Boom
I got nothin'
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2003
- Messages
- 55,531
- Reaction score
- 21,992
- Points
- 203
Okay, guys. I'm taking a Screenwriting course. By the end of the semester I have to have a 2-hour length script due (120+ pages). I had an idea in particular that I wanted to work with, but I was hoping people experienced with writing scripts could give me some advice.
A man is abducted by aliens and is held on board their ship as a test subject (think of animals in a lab or an animal at the zoo). The movie doesn't so much concentrate on the aliens themselves, but rather focuses on the man's isolation and desperation. All he has on his person is his wallet (containing a photo of his wife and daughter), a sharpie marker, and a dead cell phone. In order to keep himself from losing his sanity, he writes down fond memories of his life on the walls of his cell, and even goes as far as talking to himself in order to maintain some degree of human interaction. He prays that the aliens will eventually take him home, but as the days go by it becomes clearer and clearer that that's not going to happen. Rather it be by malnourishment, dehydration, or the loss of will to live, he ends up dying by the end of the film. However, the last memory he has is of him with his family, so he at least is comforted with the thought of loves ones as he passes on.
Originally, I was going to have the movie span three days. The aliens aren't exactly knowledgeable of human beings, so they wouldn't know of our most basic needs such as food or water. So the man would end up dying of dehydration after three days. However, I really wanted to work in the angle of him talking to himself, and I don't know if three days without water would do that to a person. So I probably have to research the effects of dehydration in order to move forward.
Also, this would very much be a psychological film rather than a full-blown science fiction film. However, m biggest concern right now is that I don't know if the film has a big enough conflict.
Any thoughts?
A man is abducted by aliens and is held on board their ship as a test subject (think of animals in a lab or an animal at the zoo). The movie doesn't so much concentrate on the aliens themselves, but rather focuses on the man's isolation and desperation. All he has on his person is his wallet (containing a photo of his wife and daughter), a sharpie marker, and a dead cell phone. In order to keep himself from losing his sanity, he writes down fond memories of his life on the walls of his cell, and even goes as far as talking to himself in order to maintain some degree of human interaction. He prays that the aliens will eventually take him home, but as the days go by it becomes clearer and clearer that that's not going to happen. Rather it be by malnourishment, dehydration, or the loss of will to live, he ends up dying by the end of the film. However, the last memory he has is of him with his family, so he at least is comforted with the thought of loves ones as he passes on.
Originally, I was going to have the movie span three days. The aliens aren't exactly knowledgeable of human beings, so they wouldn't know of our most basic needs such as food or water. So the man would end up dying of dehydration after three days. However, I really wanted to work in the angle of him talking to himself, and I don't know if three days without water would do that to a person. So I probably have to research the effects of dehydration in order to move forward.
Also, this would very much be a psychological film rather than a full-blown science fiction film. However, m biggest concern right now is that I don't know if the film has a big enough conflict.
Any thoughts?
