In this situation, there is a dedicated and nostalgic father who wants to provide his son with an upbringing that mirrors the idealized childhood he envisions. One of the key elements of this envisioned idealized youth is a love for video games. The father is determined to introduce his son to the world of video games, believing it to be a significant part of his own cherished memories.
However, as the father starts implementing his plan to introduce video games to his son, things don’t go as smoothly as he had hoped. Instead of the expected enthusiasm, his efforts lead to a backlash from his son. The son may not share the same enthusiasm or interest in video games as the father does, and this creates tension or conflict between them.
This situation forces the father to confront the stark reality that his son has different interests and preferences, and their generational gap has resulted in distinct worldviews. The father’s aspirations and expectations, rooted in his nostalgia, are shattered as he realizes that his son’s experiences and values are not identical to his own.
It’s a great setup, but what does the father do with this newfound dilemma? As a father, this conjures up thoughts of me blowing the dust off my old Nintendo and gleefully showing its most famous games only to see my younglings say, “Meh” – what then? Based on your synopsis and the father’s passion, I’m curious how he makes this bygone world come alive in his kiddo.
Great question. The story mainly focuses on parents imposing their preferred upbringing on their children, be it through religion, music, sports, or video games. I envision the father reacting by confronting his son, expressing his concern that the son wouldn’t have these opportunities without his guidance. For instance, parents paying for their kids’ piano lessons. While it’s fine if the child wants to learn, conflicts arise when parents impose their own aspirations, leading to prolonged tension.
I would like the father to come to the realisation that he doesn’t want a repeat of history, like when his father pushed his own aspirations onto him to play sports. This scenario is a reversal, where the father’s son desires to play sports instead of video games, thus avoiding this consistent generational dissonance.
This may be a great screenplay, but the logline makes the story seem quite small. This is because the conflict doesn’t feel drastic enough to carry a whole movie. It is quite common for a child to have different interests and values to a parent, and it’s still possible for them to have a great relationship. Can you make the conflict bigger?
Thank you for your feedback. I’m currently working on creating a dramatic event to intensify the conflict. The distant relationship between the divorced father and his son is already established. This story is intentionally concise, as it’s being developed as a 5-8 minute short film for my university major. I might need to rephrase the logline to better capture the father-son dynamic. I appreciate the feedback!
Ah, I didn’t realise this was for a short film. Completely different rules. Please ignore my previous comment.