After we pitched our project idea to Simon and Helen, we have received the Green Light to go ahead with our project. This is good as I can finally start the full writing process of the script. So far I have the characters laid out and the basic story. I will need to develop the story in a broader context now, and come up with the main story idea behind the main character, rather than just the base story that we have.
One thing that Simon mentioned to us is the overall size of Cthulhu. As mentioned before, his original size is around 10,000 ft however we wanted to scale him down to around 8-900 ft. This we thought, was going to be beneficial to us as it would allow Cthulhu maneuverability around New York, yet still be scary naturally. Simon mentioned that if we are trying to appeal to a fan base that know a lot about Cthulhu, would scaling him down significantly in size still have the appeal to them. It would also mean Cthulhu would be hidden at times by sky scrapers and the like. This now gives us the decision as to whether or not we want to keep Cthulhu at his original size or not. I feel that if we do decide to have him 10,000ft tall it could still work well, with his top half sticking out of the rivers and oceans of New York, not fully emerged but win his top half still being able to be very destructive to the city.
This is something we definitely need to consider, and upon discussing it with the group further, we will make a full decision in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Production Concept - Man eater series
As mentioned in my last post, after watching some more SyFy movies, we do not feel our piece, would fit with the over the top tone of these movies, as our monster isn't as fitting. Most of the more over the top films on the network feature hybrid monsters combined with a couple of different creatures.
Doing some more research into the network and their movies, we discovered what was called the SyFy Network "Man Eater Series". This series generally includes larger monsters, which fits in with Cthulhu, as well as taking a serious feel to the films, rather than them being over the top. They also tend to feature known mythical creatures or creatures of legend, reflecting the titles of the films from this series, such as "Wyvern", "Gargoyle" and "Behemoth" .
We therefore have decided that our original movie would fit in with this man eater series, as it features a creature of legend and it would make more sense to keep a serious tone to the film, rather than poorly written over the top gore.
I think this will benefit the piece a lot more as it won't need to be written in such a style that reflects upon the rest of over the top SyFy films, which tend to feature none too fantastic speech and dialogue, which could have come across as poor writing of the script on my part, thus I am happy we discovered this series of films and am excited that we have placed ours within it.
Doing some more research into the network and their movies, we discovered what was called the SyFy Network "Man Eater Series". This series generally includes larger monsters, which fits in with Cthulhu, as well as taking a serious feel to the films, rather than them being over the top. They also tend to feature known mythical creatures or creatures of legend, reflecting the titles of the films from this series, such as "Wyvern", "Gargoyle" and "Behemoth" .
We therefore have decided that our original movie would fit in with this man eater series, as it features a creature of legend and it would make more sense to keep a serious tone to the film, rather than poorly written over the top gore.
I think this will benefit the piece a lot more as it won't need to be written in such a style that reflects upon the rest of over the top SyFy films, which tend to feature none too fantastic speech and dialogue, which could have come across as poor writing of the script on my part, thus I am happy we discovered this series of films and am excited that we have placed ours within it.
Production Concept - Research
So earlier in the week, my two collaborators and I met to watch some original SyFy monster movies. The ones we watched were "Sharknado", "Piranhaconda" and "Sharktopus".
The majority of these original movies received a budget of between $1-2million and usually contained Okay cgi and 1 or 2 larger actors, with the rest remaining as unknowns. A lot of these unknowns have been in other projects, but usually for other programmes or movies made by the SyFy network.
We noticed a correlation between the films as well, with scantily clad women, clearly to appeal to their target audience of late teen+ males and sci-fi enthusiasts. The two Shark based films ended with them beating the monster, but had very over the top and ridiculous deaths, as well as containing a lot of blood.
Piranhaconda differed slightly. The whole film took a more serious tone to it, but still featured half naked women in bikinis and a lot of blood. Whilst the film took a more serious tone, it ended with them thinking hey have own, but the last two survivors being killed right before the credits.
So while we have noticed these films contain a lot of death and blood, we do now feel that the overall tone of our piece wouldn't be fitting to be too over the top like these films.
The majority of these original movies received a budget of between $1-2million and usually contained Okay cgi and 1 or 2 larger actors, with the rest remaining as unknowns. A lot of these unknowns have been in other projects, but usually for other programmes or movies made by the SyFy network.
We noticed a correlation between the films as well, with scantily clad women, clearly to appeal to their target audience of late teen+ males and sci-fi enthusiasts. The two Shark based films ended with them beating the monster, but had very over the top and ridiculous deaths, as well as containing a lot of blood.
Piranhaconda differed slightly. The whole film took a more serious tone to it, but still featured half naked women in bikinis and a lot of blood. Whilst the film took a more serious tone, it ended with them thinking hey have own, but the last two survivors being killed right before the credits.
So while we have noticed these films contain a lot of death and blood, we do now feel that the overall tone of our piece wouldn't be fitting to be too over the top like these films.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Production Package - Elevator Pitch
We were asked to come up with an elevator pitch for our project. This is how you would pitch it to a producer or executive in the time it takes for an elevator ride. This is what we came up with:
An adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's short story; an over the top, New York based monster/disaster movie featuring the creature Cthulhu.
An adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's short story; an over the top, New York based monster/disaster movie featuring the creature Cthulhu.
Production Package - Cthulhu Artwork
Cthulhu is a favourite in a lot of pop culture and fan art in this day and age, with a generally accepted look in this day and age. We will be commissioning an illustrator or graphic designer to help us with our own conception of Cthulhu, although I imagine he will look quite similar to most designs people have come up with. Here are a few examples of Cthulhu's look:
The top 2 and bottom 1 are just fan art people have drawn up, however the third image is from a recent cartoons interpretation, Rick and Morty, while the fourth image is from the popular three part Cthulhu episode of South Park.
This gives a general idea of what Cthulhu looks like. Once our artist is commissioned I shall post what our Cthulhu will look like up here.
The top 2 and bottom 1 are just fan art people have drawn up, however the third image is from a recent cartoons interpretation, Rick and Morty, while the fourth image is from the popular three part Cthulhu episode of South Park.
This gives a general idea of what Cthulhu looks like. Once our artist is commissioned I shall post what our Cthulhu will look like up here.
Production Package - Language of Cthulhu - R'lyehian
The phrase I found and posted in my other most recent blog was written in Cthulhu's language. ancient R'lyehian. We thought it would be interesting to include this within our piece. Here is the basis for the language we found (so it doesn't look made up by us in the script!)
Vocabulary List
R'lyehian Word / Root English
- - agl-(suffix) place
- ah-generic action, e.g. greet, eat, do
- 'ai-speak / call
- athg-sign (contract) / agree to
- 'bthnk-body / essence
- bug-go
- c--(prefix) we / our
- ch' -cross over / travel
- chtenff-brotherhood / society
- ebumna-pit
- ee-answers
- ehye-cohesion / integrity
- ep-after; with hai, later / then
- f'- -(prefix) they / their
- 'fhalma-mother
- fhtagn-wait / sleep
- fm'latgh-burn
- ftaghu-skin/ boundary
- geb-here
- gnaiih-father
- gof'nn-children
- goka-grant
- gotha-wish
- grah'n-lost one / larva
- h'--(prefix) it / its
- hafh'drn-priest / summoner
- hai-now
- hlirgh-heretic
- hrii-followers
- hupadgh-born of
- ilyaa-expect / await
- k'yarnak-share / exchange
- kadishtu-understand / know
- kn'a-question
- li'hee-on pain of
- llll-at / beside
- lloig-mind / psyche
- lw'nafh-dream / transmit
- mg-(conjunction) yet
- mnahn' -worthless
- n'gha-death
- n'ghft-darkness
- na- -(prefix) (contraction of nafl-)
- nafl--(prefix) not / (not-present tense)
- ng- -(prefix) (conjunction) and / then
- nglui-threshold
- nilgh'ri-anything / everything
- nnn--(prefix) watch / protect
- nog-come
- nw-head / place
- -nyth-(suffix) servant of
- -og-(suffix) (emphatic)
- ooboshu-visit
- -or-(suffix) force from / aspect of
- orr'e-soul / spirit
- -oth-(suffix) native of
- ph' - (prefix) over / beyond
- phlegeth-realm of information
- r'luh-secret / hidden
- ron-religion / cult
- s'uhn-pact
- sgn'wahl-share space
- shagg-realm of dreams
- shogg-realm of darkness
- shtunggli-notify / contact
- shugg-realm of Earth
- sll'ha-invite
- stell'bsna-ask / pray for
- syha'h-eternity
- tharanak-promise / bring
- throd-tremble
- uaaah-(finish spell)
- uh'e-people / crowd
- uln-call /summon
- vulgtlagln-pray to
- vulgtm-prayer
- wgah'n-reside in / control
- y'hah-amen
- y--(prefix) I / my
- ya-I
- -yar-(suffix) time of / moment
- zhro-(lift spell)
Monday, 10 February 2014
Production package - The Shoggoth and Cthulhus Awakening
So looking into more research, there are some other elements that we hope to include in our story that we have found and adapted from Lovecraft's story and Cthulhu Mythos.
There are creatures in the Mythos known as Shoggoth. Shoggoth are amorphous blobs essentially, that originally can take the form of anything or anyone. We have decided to use these within our story but adapt them. Instead of the Shoggoth being able to shape shift, we are going to use them to essentially 'infect' people, causing them to become followers of Cthulhu, and taking control of their bodies. We will have them polluting the water supply, so they are hidden when people drink water out of taps, have baths and showers etc. it is when people come into contact with this polluted water that the Shoggoth will infect them and have them become followers of Cthulhu.
As for awakening Cthulhu, I have before mentioned the earthquake and how it rises the city Cthulhu rests in. In the original story after this happens, Cthulhu is awoken, but still trapped, waiting for the stars to align in a particular way. It is when the stars align correctly, he can come out of his slumber again. We wanted to include this element within our story, but again adapted. After the city rises Cthulhu is awoken but still lies dormant and trapped. It is using the Shoggoth to form a new cult that will cause him to rise again. The newly formed Cult of Cthulhu will wait for the stars to align properly, and then perform a ritual to bring him out of his 'cage'. The ritual will include the chant used in the original being "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn".
We were also thinking of possibly incorporating Lovecraft himself within the story. After the main characters find out what the monster is, probably from the infected Humans, they do research into Cthulhu. I figured an interesting way to go about this would be for the characters to actually look into Lovecraft's literature themselves. The idea behind this being that Everything Lovecraft wrote was actually true, so the key to beating the monster lies in his own literature, such as the Necromomion. We thought this could be an interesting twist in the story, and if we can find a clever way to incorporate it, we will.
There are creatures in the Mythos known as Shoggoth. Shoggoth are amorphous blobs essentially, that originally can take the form of anything or anyone. We have decided to use these within our story but adapt them. Instead of the Shoggoth being able to shape shift, we are going to use them to essentially 'infect' people, causing them to become followers of Cthulhu, and taking control of their bodies. We will have them polluting the water supply, so they are hidden when people drink water out of taps, have baths and showers etc. it is when people come into contact with this polluted water that the Shoggoth will infect them and have them become followers of Cthulhu.
As for awakening Cthulhu, I have before mentioned the earthquake and how it rises the city Cthulhu rests in. In the original story after this happens, Cthulhu is awoken, but still trapped, waiting for the stars to align in a particular way. It is when the stars align correctly, he can come out of his slumber again. We wanted to include this element within our story, but again adapted. After the city rises Cthulhu is awoken but still lies dormant and trapped. It is using the Shoggoth to form a new cult that will cause him to rise again. The newly formed Cult of Cthulhu will wait for the stars to align properly, and then perform a ritual to bring him out of his 'cage'. The ritual will include the chant used in the original being "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn".
We were also thinking of possibly incorporating Lovecraft himself within the story. After the main characters find out what the monster is, probably from the infected Humans, they do research into Cthulhu. I figured an interesting way to go about this would be for the characters to actually look into Lovecraft's literature themselves. The idea behind this being that Everything Lovecraft wrote was actually true, so the key to beating the monster lies in his own literature, such as the Necromomion. We thought this could be an interesting twist in the story, and if we can find a clever way to incorporate it, we will.
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