Day 22: The Silent Movie Project

Project for November 22, 2013

I've been about to burst to have an actual movie project - one where I do actual filming.  Since I figured out how to convert my clips to silent, I want to try to figure out how to make a silent movie with all the effects.

But what to do?

I pondered my options.  I looked up some old movies on YouTube and considered them as models, but none of them were quite what I was looking for.  Additionally, I had to consider my budget, which was zilch, and my casting options, which are also somewhat limited due to travel.

So I looked at other things.  I thought about adapting a Sherlock Holmes short story, but it would take too long.  I needed something that would adapt fairly easily and that would be easy to film - the less complicated the better.  I need to be able to film with as few locations and props as possible.  But that doesn't mean that it can't be awesome!

I knew I definitely wanted a detective story, but I also wanted comedy.  I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but often I see an image and it sparks an entire story in my mind.  It may seem really dumb, but I saw a book cover with a picture of the Grim Reaper and the title "Death Takes a Holiday."  I don't know why, but I instantly had the image of a very cocky Grim Reaper wearing Bermuda shorts and drinking a out of a glass with a little umbrella.  That image sprouted a whole storyline about a series of murder mysteries where the Grim Reaper has trouble doing what he was supposed to do, because people refused to crossover unless their cases were solved, so he recruits a down-on-her-luck detective, thinking she'll be really grateful for the extra work and will do whatever he tells her because, hey, who refuses the Grim Reaper?  But it backfires because she's extremely feisty and isn't intimidated by him at all.  They're stuck solving cases, and while they're successful, it's often a comedy of errors.

What got the idea to use this for my silent movie is that Ali has a 6'4" brother who has an awesome Grim Reaper outfit that he uses on Halloween to scare the kids at the door.  That would mean that the most difficult costume would be taken care of and I would be able to use sets that were local. 

Sweet! This is exciting!

But I had another problem . . .

What to use as a mystery?

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

And continue to Live Orange!