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cheady
Registered User
(9/19/05 10:52 pm)
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upcoming television show would love ideas
Hi I'm writing a television show series for our local college station so for the beginning it won't be extremely high budgeted but I was hoping that some of you guys would be able to give some ideas or thoughts as to possible characters or plot outcomes. down below is some of the stuff so far though it's been changed a bit.
email me at christopherheady@hotmail.com
thanks
STORYOUTLINE
Episode 1:
The story opens with an introduction to Katherine who is being sent down to Savannah to live with her Uncle Tom for the summer while her parents fight out a vicious divorce settlement. She has never met her Uncle before and is not sure what to expect. We are then introduced to Thomas Wilheim (or Uncle Tom) who is far from ordinary. In fact he is considered to be the odd ball of the neighborhood. The rules of the house are that Katherine is not to leave the house after sundown, she is not to let any of the neighbors into the house, and finally to keep out of trouble. The neighbors confess their suspicions of their odd neighbor to Katherine when Tom is away. Katherine gets bored quickly and goes exploring through the city. At night when Tom goes on his walks, she will read from his enormous library collection which all fall under the same subject; fairy tales. One night, Tom reveals a fraction of his theory about fairy tales but this is quicklysnuffed by Katherine. That night Thomas goes out walking. He leaves the door open and Katherine decides to follow though she isn’t supposed to be out this late. Thomas goes into what looks to be an abandoned alleyway, where we are introduced to Hobb the dwarf. Thomas met him a few weeks ago and they are now becoming close partners. Katherine is soon discovered and Thomas introduces the two. The following day Thomas and Katherine go out on errands . Thomas tells Katherine his story and his thoughts on fairy tales. They end up trailing an elf named Fenswick. Fenswick at first acts hostile towards them when approached but after being coaxed that they only want to talk, he loosens up a bit. Fenswick tells his story of why he’s here. Thomas and Katherine return with their regular errands. A dead crow lays outside of Gryphon tea room, Katherine takes note of it though Thomas says nothing. Later Fenswick becomes captured by the Scarecrows men for being a magical creature. Thomas and Katherine track them down before the full moon. The Scarecrow tries to decapitate him as apart of their ritual. Fenswick is saved by Thomas and the police come to finish the matter. Fenswick is more friendly towards his new friends.
Episode 2:
We open up with Katherine, Fenswick, and Thomas going through a neighborhood flea market. Thomas is searching for possible books. Fenswick mentions that Thomas should switch from books to artifacts. He goes on to mention that there are several hidden in the city but how many and where, he doesn’t remember. He thought one was hidden in Gryphon Tea Room long ago, but where is anyone’s guess. The other’s he cannot remember but the information upon where they are located is stashed in a book owned by a private collector in Savannah. Thomas goes to the private collectors house while Katherine checks around the Tea Room, Fenswick helps but find nothing. Thomas has no luck with the private collector, other than making him more ticked off, he will not sell the book nor will he let Thomas look at it. When neither of them are successful, Fenswick creates a distraction at the tea room, giving Thomas and Katherine the advantage to check the top. Sure enough underneath all of the dust there is a small trap door which Katherine opens up and pulls out a small ancient chest. They take it back to Thomas’s house where Thomas tries to open it but cannot. Confused he leaves the house with Jelly. Katherine tries while he’s away, it opens right up. A loud horrible sound escapes the box. A moment later silence and the first piece of the artifact lays at the bottom of the box. Meanwhile outside the lights down the street start going off. Thomas begins to run back towards the house. The sounds of thousands of bats can be heard but are not seen. They all run into the basement as the neighborhood goes through what sounds to be a war zone as alarms go off, glass shatters, and women shriek.
Episode 3:
Following up where we left off, the morning after Katherine opened up the box. The neighborhood is a wreck. Broken glass, down tree branches, and ticked neighbors who right away suspect Thomas. Thomas is taken downtown so he won’t be harmed before he leaves he tells Katherine to find Fenswick and discover what’s going on. Fenswick identifies the artifact is of elvish craftsman but what the box is, he does not know. Tom returns and Fenswick (it might be easier for Fenswick to identify the box as well as dark magic)[suggests that they go talk to the gypsies. Tom and Katherine take the box to a group of gypsies and asks their leader (a woman what it is) she gasps shouting that they are cursed and to leave this place at once. They are chased out by the gypsies.] The only thing to do now to reverse the damage is to find the other pieces. Half breeds begin appearing in town and then seem to be attracted to Katherine. Tom takes Katherine to Jenna, a powerful wiccan who works in a comic shop and asks her to protect Katherine by some means. Jenna fills a bag full of herbs and spells, as long as it’s around her neck she will be protected against evil. Take it off and she will be on her own. Thomas goes again to the house of the private collector only to find him murdered and the papers taken from the book. Nonetheless he takes the book but as he’s leaving he runs into his police officer. With the finding of the private collector dead, Tom orders Katherine to stay in the house at all times. Tom walks Jelly at night. They hear a wolf howl and Jelly takes off only to be hit by a car. Tom comes home to find Katherine’s bag lying on the floor. He grabs it and goes out looking for her. We shoot to Katherine who slowly walks down an abandoned street which slowly fills with vampires and half-breeds. Their leader coaxes her towards him. As he bends down to give her a kiss, Thomas comes on the scene and chucks the bag, Katherine catches it and thrusts it into the leader’s face she thrusts it at others and most of the vampires begin to ‘melt’ or run away. Tom is furious that she would leave like this without her bag, but Katherine had this planned all along. In the pocket of the head vampire’s breast pocket was the papers from the book. They now can find the other two artifacts.
MAKE NOTE…
There should be no more than two episodes with the Scarecrow cult. Thomas shouldn’t clash with this group on a regular basis, there’s more important things going on and they should end by getting busted by the cops.
The artifacts come together to make a musical instrument, an elvish flute which only Thomas can play which is the only way to get the attention of the Swamp Witch.
Dougal or the black wolf is the same wolf from the little red riding hood story
(Major characters)
Thomas G. Wilheim- Caucasian m. 20s early 30s- He was adopted into the Walker family at an early age of three or four. Long dark brown hair. Thomas also has long sideburns and a goutee and wears very distinct glasses. To us Thomas looks as if he’s completely out of place but if he were born only two hundred years earlier he’d fit right in. He wanders around in a long trench coat. His clothes have a very british style. Thomas’s only real friend growing up was his step grandmother who started the boy on his now impressive collection of old fairy tale books. Thomas is frowned upon in society
Katherine Walker- Caucasian f. 14-16 a troubled girl, her parents are going through a vicious divorce. She has few friends in school and even so, none of them are really that reliable. She lived with her mother, until now and is sent to go live for the summer with her Uncle Tom until the settlement is over. She’s never met him before. Enjoys a good story.
Jelly-an enormous lovable dog. Thomas is asked by his owners to watch the dog while they’re away on vacation. They never come back and their house is quickly sold. Thomas despises Jelly but cares for him all the same. Jelly has to be walked often.
Hobb the dwarf- m. Hobb is a small dwarf in his twenties or thirties. Beard is optional. He lives in an abandoned alleyway in Savannah, Georgia. People mistake him as a sleeping bum or as a pile of trash so it’s often people’ll throw MORE stuff on top of him. He is grungy but kind hearted and fancies old mushrooms. He is a lookout for Thomas in exchange for the mushrooms he brings as payment and is Thomas’s first encounter with a ‘magical’ creature.
Fenswick the Elf- Caucasian m. 60+ but energetic a british elf with long wiry hair and pointy ears. Fenswick was kicked out of the realm of elves for suggesting that human interaction isn’t all that bad. That was over two hundred years ago. Now Fenswick has a strong dislike for humans especially the Americans. Fenswick now believes that humans are only good for scones, tea, and their scandelly clad women. A humorous role. Society overlooks Fenswick’s odd ears as a birth defect that he usually hides with a hat. He is very intelligent in the magical societies of Savannah. Think Bill Nighy or David Morris
(Medium characters)
The Scarecrow- m a buff leader of a secret society or cult out to purify the world of anything magic related. Located in Savannah. They get a hold of fenswick and try to kill him at a ritual. Scarecrow leaves messages around Savannah in the form of dead crows in odd positions which signifies when and at what time a meeting will be held.
Angry Neighbor- Neighbor to Thomas always upset about something and often blames Thomas. Jelly often is a neusance to him. His wife makes him tend her garden out front which Jelly is usually found eating. The wife is also a collector of lawn gnomes which on occasion will get stolen.
Police Officer- by now, Thomas is a regular. He knows him and neighbors often complain about him.
Aunt Petunia-a very large woman. Snooty, dislikes her half brother Tom incredibly. Would take in Katherine if she wasn’t on the road promoting her cat food. During the school year, she takes guardianship over Katherine until the summer when once again she goes out to try and promote her disgusting cat food. She lives with twenty or thirty cats.
(Minor characters/cameos)
Mary Walker f. 30s-40s mother to Katherine Walker. We only briefly catch a glimpse of her in the beginning shipping off her daughter to Savannah. Don’t really see her again.
Crazy homeless man m.- an old guy who’s lost his marbles. Thomas humors him by allowing him to be his lookout for weird things going on in the park.
Waitor- serves Thomas on a regular basis at a small coffee shop or the Gryphon Tea Shop.
If is successful then we’ll move on with the story and introduce these characters….
(Medium characters)
Leader of vampires- distinct figure his job is to slow down and kill in necessary Thomas from finding the artifact.
Vampires- need all ethnicities they are traditional vampires under the command of the dark witch. They cannot walk in sunlight but they can change into bats.
Dougal-m. voice over role a black wolf with a long scar on his belly. Deep voice. Only Thomas and those who are of magical ancestry can hear him. So Katherine cannot. Dougal lives with the Swamp Witch and this is our first encounter with him.
Swamp Witch- f. 50+ any ethnicity More of a voodoo lady than a witch but still contains mystical powers such as forsight and the knowledge of potion making. Informs Thomas and Katherine of their quest/ task but not before branding Katherine with a symbol on her arm which can only be exposed when heat is applied. Full of knowledge but at the same time can be humorous and a little crazy/ tipsy.
Ghosts- m/f live in a large abandoned house. Rather comedic most are don’t realize that people are trying to talk to them.
Little ghost girl f- a ghost in a white dress. Leads Katherine down to the basement to drown her and have a new friend to play with.
Necuri m/f or zombies they live in the flooded basement of the old abandoned house and come alive only to drown a person to join them.
(Minor characters/cameos)
half breed vampires- need all ethnicities under the command of the dark witch, they come to Savannah as Thomas comes closer to solving the mystery of the elven flute artifact. More to track his progress during the day. Can walk in sunlight are very pale or a hint of green, but surprisingly can get around town pretty well. Yes they have the teeth. Gothic maybe looking but most just wear black. Sunglasses possibly.
Gypsies- sellers of unique items on street
Jenna f. 18-20s a wiccan girl who works in a comic shop or some other odd shop in Savannah. Friends with Thomas she creates a bag to help protect Katherine when the vampires come.
Book collector m. 40s-50s- lives in a large house. Snooty and isolated has an unfathomable amount of books. One contains a page about the elven artifact in Savannah. He will not sell it to Thomas nor let him look at the page. When Thomas comes back he finds him dead killed by the vampires and the page in the book is gone.
the story has again evolved since I pasted this but it's always to start from the beginning
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Writerpatrick
Registered User
(9/20/05 9:36 am)
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Re: upcoming television show would love ideas
If you're on a budget you need to pay attention to the number of sets you're using. It takes not only money but time to build and set up the sets. Why do you think most sitcoms take place in someone's living room? Many dinner theatre plays use only one set. If you can find nearby locations that work it helps, but remember that it takes time for people to get to the location, and outdoor locations are affected by weather.
I noticed you have some scenes set "downtown". This could be tricky if you're trying to shoot in a read downtown because you're going to get people wandering into shots (and sometimes starring at the camera), you may need to get permits, and you will likely get a terrible amount of traffic noise (requiring re-dubbing to fix.) While these are really the concern of the director, you may be required to change your script because of them. Similarly, the nuumber of lines an actor has or the ability to shoot within the schedule can cause script revisions. Making accomodations is what makes screenwriting difficult.
Without having seen the screenplay I can't say for certain. You may be fine. But these are things one should consider.
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