The Collaborative Nerdfighter Movie

So, I got this idea to get Nerdfighteria together and write a movie. Who will make the movie? We will figure that out later.

I can keep track of the official draft. People can write ideas and even whole scenes for this movie. We can discuss characters and how they should interact and change over the movie. The finished product doesn't even need to be that great (in fact it probably won't be), but it just needs to be fun to make and write, so we have a complete film that was written, produced and directed by Nerdfighters (does John or Hank feel like making a cameo?).

So, anyway, before we can start writing we need an idea. Should it be romantic? Action packed? Give your thoughts below.

September 11, 2011 (Guide to the Unnamed Nerdfighter Collaborative Movie Project (UNCMP)

This list should hold most every idea discussed about this film in this thread so far. If you see anything missing or inaccurate on this list, let me (Vince T) know and I will do my darndest to fix it during the next update.

If an idea receives a good deal of interest, it will automatically be moved to the ‘liquids’ list.

If you think something that has seen a fair deal of discussion deserves to be in the film, feel free to propose moving it to the ‘solids’ list. If it sees enough support, it will be moved.

Directors: These guys have last say on all things and help to keep the movie running smoothly.
(Main Director) Gillman
(Mrs. Manager) Laura
(Mr. Manager) Vince T

Laws of the Film Universe (Established truths to this film production)
-The Script shall be written by the collective awesome of the community
-Everyone is free to contribute, and once you contribute you’re a part of the team
-The movie must be awesome

-The script will be the only main collaboration. We will hand over the finished script to a made-of-awesome filmmaker (we will figure out who later) to complete the movie.

DFTBA used as a naming scheme for episodes or chapters

-Giraffes (separated from other animals for their closer link to Nerdfighting)
- Peeps in some capacity
- Giant Squid of Anger
-John Green books references
-Hank Green song references
-John and Hank cameos?

FilmOrganization
-Deadlines Occur on Greenwich Mean Time unless otherwise noted

Film Organization
-Writing Scene by Scene
-Establish Overall Storyline first before going into detail
-One group shooting it

Island Details

-Castle

-Village

- Massive Library

-Vondell Swain’s map

-Whiffinity’s Lemongrass scene

-vlogbrothers video

Main Characters

-Lincolnstein: Cross of Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln (possible time traveling accident) who is nefarious. Kidnaps babies from the evil baby orphanage to start his "Dangerous Formation of the Terrible Baby Army".

-Willy Bubbles the Nerdfighting Puppy Pirate & Jerry the Tap-dancing Duck Ninja: leaders of the Pirate and Ninja factions (respectively) that are constantly at war on the island. The two share a deep animosity for one another. Will probably have a big face-off at the end.

-Jenga: Female protagonist. A clever young lady who is new to the island. Has a plot point attached to her that takes advantage of a metaphor tied into the physical/mental skill game she shares her name with. Has a penchant for witty fun dialogue.

-Dorian: Male love interest. Time traveling nerd-hunk ala Doctor (take your pick of Doctor iterations). Just as sharp as Jenga at least when it comes to snappy dialogue.

Character List:
-Mark Taylor: committed worker for the evil baby orphanage
-Natalie Spiegelman: a passionate girl with issues of trust
-Tiny Cooper: the finder of beauty in all things
-Queen Ranavalona I (as evil baby)
-Hitler (as evil baby)
-Vlad the Impaler (as evil baby)
-Queen Bathory (as evil baby)
-Stalin (as evil baby)
-Napoleon (as evil baby)(or possibly as a good baby)
- Hal: the main character’s supervisor at their job on the island

-Katherine: Love Interest

Character Traits
Jenga
- currently works at evil baby orphanage
-used to work at a hatchery, handling peeps
-Alternate names: Natalie, Katherine

Dorian
-mannerisms similar to the 10th doctor

Other
-Leder hosen wearing bridge trolls from Quebec!
-Exploding Ants
-At least one Star trek reference
-Harry Potter references
-Olivander’s wand Shop

Treatments

-Whiffinity’s link

-Vince’s link

-Gabriela’s link

-Laura’s link

Dialogue Samples

Dorian & Jenga

-Emma link

-Gabriella link

Jenga

-Diary link

Events:

We meet Jenga.
She meets Dorian
Peeps come alive and attack
They are saved by Bubbles
The peeps coming alive is a sign of Lincolstein coming for Nerdfighteria

Once the first scene is written, and as we see how the story is set up, we will decide on the next section.

Scene 1 (written by David Nica)

Thanks for everyone's awesome and amazing work so far! Keep it up!

Tags: collaborative, making, movie

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Laura on April 22, 2011 at 5:06pm

Good idea, I'll get to work.

Permalink Reply by Gillman on April 22, 2011 at 5:15pm

The more nerdfighters, the merrier!

Sooooo sorry, I haven't been on this discussion for a few days. I was visiting my brother in college.

So I read through the posts and it would seem that I have been made the general leader of this project. I nominate Laura as my partner for now, because she has been the one posting here the longest, other than me.

I think we should try to have some good outlines by next week (around).

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Permalink Reply by Gillman on April 22, 2011 at 5:17pm

Also, just post them here. I will collect them together onto my computer. Also, I can send them to you, Laura, seeing as how you are Mrs. Manager as well.

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Permalink Reply by Niti N. (DobbyYoda) on April 22, 2011 at 5:36pm

Lol I like that title, Mrs. Manager, and I think Laura is a good choice. You should ask her first though if she has time to do it or not.

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Permalink Reply by Laura on April 22, 2011 at 5:54pm

I most certainly have time and would love to accept. Weee, I'm a manager. :D

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Permalink Reply by Gillman on April 22, 2011 at 8:33pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4DMPmoJkJQ

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Permalink Reply by Whiffinity on April 23, 2011 at 1:09am

Okay, I'm submitting early as I'm out tonight - here is mine! Enjoy :)

Once Nerdfighteria Island was a place of peace and prosperity, where nerds could relax and participate in their favourite nerdy activities. There was a huge castle library and everyone was friendly and witty, and the roads were paved with peeps.

However, a dirty battle plagued the island - the battle between Captain Willy, head of Pirates, and Jerry, the tap dancing ninja duck, head of ninjas. The pirates v ninjas battle had been going on for years between the two halves of Nerdfighter - split down the middle by a crack, jutting down miles into the earth. The island had lost it’s magical purpose, but whatever the Nerdfighters tried to help the pirates and ninjas see sense, they just wouldn’t listen. These were dark times.

“little did they know” Lincolnstein from Lichtenstein was busy stealing evil babies from evil baby orphanage and kind of hypnotising them to do evil things - making them into an army. Maybe like 200 of them? *does evil laugh*

*main character* needs love interest (called Katherine? Or another john green book character) - WARNING: don’t make clichéd, BE ORIGINAL but just not sure how yet…

Main character (mc) must somehow get involved in evil baby stuff - maybe he gets attacked? Or maybe he knows / has something important to evil babies? But anyway he learns of evil babies and knows they must fight, so organises meetings with Willy and Jerry to seek an alliance, so they can bring down evil Mr L together.

Mc, Willy and Jerry, backed by their combined armies, prepare to face evil Mr L, and the fight begins (not sure how plausible this really is - would nerds really fight to kill? And to kill babies? To defend Nerdfighter maybe…). Nerds are losing. All is lost. BUT THEN evil babies are ploughed down by ANIMAL POWER MOVES including many giraffes, headed by French the Llama (who possibly could be leader of Nerdfighter - kind of like Aslan in Narnia?) But yeah they save the day and everyone is happy, no more evil Mr L, babies become un-hypnotised and not evil, ninjas and pirates are lifelong friends etc etc…

NOTES

End scene - possibility of unicorns vs. zombies sequel?

As for ‘travelling montage with a hank song’ - how about a preparing for battle montage instead? Can show training in castle by playing super Mario brothers etc

LINK ^ Maybe that could make the battle scene less evil - take epic battle implements from other movies / video games (lightsabers, sonic blasters, etc) instead of real guns?

Genres Achieved…

Action - lots of epic battles

Romance - main character and love interest

Fantasy - does pirate puppies and ninja ducks count?

Sci-fi - no, NEEDS ALIENS

Comedy - banter between Willy and Jerry

Thriller - mild in battle scenes

Crime - only the crime of evil baby theft

Mystery - no, not really

Thanks guys! DFTBA :)

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Permalink Reply by Gabriella on April 23, 2011 at 2:41am

Here is my little spiel:

I know that this is probably nothing like the treatment Vince was describing, I hope that it says everything I want it to say.

So I envision the movie to be a mockumentary of life on Nerdfighteria Island. It starts with an introduction of Nerdfighter history and basic life on the island. It then explains that over the course of a year 5 people would be part of the documentary, they will be interviewed and followed around sometimes. (Basically it is how a real documentary would be if Nerdfighteria Island actually existed.)

“Why five people?” I hear you ask. Well the reason it is five is:

a) Five is a good number for a documentary as it is a large enough number to get a range of characters yet not too large we won’t be able to focus on their stories.

b) This might be more important than the above. I have chosen to have 5 main characters as each character will have a personal story that becomes a symbol for one of the ideas that stem from the DFTBA acronym. These being Discovery, Fulfillment, Trust, Beauty and Aware (I think these words would sum up life on Nerdfighteria Island.)

So the mockumentary would be split up in 7 parts (one for each word as well as the prologue and epilogue) all the characters will be ‘interviewed’ but one person will say or do something that symbolizes the title of the section.

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten to tell you about the five characters I’m thinking of.

Discovery: Willy Brown (Yes, he is not Willy Green but Willy Brown ‘cause it feels less stalkeish)- Before he became a Nerdfighter he felt alone and that his life was empty. He feels that becoming a Nerdfighter forced him to go about the process of self-discovery. He has found out that what he perceived as empty i.e his love for Harry Potter and Doctor Who (these obsessions could and probably would change) are actually what make him a Nerdfighter and therefore part of the community.
Fulfillment: Mark Taylor (I actually don’t know what to call him but this will do for now)- He works at the Evil Baby Orphanage and feels fulfilled through his job as he believes he his saving lives from the evil babies and likes giving the babies the better lives they deserve. Midway through the ‘year’ the babies start to get stolen by Lincolnstein (a plot point we considered earlier in the discussion)
Trust: Natalie Spiegelman (yes, like Margo)- She struggles to trust others in the Nerdfighter community claiming that the island is “both large and small”. She feels that knows everything and nothing about her fellow Nerdfighters due to the fact that she shares a lot of passions with many people yet has never met them.
Beauty: Tiny Cooper – He is a lot like his written self, he feels that life on Nerdfighteria Island is brilliant and has the ability to find the beauty in all aspects of life on the island including all the people he meets. He is kind of like the antithesis of Natalie yet they never meet.
Aware: Katherine Clarke (Again, a name from John’s books though I made up her last name.) Since going out with Natalie’s brother Jerry (he’ll be the Jerry we mentioned earlier) she has become more aware of her actions and how they affect others. This is due to the relationship it self as well as her newfound friendship with Natalie. Natalie’s trust issues open her eyes up to how her actions are perceived.

Now you’re probably wondering, “Are any of our original ideas in this film?” Your answer is yes. The whole, “evil babies being stolen to train them for an uprising” is still there. As well, the idea of Willy and Jerry hating each other yet being forced to band together to end the war is also a part of the film. In my version Willy and Jerry hate each other because Willy used to date Katherine and wants to have her back so is jealous of Jerry. The entire evil baby war/ Willy and Jerry plot is used for comic relief. Yet is just as important as all the deep and meaningful stuff I explained above. As well all the ideas discussed about Nerdfighteria Island are also in this film, they will be evident in the prologue and epilogue as well as any time one of the characters is just walking around the island. This film will kind of be like one of John’s books, incredibly funny whilst exploring incredibly important ideas in life.

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Permalink Reply by Vince T on April 23, 2011 at 6:20am

This is a straightforward hollywood structure story with the idea being that it would be a light drama, prefferably with comedy mixed in.

Main Character (I’ll just call her Jenga) is an average teen girl with an average life in an average town with an average job at an average convenience store. Jenga finds herself dreading the long Summer of average boredom ahead of her.

The time of year is just after Easter and so Jenga is given a large bag of surplus peeps. By chance, Jenga bumps into the administrator (we’ll call him/her Greene) who mistakes Jenga for an expert of peepology and invites her to come to Nerdfighteria as a Summer job.

Jenga, not wanting to be stuck in Average Town for the Summer agrees and is quickly whisked to the island of Nerdfighteria.

The is quickly introduced the goings ons of the island’s Institute for Decreasing World Suck. There the nerdfighters of the island are doing research and running programs to further the causes of making the world a better place (specifically the ones pertaining to nerdfighter in-jokes)

Jenga suddenly realizes that she signed up for more than she is qualified for and decides to let Greene know she should return home… however this decision is halted immediately when she meets her nerd-like interest of the story (hereafter referred to as Dorian).

Dorian is an intelligent nerd-dreamy The Doctor-type who works as a time traveler collecting the would-be-dictator babies for the evil baby orphanage. After a short bout of adventure about the island with Dorian, Jenga decides keep up the charade of being a peepologist to stay around Dorian.

This works well enough as the rest of the peep researchers have the job covered enough for Jenga to go unnoticed and so she continues her growing nerd-like storyline with Dorian (this is a great time to work in Unicorn vs. Giraffe fights and tap-dancing ducks). Dorian invites Jenga to help care for the most troublemaking baby Hitler.

While thinking fluffy thoughts of Dorian (and caring for baby Hitler) one of the scientists on the asks Jenga’s opinion on the growing aggression of the local peep wildlife. Too distracted to think straight, Jenga gives the scientists terrible advice which leads to the peeps being exposed to an unstable compound which turns them into dangerous beast-peeps.

Ferocious peeps begin attacking the island. The inhabitants all hide where they can. Jenga runs to the evil baby orphanage to find Dorian. Dorian is huddled with the evil babies as voracious peeps scratch at the windows.

Dorian asks how this all could have happened, which leads to Jenga accidentally revealing her lie which heartstabs (can’t think of a better word) Dorian as he realizes his trust has been betrayed.

Before Jenga and Dorian can talk further, one of the dictator babies accidentally activate the time machine taking Dorian and his huddled babies away leaving Jenga behind.

Jenga has one of those lowest points in a story moment until she realizes that baby Hitler is still in the orphanage with her. At that moment peeps break through the door and begin storming into the orphanage. Jenga escapes to the roof with baby Hitler.

There Jenga realizes that regardless of the Dorian situation, she must protect baby hitler from the masses by any means possible.

After a while fighting off the peeps, all seems lost but then Baby Hitler somehow helps Jenga figure out a solution that was alluded to earlier in the movie (giraffes and unicorns maybe?) which allows Jenga to save the entire island.

Everyone comes out of hiding to thank Jenga but Jenga hushes the crowd and tells the truth about her lack of knowledge in the field of peepology and apologizes for her selfishness and risking the entire Institute.

Dorian walks up from the crowd (having discreetly returned during the ruckus) and begins a slow dialogue with her about her charade but forgives her and mentions her ability to work with evil babies. Greene steps up and agrees that minimal harm has come to the institute and its people and therefore Jenga can stay on the island as an evil baby facilitator.

Close on some fuzzy nerd-like scene or what have you.

[Closing Credits with nerdfighter song]