Lesson 1

[Rice Rice]

Frances Rice’s Contained Version of (Movie Title)

What I learned doing this assignment is the ability to view movies from a contained project perspective.

Here are my thoughts on how they could have made the below move into a contained movie.

TITLE: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

AS THEY DID IT:

A. Locations: A tense chase through the streets of Sicily on a motorcycle; a pivotal fight scene on a moving train; the discovery of the “Dial of Destiny” artifact; and a climactic confrontation with the villain on a submarine

B. People: 122 (It Took 100+ VFX Industrial Light and Magic Artists to De-Age Harrison Ford)

C. Stunts: 181

D. Extras: 120

E. Wardrobe: 116

CONTAINED VERSION:

A. Locations: Eliminate the chase through the streets of Sicily on a motorcycle (even though there was a reliance on AI computer-generation, requiring the employment of AI experts)

B. People: 22 (Hire a young look-alike actor to play the part of young Harrison Ford)

C. Stunts: Eliminate the hangar chase and the fistfight with the ants, most of the jungle chase, and all of the motorbike chase.

D. Extras: None

E. Wardrobe: 16

[James Ace Chapman]

I’m perplexed, this is the original lesson from 2021 during Covid to assist us writers writing scripts for covid guidelines-Where are the AI prompts Hal showed us on Saturday? Totally bummed!

[victor Valleau]

What I learned is the importance of location. It can be a story point. Tropical islands for romance. Jungles for adventure.
I watched romantic comedies and action flix with many locations/scene changes,. Also be aware that changes add interest. I would get lost in movie. I’m considering how else to establish movie’s central locations etc without travelling to or from it. Defining the world of the film
adds to the story, usually with location. I suppose Woody Allen without NY background is possible. Small humans lives pale against
big permanent buildings adds to the loneness.

Im thinking of using photographs,, print media, internet, ChatGPT etc. home movies, etc. to push out the walls of my story location.

[Gina Coviello]

What I learned doing this assignment is… I chose a movie that I thought was already relatively contained (for the most part it takes place on a train) and there still were a lot of places that could be cut or changed to make it even more contained. That is something I’ll have to really think about while I’m planning my script.

Part 1 – Thinking about this from the part where we made 25 ideas and narrowed them down, there were several that could work as a contained movie, but I also feel like some of my concepts ended up being things we’ve seen before, or a rehash of something we’ve seen before with one or two changes. I want to make sure my idea is fresh and original (but still relatable and believable). There are a couple of ideas that I think are promising, and as we go through the class, I’m hoping to turn it into something people will be excited about.

Part 2 –
TITLE: The Commuter

As They Did It:

A. People – The family of 3, a few co-workers, several police officers, several people on the train that he interacts with, hundreds of extras in several locations

B. Stunts – Someone was pushed in front of a bus; several fight scenes on the train; he hid under the train and had to climb back on while it was moving, fell out, rolled across the tracks narrowly missing the wheels, had to run to catch up and jump back on; jumped across to unhook the cars; train derailment, helicopter

C. Extras – HUNDREDS of extras, numerous people in his office, in parking lots, waiting to get on the train, in Grand Central Station, getting off the train, on the street, in a bar, numerous other commuters on the train during the main part of the story, several police officers

D. Wardrobe – Plainclothes outfits for all except the police officers at the end

E. Hair and Makeup – Some injuries from the fight scenes, so blood and bruises need to be applied. For everyone else, it is negligible.

F. Kids and Animals – A couple of kids on the train as extras, one around 9 years old, the rest high school aged. There were no animals

G. Quarantine – A significant number of extras and people with a few lines of dialogue or less.

Covid Guideline Version:

A. People – Keep the main players – the man and his wife (only talk about the son or have him by phone). Either shorten the scene in his office and have him be on the phone with clients (rather than face to face) and only be called in by his boss when he gets fired or have him work from home and either his boss fires him over the phone or shows up at the house to fire him and hand him his severance package. Instead of talking on the phone to his wife on the crowded street, he can do it in the empty lobby. Keep the bar scene, but have less people – him, his friend, a couple of cops (one is significant later), and the bartender. On the train, keep the people that he interacts with – the antagonist, the people in question, the conductor, the FBI agent and the bad guy keeping an eye on him, and keep a reasonable amount of extras that might be on a train (but not pack them in). Have a few less police officers at the train derailment.

B. Stunts – Instead of the man being pushed in front of a bus, he can be shot at long range, that would take out the large group of people waiting to cross the street with him and the bus (but would be a more obvious murder and not look like an accident). Get rid of the helicopter that was at the scene of the train derailment.

C. Extras – Cut the scenes that don’t advance the story – in parking lots, on the street, etc. Cut the amount of extras by 50 – 75% and reuse people by changing wardrobe, having their back to the camera, etc.

D. Wardrobe – Fine as is

E. Hair and Makeup – Fine as is

F. Kids and Animals – Remove the extras and only talk about his son rather than show him. The main character was concerned about paying for college, so they could change it so he is already at school and they are worried about the next semester’s payment.

G. Quarantine – Removing some of the unnecessary scenes on the street and parking lots will cut out some extras, and having a couple of scenes by phone will also reduce the need for actors to appear in person and remove some shooting locations. Cutting down the number of extras and instead reusing the ones on hand will also reduce the number of people who need to quarantine.

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Gina Coviello.

[Micki Hess]

Micki’s Guidelines for Night School (comedy)

What I learned doing this assignment is having to make quick changes if a pandemic ever happens, how to adapt to the guidelines and how to bring tension to the script if another pandemic ever happens again. Making choices that will affect the script and lives of others, is important to follow guidelines.

TITLE: NIGHT SCHOOL

AS THEY DID IT:

A. People: 95

B. Stunts: the explosion, the jumping from roof to another, locker

C. Extras: out of the 95 most of them were dancers or audience members at the graduation.

D. Wardrobe: most of the time were everyday clothing, except for the stunt of jumping from one roof to another, Teddy’s job at a chicken place where he wore a chicken outfit, prom and graduation.

E. Hair and Make Up: minimum

F. Kids and Animals: four kids

G. Quarantine

COVID GUIDELINE VERSION:

A. People could use less people. By having graduation on a Zoom, prom could be left out.

B. Stunts Maybe make different choices of stunts. Instead of jumping, maybe having them break a window to escape.

C.Extras: Eliminating the prom and graduation, you will need less people.

D. Wardrobe nothing needs to be changed. Might need to be sanitized more often.

E. Hair and Make Up Nothing needs to change except wearing a mask while doing hair and make-up.

F. Kids and Animals Have less time for the children to be in the film. Make sure they wear a mask while not filming.

G. Quarantine everyone needs to wear a mask while being the camera. Have a sanitization station.

[Leona Heraty]

Leona Heraty’s Contained Version of The Day of the Jackal (1973)

What I learned doing this assignment is…even large budget movies, with many locations and many cast members and extras can be made with a small budget by limiting locations, cast and extras!
PART 1: Select Your Project
1. Go through your five ideas and determine which of them can easily fit these guidelines for a contained project. Three family members who don’t get along are stuck in green house during a violent thunderstorm where they are terrorized by a ghost that won’t let them leave until they solve her murder.
A. It can be done as a contained story. A greenhouse, an underground tunnel and an abandoned mansion
B. There is something unique about it. A toxic gas surrounds the greenhouse and will kill them if they breathe it.
C. You can write a pitch in one or two sentences. Three family members who can’t stand each are stuck in a greenhouse during a storm. They must solve the murder of an angry ghost and they can’t leave the area because toxic fumes are surrounding the estate.
D. It can be written for high entertainment. This can be a horror comedy, with many funny moments and spooky scenes.

PART 2: Rethink a bigger movie as a Contained project.
Pick a movie that has a bigger budget and lots of locations and give us your thoughts on how they could have make it as a contained movie.
TITLE: The Day of the Jackal (1973)
AS THEY DID IT:
A. Locations: Paris, Austria, London (Heathrow Airport, the British Museum); Genoa, Rome, Tulle (France)
B. People: The Jackal, The Inspector, The Gun Maker, The Forger, Charles de Gaulle, Yvonne de Galle, the Interrogator, Denise, police, military, military on horses, military band, priests, train ticket salesman hotel porter, hotel front desk staff, man driving car with dog, woman in park, 4 conspirators, 10 defense ministers, 4 nuns, 2 helicopter pilots, wealthy woman, landlady, man and dog in car, maid, gardener
C. Stunts: opening scene-attempted assassination of Charles de Galle, car crash, killing of The Jackal
D. Extras: nuns, large crowds in Genoa, Paris, churchgoers, crowds on streets in Paris and ceremony in Paris with Charles de Gall
E. Wardrobe: Various outfits and disguises for The Jackal, military uniforms, police uniforms, priests robes, suits for 4 conspirators, suits for defense ministers, hotel guests and staff,
CONTAINED VERSION:
A. Locations: Paris, Tulle (France), Genoa
B. People: The Jackal, The Inspector, 2 conspirators, 5 defense ministers, Charles de Galle, the Gun Maker, the Forger, wealthy woman, landlady, fewer crowds, fewer military on horses, smaller military band
C. Stunts: opening scene-attempted assassination of Charles de Galle, killing of The Jackal
D. Extras: smaller crowds in Paris, Genoa and Tulle (France)
E. Wardrobe: Same, but for less people.

• This reply was modified 7 months, 4 weeks ago by  Leona Heraty.
• This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by  Leona Heraty.

[Marni Sullivan]

Marni Sullivan’s Contained Version of TOMB RAIDER

WHAT I LEARNED: With a little ingenuity, you can craft most stories into something smaller and more reasonable. While the studio system may prefer something flashy,

TITLE: TOMB RAIDER

AS THEY DID IT:

A. Locations: Not only were there multiple locations for each sequence, There were multiple countries involved in the shoot. They shot in England, Cambodia and Iceland. While this made for an interesting movie, the story could have been much more fixed than the budget they used.

B. People : 32

C. Stunts: Too many to list – it was an action movie

D. Extras: Probably about 70. There were henchmen trying to get the artifacts who were working on behest of the antagonist. There were villagers and temple priests in Cambodia and a few people in the Iceland scene. Most of the characters in England were part of the cast.

E. Wardrobe: A lot of designer names with various outfit changes to fit each setting and high-tech gear that changed for each locale.

CONTAINED VERSION:

A. Locations: 2 – where the main character when called to the mission; and one setting where the mission takes place.

B. People : 6

C. Stunts: More restricted to the main characters. In this case, the lead did her own stunts, so there wasn’t a need for a stunt double there. There would only be two other people engaging in action, so if they had stunt doubles, you would be looking at two maximum.

D. Extras: None

E. Wardrobe: Four outfits maximum for the main character. The other cast members would have the same outfit for the majority of the shoot, though there would probably be multiple copies of the outfits in case of damage.

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

MY CHOSEN IDEA – AN AI AGENT OF AMBIGUOUS MORALITY IS RUNNING LOOSE. IDEA IS BASICALLY A STUDENT COMMUNE HOUSED IN A TOWER ON LOCKDOWN. THE PRIMARY INTERACTION IS BETWEEN THE AGENT ANDF A TECHIE. THIS STORY IDEA STRIPS THE REQUIREMENTS RIGHT DOWN, FEW EXTRAS, AS-IS WARDROBE, NO HAIR AND MAKE-UP

[Arthur Anderson]

What I learned doing this assignment is that it really is possible to scale down the concept of a large film into the core elements to make a smaller film that will still entertain an audience.

Arthur’s Contained Version of Jaws

TITLE: Jaws

AS THEY DID IT:
• A. Locations: Various settings including the beaches of Amity Island, the town, the harbor, and the open ocean aboard the Orca.
• B. People: Main characters include Chief Brody, Quint, Hooper, Mayor Vaughn, and numerous townspeople, beachgoers, and crew members.
• C. Stunts: Shark attacks, boat maneuvers, underwater filming, explosive finale with the shark, and various action sequences on the water.
• D. Extras: Beachgoers, townspeople, tourists, and boat operators appearing throughout the film.
• E. Wardrobe: Casual summer clothing for beach scenes, scuba gear, fisherman outfits, and everyday clothing for town sequences.

CONTAINED VERSION:
• A. Locations: Entirely set on a small disabled fishing boat (the Orca), which is stranded on an island just off the coast. The characters are contained on the boat as they attempt to lure the shark close enough for capture, using the docked boat as their last stand.
• B. People: Core cast reduced to just Chief Brody, Quint, Hooper, Ellen Brody and a few other key characters.
• C. Stunts: Focused on small-scale, suspenseful moments on the boat: reeling in the shark, tense struggles with fishing gear, and interactions with the shark from the safety of the docked boat. The final confrontation occurs as the shark attempts to ram the boat.
• D. Extras: None
• E. Wardrobe: Simplified to the core characters’ fishing and boating attire, with no need for the wide range of summer clothing seen in the original beach and town scenes.

[Karyn Laitis]

Karyn Laitis Contained Version of “The Italian Job”
Lesson 1, ASSIGNMENT 1—CONTAINED SCREENPLAY
What I Learned from this assignment: I learned especially in a post-pandemic environment that there will be fewer large productions of epic proportions as may have been done in the past. In a Contained format more $ can be used to attract and pay actors and use virtual reality/special effects. It becomes more about the depth of characters and expression. Environment enhances rather than another main character.
PART 1: MY PROJECT
A. It can be done as a contained story. Locations Cave with network of tunnels and Gov’t office
B. There is something unique about it. Complex, compelling characters; unearthed aliens
C. You can write a pitch in one or two sentences. I’m working on it.
D. It can be written for high entertainment. I’m working on that too!
PART 2: BIGGER MOVIE
“The Italian Job” 2003 Budget: $60 Million; Box Office Total: $176 million
AS THEY DID IT:
A. Locations—U.S. and European. Venice, Italy, Los Angeles, CA, Alps
B. Main characters—6 (Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def)
C. Stunts—numerous vehicle students, explosions, helicopters
a. Mini Cooper car chases through Los Angeles, the subway, Venice
b. The explosive heist sequence involved armored trucks and helicopters.
D. Extras—Hundreds of extras in Venice, downtown Los Angeles.
E. Wardrobe—Cool, modern, leather, shirts and jeans. No grunge.
CONTAINED VERSION:
A. Reduce locations to local, Los Angeles with the gold bars being an “Italian” fortune
B. Characters–Could reduce to 4 or 5
C. Stunts—Mini Cooper limited to Los Angeles/subway & explosion truck heist. Use of drones
D. Extras–Reduce extras on Los Angeles-use of edit to increase population
E. Wardrobe—keep—maybe reduce the number of changes.

[Anna Maganini]

😀ANNA MAGANINI'S VERSION OF EYES WIDE SHUT

LESSON 1 –
WHAT I LEARNED –
I learned that to contain a movie, the story must change some, but it’s an opportunity to create more character and layers and other things that don’t need a lot of different locations and people.

Also, having to think about how contained my movie is and why made me think more deeply about it and the characters needed, and I came up with some great traits and wound and history and secret identity for the m.c.

========

PART 1 –
Go through your five ideas and determine which of them can easily fit these guidelines for a contained project. – HALF AN HOUR IN THE SHOWER.

A. It can be done as a contained story. – Main character’s apartment, a couple of outside yard and porch shots, and a couple of scenes in an adjoining apartment.

B. Something unique about it – Two people in a life or death competition must do their task right on time or they die – while trying to outsmart each other and their game player.

C. You can write a pitch in one or two sentences. – Thieves must rob a woman’s house in half an hour as she takes a shower. There’s a catch. If she runs early or late, she dies. If they run early or late, they die.

D. It can be written for high entertainment. – Lots of escalating tension, a memorable main character with wound, secret, opposing want-need, sub-text, secret identity and past that will affect the outcome of the story. A frightening mysterious SNIFFER that runs the game – and nothing escapes its-his knowledge.

=========

PART 2 –

Rethink a bigger movie as a contained project- Pick a movie with a bigger budget and lots of locations and give us your thoughts on how they could have make it as a contained movie.

TITLE: EYES WIDE SHUT

AS THEY DID IT:

A. Locations – MANY AND A LOT OF UNNECESSARY ONES – the mansion where sex party happens, another mansion party, inside other homes, mansions, and cheap apartments, street shots, the main couple’s home, tuxedo rental store, various scenes of the main couple in various locations – like ferris wheel ride park, Christmas store, plus a couple of nightclubs, many other locations.

B. People – giant party scene with dozens of people, maybe hundreds, many supporting or day player characters, lots of crowd scenes and extras outside – A-list stars Tom Cruise and Nichole Kidman-lots of money

C. Stunts – lots of action scenes, a car chase or two

D. Extras – lots of outside crowd scenes

E. Wardrobe – very exotic and varied wardrobes

CONTAINED VERSION:

A. Locations – mainly the sex party mansion and the couple’s house

B. People – the two stars can be lesser A-list or even B-list stars, and cut out some of the less necessary supporting characters to make the movie more about just the couple and their problems that are exacerbated by the sex party

C. Stunts – keep stunts to what happens at the sex party, no car chase scenes or city scenes, etc.

D. Extras – cut out most or all outside crowd shots and extras

E. Wardrobe – still need exotic sex costumes, I would not change that

• This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by  Anna Maganini.

[Pat Fitzgerald]

Pat's Contained Movie

What I learned doing this assignment is that with some out of the box thinking a film with several settings can be pared down to fit the requirement for a contained movie.

The film I chose was Legally Blonde

AS THEY DID IT:

A. Locations: Sorority House in California, restaurant, Elle's parent's house, Exterior shots of Harvard, Harvard dorm room, fraternity house, law office, prison visiting room, beauty parlor, court room. Various classrooms, a spa, a few outdoor settings.

B. People: Main characters: Elle, her dorky boyfriend who dumped her, law professors, lawyer who will eventually propose to her, Paulette, the cosmotologist, the UPS guy, trial judge, Vivian, on trial for murder

C. Stunts: None

D. Extras: sorority sisters, fraternity boys, students in classrooms, news crew

E. Wardrobe: Elle's clothes are all high end couture, others are run of the mill clothes that anyone could wear

CONTAINED VERSION:

A. Locations: Dorm room, restaurant scene could be a catered meal in a dorm room, scenes in the beauty parlor could be transformed into Elle befriending her dorm's maintenence woman who Elle visits in her basement apartment, the prison visiting room could be eliminated by Vivian being out on bail and coming to the law office.

B. People Main characters would remain the same as in the original film.

C. Stunts None

D. Extras: Elle's sorority sisters

E. Wardrobe: Remains the same

• This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by  Pat Fitzgerald.

[Joy Smith]

Joy Smith’s Contained Version of “A Guide To Dating At The End Of The World”

What I learned doing this assignment is… firstly, that I should have picked a movie I’d already seen to watch! It was pretty well contained, although some of the locations definitely could have been cut. Although it was filmed empty, they didn’t need a drive in movie theatre, and they definitely didn’t need the street full of shoppers. I can see why they went for that contrast, but I would have gone for the Shaun of the Dead approach where you establish that she’s usually alone, working in the office alone, etc, and that’s why she doesn’t notice the apocalypse has happened. Also makes you more emotionally invested when she quits her job at the end.

I’ve selected my project, and actually even though ‘contained’ sounds a bit scary and limiting, the four criteria do allow for a lot of flexibility.

PART 2: Rethink a bigger movie as a Contained project.

Pick a movie that has a bigger budget and lots of locations and give us your thoughts on how they could have make it as a contained movie.

TITLE: A GUIDE TO DATING AT THE END OF THE WORLD
AS THEY DID IT:
A. Locations 14
B. People 8
C. Stunts 0
D. Extras Street full outside shops
E. Wardrobe Nothing special other than a wedding dress
F. Miscellaneous Graphics showing Hadron collider, Empty streets of Brisbane, lots of driving around

CONTAINED VERSION:
A. Locations 5
B. People 5
C. Stunts 0
D. Extras I’d use these in the restaurant instead of a street full.
E. Wardrobe Not sure they need the wedding dress, but it was a romcom, so I guess it could be kept.
F. Miscellaneous Probably still need the graphics. I’d replace the driving around with sitting in the empty restaurant, as it achieved the same thing. Not sure they needed the empty streets of Brisbane, it worked, but could have just as easily been done with the office and restaurant being empty.

[Agnes McCourt]

Testing

[James Ace Chapman]

Wishing all good luck moving forward. Two weeks ago I lost Everything but the clothes on my back and my laptop due to storm surge hurricane helene. I was sleeping in a storage unit and two days ago I had to be evacuated because of hurricane Melton. Storage facility is gone and like thousands of others I’m praying for a miracle. Good luck y’all, I’ll see everyone again