Great scenes from movies not yet made
Every once in a while I get an idea for something that I could imagine seeing in a movie. Not a whole plot by any means and not even a scene per se but an idea or gimmick that could be used in a movie.
One that has been stuck in my head for some time now is the idea of a character that cannot open a closed door from inside. Due to karmic reasons unknown to him, whenever he attempts to open a door from the inside, inevitably, someone else will be opening the door from the outside resulting in his getting his head smacked or his nose broken. As a result, the character is forever stuck inside men's rooms waiting at a safe distance from the door for someone to come in so he can exit safely.
I could see this ruse being used in an action-comedy for the protagonist. Throughout the movie, the character keeps getting stuck in situations in which he is unwilling to open a door until someone else opens it first. As the plot develops and the character is being pursued by the bad guys, the need to move through doors becomes more urgent and he becomes more willing to take on the punishment in an effort to escape and/or pursue.
Near the end of the movie, the protagonist uses the inevitability of getting smashed by doors to his advantage in overcoming or escaping the bad guys.
This of course would not be the central point to the movie, but just a quirky trait to provide for plenty of slapstick.
So what ideas have you got?
One that has been stuck in my head for some time now is the idea of a character that cannot open a closed door from inside. Due to karmic reasons unknown to him, whenever he attempts to open a door from the inside, inevitably, someone else will be opening the door from the outside resulting in his getting his head smacked or his nose broken. As a result, the character is forever stuck inside men's rooms waiting at a safe distance from the door for someone to come in so he can exit safely.
I could see this ruse being used in an action-comedy for the protagonist. Throughout the movie, the character keeps getting stuck in situations in which he is unwilling to open a door until someone else opens it first. As the plot develops and the character is being pursued by the bad guys, the need to move through doors becomes more urgent and he becomes more willing to take on the punishment in an effort to escape and/or pursue.
Near the end of the movie, the protagonist uses the inevitability of getting smashed by doors to his advantage in overcoming or escaping the bad guys.
This of course would not be the central point to the movie, but just a quirky trait to provide for plenty of slapstick.
So what ideas have you got?
posted by David at
8:14 AM
2 Comments:
The great thing about that scenario, Dave, is that it could work in so many different genres. I can envision variations of the scene in Marx Brothers-style slapstick, French bedroom farce, the conquering your demons horror film, the quirky sci-fi inter-dimension story (like "Buckaroo Bonzai" or the TV series "Torchwood") or as the running gag in an action-adventure thriller. You've tapped into something there. Probably Freud or Jung could have a field day. I'm going to give this topic a longer ponder, but my first thought is that I tend to think of locations more than situations. For example, every day I drive past the turf farms on the back roads of South County. Just vast stretches of flat green space, with nothing but grass (and a few cardboard wolves, to scare away stupid geese and deer). They use these machines, a cross between something that you might see in a Terminator movie and a giant sprinkler, that move excruciatingly slowly across the field, pulsating water. Every time I drive by it I think it would have made a great location for a scene in The X Files. I also have scenes for stories not written and movies not made. One of them, in a sci fi serial I'm working on called "Starcrossed," plays with the idea that in the future elderly people don't go to nursing homes per say but instead are sent to virtual reality wards. So the scene has a son visiting his father. All we see is the beach and the ocean, the father at a healthy young age and the son as he is, beautiful women in bikinis, yada-yada, and they have their conversation. In a more omniscient way we see other scenarios - a woman in a French cafe, a man climbing Everest, someone sailing, whatever. A control room monitors, not only the vital signs of the patients, but also their visions. As the man leaves the facility, the camera pulls back and it's like that scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The facility is massive, endless. Just thousands of people on beds, plugged in to a machine.
By
Doug Norris, At
July 17, 2008 9:39 AM
I have mental file cabinets full of these short scenes - perhaps a byproduct of writing so much. I even keep a file of true things I have heard or experience that are just waiting for the right vehicle. I think these things are great as you often find just the right place to use them when you are in the middle of a scene. In many ways they are like that added accessory to a room that really 'makes it'. I love Dave's concept although I think the last time it is used it should involve a dutch door.
The creepy scene I keep coming back to is when the main character is coming back to his apartment. He hears his phone ringing, again and again. He finally rushes into a dark room. He picks up the phone and turns on the light at the same time only to find the villain standing right next to him having made the call on his cell phone. I am sure it will be used down the road but you heard it here first. Maybe we should start a blog named moviefragments.com.
Maybe not!
By
Tom, At
July 21, 2008 11:01 AM
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