I can’t remember which of these ideas begat which, so I’ve presented them both.
1. Plagiaristic Film: The Challenge. To write and then perform a coherent, stand alone film or theatre scene containing several or more famous lines of film or theatre dialogue. The “winner” is the group that produces the “best” scene.
2. Plagiaristic Film: The Art Project. To write and film a full length movie made up entirely of dialogue taken from existing films, each line taken from a different source. The film must work as a standalone piece of entertainment, though the birth of the film is evidence by the fact that the name of the film from when each line came is displayed as that specific dialogue is spoken. <pseud> I think that this project could be a pertinent comment on the lack of originality present in what is, arguably, an art form </pseud>. Hopefully, it would also be a damn fine piece of entertainment.
There are no restrictions in either case on the way the lines are used – the original emphasis and delivery can be used, equally, it can be totally disregarded.-- calum, Jun 12 2002 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) http://us.imdb.com/Details?0083798As mentioned by Saveloy. Steve Martin's character interacts with characters (in their original shots) cut from classic noir detective thrillers. [jutta, Jun 14 2002] Fast Film http://www.channel4.../film.jsp?id=127021Virgil Widrich - sorta related. [calum, Jun 04 2005] Moulin Rouge: The Elephant Scene. http://www.bebo.com...ashBoxId=4013265894 [jutta, Apr 02 2008] Sampling http://en.wikipedia...ampling_%28music%29Musicians have done it for years---why not filmmakers? [Ander, Apr 03 2008] Would the art project use video footage from the source films, or original video with repurposed audio?-- Jeremi, Jun 13 2002 or just the scripts, which is the interpretation I got?
baked to a degree by that funny Steve Martin film I can't remember the name of..-- yamahito, Jun 13 2002 "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"?
I like this, though I think you should add a rule that you can't have two lines from the same film in a row. You can have as many as you like from a particular film, but they must be separated.-- Saveloy, Jun 13 2002 croissant for idea no. 2.
I'd like to add bonus marks for changing meaning of the dialogue used while still keeping it recognisable.-- st3f, Jun 13 2002 A tentative step towards baking idea no.1 was taken by the England football team during the last World Cup Finals when they came up with the idea of trying to squeeze as many song titles into their interview answers as possible. It was nearly a week before they were rumbled.-- DrBob, Jun 13 2002 A small step in this direction can be found on the jedi council forums on TheForce.net, in the form of the star wars quote game. Last time I checked (a week ago) it was up to 294 pages, and around 5000 posts. Same idea, but the quotes all had to be star wars and only make sense with the previous line. Very funny stuff.... sometimes.
Ooh, and a variation: Plagiarise the location/setting of a movie, and transpose the plot/storyline/characters(?) of another movie or movies into the setting.
So, Supreme Chancellor Bartlet and his staff in West Wars/Star Wing... Scarlett and Rhett in Gone With the Matrix... any other suggestions?-- zero5, Jun 13 2002 Ext. Cricket pitch, afternoon. Raining
Two umpires are having a conversation on the verandah of the clubhouse.
Umpire 1: It’s been raining too long (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
Umpire 2: Is it raining? I hadn’t noticed. (4 weddings and a funeral)
Umpire 1: Just like Beggar’s Canyon back home (Star Wars)
Umpire 2: Huh? (Chinatown)
Umpire 1: I used to hate the water (Jaws)
Umpire 2: Can’t rain all the time. (The Crow)
Umpire 1: No (Dr. No)
Umpire 2: Hang on a minute (The Italian Job)
Umpire 1: What? (American Pie)
Umpire 2: It’s over (Karate Kid III)
Umpire 1: Worth waiting for (Ice Cold in Alex)
Umpire 2: Let’s go to work (Reservoir Dogs)-- stupop, Jun 13 2002 Option no. 1 was implemented to a degree I think is very near to bakedness by "Shakespeare in Love," which also earns st3f's bonus points with a great many of the plagiarisms.-- beauxeault, Jun 13 2002 Or "Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead".
Number two (the script, at least) would be a sort of cento, which is an existing (and ancient) form.-- Monkfish, Jun 14 2002 Umpire 2: "Transmission blocked at the source, Admiral." [Star Trek II: TWOK]
Umpire 1: "That's it... Game over, man!" [Aliens]
Umpire 2: "You have failed me for the last time." [Star Wars: ESB]-- MrWrong, Jun 14 2002 My liver! My liver! (Beavis and Butthead)-- RayfordSteele, Jun 16 2002 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Romancing the Sword in the Stone...
Indiana Jones and the Shirley Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last of the Mohicans-- RayfordSteele, Jun 16 2002 One Flew Over the Dead Poets Society?
Thelma & Amadeus?
A River Runs Through The Piano?-- Canuck, Jun 16 2002 Like the idea - I think you should go and watch Shrek and Toy Story 2 again ("You killed my father" "No, Buzz, I am your Father"), there's quite a lot of cross referral which is very funny. Also, and addition to your idea, is The Film SHot, where an exact copy of a cinema shot is repeated (rather than the dialog). Example - Rex appearing in rear view mirror of toy car in Toy Story 2, above the line on the mirror reading "Objects in rear view mirror may appear closer than they actually are" (exact same shot as Jurassic Park when the Tryannosaurs is chasing the jeep). Or the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fight seen in Shrek. There is also a film I saw recently where they copied the "trolley zoom" shot from Jaws, but I can't remember what it was...-- goff, Jun 17 2002 Another thing my kid likes to do is transpose movie titles in the local listings. (He's weird.) Using his method, here's some films playing at the cineplex:
The Sum of all Clones Spider-Doo Spirit: Stallion of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood-- waugsqueke, Jun 17 2002 Someone was telling me about a Kevin Smith film which was the prequel to Chasing Amy. As with most of his films, it is peppered with references to original 3 Star Wars, which, on just the evidence of the annotations here so far, is likely to be a rich source. Idea good. Liable to over-use however; suggest making this competition open to short films only - shorts are fantastic for a simple idea which would be quickly unfunny if saturation point passed. For a feature-length film in category 2, you would end up using a lot of 'huh?' and mundane lines from obscure films, just to meet the rules of taking lines in their entirety, to flesh out your original plot concept skeleton. would like to see this done. croissant.-- sappho, Jun 17 2002 those title mix-ups reminded me of another game: string titles together by overlapping words, such as "last of the red hot lovers and other strangers", or "don't drink the watership down and out in beaverly hills cop". it's sort of like that gameshow, "shmush".
but i like it the other way too, how about "gone in sixty seconds with the wind"
or "barefoot in jurassic park" could you just here that dialogue?
corie: the other day, you wouldn't walk barefoot in jurassic park with me, why not?
paul: very simple, the T rex would have eaten me, i'm a lawer.
or how about a james bond musical?
"dr. no business like show business".-- wess, Jun 17 2002 Hm. Alternatively, a film about a Playboy Mansion chauffeur: "Driving Miss October"-- waugsqueke, Jun 19 2002 Followed by the sequel, after her tragic kidnapping, 'Hunt for Miss October'-- DrBob, Jun 19 2002 Or, on the National Geographic channel: "The Hunt for the Red Daisy"-- stupop, Jun 19 2002 Meanwhile, on the History channel, aviation enthusiasts could be watching "Driving the Memphis Belle" ?
Please, have mercy .... we'll give it a croissant, if the puns stop.-- 8th of 7, Jun 19 2002 one more of mine
"how green was my valley girls just whanna have fun with dick and jane eyer"
or how about a new production from spike lee and tom hanks? "do that right thing you do"
or how about holly golightly in saturday detention? "the breakfast at tiffany's club"
or how about a drag queen in a mental hospital? "one flew over the birdcage"
or how about a young chinese girl who runs to france to become a can can dancer? "mulan rouge"-- wess, Jun 19 2002 here's more.
jim carry plays andy kaufman impersonating a south american dictator. "man on the moon over parador".
old friends get together for a funeral in new orlenes. "the big easy chill"-- wess, Jun 19 2002 wess.... stop, okay?-- waugsqueke, Jun 19 2002 wess! Wake up, buddy! Come up for air! Turn off your computer and get some sleep. Anything, just stop. Please! OK?
Thanks.
The simplest interpretation of this idea is in making something funny from the assorted snippets. What would be a greater challenge, though, is a coherent, sensible story and delivery that creates an entirely new entity. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the new film itself could never be utilized in this manner as it would contain no original material.
Just had a thought - can you imagine the screenwriting credits for such a film? It could take an hour to roll through all the names! But that thought brings another - could you make a film using only the dialogue written by one particular writer? Is there anyone out there who has written so much material as to provide sufficient resources? Or perhaps a team of writers?-- Canuck, Jun 20 2002 I don't know how we got on to the ...what do you get if you cross x with y thing, as it does not seem to be what this idea is all about. However, not being one to want to miss out, how about:
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing go at it with light sabres in the Hammer sequel "The Vampire Strikes Back" Harrison Ford and Sam Neil join forces to retrieve archeological treasures guarded by GM Dinosaurs in "Raiders of the Lost Jurassic Park" Or, may be, Dick Van Dyke gets frisky with Sally-Ann Howes and others in the Debbie does Dallas sequel "Titty Chitty Gang Bang"-- goff, Jun 20 2002 LOL! allright guys, guess i got on a roll there and got carried away.
i didn't lose sleep however, because i wrote those in daytime. i am in america, after all.
i see what you mean about the long writing credits. they could just make them roll realy fast like on TV, but i find that realy anoying. it took me four shows to catch my cousins credit on "battle bots".
for this film idea, you would need maybe one or two prolific writers. such as neil simon, and arthur miller.-- wess, Jun 20 2002 Just thought today that this could equally be played with song lyrics. A super complex approach would be to Rock Family Trees it - each line of dialogue has to come from a band related to the last line of dialogue's source artist.-- calum, Apr 02 2008 The Elephant scene from Moulin Rouge is a bit lick the song lyric suggestion.-- Jinbish, Apr 02 2008 Oh yeah, you're right. Duh. In my defence, though, Moulin Rouge is a bit rub.-- calum, Apr 02 2008 Although the film within the film is fictional, this might be interesting..
Woody Allen - The Purple Rose Of Cairo.
A Meta-Meta- Film?-- vinny gildersleeve, Apr 03 2008 random, halfbakery