The Astronaut Farmer-- Billy Bob Thornton is my new hero

[JonClarke]

<i>One final thought. I don't want you to think I am one who has no standards, or low standards when it comes to movies. I've sat through some real stinkers-- Mission to Mars is a prime example. Bad science, bad dialogue, bad story, bad music even... </i><br /><br />At last someone agrees with me!!!!!!! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Gak! That was a bad movie!<br /><br /><i>But to me, the first thing I look for in a good science fiction film is usually not strict fidelity to established science, technology, economics etc. I can't repeat it enough-- is it a good movie or not?</i><br /><br />Of course it has to be a movie. But part of that has to be a credible suspension of disbelief. For me, a film where the central premise is someone recreating an Atlas in their backyard strains credibility well past breaking point.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

I alrerady have a full time interest as well as a full time job (where I should be now). there there is the question of the paltry millions <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />But I like the idea of coming up with a script. How about you create a thread? I will see if it can me made sticky.<br /><br />First we need to come up with an idea - will it be historical, near future SF, far future SF or contemporary space drama? Or maybe even fantasy?<br /><br />What's going to be the angle - will the drama be personal, collective, technological, moral, existential, or all of the above?<br /><br />Of course you realise than if we do get a workable script by posting it here it will be the property of Imaginova?<br /><br />Now I really must go and work for the government. Got to keep the taxpayers happy, bless their dollars.....<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[etavaunt]

Why would it be the property of them?<br /><br />I hold the copyright on my words, regardless of the medium, I think.

 

[chyten]

<b>Actually, anyone else looking forward to Avatar, by the bloke that made Aliens?</b><br /><br />YES!!!<br /><br />James Cameron, the man behind "Aliens", "Terminator" and "Abyss", said that he had "Avatar" planned 15 years ago, but <i>CGI technology has just caught up with his vision.</i><br /><br />That should tell you something.

 

[space_tycoon]

I think some of those guys post at this messageboard. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Speaking of messageboards... over at the Internet Movie Database, there's a brouhaha going on at the boards for TAF. Some nut claims that the movie rips off some story he wrote.<br /><br />Before you start feeling sympathetic for the guy, read his so-called 'case" consists of. You have to be logged in to open the page or take part, but his thread is right here:<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469263/board/thread/66309751<br /><br /><br />It's a real laugh to read. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[cdr6]

My two cents on this argument…<br /><br />From the Greeks comes the basis of all drama, be it stage play or film. They are Theme, Plot, Spectacle, Characterization, Music and Drama. ALL successful productions have those in common. <br /><br />Also, there are only eight plots in all of drama. So everything has been done, the trick is how you tell your version of one of those eight plots.<br /><br />D.W. Griffith’s film masterpiece “Birth of a Nation” is not about the KKK or even the Civil War, rather what makes it such is “scope”. In those days in which “nation” was filmed, modern techniques were nonexistent. The camera was locked off in a fixed position and basically a play was preformed in front of it. There was no lighting as per say, the studios were built much like a green house with glass ceilings to let in light. Griffith changed all of that by taking the camera (a bulky, heavy, technically fussy device) into the field. Basically, he took the viewer (aka “the average Joe”) somewhere he had never been. <br /><br />Like wise, Sergi Eisenstein’s classic “Battleship Potempkin”, or “2001”, and I will even add “Star Wars” to this mix. <br /><br />On top of which, and why science takes a back seat to story, is the fact, that the bean counters who own and run the studios have no knowledge of film and it’s processes. The days of the auteur director are long gone. Today film and TV are collaborative endeavors, the director gets one cut, and that’s it, the “studio” has control over all subsequent revisions. (Be advised that releases for Theater, Television, and DVD are all cut differently) the director is not consulted.<br /><br />The writer is basically bought off when his agent sells the script, he/she is done at that point. There a few exceptions for the “A list” writers, who get “creative input” but not a lot of writers get this. His burden is to tell a complete story in 130 pages or less. A script longer than that will not get looked at by most studios. Unless of course i