FF7 Web Series - What would you like to see?

[S and G]

Hey folks,

For those of you who don't know, there was a front page article back in September regarding a trailer for a fan-made live-action Final Fantasy VII movie. Despite an extremely limited budget, the teaser managed to catch the attention of the FF7 community around the world.

On 21st December, 2012, Italian director Gionata Medeot announced that this project would become a non-profit web series rather than an independent movie so as to avoid copyright issues. Further information can be found on the project's Facebook page which has already cleared the 10,000 followers mark. Gionata hopes that by raising enough funds through Kickstarter and employing only the right people for the job, this project can be a major success. If you have not already done so, please show your support on Facebook to keep up to date with its progress.

Now, as part of exciting recent announcements, I am delighted to say that both yours truly and fellow author and forum member, Mr. Ite, will be collaborating on the screenplay for the first series. Episode One (up to and including Cloud's fall from Mako Reactor5) has already been written. The purpose of this thread is to gauge what people would like to see in this series. I have a very clear vision on what I want, and Ite on what he wants, but that may differ from what the community wants.

Should this be story-driven, action-driven, include magic and changing weapons, etc? What scenes are a must and what scenes should go? Anything you can think of, please share.

Please include only your thoughts regarding the Midgar scenario. And no LTD stuff.

This is a project by the fans, for the fans. We will spare no expense where applicable. We have some of the film industry's smartest, brightest and best newcomers on board this project. However, we need more creative, brilliant minds. Musicians (with heavy editing and production knowledge), Artists, Graphic Designers, Social Media Gurus, Web Artists and Designers...we need you. Be part of the biggest, boldest and most daring fan project ever.

If you have what it takes, send your work to [email protected]

 

[Lex]

That's awesome S, congrats. I'd go for story driven, not sure the changing weapons thing is necessary. I have a lot more to say but it's bedtime for me now, might add more later

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm interested to know what the plans are for all the scenes that call for GCI.

Personally I'd prefer character and story driven. I think you can leave out a lot of stuff that was pure game mechanics, and just tell the story.

 

[S and G]

I aim for this to be story-driven too. Obviously much of the game involved a lot of fighting which is neither practical nor relevant in regards to live-action storytelling. There are also things that quite simply wouldn't make sense. The early Reactor missions, for example, would in reality be much more stealthy than a gung-ho blow-shit-to-hell approach. I have written them as such. What that means, however, is that there would be less random battles / continuous action.

I reckon most people would agree that the beauty of FF7 lies in the core story and relationships between characters so it is important to get that right. In particular, I am looking at dropping the Wall Market scenario completely as it is not integral to the story and avoids the hullabaloo of the dressing up sequence and logistics of how Cloud hides his sword. Any thoughts on that?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

How can you drop the iconic Wall Market sequence? For one thing, everyone will want to see it and will cry foul if they don't get it (surely). For another, it's a part of the game that would be relatively easy to reproduce quite faithfully without resorting to digital magic. As for the sword, just do what Square does: it's there when he needs it, and when he doesn't, it isn't.

 

[Pixel]

Thats pretty awesome. I'd definitely go with story driven route

btw, if you guys need any voice over stuff, like a voice for Nanaki etc, im happy to help.

 

[S and G]

How can you drop the iconic Wall Market sequence? For one thing, everyone will want to see it and will cry foul if they don't get it (surely). For another, it's a part of the game that would be relatively easy to reproduce quite faithfully without resorting to digital magic. As for the sword, just do what Square does: it's there when he needs it, and when he doesn't, it isn't.

As the writer, I have to think seriously about the logistics of things. For example, should the entire Midgar scenario be set over 3 or 4 episodes? (Each are 40 minutes long). This depends on the money that can be raised and the director's vision. If 3, then the second episode must contain the scenes from the Sector5 Church all the way up to the party heading for Shinra HQ. This means I have to cut out anything that is not vital. Sadly, Wall Market falls into that category. The issue here is not really with the finances or the story, but more about the time involved. I realise that this would upset some people but it would be necessary for the overall series. However, if we do the Midgar scenario over 4 episodes, it means that there is far more room to maneuver and an entire act can be granted to Wall Market and those sexy bitches.

But, this is why I need opinions.

btw, if you guys need any voice over stuff, like a voice for Nanaki etc, im happy to help.

Pixel, if you want to get involved, email the director at [email protected]. That goes for everyone else, too. The facebook page has a list of positions we need filled so get applying!

 

[Lord Noctis]

I too would say story-driven is the way to go. You should keep the magic, but changng wepaons is just not needed IMO.

I would assume that even with a story focus there will be plenty of action. Its FFVII after all. What sort of style were going to use for the action? I imagine AC style action wouldn't really be feasible under the circumstances.

 

[S and G]

I too would say story-driven is the way to go. You should keep the magic, but changng wepaons is just not needed IMO.

I would assume that even with a story focus there will be plenty of action. Its FFVII after all. What sort of style were going to use for the action? I imagine AC style action wouldn't really be feasible under the circumstances.

The changing weapons thing is something the director brought up in an interview. I'm not keen on it myself for the simple and obvious reason (among several others) that the Buster Sword plays an integral part in the Compilation. I'm gonna discuss it further with him.

I would imagine the action would be pretty realistic - not too crazy sci-fi and certainly not as physically impossible as AC. To begin with, Cloud is the only one with superhuman abilities so only he would be used in that kind of exciting way. Again, it's really up to the director.

 

[Pixel]

You've completed the first draft of the first episode, right? Any chance of having a nosy?

 

[S and G]

Yeah, the first draft is currently being checked over by the backup writer and director. I'm not sure what the feeling is on making the script public at the moment so I'll have to get back to you on that one.

 

[S and G]

From our facebook page:

This is a project by the fans, for the fans. We will spare no expense when applicable. We have some of the film industry's smartest, brightest and best newcomers on board this project. However, we need more creative, brilliant minds.

Musicians (With heavy editing and production knowledge), Artists, Graphic Designers, Social Media Guru's, Web Artists and Designers...we need you.

Be part of the biggest, boldest and most daring fan project ever.

If you have what it takes, send your work to [email protected]

Let's make Fantasy, a reality.

 

[Novus]

I typed it up an overview how an Aerith centric could work in a 40 minute format which included the wall-market and ended with Elmyra's exposition, but I figured I'd like to see how it goes.
I mean you already know you don't need a helicopter to explain Aerith's capture don't you? And when necessary a helicopter can be simulated by bright spotlight and copter noises. So this cuts away time and budget.
I'm curious though, how long is the thing going to be in episodes (assuming 40 minute network standard is your aim)?
Removing the wall-market probably means you intend to get rid of the chocobo sequences too, as in racing them to get out of prison.

My only script request is this, if you actually make it this far: please keep the lines from Whirlwind Maze where Cloud apologies to everyone including Rufus. Its dramatically unique.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Nice suggestions, Novus the Newbie. Actually it would be cool to have different episodes told from different party member's points of view, filling in some of the stuff we don't see in the game.

 

[Dawnbreaker]

Congrats! That sounds like an awesome project, S. Keep us informed of your progress.

 

[S and G]

I typed it up an overview how an Aerith centric could work in a 40 minute format which included the wall-market and ended with Elmyra's exposition, but I figured I'd like to see how it goes.
I mean you already know you don't need a helicopter to explain Aerith's capture don't you? And when necessary a helicopter can be simulated by bright spotlight and copter noises. So this cuts away time and budget.
I'm curious though, how long is the thing going to be in episodes (assuming 40 minute network standard is your aim)?
Removing the wall-market probably means you intend to get rid of the chocobo sequences too, as in racing them to get out of prison.

My only script request is this, if you actually make it this far: please keep the lines from Whirlwind Maze where Cloud apologies to everyone including Rufus. Its dramatically unique.

This is a series that we are trying to cram as much in as reasonably possible. It's for the fans, by the fans. As such, having consulted the community in relation to the Wall Market scenario, there has been an overwhelming YES for it to stay in. So it stays in. I'll iron out the problems.

Your suggestion regarding the helicopter is quite interesting. That side of things will be up to the VFX and production team so I can't comment at the moment.

As long as we keep raising the finances, we'll keep making the episodes. Realistically, the whole thing should be shot in around 20 episodes.

Nice suggestions, Novus the Newbie. Actually it would be cool to have different episodes told from different party member's points of view, filling in some of the stuff we don't see in the game.

I've already started to incorporate various things for using as character building/scene setting devices. For example, episode two opens with Barret and Tifa staggering back into Seventh Heaven and finding one of Corneo's henchmen. Though the scene is only referenced in the game, it ties together the individuals so as to later place emphasis on the tragedy that befalls Biggs, Wedge and Jessie.

 

[Shademp]

Something I'd like to see is an attempt, by the actors, to recreate the character animations seen in the original game. Some of it might not translate well, but who knows one pose or another might help capture the character.

Spoiler: Tifa example

Spoiler: Cloud's confident pose

 

[S and G]

Something I'd like to see is an attempt, by the actors, to recreate the character animations seen in the original game. Some of it might not translate well, but who knows one pose or another might help capture the character.

Spoiler: Tifa example

Spoiler: Cloud's confident pose

I was thinking about this exact thing today, although more along the lines of their fighting stances. I think that will be emphasised either by myself or the director when we come to shooting. The actors will be made to research their character from the games/AC so as to get the correct postures. No detail overlooked.

 

[Jiro]

Okay cool, so this is what happened to that awesome trailer. In my mind, what you include depends on your focus. If you're going to try and be serious about everything, then you can leave out stuff like game mechanics and stupid scenes like the Honey Bee Inn etc. But if you want to keep a little bit of humour in there, then you can take a Scott Pilgrim (or even Persona4: The Animation) route and include some gameplay elements in there as a bit of a joke and then continue on your way.

:2cents:

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Something I'd like to see is an attempt, by the actors, to recreate the character animations seen in the original game.

Cid's iconic running!!

 

[Pixel]

One thing I'd like to see is more of an emotional connection to Aerith. You could go throught the game hardly even noticing her until she is killed. Make her death really mean something to the viewers.

 

[Roger]

The changing weapons thing is something the director brought up in an interview. I'm not keen on it myself for the simple and obvious reason (among several others) that the Buster Sword plays an integral part in the Compilation. I'm gonna discuss it further with him.

I would imagine the action would be pretty realistic - not too crazy sci-fi and certainly not as physically impossible as AC. To begin with, Cloud is the only one with superhuman abilities so only he would be used in that kind of exciting way. Again, it's really up to the director.

Well, Cloud and Vincent. And Vincent I would imagine would see more use in this kinda thing then he did in the game.

 

[S and G]

We have incredible news to announce very soon.

For now, keep up to date on our Facebook page here.

We are also delighted to welcome on board Prateek Mathur as our leading visual effects designer. Are you excited? You should be. Check out some of his work here.

 

[Jiro]

I'm excited. Stop making me wait xD

 

[S and G]

If these announcements aren't worthy of front page news, I'm throwing in the towel.