Sure thing.
Well first off, I’m concentrating on doing only one film at the moment, as a short 10 or 15 minute film, but my hope is that after one film, it will evolve into an episodic format.
The general genres this is touching upon are: Cyberpunk themes, dystopian themes, Space Opera (complete with human-like aliens in the typical fashion of Flash Gordon, Star Trek or Star Wars.) However that last genre will not be the focus of this current film project but perhaps the next one if I ever get there.
SPOILERS (If anyone cares…)
I have developed twelve main characters, which reflect the twelve basica Jungian architypes. My goal here was to sort of mirror George Lucas’s method of creating character based on classical archtypes. The twelve are broken up into three groups of four. One group are members of the Dystopian government of which two are the leaders and two are regular soldiers. Another group are the rebels fighting a war of independence on Mars, and the last group (and the one featured in my test shot) are smugglers who run weapons to the rebels, but are motivated primarily by profit and not revolution.
Story-board wise, I have to scan the sketches, but this test shot is basically a moving story board. I plan to do a zoom in from way out there in around the planet’s moon, then down near the space station, down onto the ship, then inside the ship to the smuggler captain. He is logging on to the computer, then watches the equivilant of TV.
This “TV” will first feature parody comercials. This is my intent to insert sardonic humor taking jabs at today’s current society but going to the logical (or perhaps absurd) extreme. For example, I will show a news report as a form of exhibition of the back story (it beats having the characters do it, “Well Bob, after the Third Would War in which three billion died…” BAH!) this news report takes Fox News’s (as well as some other stastions) claim of “Fair and Balance,” to a new level and claims biblical status basically as “Terran New: Humanity’s only revelation of Truth.” The news and comercials will be alot like the comercials feature in the Grand Theft Auto games or any of the films by the dirrector who did Robocop and Starship Troopers, which are similarly over the top and tounge in check (anyone remember the cow scene?)
The reason for the humor is because a story about a dystopia could be a very dure and depressing story, and that might ture people of. My point in this story is to make comments about today, not to depress people. In that it has a message and comentary I see it being much like the best sci fi from Frankenstien to Stepford Wives, from Dune to the Forever War, From 1984 to Star Trek.
In any case we get a news report whose tone reveals this to be obvious state-run propaganda, and the images of the military from the report and their recruitment ads, makes it clear they are fascist. Normally I would like to be more subtle, but this needs to be established right away since this is a short film, and so it can not be subtle.
Our captain’s “TV” is interupted by the computer telling him he must begin his docking procedures. The crew of four of the Cerberus split into two teams. One is going to the planet to deliver the cargo to it’s buyer and trade for a shipment of weapons, the other will stay on the station and go to the local bar in search for a new job and a new contact.
While on the planet, as the first team completes the transaction, they are busted by a police raid, and they begin an action sequences to escape with the goods and out run the cops. Meanwhile our team in the bar gets into an altracation with someone and it errupts into an all out brawl. They try to escape the bar alive. Both teams are on the run and meet up in the docking bay just in the nick of time to start up the engines and fly away from Alpha Centauri’s planet Athena and back to Mars.
This episode introduces us to other groups of characters from the government and rebel story arch, but focuses on the smugglers. The other stories will have to wait until a future episode if I ever get to it. But if it is only a short film, then there you have it. That is the plot outline right there. I figure that that will take about 10 or 15 mins to tell.
