What would your fan film be like?

[nervouspete]

You have acquired through fair means or foul two million dollars. You want to make a fan film of War of the Worlds, perhaps to air on Sci-fi if by any miracle it is good, and they are willing.

What creative choices will you make?

What bits from the book will you use?

How will you go about it?

This isn't a thread for technical discussion on distribution, hiring, production etc, rather how you would approach a low budget War of the Worlds mini.

(But if you're in the know for what needs to be done, then by all means share, just let us know your story telling ideas)

Pete

[nervouspete]

I would make mine the period setting, set inside a house in an area in the UK that still retains some of the features of the Victorian landscape.

For instance the rolling hills and fields of Kent, around the village of Plaxtol - beautiful countryside and an area within the realms of the book. The limited horizon means that you can accomplish many shots which wouldn't include modern structures - a notion Pendragon were canny enough at least to employ.

Hire a cottage for a week in summer and reduce to the barest of furnishings. Cover up the modern features and ensure it is a location with - A: Some woods nearby. B: A wide stretch of fields leading up a horizon free of modern day stuff like telegraph poles etc. C: Out of the flight path of major airlines.

(With a bit of digital trickery stuff like telegraph poles can be taken out, especially in fixed shots)

Plot:

A family living in a tenant cottage, who are just about to move in. Young husband and wife. They have a picnic hamper and are sitting in the garden. They chat amiably about the distant thunder they had been hearing, wondering at the clear sky and how it may have come about.

Two soldiers stagger up. They look bedraggled. They beg for food.

The couple are surprised and take them in. They stuff their mouths from the hamper, choke down water from the well. The husband asks where they have come from.

Soldier 1: "We're from Wells."

Husband: "Sorry?"

Soldier 2: "TONBRIDGE WELLS."

Husband: "What are you doing here?"

Soldier 2: "Deserted, 'aven't we?"

The husband becomes angry. Demands that they leave their property.

Soldier 1: "No thenks, we'll stay." They push him to the ground.

Husband: "The crown doesn't take kindly to deserters. If you're found, there'll be trouble."

Soldier 1: "Doubt they'll find us. Doubt they'll care."

Soldier 2: "And it's not that sort of trouble that concerns us."

Soldier 1: (looks nervously at the sky) "We best get inside..."

Wife: (caustically) "Why? If any of your 'friends' come looking for you?"

Soldier 1: "No. If any of the machines come."

The two soliders, one with a bayonet, shove them inside and tell them to keep quiet and away from the windows.

Soldier 2: "I'll keep a look out from the loft."

Upstairs: The soldier pokes a couple of tiles loose so he can see both sides of the house.

Husband: "This is ridiculous. You can't stay here forever."

Soldier 2: "We'll stay as long as we have to."

Wife: "I've left my book outside. I'm going to get it."

Soldier 2: "You're staying here. You're not to go outside."

Wife: "Why ever not?"

Soldier 2: "There's these big metal buggers about. Three legs. Taller than church steeples. They'll catch you and kill you."

Husband: "You're mad. Whoever heard of the like?"

Soldier 2: "Thought you wouldn't believe me. Can't say I blame you. Jesus Christ..." (His voice goes raw. Delayed shock sets in) "... save us, Jesus Christ. Save us." The soldier looks down to his feet. Puts the bayonet in his lap, puts his head in his hands.

The couple stare at the man curiously. Finally the woman nervously announces, "I'm going outside..."

She strides to the door, out into the garden.

The husband moves to go after her.

A voice from the loft, hoarse with fright: "There's one coming over from Plaxtol!"

The husband freezes. Maybe they're telling the truth?

His wife screams from outside.

He runs out to her.

And then we see the tripod, glittering dull metal, striding several miles distant, seemingly unobserving of the couple.

Husband: "JESUS CHRIST!"

He grabs his wife by the arm and drags her back in. He locks the door behind him.

The soldier is rocking on the box he's sitting on. Moaning softly to himself.

"Stay here!" directs the husband to his wife, and bolts upstairs to the loft.

"What the ***k are they?" he barks at the soldier.

The soldier smiles grimly. "What did for my regiment."

The husband muscles in alongside the soldier. Peers out of a gap made in the tiles. There is a column of smoke distant, and the tripod comes to a halt, turns its ghostly beam on Plaxtol and sets fire to the village.

Soldier: "And we were worried about the Hun! Christ, look at it, will you?"

Another one appears and starts marching towards the house.

Husband: (Nearly nutsting himself) "Oh God..."

Soldier: "Does this place have a cellar?"

The husband nods frantically.

They run from the loft.

They all hide in the cellar, looking out from a small earth-level window. Everything shakes and there is a loud thumping noise as the tripod parks itself alongside the house. They stay there for a few minutes not daring to move or breath. They hear a rattling upstairs, and the sound of tiles being flung and breaking on the ground, and then a creak of beams as the roof is ripped off. Dust showers down upon them. There is a tapping noise upstairs.

Cut to upstairs. A tentacle probes the room, coming in through the door. Shafts of light highlight it as it waves around the room, knocking over objects. It taps its way towards the cellar door.

Cut to the fear downstairs

It is about to smash it open when a distant 'Ulla' is heard. The tentacle hangs in the air a moment and then whips out. There is the pounding and shaking again as the tripod heaves off into the distance.

The camera takes each of their faces in turn. Horror and fear etched upon them. Further 'ullas' are heard in the distance. They cautiously approach the small window, see a tripod in the distance. A shell explodes in the air near it. It retorts with the heat ray. A small flash on the horizon followed ten seconds later by a dull thunder.

They move back into the centre of the cellar.

Husband: "John. John Winters. This is my wife, Megan."

The wife nods, attempts a smile. Reaches for her husbands hand.

Soldier 1: "Tanner. Michael Tanner. Private. Kentish Riflemen."

Soldier 2: "Rogers. George. Lieutenant. The same."

They shake hands.

They ascend the stairs. See the smashed table, the shaft of light beaming down the stair well. They find the hamper undisturbed. Begin to portion it out. The camera moves out and out of the house to show its roof torn off. Ragged small holes in the ground where the feet stuck in. Smoke rolls across the lens.

End film.

....

I'd do it like that. Only with more dialogue obviously - some trivial at the start, some limited allusions to the soldier's experiences, some tense exchanges. Few shots of the tripods, just those detailed. But a big chunk of change spent on those shots by talents like Dave McKean. I'd probably add a plot where the husband makes an escape bid early on, making it to the nearby woods, only to have one of the soldiers catch up with him, him being punched to the ground, restrained and have the bayonet held to his throat. "This is for your own good."

He has things explained to him a little as he's dragged back to the house. He sits down and simmers. Then the tripod comes.

Cheap, limited, but scary and effective. No need to follow the book; considering the events it all probably definitely happened in the background of Well's world. The only trick would be explaining the couples isolation, though it wouldn't be that hard for them to be completely unawares of the events with such lack of communication and news back then, so it could be done neatly.

That's what I'd do if I won the lottery!

Pete

[twistedrabbit]

Wow. Heh. Lots of time to think about it.
I'd take the money and make an animated miniseries.

[Tripod]

I would use my Fan-Fic story which I'm still working on at the moment.

Tripod

[Bayne]

[glow=red,2,300]I'd probably make one of my own wotw related stories. In the Clutches or The Fake Martian... Dehydration and/or The Wind Sage If I had more money for more SPFX.
[/glow]