So far, I’ve mostly talked about the things I enjoy that other people have done. Even the Songs of the Week are other people’s music. Don’t worry, this won’t be my debut album. Instead, I’d like to start a semi-recurring sub-theme here on Exploration days: my creations. This will include looks at some of my artwork, my short- and long-form fiction writing, music video concepts, and even my movie scripts. On this first expedition into my creative side, we’re taking a look at my first “full-length” film script, Enniland.
I don’t have much training in formal script writing. I took Intro to Screenwriting while working on my Art degree. If I didn’t need to focus on my Art credits, I might have taken more screenwriting classes; I devoured the assignments for that class. For one assignment of a 12-page script (about 10-15 minutes of film), I actually wrote two: a gamer diving into a virtual reality to save a girl trapped by a secret government agency, and an older WWE-style wrestler having one last match and teaching one last lesson to his protege as he passes the torch. The class read both scripts (if you’re writing scripts, get them read. It helps so much), and the teacher said that the virtual reality story might sound good as a feature film. She didn’t know what she was getting me into. By the end of the semester, I had 70 pages. It’s increased to 80, and I’d like to get it at least to 90 one day.
I don’t think I can boil down all of 80 pages in this space, but I’ll give you my quick explanation. Jason, our protagonist, is thin and weak in the real world, but in Enniland, the virtual game, he is respected, powerful, and a little bored. One of his friends in the game catches the ire of a wizard named Penny; after a brief exchange of power and knowledge, Jason and Penny find a commonality. Both love to play the game, and both play at a level that few have attained. But just as Jason is getting to know her, Penny shares something terrible: she’s in danger in the real world, and she believes that Jason is the kind of person who won’t stop until she is safe.
But Jason isn’t cut out for real-world exploration, not anymore. He goes back to the game, and lucks into finding a secret connection point to a secret underground base full of robots. Jason connects to one of the robots and starts piloting it around, thinking he’s still in the game. That is, until he finds Penny strapped to a table covered in electrodes. Lucky Jason had stumbled upon a shadow team’s clandestine hit squad, disguised through a video game, using Penny as an unwilling pilot.
I don’t want to give away too much of the ending, mostly because the ending still needs some work. I will say that I use my favorite writing trope: the beginning and ending are mirrored in order to bring a full closure to the story.
I haven’t read through this in a while. It’s no Citizen Kane, but I’m still happy with it. And this all came from a little idea. I guess the moral of this story (and most of these creative ideas of mine) is that old Shia Labeouf line: “Don’t let your dreams be dreams.” Try stuff.
That's Pretty NEET 