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Scott DanzigSamurai
(4th revision) A vigilante hacker spies on a power-hungry corporation as they confirm reality itself can be manipulated like computer code, and finds herself in a race with them to leverage this power and stop them from controlling the world.
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I like the premise for this idea. I’ve followed it as it’s progressed. My main issue is I’m worried that the film will consist of watching people sat in front of computers. I’m struggling to see visuals beyond this right now. The quest all takes place within a machine… is there anyway to take it out of the virtual world?
I still worry that it will draw massive comparisons to The Matrix and I think in order for reality itself to be manipulated, our reality must be a virtual one from the start. Unless you have a really good way of explaining how computer code can create and control biological matter.
Surely, if this corporation has already confirmed that reality can be manipulated with code, then they already control the world?
There’s definitely something here, keep looking for it!
“When A powerhunger corporation creates a computer code that can control reality, it is up to a vigilante hacker to stop them before they attain world domination.”
Thanks for the additional comments. Please don’t take anything I’ve written as overly critical (I apologise if it seems like it). I think there’s a great story in here and I’m excited to see where you take it.
Could you go down a Dennis Nedry approach? The hacker actually meets a disgruntled former employee of the corporation who was a coder and he/she deliberately wrote bugs into the system. This does away with the incompetence of the company issue and also, having an inside man will help with exposition (the half man approach from Save the Cat!). This employee could come into play later in the series but be a main character who has their own goal that is similar to the hacker’s but not quite the same.
The issues of the ability to control reality with computer code…. for me this is a stretch too far. But that’s just me. Other people may be totally ok with it. I just feel like it brings in much bigger questions – if code can be used to manipulate reality, reality MUST be based on code – that’s how code works. Therefore reality isn’t real, it’s a manmade construct. This isn’t a problem per se but it results in me wondering what is the real reality. In both The Matrix and Ready Player One, there is a reason why people exist in the created world and if you don’t find a really good answer for this, I personally, would struggle to get past it. I agree that the logline (and the sotry for that matter) doesn’t need to answer the ‘how’ every time BUT I do think that if it is a question that everyone is likely to ask, and it never gets answered, it could be a dealbreaker for people.
I do think there is something here… so I was wondering if you could try something like this? Rather than the corporation discovering they can control the existing reality, they figure out a way to create living organisms that are controlled by code. In my head, I can see a scene where the hacker has bought a plant, and they hack into this system and they change the code and the plant besides them visibly grows. Or the flower changes colour. You get the idea. She discovers that they’ve created hybrid bioengineered life and through her investigations, during which she comes across the disgruntled former employee, she finds out that the plant was actually created in the 1960s. The former employee could be an older guy and he left in the 80s so he doesn’t know the full extent but he can fill in some of the blanks. The end of the first series can be the discovery that this company has actually managed to integrate fully hybrid humans, controllable by code, into our existing reality. They are not controlling reality, but they are replacing reality with their own creation that they can control.?I think this would be fascinating and I have no problem believing this could happen. Google are probably doing it already haha.
Anyway, that’s just my idea for it. Obviously, this might not be the story you want to tell, but I feel like it answers problematic questions in your idea. There’s still a leap of faith, but it’s like Jurassic Park – it’s plausible and with a little explanation it can be bought into.
Hope this helps.
Hello, first there is a word missing here: “can manipulated” should be “can be manipulated”. The only thing I could suggest is to divide the sentence in two.
As for the slugline itself, I like the idea. It sounds great, although the term “leverage” brought me questions, like how could a single person in use of this power fight against a whole company with several coders?
Reality can be manipulated. Scientist do it in their laboratories all the time. Often times they need huge machines to make a tiny piece of nature do something it would not normally do. Most the times these devices are computer controlled.
The magic you are asking us to believe is that computer code alone can change reality. If you want me to buy into that premise you have to tell me where the computer sits and how the code gets uploaded. And by the time you do all that it is going to be looking a lot like Matrix. And this brings us to the most important questions: Who is running the computer and why? If you don’t try to answer this question, the viewers are going to feel cheated.
If you want to take a different tact and stay away from Matrix comparisons, look beyond programming. While reality itself cannot be manipulated outside the laboratory (except in Matrix like universes), you can change peoples perception of reality through hallucinogenic drugs. There are many futuristic ideas for drug delivery being floated around these days. Maybe your evil corporation can take advantage of one of them. If your plot has to involve software because that is a technology you feel comfortable working with, then make the drug delivery system software controlled.
Scott Danzig, I looked up Meyer’s Book, “Off to be the Wizard”. It is in the first instance a light comedy, then a fantasy, and last SciFi. And I think that is where the confusion comes in with your story.
From what you previously posted, I thought you wanted to tell a serious SciFi story that explored the nature of reality. Meyer’s book doesn’t do that. It is a science fiction version of Twain’s? “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. Those books work because they are humorous, light entertainment. For a moment of fun, people are wiling to suspend their disbelief to a far greater extent than would be for a thriller, because in a comedy all they ask for is laughs.
If you classify your story as a comedy, not SciFi, and make it funny enough, then people will laugh and forget the questions about who ultimately controls the computer. We accepted all kinds of nonsense in Men In Black, because it was first of all a comedy. That film would not have worked as a thriller.
If it was your intention all along to create a SciFi comedy, then I apologize for the misunderstanding.