“We can call this a ‘Literary Documentary’.”
“But, this has to be a Horror tale. It's in our contract. It's in our rules and regulations.”
“Yes, we will give the audience the most bloodcurdling images imaginable through our dialogue. These images should prove more satisfying than the usual blood and guts and stalk and slash that come from a Horror story told in a more conventional manner.”
“If you say so. If the audience ends up falling asleep, that’s on you.”
“Trust me. People want something different. Once we get to the main details of our story, the minds of the audience will run off in directions that are far more personal and horrific to them than we could ever conjure.”
“So, about this story. We have men, all of whom are healthy fathers with no known health issues, dropping dead suddenly from a heart attack.”
“Yes. We put in our dialogue that this has happened recently to people around the author, who is an extension of the yet unnamed main character, and is a way for him to express his fears of mortality.”
“Since, he too, is a family man who is in his 40s?”
“Exactly. I mean, he just entered his 40s. But these heart attacks don’t seem to care about age. The victim just have to be a healthy male in those 10-years.”
“But, you also want to connect it to current social issues?”
“Yes, as the best Horror tales are apt to do.”
“You’re thinking along the lines of a classic George A. Romero story?”
“Yes. The best Romero genre pictures, like Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, were able to articulate the fears of the time without being preachy or sacrificing entertainment value. And since we are supposed to be united here to work on a Horror script in the form of a dialogue-driven prose tale, Romero would be a great comparative point.”
“Ok. But, what’s the connective tissue?”
“The recent fear of Covid-19 and the shots that many of us, especially those who worked in the healthcare field at the time, were mandated to keep their jobs.”
“So, the heart attacks were caused by the shot?”
“Yes, or we could flip it and make the culprit the lack of a shot from the Covid-19-like disease in the story. We will have to create a similar, but fictional, disease to avoid sensationalism and not seem insensitive to those who passed away from Covid during its years- long, and still ongoing, reign. My only thought here is that having the heart attacks caused by a lack of a shot for our fictional disease is a little too political.”
“So is the reverse end. But, the reverse end, the shot itself and the mystery of not knowing what was in it and the long- term effects of what it would do to an individual, especially one who had it forced on him or her to keep their job during the height of our fictional disease, adds infinite layers of intrigue to the project. It also helps pad the piece and make it more substantial. We can even add a subplot where our lead breaks into the place where they make these shots or kidnaps someone who knows what is in the shot, possibly an agent of the government, who is sworn to secrecy to never disclose what is in the shot. In so doing, our lead scares the information out of him or her. The options are endless with the corrupt government angle.”
“Isn’t that option also sensationalism?”
“It most certainly is. But, it makes for a more intriguing story.”
“Intriguing in a conventional manner. For example, extended scenes of paranoia-infused suspense and governmental corruption and conspiracy. I thought we were trying to avoid these routine genre gimmicks. What do you want to happen? Have those heart attack victims come back as zombies? Maybe as part of something that was put in the shot?”
“The governmental aspects are forever relevant. It has been overused, yes. But, it is still true. We saw how certain American citizens reacted when the Covid shots were administered. The governmental and the zombie angle are still very Romero, too. So it could work as well in keeping in that vein.”
“Very is also a very unnecessary word. Writing 101.”
“As long as it never hits the page it has never happened. Right?”
“Writer’s Code 101.”
“So, what do we want the film to look like?”
“A blank page. Two people talking. A ton of brackets.”
“It’s an arbitrary detail.”
“What happens to our lead? Does he drop dead from a heart attack? Does he spend the rest of his 40’s in fear of the heart attack happening to find out nothing will happen? Does he find a cure?”
“All arbitrary details.”
“Life isn’t an arbitrary detail. Fate isn’t an arbitrary detail.”
“An open ending seems to be the only option.”
“Let’s just see where the story takes us.”
“Maybe once our lead thinks he has an answer on how to stop the men from dying, the women in his life who are in their 40s find themselves in a similar situation. Is a twist like that too conventional?”
“Let’s see where the story takes us. The beauty in telling a tale is becoming both audience and author and letting our unhinged imagination guide and surprise us as the plot moves forward.”
“How will we develop our lead so that he is relatable?”
“Don’t. Make him an enigma. The audience can come up with the backstory.”
“Isn’t that also too conventional?”
“Man has been telling tales since the dawn of time. There is nothing wholly new.”
“The author is now the critic.”
“My greatest one.”
“The author now has a headache.”
“My greatest one.”
“Talk about a conventional ending.”
“My greatest and also my most honest one.”
END
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