Xander digs choices...
So it was roughly a year ago when I wrote the initial idea that became SKIN in this journal. As that script (finally) readies to go out after labor day, I thought I would play a little of the "choose your own adventure" game and lay out two of the ideas I'm thinking about for the follow-up piece. The first is more straightforwardly horrific, while the second is both more action oriented and (perhaps) more commercial.
Let's see what YOU think...
GUARDIANS: THE FIRM meets HELLRAISER. A balls to the wall horror movie with plenty of creatures and world-ending evil.
Vanessa Peters is a brilliant young dream researcher who's just had her university research funding yanked due to the controversial nature of her studies. She believes that Jung's idea of the collective unconscious is more than just a nifty metaphor to assist in psychotherapy - she thinks it's real. That it is actually something that can be accessed, and she is right on the edge of a breakthrough when her funding is pulled.
When a Bill Gates type computer gaming offers her a job that would allow her to continue her work, she jumps at the chance. He wants Vanessa to come in and apply archetypal dream image structures to a top-secret video game project. She does, and as the game is developed, things begin to get crazy. More and more, strange objects and images from dreams begin to appear in the real world. It starts small: classic boogeyman figures are reflected in windows as she walks down the street; noises from the closet become pronounced and terrifying in the dead of night. Vanessa becomes concerned and figures out the real nature of the project: the Gates figure is attempting to create something akin to a computer virus that leeches into people's minds (maybe he's really working for an intelligence agency that wants to access secrets by reading the unconscious minds).
Just as she makes the discovery, the game goes live. Instead of acting as a gate into the collective unconscious, though, the gate goes the other way. The icky things we all hold as our deepest fears begin to rush out into the real world, nightmare creatures with a lust for the light of day. Worse, the infestation spreads like a virus. The horrible things from dreams begin to spread from the compound where the research is taking place into the surrounding area. If Vanessa and the other good guy characters (read: potential victims) can't find a way to close the doorway by, say midnight, then the monsters from the id will roll across the earth.
There's an opportunity for some kind of SIXTH SENSE "trick ending" here as well. Obviously, the Guardians are actually the "heroes" here (from a certain perspective). They are actually trying to prevent a bad man from accessing all of our minds. There is probably some way to turn the action in the third act in such a way that Vanessa realizes that everything she's thought is the case is actually something else entirely - maybe the Bill Gates figure is actually a dream himself? Something like that that will make people say "holy shit."
As to the end, I suspect that Vanessa will find a way to shut the gate. As in all horror movies, though, some vestige of the land of dreams will stay free (possibly inside herself).
BENEATH: THE MUMMY meets BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. There's a New York legend about Grand Central Station. People whisper that it goes far deeper than seven levels down, that its superstructure reaches deep into the earth with floor after floor of completed level that haven't been viewed since construction began in the 19th Century. BENEATH, then, is a supernatural action story about a group of people paid to travel into these hidden catacombs and retrieve something (it remains to be figured out what the McGuffin actually is).
Basically, the storyline is that an old reclusive billionaire hires a diverse team to go under the station. A cave rescue specialist from FEMA, a rare books archivist, a cagey New York historian and a soldier of fortune type - a very diverse bunch. If I go the supernatural route, they will be off to find some Necronomicon type book, or maybe a fountain of youth type object that offers eternal life. This would allow us some monstrous creatures to try and keep our heroes away from their prize. More prosaically, this set-up would also work if it was just a treasure of some kind - diamonds or something.
Regardless, our team has to deal with both internal strife and lack-of-trust among themselves, and a wide variety of external problems. There are the dangerous Morlock types who dwell beneath the city, giant rats and alligators, physical obstacles (deep crevasses, sudden floods), and even some more strictly supernatural barriers if we go that way (statue guardians, mystical barricades). There are probably massive doors that have to be decoded to enter.
In terms of plot, it is obvious that the final confrontation will be with the old man himself - he's the Big Bad of the piece. We will probably also have one of the team turn to the dark side (wanting to take the item for him or herself or working as an agent for the old man - either way, they would want to kill the rest of the team). As in most set-ups of this type, the person we expect to be the bad guy (the embittered soldier) will not be the one to turn.
Though this seems rough, once we figure out what is being sought (mythical or mundane), the story almost writes itself. Act I assembles the team. Act II puts them through their paces as they overcome the many dangers in the bowels of New York (each team member utilizing their particular skill-set to save the day in turn). Act III gets them to the dragon's layer, let's them overcome what they think will be the final obstacle, and reveals the big bad for the Final Conclict.
Anyway, thoughts are always appreciated from you crazy kids.
Let's see what YOU think...
GUARDIANS: THE FIRM meets HELLRAISER. A balls to the wall horror movie with plenty of creatures and world-ending evil.
Vanessa Peters is a brilliant young dream researcher who's just had her university research funding yanked due to the controversial nature of her studies. She believes that Jung's idea of the collective unconscious is more than just a nifty metaphor to assist in psychotherapy - she thinks it's real. That it is actually something that can be accessed, and she is right on the edge of a breakthrough when her funding is pulled.
When a Bill Gates type computer gaming offers her a job that would allow her to continue her work, she jumps at the chance. He wants Vanessa to come in and apply archetypal dream image structures to a top-secret video game project. She does, and as the game is developed, things begin to get crazy. More and more, strange objects and images from dreams begin to appear in the real world. It starts small: classic boogeyman figures are reflected in windows as she walks down the street; noises from the closet become pronounced and terrifying in the dead of night. Vanessa becomes concerned and figures out the real nature of the project: the Gates figure is attempting to create something akin to a computer virus that leeches into people's minds (maybe he's really working for an intelligence agency that wants to access secrets by reading the unconscious minds).
Just as she makes the discovery, the game goes live. Instead of acting as a gate into the collective unconscious, though, the gate goes the other way. The icky things we all hold as our deepest fears begin to rush out into the real world, nightmare creatures with a lust for the light of day. Worse, the infestation spreads like a virus. The horrible things from dreams begin to spread from the compound where the research is taking place into the surrounding area. If Vanessa and the other good guy characters (read: potential victims) can't find a way to close the doorway by, say midnight, then the monsters from the id will roll across the earth.
There's an opportunity for some kind of SIXTH SENSE "trick ending" here as well. Obviously, the Guardians are actually the "heroes" here (from a certain perspective). They are actually trying to prevent a bad man from accessing all of our minds. There is probably some way to turn the action in the third act in such a way that Vanessa realizes that everything she's thought is the case is actually something else entirely - maybe the Bill Gates figure is actually a dream himself? Something like that that will make people say "holy shit."
As to the end, I suspect that Vanessa will find a way to shut the gate. As in all horror movies, though, some vestige of the land of dreams will stay free (possibly inside herself).
BENEATH: THE MUMMY meets BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. There's a New York legend about Grand Central Station. People whisper that it goes far deeper than seven levels down, that its superstructure reaches deep into the earth with floor after floor of completed level that haven't been viewed since construction began in the 19th Century. BENEATH, then, is a supernatural action story about a group of people paid to travel into these hidden catacombs and retrieve something (it remains to be figured out what the McGuffin actually is).
Basically, the storyline is that an old reclusive billionaire hires a diverse team to go under the station. A cave rescue specialist from FEMA, a rare books archivist, a cagey New York historian and a soldier of fortune type - a very diverse bunch. If I go the supernatural route, they will be off to find some Necronomicon type book, or maybe a fountain of youth type object that offers eternal life. This would allow us some monstrous creatures to try and keep our heroes away from their prize. More prosaically, this set-up would also work if it was just a treasure of some kind - diamonds or something.
Regardless, our team has to deal with both internal strife and lack-of-trust among themselves, and a wide variety of external problems. There are the dangerous Morlock types who dwell beneath the city, giant rats and alligators, physical obstacles (deep crevasses, sudden floods), and even some more strictly supernatural barriers if we go that way (statue guardians, mystical barricades). There are probably massive doors that have to be decoded to enter.
In terms of plot, it is obvious that the final confrontation will be with the old man himself - he's the Big Bad of the piece. We will probably also have one of the team turn to the dark side (wanting to take the item for him or herself or working as an agent for the old man - either way, they would want to kill the rest of the team). As in most set-ups of this type, the person we expect to be the bad guy (the embittered soldier) will not be the one to turn.
Though this seems rough, once we figure out what is being sought (mythical or mundane), the story almost writes itself. Act I assembles the team. Act II puts them through their paces as they overcome the many dangers in the bowels of New York (each team member utilizing their particular skill-set to save the day in turn). Act III gets them to the dragon's layer, let's them overcome what they think will be the final obstacle, and reveals the big bad for the Final Conclict.
Anyway, thoughts are always appreciated from you crazy kids.