Movie Concepts
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ALTERNATIVE WORLD CONCEPTS THAT CAN BE USED IN MOVIES:
Alternative world concepts do not have to be complex or technological - they can simply be distorted versions of our current reality – here are 10 taken from a list of 40
1. A world where the women talk in men's voices and the men in women's voices:
Imagine being in a restaurant and listening to a couple chatting quietly. They are behaving normally except that the man’s voice is soft, high and feminine and the woman’s rougher, deeper and masculine. Imagine the comedy potential of presidential addresses to the nation, beauty pageants or marine commandos when the voices are all switched. Imagine intimate romantic exchanges…
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2. A world where people wear enormous earrings that act as vehicles that drive them around:
Imagine a ridiculous world where transport like cars or even submarines have become fashion accessories! Imagine a double-decker bus earing! These over-stylized vehicles wrap themselves elegantly around a person rather like automated luxury pets. The person connects themselves into a delicate harness and off she or he goes, accelerating into the sunset!
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3. A world where everyone lives in colossal earth-spanning talking trees:
The world is linked together by the extended branches of a thousand gigantic trees grounded in different continents. The mile-high trees extend horizontally all over the earth and communicate with people through their dreams. Humans have adapted by turning each tree into a monumental organic city. Although, the people are now incredible climbers, everyone has an electronic flight suit that enables them to fly or glide between the massive powerful branches.
4. A world that is a vast cube of suspended water floating in space, in which everyone has gills and frog-like airbags, enabling them to swim or fly in and out:
In this cubic water world are suspended hollow island pods. These numerous oxygenated havens are like giant inhabitable bubbles where generations of humanoids reside. The cube is awash with internal tides that carry people around the cube like liquid trains. Furthermore, the inflatable airbags grafted to their chests allow the inhabitants to venture a limited distance out into space beyond the external waterline of the cube.
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5. A world where everyone has eyes all around their heads:
In this world people can see all around them and are basically two-sided. They can walk or even fight backwards or forwards as circumstances dictate. 360-degree vision enables all kinds of interesting possibilities which would radically change our perception of the world. Of course, it can be explored for comedic situations but can become a highly evolved society where people are rarely surprised and accidents are extremely rare.
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6. A world where people can walk through each other:
This could be a special ability or extra sense activated as necessary or a common aspect perhaps evolved in an overpopulated world where there isn’t enough space for everyone. Interesting questions arise. Can one walk through another at any time or only in emergencies? Is it necessary to seek permission? Do both parties need to activate their ghost sense for the transition to occur? Do people even notice? What if one stops while partly through another person? Can people race through each other or is sensitivity required?
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7. A world where everyone is entangled in each other’s voluminous beards and other body hair:
Imagine a very hairy world where the men have huge beards and the women have massive tufts of hair. In this world people typically get entangled in each other’s hair and in the streets ‘hair jams’ are common. It is not unusual for couples involved in intimate liaisons to call emergency services to get separated.
In this pro-hairy world barbers are considered criminals and fashionable women need assistants to carry the weight of their hair.
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8. A world where everyone could stretch their bodies like Mr. Fantastic:
Imagine if people could, at will, stretch their bodies in every way and at any length as can the marvel superhero Mr. Fantastic. Activities like dancing, sport and making love would never be the same again! It would also change the tactics of war and make Kung Fu a new martial art altogether. The comedic potential could be exponential. This ability could manifest itself at puberty and decline after fifty, or be evident from birth – a permanent feature.
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9. A world where families are born stuck together and gradually drift apart and become individuals:
Imagine human families of 4 or 5 being born together as miniature conjoined groups in large eggs. They come out of the broken shell, soggy and sticky, and live out their first ten years or so as multi-beings until they gradually grow up and separate into anxious individuals. Naturally, a hospital check-up is a time consuming affair. Alternatively, they grow as a whole family in potted planters and end up joining the Green Party.
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10. A world where animal orchestras were quite common and regularly entertained humans:
After the human race evolved into vegetarians, people stopped farming animals and showed them the proper respect. As a result, animal abilities were explored further and it turned out they had several different kinds of musical talents. This was true, not only for the birds, but other species. Soon, animal orchestras were a common sight in jazz clubs and hotel lobbies. Not only were animals trained to sing but also play musical instruments, though some of them had to be adapted for the animals concerned.
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Christolides May 2015
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MIRROR CONCEPTS
Mirrors have always been fascinating anomalies in the world. But aside from invisible vampires in mirrors or the vanity mirror in Sleeping Beauty the film industry hasn’t explored the potential of mirrors. Here are 10 Mirror concepts that could be a part of or the central concept in movies:
1. Suddenly mirrors all around the world begin to reflect people as they would like to be, their dream selves
People naturally have distorted images of themselves but imagine a mirror that takes this to the extreme and reveals the arrogant megalomaniacs and secret power freaks on one hand and the realistic visions of better anchored good hearted personalities. Conversely, the images become sub conscious models for the conscious mind to aspire to.
2. Conversely, mirrors reflect people as the opposite of who they are or would like to be
People start seeing the opposites of themselves in mirrors and this poses the question – what is the opposite of a person? Is it a good or bad person, an animal, a machine, an alien, a dead person, the opposite sex, the opposite age or the visualized opposite achievement or intent of the original being? It could simply be the person or beast they fear most.
3. Mirrors start showing x-ray and gamma ray versions of the people who stand in front of them
Imagine if a mirror reflected one’s x-rayed body or some other electromagnetic wavelength interpretation of our physical form? Something far more realistic than a computer model - that possibly highlighted parts of the body that needed treatment or replacement. A zoom feature could magnify aspects of the body as one touched the mirror.
4. People are reflected as younger or older than they really are
Mirrors around the world start reflecting people as youthful or elderly versions of themselves and are highly sought after by all manner of professionals and agencies. In this way, people learn to understand, feel and accept the reality of physical life on earth; they are born, live as the young and middle-aged, become old and die, and so a spiritual revolution ensues. People see their bodies as unreliable and fallible vehicles in the cycle of life and try to get beyond the immediate and conscious reality.
5. People are reflected as their best possible self if they hadn’t wasted so much of their time in distractions
Imagine being able to see and sense the best possible embodiment of your existence. This is the person one might become if one was not distracted by advertising, brainwashing, conditioning and social taboos - and the associated addictions. What one might become if the world was not actually organized to control the mind and bring one down? Most people would have the pure freedom to develop the best minds and bodies that they could.
6. The mirror reflects people with different backgrounds ranging from other rooms to alien landscapes
Suddenly, people look in mirrors and find different backgrounds to the one they are in. It may be a background of one’s childhood, a place one has always dreamed of visiting or more spectacularly, a background from another life. One that has only been occasionally glimpsed in dreams. Have you ever caught glimpses of familiar places that do not seem to be part of your current life? Imagine if they started manifesting themselves in mirrors and trigger age-old memories of other lives.
7. People become reflected as their other incarnations in past, alternative or future lives
People are reflected as themselves in alternative, past and future lives. The world of reincarnation now becomes the greatest reality and societies are changed dramatically forever. One religion takes hold and the others are dismissed as fakes. However, these revelations reveal lessons in life that many have still to learn, a vast human journey that sees death as just transition, and a new branch of philosophy blossoms to discuss these questions.
8. People become reflected as animal versions of themselves
As people become reflected as animal versions of themselves two things happen; firstly, people see from which animal or combination of animals they were originally evolved and developed from and secondly, they see the spirit animal that guides or motivates them and recognize the falsehood of animal astrology. Another dimension is added to the reality of human identity and thus the human race grows to embrace and respect the animal kingdom it has historically abused and exploited.
9. People become reflected as the opposite sex of themselves
As people begin to see themselves reflected as the opposite sex in specialized mirrors they realize that the differences between the sexes, at least physically, is marginal and to some extent influenced by social and cultural constructs. They become more comfortable with their genealogy and sexuality. One effect is that fashion becomes more transsexual. Philosophically, people realize that less separates them than they had first imagined and conversely, that these differences are to be celebrated.
10. Mirrors begin to reflect people as hideous carnivores - and all the animals they have eaten spring out of their bellies like ‘Little Red Riding Hood out of the wolf’
Mirrors have suddenly developed the power to display all that is wrong with the human race and illustrate this through individual reflections. Carnivores, for example, are illustrated in poignant videos as being a vortex of barbarism when all the innocent animals they have ingested start springing out of their bellies leaving a gaping bloody hole there and a twisted monstrous head of a demon above. Those who have initiated or paid for wars are revealed as hideous serpents standing in swamps blood and laughing hysterically like the most deranged sadists.
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Christolides November 2018
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SUPERHERO AND SUPERVILLAIN CONCEPTS
Today’s movie industry is awash with superhero movies from Marvel and DC. All these movies came for writers who conceived of alternative worlds and superhuman beings. The superpower and how it is developed forms the basis of many a story. The superpowers of superheroes can conversely be used by villains so I have listed 10 superhero powers that may be used for good or evil - and can be used in all kinds of movies from science-fiction and fantasy to superhero and horror movies.
1. 2D-MAN (possibly Slider) has two possible superpowers.
Firstly, he can become a 2D image or card at will, becoming a very difficult target, but can also slide along any 2D surface, disappearing into a shadow or blending into a colored graphic in seconds. Secondly, he could turn his enemies into 2D images of themselves and they would fall over each other in confusion.
2. TEMPORAL MAN (possibly Timer) who can temporarily shift forwards or backwards in time.
A short-term time traveler who can step up to 10 minutes into the future or past, becoming invisible or static and appearing in the preferred moment. Thus he is able to appear before or after events and influence them as he sees fit. He may do so to warn someone, including himself, or to see what the possible outcome of an action or cause might be. Then he can return to the present and again alter or modify the action accordingly.
3. DISRUPTOR (possibly Jammer) has the ability to disrupt or jam someone’s thinking or even electrical devices
Imagine having the mental power to stop, disrupt or confuse anyone’s thinking process so that the affected person immediately forgets what they were thinking or about to do. Furthermore, this superpower can be applied to electrical machines, jamming or stalling them, reversing their activity, causing a short circuit or even shutting them down. With this superpower one can disrupt computers, send people into traumatic fits and cause a jet to fall out of the sky.
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4. COLOR MAN (possibly Chameleon) has the ability to change color in himself, others, material objects and the environment
This is not a devastating superpower but can be used in several ways. Firstly, the Color Man can render himself invisible by becoming all the colors of the immediate environment. Secondly, he could control the colors people see – even turn their worlds into black and white – or simply very dark, effectively blinding them. Thirdly, he can increase the intensity of all colors, either blinding his enemy, or severely disorientating him. Finally, he can change the color of shadows or intensify them, causing people to lose control of their senses and even losing consciousness.
5. VIRAL MAN (possibly Virus Man) has the power to instantly send both physical and electrical viruses to any target
A superhero, or probably a villain, who can send viruses to people or electrical devices could be a real headache! Imagine the Hulk suddenly getting a horrible rash and becoming excruciatingly itchy all over his body. Imagine the world’s most powerful computer getting a virus out of nowhere that causes it to start repeating itself indefinitely. Even the most powerful superheroes are vulnerable to physical ailments. It will take a very fast problem solver to prevent the attack of the Viral Man.
6. VOODOO MAN (possibly just Voodoo) uses himself as a voodoo doll to inflict magnified pain to his quarry
This superhero can affect anyone within his sight by inflicting a minor pain to himself and projecting an vastly intensified agony upon his intended victim. For example, he can pinch himself and that pinch is magnified to a serious crunching of his victim’s bones. Moreover, a needle in his own finger becomes a lance through the body of his enemy. He magnifies his own small pain a thousand times in the body of his opponent.
7. MIRROR MAN (possibly just Mirror) can slip in and out of any mirror in the universe
This superhero uses mirrors or mirrored surfaces as portholes to travel anywhere in the cosmos. His size can vary so that he emerges from mirrors that are tiny or vast. Secondly, he can see, without being detected, what is in front of any mirror or polished surface, and is thus the ultimate spy. Finally, he can use mirrors to direct energy beams into deadly lasers.
8. OXYGEN MAN (possibly Gas Man) can simply take your breath away
Oxygen Man has a basic skill which no one can defend against. He can take away one’s breath. He snatches the air from one’s lungs causing fainting or asphyxiation. A person may breathe but that air is transported to another space and never reaches the person’s lungs. Many superheroes or villains would be debilitated by this power.
9. VISIONARY (possibly just Vision or Seer) is a superhero who can see through anything - and far far away too
Visionary can adjust his eyes to enable him to see through anything but more than that, he can see, in detail, objects, places and creatures hundreds of thousands of miles away. His eyes are like the ultimate x-ray machine, telescope and magnification facility. His power is not aggressive but many agencies are seeking him for the amazing things he can see.
10. TRANSPORTER (possibly Atomizer) has the power to transport a person to any location he pleases
Transporter atomizes people and objects and sends them to a location of his own choosing. There they materialize, feeling lost. If the Transporter despises someone or is attacked, he can transport this person into the ocean depths or even the middle of a mountain. Moreover, he can transport himself to any location in the world and his photographic memory recalls all places in amazing detail.
Christolides 12 December 2018