out in longing for a moment. She can see a planet surrounded by clouds; the Earth. She gazes at the stars.

“I’ll never get over how beautiful it is,” she sighs, “Wouldn’t you agree Alex?”

No response.

“Still not up yet? Alex?”

She pushes away from the window, making her way to Alex’s room.

“You know, with all the cloud coverage, there’s no telling what’s going on down there!” there is a tone of hope in Claire’s voice, “Just think, pretty soon we could return to the Earth…”

Claire’s voice trails off. She realises Alex’s room is empty.

“Alex…?”

Claire presses the button to open the room. The place is deserted. In the corner of the room, she can see a suit. There is a slight tear in it, with a small amount of blood. Claire’s eyes widen as she remembers the terrible event that caused the accident.

There wasn’t a name for it; a condition that would cause astronauts to lose their minds after prolonged exposure to the lack of gravity, and the loneliness of outer space. Some believed that is was due to the exposure of foreign life, such as plants and even rocks. It affected people in different ways; some would become delusional, others would become violent.

Claire suddenly remembered everything clearly.

She and Alex had been performing routine maintenance on the outside of the ship, resting on the moon’s surface. Alex had been ill for a while, but he still came out to help Claire.

“How are you feeling?” called Claire, “We’re almost done here, you can go back inside if you want to, go rest up!”

Alex looked towards the Earth. Then it happened. Without warning, he picked up a wrench and swung it wildly. Claire managed to avoid the blow, causing Alex to leave a dent in the ship. Claire backed away, unable to stand with fear.

“Alex… Please, we promised!” She pleaded for her life. Alex ignored her and continued to press forward.

“We promised we’d go back to Earth together! That you’d get better!”

Alex lifted the wrench, ready to strike. Claire reacted in the only way she could. She grabbed a screwdriver lying nearby and leapt up, stabbing Alex in the chest. There was a brief pause. The moment felt like hours to Claire.

“Oh, god! Alex!” sobbed Claire, “I’m so sorry!”

Alex seemed to have returned to normal due to the sudden pain. Claire helped him back inside the ship.

Once inside, Claire lifted the ship from the surface of the moon. She turned back to see how Alex was doing, and to her horror she discovered he had locked himself in airlock.

“Alex!” Claire leapt from the seat down to the airlock, “What are you doing?!”

“I can’t stay, it’s too late for me!” Alex said, “Get home safe, Claire!”

And with that, he pulled the lever and was lost in space forever.

Claire had never forgotten that day, she had merely repressed the memory. For years she had floated around her prison, going about her life as if nothing had happened, as if she had barely spent more than a week off the surface off the earth.

Claire is sat crying, cradling herself in her arm. She looks at her withered, old hands. She had forgotten just how many years she’d been in space.

Without a second thought, she made her way to the cockpit. She set the ship on a course to return to the earth.

“I won’t die here.” She tells herself, “I’ll make it home safe, Alex. For you, like we promised.”

The clouds part as the rickety ship makes it was to the surface of the planet. Claire is surprised to see lush green, not baron wastelands. The ship approaches the ground at an alarming speed, not suited to land on the terrain that it has been presented with. Claire prepares herself for the crash.

Claire awakens with a start on the floor of the ship. She stands up and looks out of the front window, and smiles. The ship is surrounded by trees. Claire makes her way out of the now broken windows of the ship. As she does, raindrops begin to fall.

“Maybe mankind deserves a second chance. A chance to do it right this time.”

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Film #3 - Hope

Characters: -Hope

-Wolf

Brief synopsis:

Nobody knows when the last city crumbled in this post-apocalyptic world, save for “a very long time ago.” But the world does not lie in ruin. Nature has reclaimed, and mankind still lives in small pockets of society, living in the remains of the old world and in the forests. But the world is not without its dangers. This is now a kill or be killed world, where only the strong and resourceful survive.

The story follows two hunters; Hope and Wolf, an unlikely duo. They hunt for old world technology in the hope understanding what the world once was, and in the hope of making a safer world for future generations. But their road is treacherous, and they will have to face the strange monsters that have appeared in the world.

Lengthier version:

In the depths of a great forest, Hope and Wolf have discovered the remains of an old world city. They have been led there by Hope’s strange device that reacts to most old world technology and paradoxes caused by the strange creatures.

However, most of the city has been swallowed by a giant chasm.

The pair of them walk to the edge of the chasm to see a huge skyscraper is still held in place by the roots of a gigantic tree. Hope holds out her arm, hoping to get a better signal with the device.

“You’re not gonna tell me that it’s down there?” Wolf asks

“It looks that way,” Hope replies with a look of determination on her face.

“No… It’s too dangerous,  we don’t even know what it is! How are we…” Wolf begins, but stops when Hope gives him a stern look.

“Every relic of the old world is valuable!” Hope uses a scolding tone, “Whatever’s down there, we need it.”

There is a slight pause. Wolf gives in, and the two of them begin to make their way down the tree that has grown in to the chasm.  They are both unaware that a rift, the source of the unusual monsters, has begun to open up below the skyscraper.

Hope and Wolf reach the skyscraper and being to make their way along it. Hope holds out her arm, scanning to find the strongest distortion.

“The distortion is intensifying, we must be getting closer!” She says with a tone of excitement.

However, the excitement is short lived when a loud crash is head and the building shakes. Wolf looks over the edge. Several small creatures have begun making their way up the side of the building, and one larger, less agile creature has begun making its way up the cliff.

“Get inside!” Shouts Wolf, “Find what you can, and make it fast!”

Hope climbs inside a broken window. She knows she can’t fight like Wolf can, her job is to provide tech support. Inside, the room is covered in paper, notes from experiments. Or perhaps scribbled final thoughts; goodbyes that never reached loved ones. Hope uses a root to climb in to the next room.

Outside, three monsters stand before Wolf. He looks around, hoping to find some way to defend himself. He sees a metal pipe sticking out of the side of the building. One of the monsters lunges for wolf. He uses this as an opportunity to get to his weapon, avoiding the lunge by jumping over the monster. Before he even lands he grabs the pipe and uses his brute strength to rip it from the building. Another monster lunges as Wolf lands. Wolf quickly turns, swinging the pipe and smacking the monster with such force that it is propelled in to the chasm.

Hope finds herself in what used to be a laboratory. A large computer is bolted to what is currently the ceiling in a rather precarious fashion. It’s hooked up to a suspicious looking device that flashes occasionally. Hope’s device begins to beep. She holds it towards the device.

“Rift activity!” She gasps, “This place must’ve been important. Maybe even where all of this began?”

Hope climbs up to the computer.

“The distortions must’ve caused this to boot up. I need to extract the hard drive!”

Hope begins to remove the casing from the computer. The hard drive is larger the Hope had expected. She removes it and ties it to herself. She drops down, narrowly missing a window on the floor.

As Hope is about to leave a monster bursts in through the window and grabs her. With quick reactions, Hope kicks off the monster’s face, latching on to the computer. Without thinking, Hope grabs her machete and begins to smash the bolts attaching the computer to the wall. The entire device falls, Hope along with it. The computer is so heavy, and the building so weak, that it crashes through the wall, taking the monster along with it. Hope manages to grab on to a pipe sticking out of the wall. She quickly pulls herself up and makes her way to the outside of the building.

Outside, Wolf is still dealing with monsters. One of the monsters runs towards him. He jumps over it, smacking it with the pipe in mid-air, sending it over the edge of the building. Wolf lands right in front of the last monster. It doesn’t even stand a chance as Wolf spins to gain momentum for his vicious strike. He sees Hope not too far away, she begins running down the skyscraper towards him.

Hope smiles as she runs. The data on the hard drive will prove invaluable and she knows it. And on top of that, Wolf is still safe. However, her happiness is shattered when the largest monster she has ever seen leaps on to the side of the skyscraper. However, the weakened structure of the building can’t support the weight of this monster. The building crumbles where it landed, right next to Wolf. Wolf doesn’t have chance to react and begins to fall.

Without thinking, Hope leaps from the building. She throws her grappling hook, latching it to the edge of the building. As she falls she grabs Wolf, and the pair of them swing back up on to the edge of the building. They both lie on the ground for a while, panting with exhaustion.

“Did you get it?” Wolf asks, panting. Without answering, Hope holds up the hard drive.

“Now we can learn how to stop those things,” she pants.

“There’s still hope for tomorrow.”  

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There you have it! All three potential student films.

Now, I know what you're thinking. They're a bit long, and yes, I do have a time limit (as infuriating as that is).  But, like I said these ideas are open to change, and it's better to have too much than too little at this stage. 

And it'd be nice to have that experience that animators dread, that thing they call "the cutting room floor". I think I'd like to call that animation hell. But yeah, it'll help keep things authentic if I actually had something to cut, as in the past I've worked so hard just to get everything ready that I've not had enough material to cut. 

I really am hoping that this year will be different with someone else working with me. 

And yes, that last idea in particular sounds incredibly ambitious. Once I can show you a sample of Jeff's modelling work (Jeff's the dude I'm working with), you'll understand why I approached him, and why I have faith in him.