27 replies to this topic

[Lord Exor]

Can it be gory and violent without the sexy?

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Word of advise: If you ever actually pitch this to someone important in the industry, don't reference other films/shows to describe the tone. It's not uncommon for producers to know nothing about the shows you're referencing, even if the shows are generally well-known. Same goes for terms like "furry". Chances are, they don't even know what that is.

And try not to get all creative with the adjectives when describing the film. Yes, sex and violence do sell, but if most of your adjectives just describe how (fill blank) your idea is, they'll feel like their time is being wasted. But do make it clear that it won't be a comedy. Comedies or straight out porn are generally the first thing thought of in the States when you refer to "adult animation". I'd even go as far as to not mention the term "adult animation". It should be clear who your target audience is as you pitch your story.

Just describe what kind of world it is in one or two sentences (people/animals, cultures). Then set up the main character and go on with the film's basic plot. Like: "It's an animated film about a place where where both people, aliens and creatures are thrown into violent and romantic situations as police chief Skunk investigates mysterious murders." Then pitch the rest of the basics of the plot as it unfolds.

I'd seriously consider changing names so they don't spoof animal species. It would just lean the thought of the producers closer to a full-blown animated comedy.

Other than that, good luck! No, seriously. You'll need it. It's not a bad idea, and it has potential, but it is so far fetched for the Western culture that many people either won't know what it is you're trying to do, or just laugh you out. I'm not trying to hinder you there. I'm just warning you of the many different degrees of Hell before Development Hell.

[Vlad Yvhv]

Remember that sex is the mark of inferior writing... Though porn does sell, it also cheapens the quality of a work... So, I'd suggest dropping the nudity and sex, if you want the movie to be taken more seriously and more widely received. I think that without those elements, it could have the potential for being a really kick-ass movie.

But, good luck with whatever route you take...

[John Roberts]

There is nothing inferior about writing sex. It's all about how you use it. Like any plot/character device, if you look after it it will look after you (your story).
@FreakFilm: That is some good solid advice up there.

[Morgan]

I was gonna say sex isn't inferior writing either but how it's used determines whether it's crap or not, but John said it before I could!

[Vlad Yvhv]

Sex in movies is simply pandering to the porn crowd. Especially if it's something like an action movie. Movies with sex would be better without the sex.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Sex in movies is simply pandering to the porn crowd. Especially if it's something like an action movie. Movies with sex would be better without the sex.

In a lot of cases, that's true. Megan Fox's character was not needed in the plot of Transformers by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, she kinda helped in the climax of the film, but not in a dramatic way that changed the direction of the battle. She was just in the film for the fan service of it. Even in Matrix Reloaded, it seemed as if the whole movie stopped for Neo and Trinity's sexual escapade.

But there are exceptions. Take James Cameron's Titanic, for example. There was sex, but no shown nudity. And what little sexual elements in there did actually help to progress the movie's story.

In complete contrast, there's Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (or any of his Batman films, really). There is no sexual actions in that film, but there was certainly sexy eye candy in there that could slightly excite audiences. ("She's hawt... I'm lookin' fo' Batman porn when I get home.")

@John Roberts: Thanks! I knew those two years of film school would come in handy someday!

[furrykef]

Remember that sex is the mark of inferior writing...

Disagree. Sex is a very basic, essential human interaction that often drives people's lives (though not necessarily as the dominant force). How can something so intrinsic to human nature make for poor storytelling?

Though porn does sell, it also cheapens the quality of a work...

Disagree for similar reasons -- to an extent. It depends on how it's done, really. Done poorly, as it very often is, then it gets in the way.

So, I'd suggest dropping the nudity and sex, if you want the movie to be taken more seriously and more widely received.

We can agree here, I think. Sex/nudity carries a social stigma that makes it difficult for the work to be taken seriously. But I think that's a defect of our society, not necessarily of the work itself.

Now, if you were to ask me if KorbenDallas would be able to pull off such things with any degree of skill, that would be a different question. I don't mean to knock you, Korben, but it's really not easy to do it right.

- Kef

[randomizer]

Indeed it is

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Ok, so Anthropomorphic is a better word then Furry.

It is. But I would just go ahead and use the word "animal", "talking animals", or "tigress" when describing animal characters. Remember, what you're looking for are short words that help the pitch go by smoothly and quickly. Using larger words when a smaller word would do bogs down the pace of the pitch and can even distract from the story or plot. And you don't want to risk that if this is the only time you have the attention of a producer or studio executive.

[Vlad Yvhv]

"Humanoid" would be less of a mouthful, if you're intent on distinguishing them from common animals.

[randomizer]

Talking animals?

[chief]

I kinda wondered why you asked me what I thought of heavy metal.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

"Humanoid" would be less of a mouthful, if you're intent on distinguishing them from common animals.

^This word is better, I agree.

[furrykef]

Honestly, I think debating over the best term for it is an exercise in pointlessness. Would it be relevant at some point? Yes, but my guess is that this thing is a long way away -- possibly years -- from being a viable pitch. This is like worrying over a comma in a novel when you don't even have a plot yet.

Here are some of the bigger issues I see here (be warned that some of them may be hard to hear, Korben):

First off, getting an animated film made at all is waaaaaaaay hard. Getting it to come out anything like the way you originally wrote it is impossible! (At least, unless you have enough money/power/whatever to direct it yourself. That's not gonna happen if you're just a peon who has to pitch it to a studio, especially if you don't have extensive experience as a director of animated cartoons.) The number of studios making feature-length animated films is extremely small -- that stuff is expensive, man -- and trust me, everybody at every one of them is going to have their own ideas about what to do with your concept. Even if you write a complete script for them, they'll find a way to reinterpret it into something hardly recognizable. This probably happens for most films, but it goes double for animated films.

Remember: everyone else in Hollywood is also interested in making their own films. When they can't, they'll make do with messing with your film.

You might have a somewhat higher chance of success if you pitch this to Japan as an anime (since there are many more anime companies than Western animation companies), but then you have the problem of the language barrier, and you may even face discrimination due to not being Japanese. And you'll probably still have the problem of everybody reworking your concept completely.

I also want it to be kind of a cross between "CSI", "Heavy Metal", "Fritz The Cat", "Wicked City", "Urotsukidoji" and a bit like "Riki-Oh" and EC Comics.

I don't know anything about Wicked City, Urotsuwhatsits, or Riki-Oh, but I can't even find any relationship between CSI, Heavy Metal, Fritz the Cat, and EC Comics. You also don't really specify what aspects of these you're thinking of, so this kind of comes across to me as a random mish-mash of ideas. It sounds to me that you're sort of thinking, "I like all this stuff, let's try to put it all together in one movie." This sounds like a lack of focus.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you already know how all these things relate to each other, but this is the impression I have right now.

In fact, many other aspects of your idea sound like a sort of mish-mash:

It's gonna be gory as hell much like "Dead Alive" (a.k.a. Braindead) as it has some gore like Willard kicking the ass of a creature then pulling it's heart out from it's chest as he puts it in the microwave on high until it explodes. It will also have nudity (Both human and furry) with some sex like a sex scene between Willard and Amanda, and language of course.

It's like you're cooking this stew and you're listing the ingredients:
* Gore/violence, w/ one helping of pull-beating-heart-out-of-chest cliche
* Nudity, mrowr rowr
* Sex, w/ a dash of interspecies romance
* Two goddamn cups of fuckin' profanity. Bitch.

Do you already context for all this stuff (i.e., actual scenes, and plot-relevant reasons for those scenes to exist) or just an "I'd like to throw all this stuff in" feeling about it?

As soon as i get a how to write a script book i'll work on it.

Why wait? Just write it now. You don't need a book for that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad idea to read about writing. But, chances are, if you were really 'feeling' this idea, you'd be writing it already without needing the book. Of course, there's nothing wrong with doing both at the same time, either: write a little, read a little. It's the attitude that you have to read the book first that worries me.

- Kef

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Lots of relevant stuff.

Just be sure you read about script writing before sending it to people. Write out the story with all of your ideas and format it as a script when you learn how.

And it's true. You script will not look the way you wrote it after Development Hell. It wasn't named after Hell as a joke.

In The Fugitive, there was the original writer for the original script. Then that script was bought by the studio and handed to 25 different writers that we know of. There were more writers than that, but they never got screen credit for the job. And on the day of shooting, the director and the actors decided that the dialogue was terrible anyway. So they ad-libbed all of the dialogue as they went along.

And people wonder why the writers went on strike in the States.

Your script will never look or feel the same way after being bought, if it gets bought at all. Unless you get a lucky break like the Wachowski Brothers did on The Matrix and were allowed to make your feature length directorial debut on that film you wrote. But that probably won't happen.

We're not turning against you or your idea. These are just some of the cruel realities of the entertainment business.

Watch the movie Swimming with Sharks. It's probably the best, most honest depiction of the film business you'll ever see without actually going there yourself.