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Would you see this movie?
Topic Started: Feb 22 2011, 02:29 AM (5,480 Views)
Yorick
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But still take in a considerable profit from the overseas market.


And a non-American setting isn't necessary for a film to be profitable overseas.

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Neither do I. But apparently he directed Coneheads, which was a film about aliens in America, so...


This script and Coneheads (great comedy by the way) are completely different!

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Well, yes. The least you can do is make it interesting, new, and novel- just like in all the films you mentioned. Not "hur, here I am, HERO, you, VILLAIN, are gonna get your ass kicked (end of film)".


I never said I would do that.

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Well... if he can't find the prince, the least he could do would be to kill the king and have the prince declared missing.


And risk the prince returning and uniting the people against him? No way.

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Besides, "a few minutes of stumbling and slurring speech" before suddenly walking around perfectly and speakling fluent English is going to stretch the suspension of belief of even the dumbest moviegoers.

Of course, everyone sadly thinks all aliens speak English anyway, so.


Don't worry. Hero gets a translation chip thing or whatever like in "Farscape" or "Animorphs." Communication won't be a problem.

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The point is that females can be heroes just as much as males can. And if you have other scripts with female leads, that's fine, I'm just making an observation based on the fact that the majoritiy of leads in films that aren't romantic comedies, are male.


Not my fault or my problem.

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Should some heroes be female? Why not?


But why should mine be?

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But... that's like me trying to deal with catfish attraction. It won't work, without it being treated by the protagonist as:


It's a movie. Don't overthink it. As he assimilates to his human body and human culture, he develops sexual and emotional attarction to a human. Unlikely in reality but this isn't reality, now is it?

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I could say that it'd be harder to find him in an old age home, or a homeless shelter.


Who's want to see a movie about that? And it's be easier and more comfortable for the prince to live and fight in a teen's body like he is.

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It's not that hard to discern a person you're looking for from other people, if they are pointing and laughing at him...


Yeah but it's great comedy for the audience and then a great way to relate to the hero who is coming of age as the main teenage audience is coming of age.

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Wouldn't they at least have the foresight to tell him about this stuff beforehand?


I already explained to you that there iss no time for the hero to brush up on human biology and anthropology. The general is out for the entire family.

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I'd also like o throw oiut there that no, if he wants this to actually be produced then he sure as hell better make the villain and hero have their final battle at the climax as is expected with the tested and tried ancient story formula, once he gets his name out there THEN he can mess with things, but the moment the folks who he wants to make his movie see that they don't they're chucking his script in the trash.


Exactly.
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Jasonguppy
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What about my comments?
I do art sometimes.

"if you want green eat a salad"

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Amammalia: A strange place where mammals didn't make it and the land is, once again, dominated by archosaurs.

Oceanus: An endless sea dotted with islands, reefs, and black holes. Literally endless, literal black holes.

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lamna
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I'm listening to a dramatic reading of Midnight Sun by manwithoutabody and it's not physical attraction, it's her smelling delicious, and she can't read her mind and he needs to know what she thinks.

I think teenagers are fine when used correctly. Gundam would never have worked if Amuro Ray was an adult or an child.

Ok, there is so much discussion here I can't start to comment on it. I need sleep, work tomorrow. But I will say this. Mecha makes everything better. Evangelion if the main characters had used psychic attacks or somthing it would have been a dull decent into depression and confusing philosophy. But they use giant cyborgs robots, so it's a decent into depression and confusing philosophy in giant robots.
I can't think of many films where giant robots would not have helped improve them.

And yes, T. Neo is a salty dick. I thought everyone knew that?
Edited by lamna, Feb 23 2011, 07:30 PM.
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Jasonguppy
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Yup
I do art sometimes.

"if you want green eat a salad"

Projects:
Amammalia: A strange place where mammals didn't make it and the land is, once again, dominated by archosaurs.

Oceanus: An endless sea dotted with islands, reefs, and black holes. Literally endless, literal black holes.

❤️❤️~I'm not a boy~❤️❤️
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lamna
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Well... if he can't find the prince, the least he could do would be to kill the king and have the prince declared missing.

If he's just missing the very fact that he's alive will give hope to loyalists if they are anything like humans, and if he lies and says the prince is dead and then the prince returns he'll be utterly discredited. People would never trust him again.

Maybe the general could offer to leave him alone on earth, but will try to kill him if he tries to return home so he has to choose between duty to his people and some hot alien ass.
Living Fossils

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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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T.Neo
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Eh, free moving gametes are overrated if you ask me. A fixed surface of gametes which is fed by a permanent placental organ is all the rage.


And this evolved how many times in metazoans, compared to motile gametes? :rolleyes:

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There's always the option of a pair of surfaces that press and wrinkle together which the gametes are secreted across then pulled in rather than using a probe and hole.


I don't know... again, look at evolutionary trends.

As long as the wrinkle-surfaces manage good enough fluid transfer, maybe...

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--------I'd also like o throw oiut there that no, if he wants this to actually be produced then he sure as hell better make the villain and hero have their final battle at the climax as is expected with the tested and tried ancient story formula, once he gets his name out there THEN he can mess with things, but the moment the folks who he wants to make his movie see that they don't they're chucking his script in the trash.


If he needs to include a cliche ending, the least he can do is put a novel spin on it.

I'd like to throw this out there; if you are really looking to get noticed in the industry, try making short films first, on a low budget... that way, production companies will notice talent and will be more willing to consider a script, conventional or not.

If you look at a lot of Neill Blomkamp's short films- particularly his adverts- you'll see that they're brilliant. That's why when Halo fell through, Peter Jackson effectively gave him 30 million USD and told him to make whatever film he wanted.

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And a non-American setting isn't necessary for a film to be profitable overseas.


No. But it is cliche and it does annoy viewers from everywhere else that it's California over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

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This script and Coneheads (great comedy by the way) are completely different!


But the basic concept "Aliens In America"! is the same.

Ok, so the circumstances are totally different... I'm just using it as an example. Just like I can use Independance Day as an example.

To quote Monsters vs. Aliens (also a film where aliens land in America);

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Once again, a UFO has landed in America - the only country UFOs ever seem to land in!


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And risk the prince returning and uniting the people against him? No way.


That's the least of his worries. Any ideologue can unite the people against him...

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Don't worry. Hero gets a translation chip thing or whatever like in "Farscape" or "Animorphs." Communication won't be a problem.


Translation... chip? That's supposed to not make me worry? Like in Animporhs?

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Not my fault or my problem.


Still something you should keep in mind as a writer.

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But why should mine be?


The question is not why, but why not. ;)

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It's a movie. Don't overthink it. As he assimilates to his human body and human culture, he develops sexual and emotional attarction to a human. Unlikely in reality but this isn't reality, now is it?


That's exactly the kind of attitude that leads to a dumb movie. Y'know, like where noisy space shuttles pull 10 gs flying around snot-shaped asteroid fragments. Or where lunar landers secretly discover spaceships piloted by transforming robots.

Handwave or not, the obvious implausibility (and squick, even from the prince's point of view) would make the romance a Token Romance, regardless of the relevance to the plot of the actual film.

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Who's want to see a movie about that? And it's be easier and more comfortable for the prince to live and fight in a teen's body like he is.


I could call adolescence many things but "easy and comfortable".

A lot of people would want to see a movie about old people... some of my favourite fictional characters are old people.

Of course, you have to make the character relatable, but this is universal for all characters. Older people are just that: people, who are older.

Considering that we're dealing with an alien here, the existence of old people is not that worrying...

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Yeah but it's great comedy for the audience and then a great way to relate to the hero who is coming of age as the main teenage audience is coming of age.


I can't think of a better way to 'come of age' than to live in the shoes of a person who is of great age...

Depends on how you look at the film. "Great comedy for the teenage audience" just as easily translates to "unfunny overused cliche film". Which is what critics- most of them- will see it as. Which will in turn affect the opinions of moviegoers themselves.

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I already explained to you that there iss no time for the hero to brush up on human biology and anthropology. The general is out for the entire family.


I think walking him to the spacecraft would be time enough to explain the workings of "that dangly organ"... :ermm:

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I'm listening to a dramatic reading of Midnight Sun by manwithoutabody and it's not physical attraction, it's her smelling delicious, and she can't read her mind and he needs to know what she thinks.


How does "smelling delicious" relate to sexual attraction?

I like the smell of flowers, but it's not like I engage in florasexuality...

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I think teenagers are fine when used correctly. Gundam would never have worked if Amuro Ray was an adult or an child.


I only vaguely know what Gundam is, but I agree. Problem is, most modern films don't use them correctly, thematically speaking. It's the same old rubbish over and over and over again.

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But I will say this. Mecha makes everything better.


How is that relevant? :P

Ok, if you use it right, it is awesome... District 9 exo-suit... yeah...

Fifty foot tall man-shaped robot? I'm having trouble seeing how that would work outside of anime...

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And yes, T. Neo is a salty dick. I thought everyone knew that?


Ahem, lamna. Soutpiel (salt-penis) is an offensive term used to refer to British people... (you have one leg in South Africa, the other leg in Britain, and your penis dangles in the ocean). You indirectly just insulted the common heritage of both of us! :P

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If he's just missing the very fact that he's alive will give hope to loyalists if they are anything like humans, and if he lies and says the prince is dead and then the prince returns he'll be utterly discredited. People would never trust him again.


Maybe... he could always fake the death of the prince, but that doesn't remove the risk of him returning.

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he has to choose between duty to his people and some hot alien ass.


You mean, catfish equivalent woman? :P
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Yorick
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Maybe the general could offer to leave him alone on earth, but will try to kill him if he tries to return home so he has to choose between duty to his people and some hot alien ass.


Thanks but no way.

It has to be the prince's sole decision between good choice and another good choice. The question is: which is the better choice?

Obviously the prince would choose staying on Earth and be with his loved ones instead of risking certain death by returning to his home planet. They key to any good ending is an honest one. Love or honor. Those are his only two choices and only he can make it for himself.

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If he needs to include a cliche ending, the least he can do is put a novel spin on it.


There's nothing cliche about it. It's just good storytelling. All good stories need conflict.

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No. But it is cliche and it does annoy viewers from everywhere else that it's California over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.


I'll give you that it's cliche setting it in California but certainly not in America.

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But the basic concept "Aliens In America"! is the same.

Ok, so the circumstances are totally different... I'm just using it as an example. Just like I can use Independance Day as an example.

To quote Monsters vs. Aliens (also a film where aliens land in America);


With that kind of absurd logic, that means "Toy Story" is just like the horror flick "Child's Play!"

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That's the least of his worries. Any ideologue can unite the people against him...


But a member of the royal dyynasty is the biggest threat.

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Translation... chip? That's supposed to not make me worry? Like in Animporhs?


Yes. Exactly. What's the problem?

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Still something you should keep in mind as a writer.


I do. Hence some of my female-centric stories. But I won't accomodate anybody.

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Handwave or not, the obvious implausibility (and squick, even from the prince's point of view) would make the romance a Token Romance, regardless of the relevance to the plot of the actual film.


I don't have to make the romance believable. Just make audiences believe it.

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Of course, you have to make the character relatable, but this is universal for all characters. Older people are just that: people, who are older.

Considering that we're dealing with an alien here, the existence of old people is not that worrying...


No one wants to see a sci action movie about old geezers!

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Depends on how you look at the film. "Great comedy for the teenage audience" just as easily translates to "unfunny overused cliche film". Which is what critics- most of them- will see it as. Which will in turn affect the opinions of moviegoers themselves.


I highly doubt that. "Roswell" lasted three seasons, "Smallville" will last 10 and "I Am Number Four" is a minor hit at the box office right now. I'm sure many moviegoers will watch the coming of age story of an alien on Earth.

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I think walking him to the spacecraft would be time enough to explain the workings of "that dangly organ"...


King doesn't expect his son to get into any romantic entanglements. Just keep his head down and live normally.
"I believe, that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you...stranger"

-The Dark Knight (2008)
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bloom_boi
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Yorick
Feb 24 2011, 01:21 PM

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Translation... chip? That's supposed to not make me worry? Like in Animporhs?


Yes. Exactly. What's the problem?
Why don't you just use a babel fish silly boy. :P
"You shall perish, whatever you do! If you are taken with arms in your hands, death! If you beg for mercy, death! Whichever way you turn, right, left, back, forward, up, down, death! You are not merely outside the law, you are outside humanity. Neither age nor sex shall save you and yours. You shall die, but first you shall taste the agony of your wife, your sister, your sons and daughters, even those in the cradle! Before your eyes the wounded man shall be taken out of the ambulance and hacked with bayonets or knocked down with the butt end of a rifle. He shall be dragged living by his broken leg or bleeding arm and flung like a suffering, groaning bundle of refuse into the gutter. Death! Death! Death!"



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colddigger
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And this evolved how many times in metazoans, compared to motile gametes? :rolleyes:


Now hang on just a second there, that's not fair, if you look at sponges it's obvious that metazoans evolved from flagellum using motile cells, so of course most metazoan gametes are going to be such since the further back you go the more primitive gametes will have flagella.
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SIngemeister
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T.Neo
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There's nothing cliche about it. It's just good storytelling. All good stories need conflict.


Who says it's good storytelling? Who says it's the only kind of storytelling? Who says it isn't cliche?

All good stories need conflict? Yes, but: do they all need the same kind of conflict that happens in the same kind of way?

No.

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I'll give you that it's cliche setting it in California but certainly not in America.


Name one notable science fiction film (other than District 9) that is not set in the US...

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With that kind of absurd logic, that means "Toy Story" is just like the horror flick "Child's Play!"


My logic isn't absurd, you just misinterpreted it. Toy Story and "Child's Play" are two totally different genres, this and Coneheads are one genre (science fiction), even if they aren't the same 'type' of film.

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But a member of the royal dyynasty is the biggest threat.


Indeed he is... then again, there's a chance he might be a complete spoilt brat who would never be able to lead any sort of revolution or side in a civil war.

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Yes. Exactly. What's the problem?


How about: Everything. Starting with the fact that the mechanism by which it would supposedly work is rubbish, and that you can't perfectly translate every word in a language, especially as lexicons change.

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I don't have to make the romance believable. Just make audiences believe it.


Only if they're the kind of mental laypeople who will lap up anything put on a silver screen...

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No one wants to see a sci action movie about old geezers!


Old... geezers? :|

I do. You can hate me for it all you want.

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I highly doubt that. "Roswell" lasted three seasons, "Smallville" will last 10 and "I Am Number Four" is a minor hit at the box office right now. I'm sure many moviegoers will watch the coming of age story of an alien on Earth.


Yes. Because it has been done a number of times, and is tired and cliche.

Just look at all the works of fiction you just cited!

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King doesn't expect his son to get into any romantic entanglements. Just keep his head down and live normally.


I hope he expects him to know how to use the bathroom though. :rolleyes:

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Now hang on just a second there, that's not fair, if you look at sponges it's obvious that metazoans evolved from flagellum using motile cells, so of course most metazoan gametes are going to be such since the further back you go the more primitive gametes will have flagella.


Even if you don't have motile cells, doesn't mean you can't suspend reproductive cells in some sort of fluid that is delivered through a... probe and drogue docking mechanism. :confused:

They could fuse to the inside of the uterus-analogous organ, for example.

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I always thought T.Neo was a Yank.


A Yank? Great Scott Slngemeister, a Yank?

I have to hand it to you though, quite amusing. :P

Maybe I need to de-americanise myself some more...

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Now, I shall do nothing but bug you about FOKKIN PRONNS!


Ja bru, bring it on with them FOKKIN PROWNS! :lol:
Edited by T.Neo, Feb 24 2011, 02:41 PM.
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SIngemeister
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To be fair, the majority of people here are Yanks. The Brits and Australians announce their nationalities. I just assumed the worst that you were American
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Yorick
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Indeed he is... then again, there's a chance he might be a complete spoilt brat who would never be able to lead any sort of revolution or side in a civil war.


The prince IS spoiled brat. The film is about his growth from brat who cares only for himself to hero who cares about others.

The rest of your complaints are baseless and unnecessary.
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colddigger
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There's not much purpose in delivering immobile cells in a fluid, they'd most likely die before fusing with the acceptor's gametes, unless this was done on the level of pollen. Even then it'd have to be lead directly to the other gamete and forced along by something else... perhaps pressure from a fluid...

But of course assuming that there IS a uterus analogue in these beastial loving aliens I suppose the distributor's gametes could fuse to the wall after being released and wait it out for the acceptors gametes to eventually make their way to them.

But then there could always be a love spike thrown in to make things squick, just for laughs.
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Was this film meant to be live-action, all-CGI, hand-drawn animation, or some combination of the above?
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