Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: ElMattador on November 17, 2009, 05:40:40 pm
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(See bottom for plot outline concept)
There has been a debate on TV show or Movie adaptation. While TV show offers reasonable pauses, and would allow for a more thorough story telling, Movies have benefits too. The trouble with TV shows is the low-budgets and generally low quality acting, as well as constant pressure from producers to change things into cookie-cutter melodramas with retarded love triangles and sosuch nonsense not necessary in a scifi as intriguing as Freespace.
I think a movie would be cool, but they would probably come up with some retarded script with really cheesy dialogue and one-demensional characters. I think the best way to make an FS movie would be using the drafts from the cutscenes that were never made. I could see it being made all in CG too.
Instead of dumb love triangles, I'd focus on tensions and friendships between Vasudans and Terrans. I'd make it a war-buddy scifi, that emphasises the values of the peoples described in the games; civilizations with unbridled ambition (" ...with dreams of humanity everlasting") and courage in the face of annihalation. Like a more sophisticated "Independence Day", combined with "Midway" and "Tora Tora Tora".
The plot curve would go like this; Opening Credits with "14 year T-V war" 2 minute introduction narration and/or subtitles with random pictures of the conflict and bigshots like the Emperor and the GTA leaders. The main character is skirmishing with Vasudans in some out-of the way system in the breif opening scene after the intro. Upon returning to his flight deck, he is informed that his family/lover/best friend in Ross 128 disappears, he blames the Zods, starts hating them where before he just saw them as pilots just like him. Some plot/character development. Some Vasudan pilots are forced to make an emergency landing on his Destroyer, their's being taken out by the Shivans. The cease-fire is only hours old when they come aboard. Later he finds out it was the Shivans that had been responsible for Ross 128. He stops a bar brawl between some outnumbered Zods and some unruly Terran pilots. He becomes a pariah amoung his fellow humans, but the Zods approach him after he decides to duke it out with a Scorpion (it is not alone, but the rest of it's wing was busy attacking cargo containers, dodging asteroids, and blasting freighters), while the rest of his squadron had jumped away beleiving the Shivans invincible because of their sheilds. The fleet recognizes him for his valor, and states that he is only the second terran pilot ever to do so, the first being a wing commander on the Galatae only a few hours earlier. Some secondary character development (Vasudan perspective, Terran command). Good news is announced, another bar scene in the officers lounge, this time though, the main characters terran buddies come over to him in a group, and everyone expects a fight, but they sit down and have drinks and tell jokes/funny war stories for a while, and then the bad news hits while they are making merry. Tombaugh has been annihilated. After that, they fly a tense, suspensful patrol with some new ships/weapons/sheilds recently aquired, to keep the action up, and make commentary about some of the other battles in the campaign by chatter. When they return from their sortie, they hear about Vasuda being bombarded. Then another flight, this time refugee escort. It goes poorly for them, but they receive a transmission from Vasudan scientists (Hint at their discovery of the Ancients and imperrative for escort) during their battle, and relay it to command. Then some bonding, Ancients discovery announcement, and preparations before the efforts to defend Sol, and the climactic kill the Lucifer mission. Alpha 1 of the Bastion (at some point he mentions he was originally from the Galatae in chatter with other pilots before the main battle sequence, to which the main character recognizes as the pillot who downed the first Shivan) gets the Lucifer kill, which the main character had to reluctantly bail to engage enemy interceptors gunning for Alpha 1. You never see his face, but you can hear Alpha 1's voice. The main character asks over comm afte the battle to have a drink with him on Earth, because he'd like to meet the man who saved his it. The main Vasudan character chimes in saying "I've never seen Earth, may I join you?" and they all laugh, and accept him. Then the speech at the end of the game. (Alpha 1's voice? "Such, is Liberation...") End Credits. After credits hint at sequel?
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Hmmmm, where's Androgeous and his BABeam for the new guy?
I vote meh because we already have a nicely cinematic game, and getting a director or ANYONE to butcher it for the silver screen is low on my priorities.
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For a hollywood movie, this would probably be as best as it could get.
Liked this part: "The fleet recognizes him for his valor, and states that he is only the second terran pilot ever to do so, the first being a wing commander on the Galatae only a few hours earlier."
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tv show with movies.
start during the tv war and go on until ST, then make a new show about fs2, start it during the NTF rebellion and go from there.
and movies in between.
oh, and remember how cool the dogfights were in stealth? like that, only better.
as for your script, I would tell a very different story with less focus on the characters.
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I don't believe a film could do FS justice (unless it's Paper FreeSpace :drevil: ... but that's a whole notha' animal...), just like the Wing Commander movie couldn't do the title a hint of good.
Thus, I for one vouch for the FS cartoon... :nervous:
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FS anime
fund it.
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I could make an animation based off of Freespace...
Though it's not as crazy as an actual show or movie, it would suffice enough to satisfy someones needs...
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If it's done, it should be BSG-style. FreeSpace was the first thing I thought about when watching nBSG for the first time.
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If it's done, it should be BSG-style. FreeSpace was the first thing I thought about when watching nBSG for the first time.
Only less PERSONAL DRRRAAAMMAAA and more delicious fleet action.
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That can be arranged
I in fact have been working on story boards for a similar sort of idea
However, 3D models of ships would be needed to realize that dream
Was never a big fan of battle star galatica though
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If it's done, it should be BSG-style. FreeSpace was the first thing I thought about when watching nBSG for the first time.
Only less PERSONAL DRRRAAAMMAAA and more delicious fleet action.
BSG was rather light on personal drama given the setting.
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That's actually not half bad. I would cut out the references to Alpha 1 though and just let the movie have it's own hero.
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Wow, for being new to actually posting stuff (I'm one of those jerks who just reads a lot typically) I'm really surprised with the positive feedback. Thanks all. :yes:
I thought that up in about ten minutes, so I wasn't expecting much.
As far as the plot curve, I tried to make sure that I had both suspenseful and pure action aspects, with the dialogue and characters providing the food for thought. I also wanted to hit certain markers: Opening action sequence, to fully engross the viewer; tragedy and loss, to emotionally involve them; secondary characters developed to create a world for the viewer to become familiar with and relate to; Revelation to shock/outrage the viewer and increase scope; Action sequence to maintain atmosphere and give the viewer a sense of involvement via danger, horror, and mystery; further character/plot development sets desperate and hopeless atmosphere; new revelation to give the viewer hope, and prospects for climactic danger, final action sequence as climax, resolution to help digest the action sequence and give the audience reason to celebrate with their new silver-screen heroes as well as symbolize the profound change that has taken place because of the film.
I'm going to respond to a couple of points made so far;
For a hollywood movie, this would probably be as best as it could get.
Liked this part: "The fleet recognizes him for his valor, and states that he is only the second Terran pilot ever to do so, the first being a wing commander on the Galatea only a few hours earlier."
True, I was hoping more modest goals on a reasonable budget would make a good film on it's own, one that won't be a waste of 120 minutes of people's lives, and will not bludgeon the already established plot points. I wasn't trying to cover every battle and ship, just a perspective, which is what made the games so fun. You were a fly on the wall with great events unfolding around you, with opportunities to occasionally make a big contribution by your actions. I wanted to capture that aspect of the game in the film's plot.
That's actually not half bad. I would cut out the references to Alpha 1 though and just let the movie have it's own hero.
I thought that keeping references to "Alpha 1" to a minimum would be good so as to make the film able to stand on it's own, but I also was trying to satisfy the die hards who might want a film based on Alpha 1 as the main character. This would detract from the appeal of the game though, because it takes away from the feeling that Alpha one is YOU, and detracting from the game's appeal is the LAST thing I would want to do. I thought it made sense to include Alpha at least in a cameo-esque manner, only actually being part of the main focus of the film for a few lines of dialogue. This would also serve to maintain true to the story so far, as we already know who took out the Lucifer... we just don't know the other guys in the battle, which is what gives the film room to breathe and work it's cinematic magic.
If it's done, it should be BSG-style. FreeSpace was the first thing I thought about when watching nBSG for the first time.
Only less PERSONAL DRRRAAAMMAAA and more delicious fleet action.
BSG was rather light on personal drama given the setting.
I liked some of the drama on BSG, but the whole cult vision religion thing bored the crap out of me. Now, assassination attempts, bar fights, personal grudges, mutinies, that sort of thing is much more grounded in reality as far as stressed out combat pilots are concerned, which is what a Freespace film would be all about; combat pilots. Love stories between military officers in the middle of a war are lame. Officers worth their salt are more professional than that. Love triangles have no business in a film like Freespace. Drama would be base around the pilots' stress levels, and the inter-species relationships. That is plenty to work with. That is what most successful war dramas work with. Besides, Freespace was originally intended to have more personal dramatic involvement (more cinematics), and I a large portion of my ideas from those unmade clips.
As far as the BSG style, I did like the alternating views of battle between the Command center and the pilots, and the physics looked great too when the fighters maneuvered.
As far as directors are concerned, I too have little confidence in the current generation. You would need a director with artistic insight and understanding of good action cinematography. Like Ridley Scott or James Cameron. As far as good film shots, the Wachowski brothers know where to put the camera. Producer malingering would be a nightmare for and Freespace project. I think it it would be conceivable to CG it ourselves, since we know the story and events better than any hollywood jerk.
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Love stories between military officers in the middle of a war are lame. Officers worth their salt are more professional than that.
I haven't read the plot, I will do ASAP, but Amen to that. The Fighter Corps doesn't recruit just anyone, and part of being a Fighter Pilot is accepting the fact that you're in the motherfrakking military. *****. It even says on the recruitment package for Pilots that social practices acceptable among the civilian population are unacceptable in the military. It's these somewhat small things that break my point of focus and make me realise I'm sitting on my ass watching TV instead of being immersed in the environment.
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Just read teh_plot, it sounds pretty good to me (I'm by no means an authority on anything storyline related. Unless it involves asplosions/BoEs. :P) I think it's a little long for a silver screen though. Regardless, t'is good IMO. :)
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Love stories between military officers in the middle of a war are lame. Officers worth their salt are more professional than that.
"...The Fighter Corps doesn't recruit just anyone, and part of being a Fighter Pilot is accepting the fact that you're in the motherfrakking military. *****. It even says on the recruitment package for Pilots that social practices acceptable among the civilian population are unacceptable in the military. It's these somewhat small things that break my point of focus and make me realise I'm sitting on my ass watching TV instead of being immersed in the environment."
My point exactly, glad you agree. ^_^
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Love stories between military officers in the middle of a war are lame. Officers worth their salt are more professional than that.
"...The Fighter Corps doesn't recruit just anyone, and part of being a Fighter Pilot is accepting the fact that you're in the motherfrakking military. *****. It even says on the recruitment package for Pilots that social practices acceptable among the civilian population are unacceptable in the military. It's these somewhat small things that break my point of focus and make me realise I'm sitting on my ass watching TV instead of being immersed in the environment."
My point exactly, glad you agree. ^_^
It worked in BSG because it was the end of the world, and because the crew in question was the dregs of the fleet, and because they did pay attention to those regulations, up to the point of having a superior officer ordering two lovers to put a stop to their relationship.
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Love stories between military officers in the middle of a war are lame. Officers worth their salt are more professional than that.
"...The Fighter Corps doesn't recruit just anyone, and part of being a Fighter Pilot is accepting the fact that you're in the motherfrakking military. *****. It even says on the recruitment package for Pilots that social practices acceptable among the civilian population are unacceptable in the military. It's these somewhat small things that break my point of focus and make me realise I'm sitting on my ass watching TV instead of being immersed in the environment."
My point exactly, glad you agree. ^_^
It worked in BSG because it was the end of the world, and because the crew in question was the dregs of the fleet, and because they did pay attention to those regulations, up to the point of having a superior officer ordering two lovers to put a stop to their relationship.
True to a point. They would have at least transfered them to different squadron though. I mostly just think that in a film there wouldn't be enough time for it if you wanted to make the rest of the movie worthwhile. in a 120-140 minute film, it wouldn't contribute to the atmosphere or the major plot elements. It could work in a show I guess, but even then...
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There was only one squadron left, though; not much room for transfers.
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FS anime
fund it.
Perfect Hair Forever much? ;7
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FS anime
fund it.
Perfect Hair Forever much? ;7
Thirty-Second Law of Animation - The Law of Follicular Permanence: Hair in anime is pretty much indestructable, and can resist any amount of meteorological conditions, energy emissions, physical abuse, or explosive effects and still look perfect. The only way to hurt someone's hair is the same way you deal with demons... with bladed weapons.
Indeed :)
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I'm not sure if you missed the point of my response or not, but I was primarily referring to the great spoof series by the name of "Perfect Hair Forever," which mocks everything and anything animated - particularly anime...
Still, indeed... :nod:
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You could burn it too for some temporary damage.
It just regenerates quite quickly.
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Side effects of that may include constipation
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Ah, the degeneration of a thread into cynical anime humor...
though it's fun, try to add some kind of contribution to the thread in addition to witty remarks.
Why anime and not CG like the cinematics already in-game? It would look smoother and provide more realism and detail, which immerses audiences more deeply and I think would be more compatible with the type of story Freespace tells.
Anime hair also gets brighter depending on a person's power :P lol.
Some things I was always wondering about that could be conceivably covered in a movie/show
More dogfights, duh
Some shots of what the command centers of capital ships are like in the heat of battle
Marine boarding parties actually bagging a live Shivan
Some shots of Shivans doing whatever it is they do when we aren't around.
What do ancients look like? what do their ruins look like?
What did Vasuda look like before it got blasted by the Lucifer fleet?
Are there Vasudan females? what do they look like?
What do Vasudan Marines look like?
What do the quarters, chow hall, engineering room, armory, and other places on ships look like?
We didn't see much in the way of civilian ships in Freespace... nonmilitary freight, passenger
ships, cruise ships, fuel tankers, gas refineries, salvage ships, repair docks (dry dock in space)
executive transports, mineral extractors, construction barges, tugs, and there only two kinds of
space stations.
Large military vessels not seen in-game are "submarine" like ships, like a frigate that has a low
profile on scanners(radar/lidar), and moves quickly; frigates in general actually are neglected.
Military space ports/stations were absent in the games and desperately needed.
What does Emperor Konsu II look like?
What are Vasudan social norms? Do they have similar "puritanical" views about clothing and
sexuality, or is that a foreign concept to them? Are they monogomous, polygamous, do they lay
eggs or are they mamillian? are they a-sexual or do they have 2 or more sexes?