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The Final Cut; just some ideas
Topic Started: Dec 6 2008, 06:24 PM (255 Views)
D. Black
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I'm not breathing, I must be in heaven
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"The Final Cut"

Main characters- The Actor, The Character, Stacy Watson

  • The Actor- a depressed, lonely actor who¡¦s been recently having strange dreams and visions. He hears a voice inside his head.
  • The Character- the Actor's character he portrays in the play The Final Cut. He is the voice that torments the Actor.
  • Stacy Watson (The Actress)- The actress playing opposite the Actor in The Final Cut. Both the Actor and the Character are in love with her.
  • The Final Cut- the play which the Actor is starring in. I haven't really determined the plot of the play itself, but somehow it needs to reflect the personality of The Character...something involving a serial killer or a similar psychopathic figure.


I had come up with this idea late last school year, and I had originally planned to write it as a concept album. I'm still unsure as to what format I will write it in (concept album, story), but I have been thinking about it recently.

Basically I'm looking to have the two worlds of the story (the play and the Actor's life) meet at some point...if anyone is familiar with the story behind Coheed And Cambria's album Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness, you'll understand what I mean.

Major influences:
The story of the album Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness by Coheed And Cambria
The lyrics of the album Sing The Sorrow by AFI
The story of the album Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory by Dream Theater
The music video for "The Kill" by 30 Seconds To Mars
The lyrics of The Mars Volta

Any suggestions as to plot moments, characters, or anything else is greatly appreciated

Edited by D. Black, Dec 6 2008, 06:28 PM.
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+Linden
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This could be a crazy good ass play. Ever since I saw my fairy tale performed in my theater class, I'm over the moon about scriptwriting... so, I see almost any idea as a play now. :goof: -- But I'm not saying this because of my newly found bias. I'm serious, this idea is perfect for the stage. It's about an actor and a play, how fitting is that? A story wouldn't do it justice. Plus, it's a wonderful feeling to watch something you've written performed. I can't describe it. It's almost magical.

I have a question though. Is the Character in love with Stacy Watson's character or actually in love with her? I support second. It's more perverted and you can seriously mess with the audience's mind with this. I'm unfamiliar with your influences, but this idea reminds me of Chucky.Where something is alive that shouldn't be and has crossed the boundary between the controlled and the uncontrollable, like Chucky was inanimate to animate. In this case: fiction to reality. It's the basis for any horror story, the uncontrollable whether it's gore or suspense driven.

I just watched the music video to The Kill. My gosh. That was a five minute summery of Stephen King's The Shining, (at first I was reminded me of another Stephen King based movie: 1408) But the twins... the typewriter... empty hotel... the making out with the woman in the bathroom... Man, that's all in the movie. -- Moving on to a greater point! You've seemed to have already drawn the parallel between the Actor and the Character, much like in the music video and in The Shining. I don't know if you've seen or read The Shining, but the twins are the representation of personal demons, such as alcoholism. However, I see a difference; the Character is not a personal demon but rather the representation of an evil conscience.

And that brings the topic of what makes a person evil. And if you have evil, you must have good. Somewhere. And maybe that can be expressed through The Final Cut. I don't have an inkling of an idea for The Final Cut's plot; but it should definitely sum up the Actor's life/theme of the story through the Character. I would try to make the metaphors semi-obvious. After all, it's going to be a fairly complex story anyway, I wouldn't try to confuse the audience any further. XD

Sorry, if I deviated from whatever you may have had in mind. Any time someone asks for suggestions, I take the idea and run with it. XD Whether you want to play up my musings or not, that's fine. But I still say this should be a play. ;)
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D. Black
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It would make a very good play, but the only problem is that there are only really three characters. :D

One more influence I had was one of the theories concerning Heath Ledger's death...there was an idea suggesting that he had become depressed, distraught, and semi-insane to get into the mindset of the Joker's persona. I thought of the Actor undergoing a similar mental state to portray his Character better (which is part of the reason I wanted the Character to be "evil" in the sense of the play).

My idea was to have the Character in love with Stacy Watson, not her character. This provides a reason for him to torment the Actor, so he can get to Stacy. And also show's why he's evil...he wants Stacy to love him, but she can't because he doesn't exist. Since the Character is essentially part of the Actor's psyche, he knows that the Actor loves Stacy. Part of it I think was to drive the Actor to the point of suicide, or at the very least, total insanity so the Character could kill the Actor and replace him in reality.
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+Linden
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You wouldn't need too many more characters, I think. Just one or two supporting characters. And maybe someone to personify good, whether you create a new character or tack it onto Stacy.

But, I just thought of something. How about the Actor is a kidnapper that skins his victims and then sells the skin on the black market? Though there's not much of a perversion besides gore. And it edges onto Silence of the Lambs, now that I think about it. Hmm. Okay, so much for that idea.

Well, who would be his victims, what type of person? Before and after the murder, what does he do with the body? Work backwards and you might get a plot out of it.
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D. Black
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Don't you mean the Character? Or are you meaning the Actor once the Character has driven him to insanity?
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+Linden
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Character. Right. XP
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Anomy
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I think the Character should be more interested in psychology. Finding what makes his victims tick and then locking them away somewhere, tormenting them until the victim has no other alternative but suicide. For example, if he where to do two related victims, he could keep them across the hall from each other and torture them while the other is watching. Not only physical, but mental torture.
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D. Black
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Sounds good...

when you say the "across the room" thing, do you mean he some how tortures one person (like a voodoo doll type thing) while another person is watching?
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Anomy
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Something like that. Or just tortures one why the other one watches. You know, like a mixture of physical and mental. Voodoo dolls weren't what I had in mind, more like the kind of torture that breaks a person down with words. I still agree with Linds, this would make a really good play. This kind of thing would be heightened realism (where there is a very minimal set but the reactions are supposed to be very realistic as opposed to the norm. This generally works with a small audiance.)
Since there are no names for the characters, I think it would work best as a play. On the plus side, you can get the audiance up close to the action and definately have fun with the staging and dialogue. The only negative I can think of would be the lack of gore, especially in a heighten realism genre.
I'm performing in a heighted realism play this spring and this kind of idea would be perfect for this idea.
Oh, and about the small number of characters... You're a Good Man Charlie Brown! has only six characters and it made it to Broadway. There are full length plays with only one or two characters (One of my favorites is "Laughing Wild by Christopher Durang. The first act, it is a female, the second act it a male... I think). And for this sort of thing, a minimal number of character is all you would need. I think bringing in a big cast would make it lose the potential intimacy of the show.
... Wow I am such a theatre geek.
Still, I would love to see it written or performed!!! ^_^
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