Discuss Senpai [PG-LV]

[Wondershot]

?Hi, sir.? The older, gray haired man in the large black swivel chair did not look up, for he had already recognized the voice of his stalker...that is to say, visitor. A quick glance around the room told the visitor that the day had proceeded as normal, as the usual blue plastic chairs littered the cracked decade-old tile, leaving hundreds upon thousands of scratch marks upon the floor in a chaotic cloud. Fading sunlight poured in through the quarter-open window, only serving to agitate the dust flinging through the air rather than providing acceptable air circulation through the room. iMac computers sat disconnected along the row of tables at the far side of the room, the only section decorated by tangled black wire, a messy stack of camcorder tapes only outdone by a messier stack of the clear plastic cases they came in. This all told the senior student walking through the room that everything was just peachy today in class. The gray-haired man (also dressed in gray) in the black chair looked up only for a moment, just to take in the visage of the senior student, before glancing immediately back at the stack of folders littering his desk. ?You don?t have to call me ?sir? anymore, young man.? He said in a clear voice, only punctuated by an even clearer nasal quality to it. The senior student grinned and let a large black backpack fall off his left shoulder onto a blue chair with a small thud. ?Well, I thought you might have appreciated the visit...what?s with this ?young man?, anyway? You usually say that when you?re mad at someone.? ?You graduated, so I can?t exactly treat you as informally as my other students.? ?Oh, but sir, that makes it seem like you never even knew me.? The student looked out the window at the school grounds just in timed to see a huge steamroller run right past the window, and a man sitting on a running riding mower was chatting to another man in an orange vest and wearing a hard hat. The senior student glanced back in the direction of the tape stack, when the voice from behind him made him jump slightly. ?So, did you forget something in this room at graduation?? ?Am I really being such an intruder, sir? I can go if I?m bothering you.? The senior student began walking towards the door, when a sigh from behind him enticed him to pause in mid-stride. ?Well, I just don?t get why you keep coming back here, since you graduated, and decided to try going to that film school...why are you even here? Isn?t the school year still on for you?? The senior student grinned. ?Shorter year, sir, we?re on summer vacation now.? ?In April?? The senior student whirled around and slapped his forehead, voice now laced with panic. ?Oh geez, It?s April? Really? I totally forgot about final exams. Guess I had better call my parents and get a plane ticket back to Toronto.? The teacher didn?t react, even when the senior student paused in mid-stride to reach for his schoolbag, a smile creeping onto his face. ?It was a joke, sir. I was being humourous.? ?I know, but you dropped the joke too soon, you should have been out the door before I would have fallen for it.? ?Oh, just so you could slam it in my face? Get real, sir.? The teacher returned to his desk, leaving the senior student to look at the innumerable stack of tapes. ?Well? Fifth-form students starting their movies yet?? ?Sixth, fifth start tomorrow.? ?Oh, that?s awesome, sir. I?d love to be able to see the guys in action again.? The teacher watched as the senior student picked a tape out of the pile, marked ?April ?03 XX?. ?This is the tape with ?Demons? on it, isn?t it, sir?? ?Was. The fifth-form kids start working on it tomorrow...? The teacher paused in mid sentence, looking up at the senior student. An unusual thought crossed both parties? minds, but the senior student spoke up first. ?Well, I would sure love to see them do it...? The senior student began, but stopped as the teacher stood up abruptly and began cramming file folders into his briefcase. The teacher continued. ?Maybe, you know, it wouldn?t be such a bad idea if you could take the class over for a little while, since the school is allowing university senior student-teachers to fill in for a few weeks of classes.? The senior student?s jaw dropped, but he hastily closed his mouth and pointed a thumb towards the door. ?Well, I?d have to call my school...and, you know...it?d be hard since I?m on vacation...? The teacher clasped a hand on the senior student?s shoulder. ?Maybe, but I?m sure we could vouch on your behalf, since you decided to come back for your summer.? The senior student?s smile fell instantaneously, and he put on an expression of the utmost seriousness, even if a little scripted and mechanical. ?Sir, I swear that if you let me teach these kids about film, then I?ll do anything to pay you and the school back.? ?Anything?? The senior student raised his right hand, as though taking an oath at the witness stand. ?Anything.? ?In that case, tomorrow you come in wearing a suit, and I want to see your return ticket to Toronto dated at the end of this school year.? The teacher patted the senior student?s shoulder. ?Have fun teaching film.? The senior student paused thoughtfully, before replying: ?Um, so does that mean you?re not coming in tomorrow?? ?I?ll be here, but I expect you to be able to handle the class without my help.? The senior student smiled. ?Do I get paid?? The teacher paused with his hand on the door. ?...No.? The senior student walked for the door. ?Well, I?ll see you tomorrow, sir.? The teacher smiled, and locked the door behind him.

This is an idea for an RPG that I have been mulling over for the past little while, and finally donated enough time and thought to try putting up an idea in Underground.

The people who would sign up for this RPG would take on the role of high school students taking a Film Studies class as an elective. Normally, such a class operates under the basis of theory, but now that the senior film student can manage the class, the time is right of the entire group to start making their own short movies.

For this reason, the RPG structure itself is very different from most others. In this case, even though I am the "creator" of this RPG, direction of plot is not in my control, it is the film students, the people who sign up, who decide what they want to do in terms of plot, and how they would put their ideas together to make a good film. This is a more hands-off approach on my part, and since direction of plot goes towards the film students, it emphasizes communication between the people actually writing the film scripts.

However, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. As soon as a signup goes up in Adventure Inn, each person would give us a little background on their characters, but not too much information is required since the emphasis is on their acting and scriptwriting. After everyone arrives in class (after the RPG itself begins), I would ask that each character submits short synopses of an idea for a movie, and that the best ideas would be selected and the entire class could work together on turning the ideas into scripts, and then start shooting their movies. For this reason, depending on how many people decide to sign up for this RPG, we could end up making up to three movies (If around 12-15 people join).

After the scripts are finished, the students would go through the ordeal of finding location, getting props and costumes, and actually shooting during class time/their own time. After all the raw footage is taken, the groups edit their films, courtesy of the computers at their disposal, and convert the films to DVD and hand them in to the teacher (If you guys like, you could actually add the actual viewing of the film as part of the end of the RPG, since writing in script form and writing in descriptive novel form are completely different things).

When submitting a synopsis, people would write in novel form, but if their submissions are accepted, they, as well as the rest of the group they are working with, would convert the ideas into a script form, complete with stage direction and setting information, and written in the usual script form (You can skip over the next part if you have some experience writing in screenplay script form).

For those of you unfamiliar with script form, here is an example of more or less how it works (excerpt from "West Side Story"):

[color=red]52B - Moving shot - ANITA and BERNARDO - Int. Hallway and Int. stairway to roof.

BERNARDO is travelling fast as he goes up the stairs to the roof. ANITA has to hurry to catch up with him. [u]Even before she does so, they are exchanging words.[/u]

ANITA: You know, she [u]has[/u] a mother, also a father...

BERNARDO: (over his shoulder) They do not know this country any better than she does![/color]

[color=red]52B[/color] is a code referring to the current scene and setting. You guys don't really have to be this specific, as something more common like "Act 2 Scene 4" will do fine too. In a movie, you would mention what the cameras do as well as what the actors do. [color=red]Moving shot[/color] here refers to the fact that the camera is following the actors around. But since the screenplay for "West Side story is fairly old, you would probably be more specific than just Moving shot, you would specify if it is moving ahead of or behind the actors, or if it is focusing on someone or something in particular. [color=red]Int. Hallway and Int. stairway to roof.[/color] refers to the setting. Int.=interior Ext.=exterior. If you are seeing this setting for the first time, it would do you well to give some detailed description of it, however, if you use the same setting more than once, you can refer to it more concisely, as shown above. Also to remember, the names of the characters are always entirely capitalized (usually), and any changes in tone of speech are made in these parentheses: (speech) as in [color=red](over his shoulder)[/color] and any additional directions or movements the characters make while they are talking are made in these parentheses: [ ]. Furthermore, remember that any additional information about the scene, i.e. what the characters are doing when the camera turns on, is placed at the top of the page, immediately below the information about scene, setting, and characters: [color=red]BERNARDO is travelling fast as he goes up the stairs to the roof...[/color] Finally, if there is anything that needs to be emphasized, stage directions, speech, camera movement or otherwise, it is [color=red][u]underlined.[/u][/color]

Oh, and as a final note, this RPG is rated PG-LV because this takes place in a high school, there isn't much room for gory scenes and million-dollar special effects and explicit sexual content when you're only shooting a short film for a high school class. If this idea goes well, though, I might try it again in the future, only in a different situation and more room for all of the above.

I hope this idea seems plausible to all you aspiring filmmakers/RPGers out there. If there is anything you would like to suggest, if this seems just a tad complicated, or maybe you guys would be willing to share some ideas early for improvement, or if there is something very erroneous about the style of scriptwriting cited above, please let me know. If you like it and I can count on your support for when the RPG actually begins, then you can let me know about that too.

If this idea looks any good to people, I'll put an appropriate sign-up in Adventure Inn and we can use this Underground thread for further discussion (script creation, unusual ideas, suggestions on use of HTML code (see above) et cetera.)

Thank you, and have fun, young actors.

[Guest The Pro]

Wow. Seems...revolutionary, inovative, complicated, but most importently, FUN! Damn, sounds complicated tho. And the overall plot seems a bit drery, i would just like to know. Are we aloud to do comedys? i mean somthing stupid, (i.E JESUS COUGHT ON TAPE) or only seriuus types of tihngs that a high-school student would be alowed to present. Just wondering were the bounderys are. (plus i really wanna do JESUS COUGHT ON TAPE!)