Pumpkinhead Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 I (as with many others I'm sure) often contemplate writing a screenplay for a UFO feature-film, and had an idea the other day that I would like some opinions on... My idea was to create a sort of Pulp Fiction-like film with several stories running at once that tie together at different points rather than a single, on-going narrative, and was thinking of sections like "The Scientist" and "The Engineer" and various others, not necessarily named that, but working around that character... Now, what I'd like to know is whether you guys (the fans) like or dislike this idea, and why? (I'd also had the idea of writing it as a TV series but don't think a TV budget would do it justice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Sounds like a plan, the only problem though is the war setting, as most films would try to fit the entire war into about 2 hours. For constant character development a TV series would be a better option. Also special effects on TV programs are quite good and would do X-Com justice IMHO. Just would need people who can act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 I don't think I've ever seen a TV show with decent SFX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Probably depends on the series, the final episodes from the current run on Stargate SG-1 were really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 The x files? The outher limits? The SFX on those two ranged from the average to the outstanding, I thought. Neorapsta is right, it'd have to be a TV series. You'd need a trilogy of films to even begin to do X-Com justice. There's far too much to include, just on the soldiering side of things. Adding multiple storylines involving the researchers and the engineers would involve even more stuff, meaning more running time would be needed. It'd have to be a TV series. A film would be filled with crappy montages and voiceovers like "During the next six months of the war, we learned how to combat the alien effectively." to advance the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lleshap Johari Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 I don't think I've ever seen a TV show with decent SFX I think that Tremors style special effects would be good enough for X-Com. By why is everyone limiting it to TV show or movie? Why not a Mini-series? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 A mini-series is just a glorified movie that turns out to be boring, and the ending leaves much to be desired. When was the last time you saw a mini-series and said "Wow! That was awesome" ? It is possible to create an interesting mini-series, but just try to get the network execs to carry it. X-COM deserves better than this! I would have to agree with Neorapsta that a TV show is the better option. Because of the wealth of information this game possesses is enormous, it would be foolish to try to compact this knowledge down into 2 hours. Condensing usually alienates some viewers (pun intended) who want a true story. A continuous story-line like a soap opera would probably be the best format for X-COM. Questions from the week before would be answered, and new ones would be posed for the next episode, making a very interesting plot. The character development of a soldier could be spiced up a bit with a steamy love interest - but it is not necessary. I would take the $25 million for a movie and split it into 52, $480,000 TV episodes. $480,000 may be a shoestring budget, but if enough interest is shown in the TV series, a movie deal could spawn, generating more income for the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Exactly. Do an X-files. Establish a popular series, then knock out a movie. Which will essentially be a two-hour episode but if the series is good, that's no bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 The only really good mini-series i've seen was Taken, and that was like 10+ episodes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Something along the lines of the Starship Troopers 3d animated series would be quite nice if you decide to approach the narrative from a grunts-eye-view. Space: Above and Beyond also seemed very X-Com-ish in some respects. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickAragua Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Yeah, though I never really saw an episode of that where the humans didn't wind up dying horribly due to inferior technology... A TV series would work best, because, like others have said, you can't fit X-Com into a two-hour movie. You can't fit it into a six-hour trilogy, either. And, honestly, Quentin Tarantino-style movies aren't four-hour material, either. You don't really need brilliant special effects, you just need half-way believable costumes. Plus, in any case, you can get away with cheap CG. In any case, good luck getting some balding, overweight, suit-wearing corporate exec to buy into it. You might have better luck if you bill it as a "Reality Show" or some crud like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Humans dying due to horribly inferior technology? It does sound like X-Com, doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted May 17, 2004 Author Share Posted May 17, 2004 My only problem with a TV series is that it has no definite end... When would you place the Mars Assault for example? If you put it at the end of season 1 you'd have to go to TFTD in season 2 (which I personally wouldn't like) and if you put it at the end of season 3, if the show gets canned in season 1 or 2, then the viewers will never get to see the conclusion... For example, I've recently been getting into a show called 'John Doe' (and watched the season finale just then as a matter of fact) but when I did a search for it online, I found that it only ever made 1 season, so the cliffhanger it just ended on is all I'll ever see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Well, just determine how long you want the show to run for, and stick to it. Cydonia could be like the X-com movie, or a special double-length episode. And you want to stay clear of TFTD, a better move would be to go straight to Apocalypse. There are far too many similarities between UFO & TFTD, and the show, like the game, would just be a pale imitation of it's predecessor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Most TV series count a season as a year in show-time. Though you could have the war go on for as many seasons as you want and then have a TFTD spin-off series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_D Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 And in order for people to buy it, some changes must be done with the timeline for example. Maybe "postpone" the First Alien War (and the whole calendar) for 2012 or so. I envision it as a kind of miniseries, ala Battlestar Galactica (2003). 6 2-hours Chapters, with spinoffs for the other X-Coms. Someone pointed out Space Above and Beyond was xcom-ish, I agree. But the fate of that series should be avoided as well. Special Effects would be needed, not in terms of CGI, but in terms of action things like explosions and so. The battles would be cool, just imagine how a blaster firing and exploding would be! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickAragua Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 PumpkinHead: Babylon 5 had a definite ending - they could have easily wrapped it up with the last episode of season 4, where they beat the Shadows and take Earth back. The rest of it is basically fluff. Pretty decent fluff, but fluff none the less. You're not aiming to make "The X-Comsons" or anything, it doesn't have to run perpetually. Like FullAuto said, pick a duration you want it to run for and stick with it. I wouldn't really change the time frame or anything. 2012 isn't nearly as monumental-sounding as 1999. I mean, what's more exciting, having the millenium around the corner, or entering puberty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lleshap Johari Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Well, true about the mini-series often being boring... although my english class is obsessed with Merlin. If you go between games for the seasons changes, I would say go from UFO to Interceptor to Apocalypse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Ten episodes would be plenty. And that could just be a sesson's work, as then you've got TFTD and Apoc to throw in... Keeping in mind that troop deaths are an important part of X-Com... Character development would have to be done quickly, or not at all for some soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 I think the Season 1 finale should be capturing a Commander at an Alien Base, and then Cydonia would be the finale of Season 2... Two seasons is roughly 18hrs worth of show! I don't know about the other games because I've never liked any of them... To me there's one and only X-COM game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 2 seasons should do it, as the average season length is about 15 hours, so 2 seasons gives you 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ki-tat Chung Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 to Alex_D: we can always have an alternate universe... one question, TFTD could be a spin-off, but it is wedged inbetween the timeline of "X-com" (UFO+(Interceptor+)Apoc). unless we have one x-com and 4 spin-offs, which would be similar to the way Pumpkinhead and many others see the game itself. btw, what about WIJN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Spin offs? Can't we do without them? Do we have to bebase and foul everything good and pure? Who are you people, TV execs? Once you've created a good thing, STOP. And move onto the next good thing, don't taint your creation, for the love of God, man! :angel: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neorapsta Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 The thing you really would need to watch is continuity. If you had AW-1 as the first 2 seasons, you'd have to explain a gap of 40 years between Season 2 and 3. Thats why you should focus a single series on a certain aspect, and have each game get its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 2 seasons should do it, as the average season length is about 15 hours, so 2 seasons gives you 3015hrs? 20 episodes per season?? X-Files used to have 24, which is where I got my 18hrs from... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now