Holidays, freedom and film

So we're off again to Bali soon, and I'm lining up some fun project to do while I'm there. Of course I'm taking an eeePc loading with my game dev stuff, but I'm also thinking about writing scripts. I have a time travel script almost completed, only a few scenes to go and I have a new one in mind.

I am inspired to write my next script which is heavy sci-fi because of my disappointment in Moon and Source Code. I feel that the director, Duncan Jones, kinda let the twisted sci-fi tale down a tad. I guess I'm spoiled by Primer which is exactly the depth that I like my heavy sci-fi. Supernova kinda got there, and Sunshine touched on it.

Moon let me down because I figured it out about 2 minutes after the accident. Source Code let me down because it was kinda dumbed-down twisty ploty time bending storytelling. However it did give me some ideas for other projects. I'm thinking of a sci-fi story idea that asks the audience to get involved in the tech, kinda like Primer wanted, but not to alienate - my folks got turned off by it when I thought my Dad would be intrigued.

I believe we are all tech savvy to a certain degree and if I can craft one of the characters to be like the helpdesk operator for the storyline, I think I can take the audience in pretty deep and not confuse, frustrate or bore. Once there I want the intrigue to build from the possibilities of the tech involved, and also from a metaphyical/philosophical/anthropomorphic point of view.

Sci-fi is really the analysis of life as it is now, with some predictions (usually) of a better future. However, I don't want the promise of a happy ending. I want the audience to worry that they might not get one. I want the audience to take on the anxiety felt by the characters as they journey deeper into the world they are exploring.

It's going to be about how each of us deal with situations unknown, and how we triumph ( mostly ) over adversity. As Spock says to Jim in Wrath of Khan when asked how the new recruits will respond under real pressure, "Like all living beings, Admiral each according to his gifts."