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Author Topic: Need ideas for a fan film  (Read 6830 times)
Taegin Roan
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Lord of the Force


« on: January 19, 2017, 07:30:09 AM »

Alright, so I need some ideas of stories that could be told in a Fan Film. My brother who will be filming it has very limited resources, and experience. He has quite a bit of knowledge, but still not a ton. I am thinking something along the lines of a Jedi training mission. No Sith, Lightsabers as props only, and more of a 'villain of the mind' rather than an actual antagonist. Everything will be filmed on location, and the VFX/CGI will be very minimal. Any help expanding on this idea would be appreciated. The only thing I know for certain as of now, is that the actors and sabers will not be a problem.

Thanks guys.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2017, 02:34:58 PM »

I have a few questions:

How long will the film be?
How many people will be in it?
Will the main character be a Jedi or a Padawan?
Will they be existing characters or new ones you create?

When I was writing the script for my own fan film I found it helpful to just jot down ideas of things that could appear in the movie, whether that was a short scene, a line of dialogue, a personality trait. Whenever I got an idea it went into the notebook. Gradually I was able to flesh out my initial premise and build on it until I had a (somewhat) decent story. I then spent about 4 hours a day over the course of a week writing dialogue and solidifying the story.

This is just my process. You may find it doesn't work for you, but hopefully that gives you a starting point to help. Also this link may also be of use:

http://www.theforce.net/fanfilms/general/jacetaran/index.asp
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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
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Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2017, 08:51:56 PM »

I have a few questions:

How long will the film be?
How many people will be in it?
Will the main character be a Jedi or a Padawan?
Will they be existing characters or new ones you create?

Hopefully around 15 mins, but I suspect more like 7-10.

Not a ton, somewhere between 2 and 5.

Not sure on the main character yet, but probably Padawan.

They will be new ones created by myself.

Thanks for the info, it should help.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2017, 08:55:29 PM »

Hopefully around 15 mins, but I suspect more like 7-10.

Not a ton, somewhere between 2 and 5.

Not sure on the main character yet, but probably Padawan.

They will be new ones created by myself.

Thanks for the info, it should help.
Coolio. I sent you a PM with a couple of links. If I was going to run with your premise that is the direction I personally would take it, but that's just me. Only you can tell the stories that you want to tell. Good luck Smiley
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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
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Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2017, 09:10:51 PM »

Coolio. I sent you a PM with a couple of links. If I was going to run with your premise that is the direction I personally would take it, but that's just me. Only you can tell the stories that you want to tell. Good luck Smiley

Thanks, I haven't gotten to check the links out yet, but hopefully I will later today.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2017, 12:34:55 AM »

Here is what I've potentially got so far.

----------

Master and Padawan are on a (forest?) planet doing a training mission. Padawan is having problems overcoming their -------, and this makes their connection to the force not be very strong. Master tries and tries to council him, but to no avail. So Master leaves him to go search for supplies. While the Master is gone, Padawan sits in meditation. After a little bit, he rises, and goes off into the woods to search for supplies as well.


Possible third person that padawan helps.
Maybe a training battle with sticks.

----------

Any ideas of where to go from there? This is just a first draft, and everything is subject to change. But any ideas are welcome. There will be more to it, but this is all I have come up with so far.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2017, 12:59:11 AM »

Here is what I've potentially got so far.

----------

Master and Padawan are on a (forest?) planet doing a training mission. Padawan is having problems overcoming their -------, and this makes their connection to the force not be very strong. Master tries and tries to council him, but to no avail. So Master leaves him to go search for supplies. While the Master is gone, Padawan sits in meditation. After a little bit, he rises, and goes off into the woods to search for supplies as well.


Possible third person that padawan helps.
Maybe a training battle with sticks.

----------

Any ideas of where to go from there? This is just a first draft, and everything is subject to change. But any ideas are welcome. There will be more to it, but this is all I have come up with so far.
I found the best way to write a story is start with the basics, backstory for each character (species, gender, skin colour, hair colour, year of birth, planet of birth)

After that, you can start fleshing out the rest of the back story; does your character have any siblings, what happened to their parents or was he/she an orphan? How did the Master/Padawan meet? What kind of relationship do they have? (Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan type? Obi-Wan/Anakin type?)

Then you can move onto the conflict. What happens to the Master/Padawan? Does the Master die? If so, who kills him. is the Padawan tempted by the dark side? If so, what happens to tempt him/her?

Eventually you may find that while you are figuring all this out that your creative mind kicks in and new ideas flow. Also, whenever you have an idea for a scene/a line of dialogue/action set piece, then write it down in a notebook. There are no such things as bad ideas. Even if you don't use the idea in this film, it might inspire a better idea down the line or you could even use it if you decide to make another film.

Also, the best way to get inspired for ideas is to watch lots of films (both studio releases and fan films), analysis what it is about them that works/like. This is also a good way to avoid repeating any stories that may already have been told.

Finally, check out these channels on YouTube for great tips on script writing/coming up with ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYaIdC5pbkpECxXLjf0Lzaw?spfreload=10
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6P24bhhCmMPOcujA9PKPTA?spfreload=10

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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2017, 02:05:25 AM »

Great advice. I have recently started watching fan films just for that reason. Since this is gonna be a fairly low budget film, the characters will all be Human most likely. Both the Master and Padawan will be Male, and I will probably be playing the part of one of them. Like I said initially, characters will be easy for me.

I think they will probably have more of an Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan relationship. The story of when they meet will just be a normal Padawan in the Temple, and Master chooses him to be his apprentice. Again, we probably wont go into this much because we don't have the ability too. I don't think the Master will die, but he will probably not have a huge role in the movie. It will be centered on the Padawan.

I should start thinking up the characters backs stories though. Do you have any suggestions for possible conflict? I kinda have an idea of what I want, and have told it a little, but not really a great idea of how to go about it.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2017, 02:15:11 AM »

Great advice. I have recently started watching fan films just for that reason. Since this is gonna be a fairly low budget film, the characters will all be Human most likely. Both the Master and Padawan will be Male, and I will probably be playing the part of one of them. Like I said initially, characters will be easy for me.

I think they will probably have more of an Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan relationship. The story of when they meet will just be a normal Padawan in the Temple, and Master chooses him to be his apprentice. Again, we probably wont go into this much because we don't have the ability too. I don't think the Master will die, but he will probably not have a huge role in the movie. It will be centered on the Padawan.

I should start thinking up the characters backs stories though. Do you have any suggestions for possible conflict? I kinda have an idea of what I want, and have told it a little, but not really a great idea of how to go about it.
You don't need to go into the backstory in the film. But having the backstory already fleshed out will inform the story and how the characters act. In my script I have 6 characters and each character has a two page backstory of their personal history. Having that not only helped my write the script, but also keep consistency with the characters actions and dialogue.

The main thing with any story is "what happens". There must always be a reason for the story. Once you have that figured out everything else will slowly come into focus. But don't rush it/force it. Let it come naturally. If you find you're struggling take a break or sleep on it.

The first YouTube link I posted, that guy has lots of great videos on this whole process. Most of his videos are about 5-ish mins so you can get through a lot of them really quickly and easily. Here's a good one for you:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PalEaciHvXI&amp;t=29s&amp;spfreload=10" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PalEaciHvXI&amp;t=29s&amp;spfreload=10</a>
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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2017, 01:34:54 AM »

What would you think if I decided to change it to two newly knighted Jedi? Or maybe one newly knighted, and one with a little bit more experience?
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2017, 01:44:38 AM »

It's your film. Only you can tell the stories you want to tell.
All I can say is that there are many ideas I had for my film at the beginning that are no longer in the final script. At this early stage, just brain storm ideas while doing lots of research (I used starwars.wikia a lot and while reading one article and then linking to another and then another I got more ideas. And so on and so on).

Some things you may not have considered:

Do they have to be Jedi Knights? What about Jedi Guardian or Jedi Sentinels?
Who will be the protagonist? The Jedi or the Padawan?
What will the films major/minor conflict?
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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2017, 01:54:29 AM »

Do they have to be Jedi Knights? What about Jedi Guardian or Jedi Sentinels?
Who will be the protagonist? The Jedi or the Padawan?
What will the films major/minor conflict?

Good questions, I haven't thought about it. Mainly because until I joined here, there were only 3 or 4 classifications of Jedi. Youngling, Padawan/Apprentice, Knight, Master. Council Member was just a privilege, and I didn't know about Grand Master. So I'll have to think about that one.

I am thinking that the Padawan will have more problems than the other Jedi, and the other Jedi will have to coach him through it.

Like I said in an earlier draft, the conflict will be more in the mind than an actual battle. This is not because I don't want a saber battle, it is more because we don't have the experience with VFX to do it well.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2017, 02:09:33 AM »

Good questions, I haven't thought about it. Mainly because until I joined here, there were only 3 or 4 classifications of Jedi. Youngling, Padawan/Apprentice, Knight, Master. Council Member was just a privilege, and I didn't know about Grand Master. So I'll have to think about that one.

I am thinking that the Padawan will have more problems than the other Jedi, and the other Jedi will have to coach him through it.

Like I said in an earlier draft, the conflict will be more in the mind than an actual battle. This is not because I don't want a saber battle, it is more because we don't have the experience with VFX to do it well.
When you say a battle of the mind, do you mean a battle that takes place in someone's mind or a battle using one's mind (either the force or their intelligence).
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Taegin Roan
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 2066
Posts: 6245


Lord of the Force


« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2017, 02:40:37 AM »

When you say a battle of the mind, do you mean a battle that takes place in someone's mind or a battle using one's mind (either the force or their intelligence).

In their mind. It is something that they are having problems overcoming. Something like fear, or jealousy (just examples). I haven't quite decided what it is they are trying to overcome yet.
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"I am the Outcast's Shadow" - Taegin Roan
"Confronting fear is the Destiny of a Jedi" - Luke Skywalker
"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala

Darth Knox
Knight Commander
OVER 9000!!
*********

Force Alignment: -1913
Posts: 11751


(Dark points only) Do not hesitate. Show no mercy


« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2017, 02:42:29 AM »

In their mind. It is something that they are having problems overcoming. Something like fear, or jealousy (just examples). I haven't quite decided what it is they are trying to overcome yet.
oh. so you mean a mental battle. gotcha.

as for what they are trying to overcome, the PM I sent you should help you figure that out
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