Shadowrun Screenplay Project Options

[Shadow]

[emo samurai]

I was thinking we should have a scene in which the universe is introduced. LOTR had it, Serenity had it, and Star Wars had the scrolling paragraphs. I think that's in order.

[Shadow]

When done right, a prologue is awesome. Like you said. But that is only one way of introducing it. I hesitate to do something like that. For one it takes time away from your main characters. SR doesn't have any recognizable history to support it either. Serenity had Firefly, Starwars has hada bazillion movies, LotR had best selling books.

So far the idea is to use the supporting character (the scientist) to introduce the world to the viewer. They (the audience) learn things as she learns things.

However, either way could be very cool. Any ideas for an opening scene (no more than two minutes) to describe the universe to the audience?

We are also still in need of a plot and main characters... which I think should be done before any of this.

[James McMurray]

[James McMurray]

Plot:

extraction gets main character into runner team

retrieval squad comes to hideout to retrieve main character, with orders to kill him if they can't capture him. this really pisses off the main character

you take it from there, I've got a 4 year old chanting in my ear. ;)

[Shadow]

[James McMurray]

Hence the "take it from there." :)

[Shadow]

[James McMurray]

[FanGirl]

[emo samurai]

But if you have dragons manipulating things, that's something outright weird. Having dragons manipulate things is somehow less alien than people who don't age.

[James McMurray]

[Shadow]

Its not about weird, it is about a tight story. You don't mention any thing that is not relavent to the story. So unless the main story is about IE's or Dragon, then it is better off not to have them.

I would never discount a story out of hand. If someone has a plot that involves IE's and is good, lets here it. Otherwise I would like to stick to a more traditional Shadowrun storyline.

[eralston]

IEs are totally part of the conspiracy to make Earthdawn the ad hoc progenitor of SR. They are almost never mentioned prominently and featured in few of the novels. One example of their time in the limelight would be the "Worlds Without End" novel, which is coincidentally the name of a GI Joe two-part episode that featured more captivating writing. That's just my opinion, I could be right.

Dragons, on the other hand, would rock ina sequel, but as far as the first movie it is very out there. I've only ever included Dragons on my runs once and that was at the behest of the Mercurial module. A more modern example might be the survival of the fittest module, but overall it lacks that personal touch I would want to see. Dragons frack with you cause you're too stupid to say no, not because you're attached to the reasons they would have you risk.

I think we're still dwelling along the lines of good hooks and not good plots. Continuing to say we need a tight story does keep us on track, just doesn't get us anywhere.

I would really like to reiterate my earlier suggestion of some sort of familiar relationship between the extractee and the interested parties of the, as yet undefine, evil byzantine conspiracy. As far as getting the runners in deeper, I would bring up the idea that perhaps we could try no getting too attached and instead make it a habit to have Shadowrun teams as a more transient component of the story. There would be a certain justice to the concept of anonymity if we have the real main characters use several teams to accomplish their goals. In this case, the family relation seeking the extractee would be the primary character. I would suggest that, for some sort of prologue, we would back up a bit in the story so we could still make first introductions with the main characters.

We should evalutate the first idea before I develop that anymore.

[Shadow]

This is an idea I had earlier, it makes for a good hook but still needs to be fille dout.

[emo samurai]

Yeah... maybe have a very human main character who has to deal with all sorts of crazy people to do his work. 2xs was probably the best Shadowrun book ever, and a runner team wasn't really hired until the end. It was mostly him talking to 4 or 5 contacts and getting shot at until he paid out his life savings to have his sister rescued.

[eralston]

[emo samurai]

Maybe you could involve Humanis in it? There could be a Humanis suit that hates trolls and orks and has a campaign by the Draco Foundation to distribute free vaccinations infiltrated by vials of a troll/ork specific virus instead of vaccine.

[eralston]

The general presentation of Humanis doesn't include suits. They would probably be a good passing reference and a great visual.

I would have wanted to get some sort of B plot or extra mileage in our choice for the corp. Sure, humanis would have a good reason for this virus, but that would be putting a lot of plot emphasis on metahumans in shadowrun. I think we could work something out. Currently we have good vehicle for explaining races and race relations in SR through the virus concept, we should consider trying to squeeze out some face time for corp politics and the Matrix.

It might work well of it was a corp suit with anti-meta values using Humanis Policlubbers as mook soldiers as part of his evil conspiracy. (What's the more racist Japanese corp in your opinion? Start with them). That could give some corp politics time.

To involve the matrix, the team could find out that an AI is involved. My early bet would be Mirage, he's setup in Matrix to have a fairly complex understanding of the value of life and could be the informant who first starts the ball rolling on the brother (or whoever has the mage extracted, still no resolution. I vote sister as the mage just because magic is generally attributed as a female attribute in media)

[Kanada Ten]

[emo samurai]

Dude, they're like the modern-day Republican party, only eviler. In fact, suits are their main power base.

Know what would be an awesome scene? DRAGON RAMPAGE! Or at least have one eat somebody.

[eralston]

First, let me say that you guys continue to excel at analyzing the trivial. While you are entitled to your opinion, please include with it a meaningful insight or opinion on the project at large, otherwise reconsider posting until you have one.

I'm not saying suits down't attend Humanis meetings or are active in its administration (do you think bigoted hicks could run their own club?) Virtually no members are turning a profit at being in the policlub. They are private citizens participating in a community group. Framing the suit as a "Humanis Suit" would be mishandling. Calling him an "Ares Suit with Humanis ties" is an example of what I suggested.

Also, most of the warm bodies at Humanis meetings are not turning high profits in a boardroom. Auburn and Snohomish are most quickly associated with Humanis, not Downtown or Bellevue.

Please tell me you read more than those 8 words in my prior post.

[emo samurai]

So that distinction isn't trivial?

I know that those Humanis suits are big in business; hence their ability to manipulate the government. That doesn't mean I can't call them Humanis suits, and they would make a good adversary, since you insist on discounting the IE's and dragons.

[eralston]

Ok...

The AARP has lobbiests too (over 1 Billion dollars worth), would you say their 'general presentation' is that of suited political moguls? Would you want them represented in a movie by an "AARP suit".

If we did go with a race retrovirus, we could bring Humanis in through Kenneth Brackhaven. If it was THE humanis suit instead of A humanis suit, I could hang with that. He was supposed to have been "cured" of goblinization. I would recommend having a financial-backer in a corp, someone organizaing R&D expertise to make the virus happen, then Brackhaven as the mook general covering him through the Shadows. Could go as far as have the corp find out in the end and want both dead.


Humanis affiliated executive would be far more workable than Dragons of IEs. IEs and Dragons are immensely rare (~2 dozen IEs, ~1 dozen great dragons). You know that we could come up something easier to express and more representative of the world (I would also bring up that non-shapeshifted dragons cannot speak english. Doesn't bode well for exposition). I could see breaking the normal rate of metahumans, or the normal survivability of an SR team, or even accept th whimsy of a main character changing sides for little reason, but thinking a dragon will do anything other than drown their enemies in a hamburger-like substance made entirely of shadowrunners is too far out there.

[Shadow]

Again, unless someone has a story line that directly involves dragons or IE's then I think we should focus on the matter at hand. Fleshing out the current concept.

A movie about Shadowrun the game, should be just that, a movie about Shadowrunners. Now I have just gotten back from watching MI3, and I tell you this, it was the perfect Shadowrun movie. It had hackers, riggers, sams, etc. It was awesome. I recommend anyone interested in making any film to go see JJ Abrams masterpiece.

Back on track, lets focus the movie on Shadowrunners, lets focus the plot on 1 Shadowrun team. The politics and world of SR can come into play, but lets do it through the eyes of the main characters.

This post has been edited by Shadow: May 6 2006, 12:00 AM