Inspiration Strikes at Last

     Finally in the series of my latest research rabbit hole, the content pertaining to the cyberpunk genre.

    

    I began with the 2017 version of Ghost in the Shell, not the anime this time, although it follows the original very closely. This movie is the epitome of cyberpunk, and I liked that the beginning sequence of the robots creation lead straight into some action afterwards. As much as this felt like the heart and soul of the genre, I didn't think I'd be able to replicate a scenario like that with my budget apart from perhaps the plot.

    In Aeon Flux, I noted the typical voiceover providing context paired with montage-ish shots showing the state of the cinematic world. I'd only use this method if I can write something truly good for the voice to be saying. Otherwise, I think it'd come off as cheesy.

    The next film, Rebooted, was not on my list. Instead, it came up in my recommended videos after the Aeon Flux opening and something told me I had to click. I'm quite glad I did, too, because this short film gave me a lot of inspiration. Although it didn't end up being what I thought it would, I took away two main things from this film. Firstly, I saw so many different production techniques that could be useful, like using a greenscreen to place characters in a set that you've created in miniature since we might not all have giant bustling technicolor cityscapes in our backyards. This technique was also used in another film I can't find anymore that I investigated when doing my genre research project. There were also parts where the creators animated on top of live-action footage to bring unreal aspects into the real world, which I will most likely emulate to create my tech. Aside from technique, the first few seconds of the film struck me with an idea for how my two genre ideas could come together. The plot of the film ended up being not at all like this, but I got the idea to perhaps have a robot-maker, who narrated the story, to allow for the more story-book feel.

    12 Monkeys showed me audio techniques, as well as a different approach to the narrator, using a sound bridge to lead from an authoritative character on screen into a voiceover. This was interesting and felt more organic than having a narrator excluded from the narrative world.

    Blade runner did a few things I liked. The first, an extreme closeup of an eye at the beginning created a pleasant sense of cohesivity when the eyes were brought up again at the examination table. Secondly, the costuming made the characters roles and context of the story abundantly clear. This is definitely something I could, and should, do to show-and-not-tell my story. I also loved the shocking ending just like Lady Bird.

    The breakthrough of inspiration came upon deciding to watch this YouTube video. I came into it expecting low budget production tips, and came out of it exposed to the film that would change it all. I took note of the thought they put into the characters, down to the boys speech patterns, which reminded me of the characters in The End of the Fucking World (the only show I've ever re-watched). I thought that was extra cool because I remember thinking it would be fun to make something with a similar style of dialogue. Afterwards, I was sold on watching the short film they were talking about, The Manual. Upon seeing that it was about the last man on earth, who grew up being raised by a robot, it hit me that these two movie feels might not be too hard to combine after all, and I immediately got to work on developing my idea.

    In the next post, I'll discuss my final plot and show you some story boards I've started.