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?When people across the US suddenly start descending into unexplained comas as the hit their 35th birthday, a pro-vaccine doctor and his 34 year old daughter discover a link to a preservative added to vaccine shots 40 years ago and begin to push the most powerful pharmaceutical company in the world for answers.? (1 Hour TV Drama) Updated Version.
I feel like there will most definitely be a shorter way of saying this. I think there's a few bits that are over-explained a little and we can probably trim them down a bit.From a story perspective, surely the vaccinations weren't just all made 40 years ago. They'd be produced daily. So what's actuaRead more
I feel like there will most definitely be a shorter way of saying this. I think there’s a few bits that are over-explained a little and we can probably trim them down a bit.
From a story perspective, surely the vaccinations weren’t just all made 40 years ago. They’d be produced daily. So what’s actually happening that will cause people, say someone who had the vaccine 5 years ago and another 30 years ago, to both potentially be at risk? This has to be believable whilst not necessarily accurate. It may work better if there’s a dormant enzyme (I’m not a scientist so bear with me) that only activates when it’s been in the human body for a prolonged period of time. It affects some people quicker than others but there is still a period that it is “safe” for. Now stick his daughter just coming to end of that “safe” period and you’re upping the tension and giving us a ticking clock. In addition to this, make it more extreme than just blacking out. Make it something that is potentially life-threatening (I get that blackouts could be if they’re driving or whatever but still). Make it something like slipping into a coma or go into a vegetative state. Something that is curable but requires hospitalisation. This then adds pressure to the health care industry and adds another story strand – there’d be a lot of people under 40 there – but also provides a perfect set up for why this disgraced doctor would be allowed back in. They need the staff.
Anyway… back to the logline.
Inciting incident – there are two currently: people blacking out and his discovery. I think that with a few tweaks you could make this one whilst still suggesting everything you have so far. The I.I. should be the blackouts as this sets up his goal. The discovery is part of his journey towards the goal.
“once famous now discredited doctor” – 5 words. I get that you want to suggest some sort of redemption arc with him but I wonder if just saying something like “disgraced doctor” would suffice for a logline. The fact that his daughter is affected is interesting and adds a personal angle but I almost feel like that’s the B story – his internal arc is redemption, that’s his primary internal goal. I could go either way on this but based on how you’ve framed the rest of it I’d say remove that for now.
Goal – find the truth. That works.
Ok, so let’s trim it down.
“When people across the US begin slipping into vegetative states after their 35th birthday, a disgraced immunologist and his 34 year old daughter go on a quest for answers that leads them to the most powerful pharmaceutical company in the world.”
Sure there’s still issues with the above but hope this helps.
See lessA detail obsessed game designer must finish his latest virtual reality game or risk losing his job, but as his game becomes more realistic he starts to lose his grip on reality.
Good input, good points by yqertz. If he's working in a software shop, he's one cog in a large wheel.? He only has access to and control over one limb of the app elephant.? These days VR games are so freakingly complex and code dense, no single person can grasp and manage it all.Also, the code warriRead more
Good input, good points by yqertz. If he’s working in a software shop, he’s one cog in a large wheel.? He only has access to and control over one limb of the app elephant.? These days VR games are so freakingly complex and code dense, no single person can grasp and manage it all.
Also, the code warriors I know seem to look at the GUI as just eye candy, there to validate that the code they are writing works? For them, the fun and games, the dopamine spike, the immersive experience is in writing the code.? That’s what they stare at for hours on end the code, not the GUI.
And general audiences are? more sophisticated these days. The prime target audience for this film, computer geeks, are super sophisticated, jaded and skeptical about all films where software development is core to the way the plot plays out.? Gone are the days when a movie can palm off a moment when a young kid looks at a GUI — a GUI! — and exclaims. “I know this.? It’s Unix.” (Jurassic Park, 1993).? Punchline:? if you look closely at the hardware in that scene, “Unix” is running on Apple hardware!
However, as yqwertz suggested,? the MC is a tester might work.
See less“Following the release of a popular drug that makes sleep obsolete, some people start committing crimes in waking-dreams known as ‘Recals’ and a Dream-Detective must determine the lucidity of each suspect while secretly investigating with his own recurring Recal.” (1 Hour TV Scifi/Drama Series) Updated Version.
gilligaj: Again, I like the core concept.? But while my prefrontal cortex is willing to suspend disbelief, my limbic system... not so much.? Not yet. The latter is hung up on what passes for "justice" in your story world.? As I illustrated by the analogy to DUI.? Now if that's the way you want to goRead more
gilligaj:
Again, I like the core concept.? But while my prefrontal cortex is willing to suspend disbelief, my limbic system… not so much.? Not yet. The latter is hung up on what passes for “justice” in your story world.? As I illustrated by the analogy to DUI.? Now if that’s the way you want to go, and if you can conjure up a scenario, an explanation that feels right for your story world , that the limbic system of the millions of viewers will buy into, more power to you.
A suggestion:? your pilot might want to include a utility character as skeptical as I am on the justice of it all. Deal with the issue up front, head on (via an argument with the protagonist) and, hence, defuse it.
fwiw
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