The Black Death and The White Reapers (Concept) - Writers Forum

ShadowZero007 · 12-01-2007, 01:37 PM

Well I got the concept when we were being told about The Black Plague in Europe. Its a film concept and I haven't done any writing whatsoever I just would like an opinion as to if you believe its even worth expanding on further or not
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In this story around the year 2040 another epidemic which was a mix of a strain from the Black Death and an extraterrestrial virus has wiped out nearly all technology and a great majority of the human race leading us back into a society which is a semi reflection of the dark ages. What happened is in 2039 we made our first contact with aliens whom when we found their spacecraft were dieing of an unknown disease. There were two. One dies of some odd decomposition which turned his body into an odd oil/tar like substance (think the symbiote from spider-man) We works frivolously to save the second but he was consumed in the same tar like substance then came back to life and went berserk killing all the doctors in the room. In the lab a strain of the black death was also being held. eventually the military arrived and killed the alien. However at that point survivors solders and nearby civilians had been infected. Soon it spread, many vain attempts were made to contain it such the use of nuclear weaponry. Which resulted in turning the earth into a barren wasteland with a grayish black sky. A vaccine was made which provided immunity to the virus however due to the desperation of the times and extremely difficult production of it only 200 people were made immune. Now as I said society is in a state reminiscent of the dark ages. At the moment there are only twenty cities left. Which are completely walled and in ruins. Castles and villages have been built upon the ruins of our old cities. The Americas have been wiped out and our now known as the plaugelands where billions of the creatures reside. At the moment the human population stands at about 50,000. And there are 200 offspring left alive. These people are known as the Plague Templars and wear masks similar to plauge doctors however less bird like more elongated more threatening and with large goggles over the eye holes. Civilians dress in pure white to symbolize their uninfected status while kings and lords dress in red to symbolize their special blood. While the civilians essentially live peasant lives now and kings live semi luxurious lives, almost all technology is dead. The only technological prowess left belongs to the agents of Prometheus whom dress in blue to symbolize their goal to return the world to its former state they are essentially scientists whom have been granted all remaining technology in hopes of finding a cure and a weapon effective agains the hordes. Our main character is one of the plague templars. While in public the Plague templars dress all in black (with the described mask on) to symbolize that it may be dangerous to approach them as they may bear slight traces of the plague. Whenever they leave they dress in pure white (same outfit as black just color change) to show their unaffected status (such as the civilians) They fight with swords bows spears axes ect, and are somewhat superhuman (havent thought of why yet) so they are far faster stronger agile ect then the normal person. Their purpouse is to fight incoming groups of the horde (which are berserk people made of the tarlike substance whom can also shapeshift due to the composition of the substance). So the enemies will be varied greatly.
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Haven't thought it all out yet...
So what do you think?

ladyjazzkiller · 12-01-2007, 03:39 PM

I think that it sounds absolutely brilliant. I can tell that you've put a lot of thought into this, and I'm actually quite interested in you fleshing it out into a film script (as I assume you're going to do). I don't have any critique or advice at the moment; I'll save that for the script, if you get around to writing it.

ShadowZero007 · 12-01-2007, 04:09 PM

Before I get to the script though

should I have 20 Plague Templars or 200
Id like each of them to be unique and with 200 I doubt I can flesh the all out

adrianhayter · 12-01-2007, 06:55 PM

Keep it simple. But if you undertake this mission, you won't be out on the streets stealing hub caps for the next decade. - it's a massive amount of work. I'd never attempt such a project as I'd be dead of old age before the first scene was finished.I hope you're young.

Seriously, you have to write a synopsis of each character before you attempt a screenplay. The script is nothing compared to all the background research.

I do like the idea - I kinda believe the human race will end in some similar fashion.

Beef out your story, format it so people can read it, and submit it again.

Compared to a script editor, we're cheap.

Good luck.

Adrian

ShadowZero007 · 12-01-2007, 07:32 PM

Lucky for me i'm 16 haha
but yeah i'll stick to 20

Futhark · 12-01-2007, 09:10 PM

Shadow, this is a great concept. I got a sense of the setting and story just from your short description. I especially like the historical/mythological tie-ins: Knights Templar, Prometheus, etc. Those extra little bits are what make a movie stand out.

That said, I've got one caveat: the proof is in the pudding. It's one thing to have a good idea. It's quite another to translate that idea onto paper. I'm not trying to discourage you at all. What I'm saying is that, since you're new to writing, you really need to get some practice under your belt. Read some scripts from movies you love. Write a few little one-acts just for practice. You only get good at writing by writing. I think you've demonstrated that you've got the talent for imagination already, so don't worry about that aspect. Just write, write, write until you've found your own unique voice and style.

On a more specific note, I agree with adrian: keep it simple. An audience can identify with 20 heroes much more easily than 200. That allows you more freedom for characterization as well.

One thing that occurred to me: since this is a somewhat post-apocalyptic world, a great deal of the "dead" technology would still be lying around, waiting to be picked up. You'd have a lost-and-found society, at least in part. It would be kinda cool if the MC (or other characters) incorporated this "found tech" alongside their more medieval armaments. (Just a suggestion. I'm not trying to hijack your idea, I swear

)

This is an exciting concept, and I hope to see some work from you in the future!