Abandoned Scripts: What Do You Do When You Can’t Get That Big Star

Virtual John

An inventor, working for Yoko Ono, develops a virtual replica of John Lennon, able to talk and sing and think like the original John Lennon. The inventor introduces Virtual John to other three Beatles (I had this idea before the untimely passing of George Harrison). They are impressed by Virtual John and reform the band.

Sadly, there is one problem with Virtual John. He can never say, think or do anything the original John hadn’t done. The other Beatles become disappointed and angry as they come to realize this. After all, what is a John Lennon with no originality? The anger spills out in conflicts between them and Virtual John. However, while Virtual John has no originally, he does have real feelings. He is tortured both by the rejection of his friends and the frustration at not being able to create.

Before I came up with a good end to the story, I realised that there was no way I could get this film done. I still think it is a good idea though. What I wanted to say with this story was that “virtual reality” is not real reality. While preparing this article I saw opportunities to explore ideas about the nature of creativity and what it means to be human.

The Songwriter and the Singer

A young songwriter meets a young singer. She loves the songs he writes and becomes famous singing his songs. He also becomes famous. They fall in love and the world is a beautiful place.

Things go bad for them, however, and they break up. Each of them goes their own way. The songwriter deals with his feelings by writing a song about the bitterness and anger he feels. He intends it as a public rebuke to the singer. The singer is very hurt and angry by what the song implies about her. She vows never to sing any of his songs again and refuses to acknowledge the songwriter or the song.

The years go by and she continues to be a popular singer and continues to write popular songs. The singer has kept her vow to say nothing. Then, one night, she is in front of a crowd, she stops and tells them the story of her relationship with the songwriter, their breakup, how she felt about the song, and how she vowed never sing one of his songs again. She says she hated the song and then, breaking into a smile, she says “but it’s such a beautiful song”. She sings the song, bringing out it’s true beauty, because song is so much more than a simple put down.

This idea came about from a misunderstanding of rumours I heard once about Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I later found out there was nothing to the stories, but I still thought it could make a good story.

What stopped me from going further was realizing that song was crucial to the success of the story and getting it right would be very difficult. It would need to be both an angry bitter song, but also a song that is beautiful. As you can tell from the songs I have done, Happy Birthday and  Happy Birthday, it’s Your Day that would be far beyond my ability.

Here are some other articles I’ve written about making films.

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Part One

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Two

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Three

Why Do People Hate my Film?

Rick Schmidt’s Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices: A Review