i'm curious, have any of you ever tried your hand at writing your own script for an existing film? for example, a franchise film like Alien or Predator? ever since Alien Versus Predator was released i've felt like Hollywood had reached a new low. I now loathe anything Paul Anderson does because he essentially took a two well respected franchises and made one horrible movie. don't get me wrong, the AVP Darkhorse comics were great, but the comic world is vastly different from the film world. either way, he ruined two great franchises because he thought he could do justice for both films.

anyway, have you ever had an idea for a sequel, prequel or a remake? or do you try to come up with your own original ideas outside of existing films?

I'd say, if you have an idea for a sequel, prequel, or remake, write it. Research the originals to avoid storyline issues and hope for the best. In most cases the original writer already has back story and knows how their stoies continue on but may still be open to outside opinions. I think it still needs to go through them and their production company before you start your own production.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

I've only written one screenplay (still tweaking it here and there), and here was my process:

I watched "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (oddly enough by Paul Anderson, terrible film!) and got so sick of it and all the idiotic characters I said "**** it. I'm going to make a movie called Everyone Stupid Dies!"

My friend who I was watching it with thought it was just another joke, but I was totally serious. I thought about it for a while, thinking of all the stupid things in RE:A, and the early RE games which I wanted to like but couldn't, then expanded and took the whole of Zombie movie culture into account.

So from there I pitched the most vague idea to my group of creative/crazy/funny friends, that we'd make a zombie parody movie, where of course Everyone Stupid Dies. We spent the next month coming up with a ton of ideas just randomly - from one-liners to sight gags to character concepts to full-on scenes to the theology we'd follow.

Then it was into the screenwriting part - I started out doing everything in chronological order, and came up with a bunch of new stuff in the process. About halfway through I hit a snag and decided to "scene-out" all the ideas that we had developed for later on in the script, and once we had that done it was much easier to go fill in the gaps. All the time we were coming up with new stuff, and still are today. It's very close to a point where I'd be confident about showing the script to people interested in it.

Morgneto, Master of Morgnetism

quote:

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Originally posted by Morgneto
So from there I pitched the most vague idea to my group of creative/crazy/funny friends, that we'd make a zombie parody movie, where of course Everyone Stupid Dies. We spent the next month coming up with a ton of ideas just randomly - from one-liners to sight gags to character concepts to full-on scenes to the theology we'd follow.

Then it was into the screenwriting part - I started out doing everything in chronological order, and came up with a bunch of new stuff in the process. About halfway through I hit a snag and decided to "scene-out" all the ideas that we had developed for later on in the script, and once we had that done it was much easier to go fill in the gaps. All the time we were coming up with new stuff, and still are today. It's very close to a point where I'd be confident about showing the script to people interested in it.

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not trying to bring you down or anything but how is your zombie parody different from a zombie parody movie like Shaun of the Dead?

If you write a prequel/sequel the odds of it being made are pretty low. However its not a bad idea for a writing sample (one amung many samples) as the characters/situations are already known.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

quote:

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Originally posted by colonel angus
not trying to bring you down or anything but how is your zombie parody different from a zombie parody movie like Shaun of the Dead?

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1. It's not British. Very strong point there, completely different style.

2. Not all parody is the same. Is Spy Hard the same as Austin Powers?

3. The very focus of ESD is making the strong point of stupid people dying, because really you'd have to be pretty thick to find yourself afoul of a zombie.

4. It's far more geared towards Resident Evil than it is Dawn of the Dead.

Trust me, while I like Shaun of the Dead, I've found that it's really much more fun to quote than it is to watch. That's not the plan with ESD. I'm aware of other similar films (kind of what this topic is, really) and have taken every measure to make sure we don't copy jokes or styles from anyone else. This is ICEntertainment through and through.

For a very crappy 'fun-run' on one scene we did ages ago, check out www.ice.org.nz/movies/esd.html

Morgneto, Master of Morgnetism

I haven't figured out a consistant style yet on how I write screenplays. I tend to start with the theme and a plot that explores that theme. Sometimes characters and scenes are obvious after that, othertimes they are not.

Three things I've done that I think helped, but this was during rewrites. (1) I cut the number of characters drastically, giving lines and actions to other characters. It meant less people for the reader/viewer to keep track of and more guts and complexity to the remaining roles. (2) I wrote out shotlists for every scene. This can be a lot of work, and I wouldn't suggest turning in the shotlist with your screenplay, but it really helped me visualize the screenplay and see what really didn't work or that might be overly complex/expensive. (3) I cut the number of locations. Some locations where vague and unimportant so I moved the action to a location I'd already used when possible. This can help the budget tremendously as each location generally requires a day of shooting since packing up and moving to another location is such a time-wasting pain. I did this for the screenplay I was shooting myself for exactly that reason.

I also found the readthrough incredibly helpful and would suggest if you can arrange to have a half dozen friends come over and read parts its better than having them read your screenplay at home. It also ensures they read the thing at all.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

I have already written one screenplay and I am in the process of writing two more. I just found that the easiest way would be to brainsorm, and then begin to work on the actual script. If any of you would like for me to help you write a screenplay I would be glad to do it. Feel free to ask me any questions. Just start your screenplay and then your ideas will flow! Just start at the beginning and work from there. It will come.

Sean

Morgento, be careful when you talk ill about Shaun of the Dead (peace be until it's name). I'm fanatically devoted to that movie and think its perfect in nearly every way.

Having said that there is plent of room for additional zombie parodies. Hide & Creep is a parody, so is Dead & Breakfast, Redneck Zombies and all are very different. I would think at this point zombie movies are common enough that Scary Movie could parody the genre.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

I don't recall speaking ill of SotD, myself and everyone I know loves the film, but it's not a movie I ever get the urge to watch again, though we all get a kick out of quoting it every now and then (like we do with many films - Holy Grail, Kung Pow, Anchorman...)

Our 'attached' makeup artist is totally obsessed with the movie though, and that's all groovy. I'm the same way with Fight Club with the regard I hold it in.

In case my comment on British humour was taken as a dig - it's totally not. I love good British comedy - Red Dwarf, Father Ted, Benny Hill, Monty Python... the list goes on and on as I'm sure most people are aware (there is a very strong British userbase here). It's just that ESD isn't British in its humour, although I'll be damned if anyone thinks it's typical New Zealand humour (which is usually absolute crap).

Morgneto, Master of Morgnetism

I took your comment for what you meant, I should have included a :?) to show I was just joking.

I'm the opposite regarding Shaun. Everytime I watch it I see (or hear) something else that makes me laugh. I wouldn't change a single thing about that movie and to me that is the highest recommendation.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

All gravy 🙂

Hey, would you be interested in looking over the script for ESD? I've actually got it to a really good place as far as I'm concerned, although every time I think it's finished there's always something more. Some completely outside perspective would be really helpful at this stage, if you're up for it? It's 70 pages in Final Draft, quite "dialogue heavy" I'd say.

If you wanna check it out let me know and I'll have it in your email in no time.

Morgneto, Master of Morgnetism

I'll read it if you can export it to pdf, text, or rtf format. I don't use Final Draft.

I'm not sure what ESD stands for though.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

"Everyone Stupid Dies". I can definitely export to pdf for ya.

Morgneto, Master of Morgnetism