One of my very early scripts "A Simple Discussion About Time Travel" has been produced by a cool cat named Eric Rodgers (who wisely re-titled it "A Simple Discussion").

It's basically a non-story story, but it was fun to write and the film turned out pretty good I think.

[note: the sound's a bit off in the beginning. Eric told me he will probably go back and fix that].

Check it out:

Good stuff! I have to admit I did get confused with all the time travel stuff, but that's just me. Also, I didn't like the end tiles. Overall though, it looked well shot.

Big congrats for getting it produced man!

Very cool short re: time complexities! Now, I am gonna have to watch Terminator Salvation ot see if John Connor's dad is around.  ;)

Gary

First off: Big congrats!!!!

I can't speak for others, but here's why this appeals to me:

Minus the poker, and The Terminator aspects I had almost the same discussions back in about 1978.

The fact that I and probably so many others can remember having that discussion creates a common ground and that's what makes it funny, but also interesting.

Another thing: Terminator is classic. My son was just a little boy when my husband played it in a VCR. He talks about that movie now with that same kind of reminiscing mystique that people of my generation talk about The Exorcist. Whenever you incorporate two significant ideas together, you're going to get a winning combination.

In this case, that winning combination is:

A. People remember going to see Terminator and so there's a weird fondness that people get from that. It's the "I remember when... factor".

B. Who doesn't like talking about Time Travel?

The excellence in this was the fact that it didn't look acted or scripted.

Sandra

Pretty cool short man. I felt the opening credits were a little shaky though... Director should have used a tripod for some of the shots there. The acting was a little over-the-top in certain parts, and I thought the high angle at 2:30 was a little pointless.

Yeah, the acting did let this down in certain parts. It felt a little un-natural., which is weird, as it did feel pretty improvised. It's hard to explain, but to me it felt un-natural.

But apart from that, it was enjoyable man.

And congrats on getting this made :)

Toby.

Awesome Rob. Congrats. I remember reading this script a long time ago. Good stuff.

~Zack~

Congratulations. The script was one of the first ones I read on here. It's a fine script so I watched this with high hopes. Some of the acting was good and some of it wasn't. The titles were way off the mark in my humble. Nevertheless on the whole it's pretty darn good.

Congrats. It starts off as a godfather feel and then moves on to a Roger and Ebert moment. interesting take.  

Hey Rob, just read the script, I'll watch the vid later. Good job with the writing. I love all that Terminator stuff! A theory put forward to explain it is that in the normal course of events, Sarah would've met some guy and John was born. But the first T coming back changed all that.
That website I mentioned in the PM is mjyoungtimetravel anomalies or something. Pretty interesting stuff, though the guy must've had 'time' to work it all out! Cheers

I liked it. It reminded me of Pulp Fiction ("royale with cheese") minus a plot. But iit was a rather good display of talent -- nicely shot, good dialogue, and surprisingly good acting (it usually sucks bad in Short films).

Congrats on the production.

--Julio

  

I liked it, but the sound mixing was off.  I couldn't even hear the dance music he was complaining about until the guy went to change it.  Other than that I liked it a lot.  I thought the acting was pretty good, and the camera work was excellent.  Nice lighting for the mood as well.  Good colors.

Now, after hearing it all, and I've had a LOT of discussion about this subject over the years, I believe Mr. Sniper that YOU, are John Titor!  Mystery solved!

Google it if you don't know who John Titor is.  You'll have no shortage of hits. . . .

Hey all,

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad most of you liked the film. Julio hit the nail center on the head, this script is exactly that...Royale With Cheese. And that's it.

Steven, you outed man. I am John Titor. I am from 2036.

LOL

I had actually never heard of him(?) but it's some interesting stuff. Interesting in a funny and hoax'y kind of way.

That's a good short you have here.  Something to be proud off.

Congrats.

Hey Rob,

I come back from deep space hibernation and you got stuff produced AGAIN?

I have to say I pretty much enjoyed it. I always loved your dialogue in the script, even if the story really goes nowhere, and some of the lines really worked in this one. Others didn't, which i chalk up to the actors. SOme of the acting was really good, while at times very wooden.

So a mixed bag but at no point was I bored, so that's a testament to how well you write substanceless small talk.

Please pen the next Sex and The City movie.

You may sprinkle it liberally with time-travel arguments.

Not a bad little film.

It kicks in at the point they start talking about time travel quite nicely. Seemed to me like it needed something more to kick the script in that direction though, maybe something to do with the game of cards they were playing. That would have also helped to give the film layers, because it came across as just something for them to be doing, rather than as part of the fabric of the film.

The set was decent. The lighting moody. After another couple of films I think the director will be able to breathe a bit more life and vocabulary inrto the shots. A bit one paced at the moment but creditable.

Even some nice slow tracking shots round the table would have built a nice atmosphere.

Acting was largely OK. You can tell when people don't believe in what they are saying though IE when they are not really connected emotionally to the words and are just reciting them. When people are "acting" if you like, rather than just being. This is when the fakeness starts to show through. Humans are naturally perfect at picking up falsity in expressions. A fake smile here, an exaggerated lip there. When people are "acting" they represent emotions in ways they think will look right, but the conscious mind can't carry it off naturally.

For me, the biggest problem was the ending. It may be a bit of a traditional view, but a film like this needs a bit more of a payoff at the end. Although it's interesting to watch, you don't get the feeling of being rewarded at the end.

There's also nothing about time travel that seems to come across in the actual film. It's just the words. Seems like there is a layer missing, but that might be just me missing it.

For instance you could have built up the game of poker so that it is getting more and more high stakes while the talk is going on. The wise guy is talking about going back and forward in time and then mentions about how he'd be able to see what cards he would have and the cards of his opponent. This way you could build tension nicley and the words would have impact on the game of cards.

Then at the end you have the pay off either way. Either he wins (is he a time traveller or just talkative?) or he loses and you get the comedic payoff.

I think shorts, more than anything, need to live on in people's minds after the screening. They have to be memorable. You want people to either have something to think about or leave them feeling extremely satisfied. Otherwise they just disappear into the pack.

There is also a factual discrepancy. A player raises ten at the end, then they all show their cards. The other players would have had to call or fold. Sorry to be pedantic.

Just my thoughts anyway.

Hey TJ, Hey Dec,

Thanks for checking this out and for sharing your opinions.

Quoted from Death Monkey Hey Rob, I have to say I pretty much enjoyed it. I always loved your dialogue in the script, even if the story really goes nowhere, and some of the lines really worked in this one. Others didn't, which i chalk up to the actors. SOme of the acting was really good, while at times very wooden.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Acting was largely OK. You can tell when people don't believe in what they are saying though IE when they are not really connected emotionally to the words and are just reciting them. When people are "acting" if you like, rather than just being. This is when the fakeness starts to show through. Humans are naturally perfect at picking up falsity in expressions. A fake smile here, an exaggerated lip there. When people are "acting" they represent emotions in ways they think will look right, but the conscious mind can't carry it off naturally.

I thought the acting in this one was above average actually, compared to some of the other student made films I've seen. Sure, it's no "and the oscar goes to" moment but I think these guys did okay. It's funny when you see your own work produced because, as a writer, you already know exactly how each line is to be delivered but most times, actors just reads it or interprets it differently...and that's cool, after all, we're not talking about robots here.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films For me, the biggest problem was the ending. It may be a bit of a traditional view, but a film like this needs a bit more of a payoff at the end. Although it's interesting to watch, you don't get the feeling of being rewarded at the end. There's also nothing about time travel that seems to come across in the actual film. It's just the words. Seems like there is a layer missing, but that might be just me missing it. For instance you could have built up the game of poker so that it is getting more and more high stakes while the talk is going on. The wise guy is talking about going back and forward in time and then mentions about how he'd be able to see what cards he would have and the cards of his opponent. This way you could build tension nicley and the words would have impact on the game of cards. Then at the end you have the pay off either way. Either he wins (is he a time traveller or just talkative?) or he loses and you get the comedic payoff.

Quoted from Death Monkey So a mixed bag but at no point was I bored, so that's a testament to how well you write substanceless small talk.

I think Julio said it best..."It's a Royale with Cheese" scene, cos' that's exactly what it is. I think this script was the second or third short I did, and it's definitely not how I would write a script again. There really isn't any story to it, it's just four guys talking about time travel. If there was a message then it would be that everything, in the end, is inevitable - that's why the same guy keeps wining the poker hands. It's still weak as hell, I know.

Anyway, thanks again for checking this out.

Rob

That was good Sniper. The dialogue was crisp and it was a pleasant surprise to see Todd Bridges pop up after all these years. :)

I liked the fall in love with your grandfather line and I agree, time travel is impossible because if it was possible somebody from the future would've come back and told us about it already.

Quoted from Takeshi I agree, time travel is impossible because if it was possible somebody from the future would've come back and told us about it already.

Chris, that's probably the best explanation for why time travel is not possible I've ever seen.

Cheers

Congrats Rob.  Nice job, that was an entertaining film, but what impressed me more, is that was a REALLY smart script IMO