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I posted on my short "The Unlikely Temptations of Christ", how I got the idea.
It all started like this: On a construction site, there was bubble wrap from a package delivered. I grabbed it and started popping it. A co-worker said "You just can't help yourself" 5 mins later he was doing it. "It's very tempting" he said and I responded with "What would Jesus do?" and from there I wrote my short.
Gabe responded with : I'm always interested in hearing the genesis behind scripts. It's similar to the behind the scenes featurette on dvds.
So let's hear it folks, any interesting stories as to where, why or how you came up with your scripts?
Good thread you've just started, Mark. I can't wait to hear from others.
I was watching an episode of 'Hoarders' and as they were moving furniture out this lady's home, there was dead, shriveled up cats behind it all. I thought to myself, what if a band of cats planned an escape from a hoarder's house and I came up with "Window Ledge"(still rewriting the damn thing)
“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning.” - William Faulkner
My daughter told me about a dream she had one time. I took that, pumped it full of steriods, and now it is a full blown sci-fi feature - currently writing.
My short (posted on SS) was entirely created around the last line of the script. I was thinking about it and worked backwards from there.
My wife is noticing that she tends to die in some of my scripts (she is my inspiration for some of them). I told her, at least she only dies in the script/film. I can't get rid of my inspiration!!!
I have a bunch of stories floating around, just waiting to come out. Most come from some observances that I have had in my years of living this crazy life. Some come from dreams I have.
Others come from OWC!
Good luck to all with your scripts.
My Scripts: SHORTS Bed Bugs I Got The Shaft No Clowning Around Fool's Gold Five Days for Redemption
My ideas usually come from dissatisfaction of produced movies. I'm writing a supernatural thriller that I first started developing after seeing Keanu Reeves in Constantine.
I've written two features that started out as shorts. Everyone (including me) liked the main characters so much that I put them in features.
The Brass Ring is loosely based on my life and my desire to write.
I love hearing where writers get ideas for their story from.
'But You Can Learn to Play' - I had a dream I was on an indian reservation at a little girl's funeral. They were lowering her in to a fiery pit and the girl's mother handed me a book to throw in the fire pit as the body was going down. The book was called 'But You Can Learn to Play'. I woke up (in real life), sat down to type out a quick synopsis, and ended up writing the script straight out. No brainstorming, no notes, no research, just straight typing. I had it done in a few days.
'Thistles' - Back in 2003, I was 24 at the time, a 14 year-old girl from the neighborhood I lived in offered to sleep with me. I lived deep in the hood at the time. I just thought how sad it was because I know most of the other adults on the block probably didn't turn her down. I wrote a short story that developed into 'Thistles'. The character of Cora was based on the rash of abortion clinic bombings I remember hearing about growing up in the 90's. I just remember thinking how somebody so against death and violence could let it swallow them up and death and violence becomes the answer to their problems.
I could go on with my other stories... maybe when the thread gets quiet.
When I started "Christmas Story", it was originally intended to be an OWC script. For anybody that's read it, the first story (Cop's) was going to be it. I had wanted to do a morality tale-type thing where he had to decide between his family and his job and picking the wrong one got him killed.
The trouble was, there was no explanation. I hadn't explained why there was blood on the trunk or why the guy he'd stopped had a gun. So, I told it to my brother and he seggested the idea of vignettes. I asked myself, then, "Who's the guy in the car?" Him and I hased out four more stories and then there was a feature.
"The Pinball Warrior" was inspired by wanting to capture the lightning of Back to the Future in a bottle (via the Clocktower) and channel it through the themes of friendship, pinball, and rock n roll.
"Judgment at Trinity Motel"/"Room 3" was inspired by 'Long Island Medium' because I hate that show. (Next, Honey Boo Boo...mayhaps?)
My brain is so random, I don't need much inspiration before I come up with ideas. A couple of months ago, I sat down and made a list 1 to 7 for short ideas. In 10-15 minutes, I had seven pretty viable ideas. Only one was stupid and unusable. The others were borderline insane, but still coherent, cheap to produce, involved zany characters, and had decent story structures.
"I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior. The man we called 'Max'."
Dark Entrance is based off a short I did for the SoulShadows series. I still believed that the story was good so I stuck with it. lol. if you want to check it out so you can see how I've improved, go right ahead but, I would ask not to bump up that tale.
The story came from 2 sources: 1. Cain and Abel. 2. the Christian character came from a WWE wrestler's theme song.
Gabe
Just Murdered by Sean Elwood (Zombie Sean) and Gabriel Moronta (Mr. Ripley) - (Dark Comedy, Horror) All is fair in love and war. A hopeless romantic gay man resorts to bloodshed to win the coveted position of Bridesmaid. 99 pages. https://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-comedy/m-1624410571/
The idea for my first proper attempt at a spec, "Run For Your Life", came from an encounter with a cousin's friend whom had recently overcame cancer. He was an inspiring person.
Later that night, I was pondering about a possible script I could write, and I got the idea about something to do with a cancer patient going on the run from the police. However, I needed something to instigate the "going on the run", thus Remy came along and the entire thing spawned from there.
A short coming here soon, entitled "A Perfect Day" was a short I wrote last year on Celtx and entered it in a local competition to be produced. It didn't win, but a few months back I rewrote it, (hopefully better) on FD and cut it all down. The idea came to me because, earlier that day, I think there was something on the radio about a local kid's brother having committed suicide.
And my only original horror script I wrote, "The Black Bay Woods" (unsure whether to submit here) was basically written as a love-letter to Blair Witch and Evil Dead and horror movies in kin to those.
"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story..."
An image that came to me for a "Don't drive if tired" public service advertisement.
After seeing two hot girls with two scooters stranded on the side of a busy street in Bali, Indonesia. It looked they may have had a close call and were too afraid to take on the crazy traffic (and even crazier drivers) again.
After volunteering with an orphanage on the Thai/Burma border
After watching all The Sopranos in about 3 weeks.
While reading a volume of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories.
Most of my scripts are based on personal experiences of my own. Often, these have been the ideas that perhaps weren't that original but they were still enjoyable.
For example, "Culture Shock" was inspired by my own personal experience of moving from South Africa to New Zealand when I was 12. I found myself completely amazed at how the kids over here treated their teachers... No level of respect whatsoever. That got me thinking on if this had anything to do with the different upbringings. Maybe a country with less education were perhaps more appreciative of teachers, compared to New Zealand. Anyway that sparked the idea for "Culture Shock". While I wasn't bullied like my main character, I was a little blown away when I first got here.
"He was the Enemy" was one of my more "spur-of-the-moment" ideas. The theme for the September 2012 challenge on MP was announced and the idea was just there within a few minutes. Some of the fastest thinking I've ever done.