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Short film ideas.

Yo yo, I'm a wannabe director, and I need some ideas for a short film.

I'm talking a nice simple idea, something that would only last about 5 minutes. Nothing too complex and preferably with as little dialogue as possible.

The reason I am asking for ideas is because I have recently hit a massive wall of writers block. I already have a couple of short films under my belt, but I want at least one more before I go uni, and I haven't got time to sit and wait and hope my writers block clears itself up.

I'm not looking for a full script or anything, just a basic concept I can adapt myself.

If I use your idea you will get a:

"Concept by:" and "Co-Writer" credit and that's all I can really offer. I don't have any money so I can't pay anyone. So yeah, help a brother out!

:biggrin:

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what was your previous stuff about
Reply 2
sidewalkwhenshewalks
what was your previous stuff about


I did a short on a man who was so disillusioned with society that he went out and performed a murder, but that ended up getting to complicated and the final run time was about 20 minutes. Still relatively short but considering I started with a goal of having a roughly 5 minute run time, it was far to long.

And then there was another short about a man returning to his town after being away for a non-stated reason (It's hinted that it was was something stressful but never explicitly stated).
ive always had this idea where i write my number with instructions to call on a £5 note and then every-time someone rang me i'd ask for a photo, an explanation of where they got it and what they spent/are spending it on.
run it for about a month
it might work
it might not


I haven't yet decided a name for this short, but it's got a good storyline...




Plot Summary

The film, set 200 years in the future, begins with the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate in ruins. Thousands of zombies (who were planted there by the Pakistani Mafia since the mid fifties) roam the streets, they have ultra-sonic hearing that can detect the word "SALE," "HALF-PRICE" and "BOGOF" from a radius of upto eight miles.

The hero of the film, a six year old called pretz suffers a major brain trauma and snaps out of his Zombie like trance ... he decides that the only way to save his people is to make friends with Black Dracula (who has conspired with the Pakistani Mafia). Then, at a snap! the boys prayers are answered ~ Black Dracula hears the boys successful plea and gives the townfolk lashings of fresh country ham, methamphetamines and beer ...


Over the course of the journey; the boys heavy drinking and occasional methamphetamine usage leaves him in a blur. So, skipping the story ahead thirty years years (the boy now thirty six) after fighting Black Dracula and the Pakistani Mafia and a whole load of invading aliens and foreign immigrants, the boy finally dies of a stroke and is buried in the town of Morely.

THE END.
This is an actual story that happened to a friend of mine's relative that I think would make a nice short film.

An old woman has been in vegetative state for about 10 years, after having a stroke. She has been living with one of her daughters for this time, and when other daughter of hers moves to the mother's old house, they move her too.
About two days after being in the house, the old woman's memory is revived and she returns to her normal state of conscious for a day. Just one day. She calls her grandson, who thinks it's a joke. She thinks it's still the mid 90s. She recognises everyone in the family and is surprised by how tall her grandsons have become. She then goes to sleep and returns to vegetative state the next morning.

As a short film, it would need to raise the question of her conscience as a vegetable to work, at the end. I only haven't directed this film myself because I have trouble finding elderly actors, but feel free to use it if you like it.
Reply 6
Svefngenglar
This is an actual story that happened to a friend of mine's relative that I think would make a nice short film.

An old woman has been in vegetative state for about 10 years, after having a stroke. She has been living with one of her daughters for this time, and when other daughter of hers moves to the mother's old house, they move her too.
About two days after being in the house, the old woman's memory is revived and she returns to her normal state of conscious for a day. Just one day. She calls her grandson, who thinks it's a joke. She thinks it's still the mid 90s. She recognises everyone in the family and is surprised by how tall her grandsons have become. She then goes to sleep and returns to vegetative state the next morning.

As a short film, it would need to raise the question of her conscience as a vegetable to work, at the end. I only haven't directed this film myself because I have trouble finding elderly actors, but feel free to use it if you like it.



hi. i want to use your idea to write my script. Will that be okay?This is just for a school assignment, and I'm really pressured to finish this one right now.
Reply 7
i am interested in this story.can we make this as a short film?contact me at [mod edit: PM for details]

Original post by Svefngenglar
This is an actual story that happened to a friend of mine's relative that I think would make a nice short film.

An old woman has been in vegetative state for about 10 years, after having a stroke. She has been living with one of her daughters for this time, and when other daughter of hers moves to the mother's old house, they move her too.
About two days after being in the house, the old woman's memory is revived and she returns to her normal state of conscious for a day. Just one day. She calls her grandson, who thinks it's a joke. She thinks it's still the mid 90s. She recognises everyone in the family and is surprised by how tall her grandsons have become. She then goes to sleep and returns to vegetative state the next morning.

As a short film, it would need to raise the question of her conscience as a vegetable to work, at the end. I only haven't directed this film myself because I have trouble finding elderly actors, but feel free to use it if you like it.
Reply 8

A man goes into hospital for a routine operation... he wakes up in the middle to find that the surgeon & nurses are lizards who are implanting their DNA into his body...
he recovers from the operation and puts his experience down to hallucination caused by the anaesthetic...
a few weeks later he visits his GP for a follow-up; the doctor says he needs to check his throat and asks the man to "open wide"...
the final shot shows the doc's slimy lizard tongue flickering into the patient's mouth before it all goes dark
Reply 9
Original post by shyamts
i am interested in this story.can we make this as a short film?contact me at [mod edit: PM for details]


I also love this idea too!
I am a third year student and film director from east anglia. If you're within easy distance to me I would be happy to help on this, wherever help is needed, if you want to do this!

Feel free to message me.

=)
Xo
Reply 10
I saw a friend of mine over Christmas who lives in Vietnam and she was telling me about a true story in her local paper over there which I thought would make a great film:

A man kept finding food and things missing from his flat whenever he came back from work. He kept checking the locks and they all seemed fine. He thought it could be mice or rats but couldn't see any other signs of animals and the food items missing seemed to be too big. He eventually installed webcam/CCTV in the flat and saw an old woman on the film moving around his house and going through the kitchen. It transpired that she had been living in one of his cupboards for 5 years and coming out everyday to eat his food and use the toilet!

Creepy!
Reply 11
Original post by cberry
I saw a friend of mine over Christmas who lives in Vietnam and she was telling me about a true story in her local paper over there which I thought would make a great film:

A man kept finding food and things missing from his flat whenever he came back from work. He kept checking the locks and they all seemed fine. He thought it could be mice or rats but couldn't see any other signs of animals and the food items missing seemed to be too big. He eventually installed webcam/CCTV in the flat and saw an old woman on the film moving around his house and going through the kitchen. It transpired that she had been living in one of his cupboards for 5 years and coming out everyday to eat his food and use the toilet!

Creepy!


I am currently doing a project in college, do you mind if i use this idea, Thanks :smile:
Reply 12
'
[ceman;14427146']Yo yo, I'm a wannabe director, and I need some ideas for a short film.

I'm talking a nice simple idea, something that would only last about 5 minutes. Nothing to complex and preferably with as little dialogue as possible.

The reason I am asking for ideas is because I have recently hit a massive wall of writers block. I already have a couple of short films under my belt, but I want at least one more before I go uni, and I haven't got time to sit and wait and hope my writers block clears its self up.

I'm not looking for a full script or anything, just a basic concept I can adapt myself.

Who evers idea I use will get a

"Concept by:" and "Co-Writer" credit. and that's all I can really offer. I don't have any money so I can't pay anyone. So yeah, help a brother out!

:biggrin:


an elderly Vietnam veteran has taken up cycling after his wife died of cancer. his children bought him a lovely trail bike.
he was wounded in 'Nam by one of his men whom he caught raping a native woman. the man was sent home to a rough area of Philadelphia in disgrace.
cut to today and the elderly man is enjoying a long distance ride on a trail which takes him through the same rough neighbourhood of Philly.
Three hoodlums jump him as he crosses the river on a narrow footbridge.
He whips out his concealed automatic pistol and lets them have it.
He kills one thug and disables another. The other runs away.
Looking down at the dead thug he realises that it must be the son of the man who wounded him in 'Nam....
Reply 13
You could dress up as a pony (Derpy would be most suitable), and do pony things for 5 mins. You'll become world famous
Reply 14
Original post by Coreys651
I am currently doing a project in college, do you mind if i use this idea, Thanks :smile:


I don't mind- maybe see if you can find the news item though in case there's more to the story that's interesting?
'
[ceman;14427146']Yo yo, I'm a wannabe director, and I need some ideas for a short film.

I'm talking a nice simple idea, something that would only last about 5 minutes. Nothing to complex and preferably with as little dialogue as possible.

The reason I am asking for ideas is because I have recently hit a massive wall of writers block. I already have a couple of short films under my belt, but I want at least one more before I go uni, and I haven't got time to sit and wait and hope my writers block clears its self up.

I'm not looking for a full script or anything, just a basic concept I can adapt myself.

Who evers idea I use will get a

"Concept by:" and "Co-Writer" credit. and that's all I can really offer. I don't have any money so I can't pay anyone. So yeah, help a brother out!

:biggrin:



Go on deviantart and search for 'very short story' or 'jokes'

Pick two of the weirdest people you know - then lock their personalities in a room together - maybe literally a jail cell, a small room, a lift etc.. although lifts are hard to film in.

Limit yourself - it helps - Three characters max, two locations max, no hard to shoot violence (shootings, stabbings etc) no more than four minutes.... look at the 'DOGMA rules' for inspiration.


Good luck filmmaking - if you want to PM for advice that's cool (I'm a freelance film director - as in I get paid to do it :biggrin:)

xx
Reply 16
Hey, Ive just started to create my own short film and have come up with a brief outline of a plot but would much appreciate it if someone could take a look and give there opinion.

As i said it is very brief so theres not much to go on at the moment but as i develop my idea i will add to it


thanks :smile:
A man is sitting at a desk, rubbing a silver spoon with his thumb as he stares blankly at the wall before him. He let's out a lengthy sigh and ceases all movement. A while passes before he abruptly stands, enthusiasm enveloping every contour of his face as if an incredible idea had struck his mind. The strange man dashes from the front door of his house clad in only nightwear, he rushes into the car and -after a skipped scene of driving- hastily arrives at a large park. He blasts open the door with his foot and runs in a wild frenzy to the centre of the field, leaving the vehicle exposed to robbery.

The man stops... he is where he should be, he has made it! He whips out the spoon and gazes at it with awe struck eyes before plummeting it into the earth and digging. A loud clunk is heard and he discovers a peculiar container. Upon opening the artifact, he finds a silver knife and fork sitting within. Tears fall from the now shaking man's face as he puts the spoon inside the box and shuts it once more. He puts the set into its former abode beneath the ground and places the dirt back ontop. As he pats the final pieces of mud down, he places his two hands onto the ground and stares in silence...
Reply 18
Just an idea, you could do a short film based on mental illnesses.
You could tackle the 'as little dialogue as possible' aspect by using shooting elements to capture feelings as a way of portraying how sufferers often stay silent?
Idk if that's the kind of suggestion you were after but thought I'd offer it up anyway! :smile:
Most good films don't have any plots. Make a film with deep, complex characters with heavily developed dialogue, long camera shots with a range of scenes, from open fields to council houses. Don't copy the mass crowd either by matching the weather with the theme of the scene, it's been done so many times, it's getting pathetic. Make the audience empathize with the characters, make them feel their pain or pleasure. Make them feel attached- and once that's accomplished break the character, destroy your creation, either physically or mentally and hurt the audience by doing so. Make them feel. Play with their emotions. Capture their heart. That's what real art does, and that's what real films do too. Don't be pressured by time either, 10 minutes is more than enough.

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