It Would Work

[Petike]

Too bad Ingmar Bergman isn't alive and doing films. He and maybe Stanley Kubrick and really the only two directors I'd trust in making Penumbra. Almost any hollywood director would turn it into something sour.

For fun, I had thought about how Penumbra would be if it was a movie.
My own opinion (very rough draft; sort of quick. short version)

At the funeral where his mother is being buried. At the house, he talks with some relatives; maybe some about his father. His fiancee comes in late; apologizes for it. they may talk some and then another scene comes. possibly getting the package/letter from his so called dead father.
this sets both Philip and his fiancee (whom I call Anna) out to Greenland. Once they find the hatch and crawl down, the ladder breaks.
From this very moment to the end of the entire story, there is no more video of the outside world. ONLY the caves/shelter. this gives us the ultimate feeling of being trapped.
First (or couple) night, they head off to bed; only to find out that Anna is missing when he wakes up.
Again, vital; we no longer hear from her or see her. We don't see what her status is, where she is, NOTHING.
It's now Philip, no one else; until at some point, Red comes into the picture (audio actually); when Philips picks up the walkie talkier/com radio.
some hallucinations occur. Philip is obviously trapped, reading some letters, hearing Red talk about whatever, trying to find Anna.

I'd figure the start (before hitting the caves) could last maybe 30 or so minutes into it. Obviously, I haven't thought too much of it; being it's only for fun; but if you could imagine an Ingmar Bergman film; it may be a great film.

I think he should go to Greenland alone, as in the game. His fiancé should be seen only at the beginning of the story (still at home in Britain) and then in some thought flashbacks - as a kind of memory that cheers him up, when he feels he's completely doomed and no one cares for him, except Red. I don't know, just an idea on how to not ruin the story line with his girlfriend, but to add a little more personal background of his into the movie. :-) There can be occasional flashbacks of his mother too... Just to add a more surreal feel. And it would fit nicely with the even more bizzare flashbacks from Black Plague. Just my opinion, that's all...

[Thaliur]

[quote=Thaliur]Hm, good point on that... But how about the technique of inner monologues ? You know : The camera catches the protagonist, he usualy doesn't speak aloud at all, but there is a voiceover of his, which unfolds his immediate thoughts to the viewers... What do you think ? Would that work (if it wouldn't be overused) ?

Like seeing the events unfold while hearing what Philip wrote about them in the message the game is based on? That could be a pretty good idea, and provides the opportunity to even get some of the notes into the movie.

[Linux.Blue]

I partially added the fiancee to add some to the story. It may work without her. there isn't just ONE option and that's it. There is a cave, and Philip enters. Doing that for 1 1/2 or 2 hours can a drag. maybe there is a way it could work though.

If done really well, this would most certainly be a movie I'd love to see on the big screen.

[Petike]

[quote=Thaliur]Hm, good point on that... But how about the technique of inner monologues ? You know : The camera catches the protagonist, he usualy doesn't speak aloud at all, but there is a voiceover of his, which unfolds his immediate thoughts to the viewers... What do you think ? Would that work (if it wouldn't be overused) ?

Like seeing the events unfold while hearing what Philip wrote about them in the message the game is based on? That could be a pretty good idea, and provides the opportunity to even get some of the notes into the movie.

Yes, that too... You elaborated the idea even better than me. :-) Nice suggestions. What I meant originally with the "inner monologues" were normal scenes of Philip walking, looking around, using the flashlight / glowstick / flares, hiding behind crates and corners, watching the monsters, using stealth, clutching the improvised weapons in his trembling hands... and you would regularly hear his thoughts, as if he normally spoke. But they would of course sound quiet and echoy, to highlight the fact, that they are just his inner thoughts. I sure bet that when you play the game, the remarks that he makes, when you examine objects, are just for himself, because there is no reason to speak them out loud. So, in the film version, he would normally talk just in the beginning (still at home in England) and during the rest of the story in the Greenland underground, he would only occasionaly speak verbally, e. g. with Red through the walkie-talkie... Because it would be illogical (and hilarious), if he would keep commenting everything he sees down there aloud. Every monster would then chase him and the whole thing would turn into a parody. So he simply needs to stay a silent protagonist through the majority of the film, not speaking for 80 - 85 % of the time, just thinking things for himself about his situation, about who the hell is Red, the Archaic Elevated Caste, and what dark mysteries of the past lurk in this underground base. And of course, he would have regular flashbacks, strange dreams (when he falls asleep, or at the beginning, when he falls down the entrance hatch), memories of his relatives... And don't forget the strange "whispering alien lamps" that are all over the place. As in the game, he would regularly stare into these and witness a strange state of mind and body, seeing some retrospective images involving the scientists, the alien virus and some events that lead to it's outbreak. Remember playing Overture ? He kept saying he saw his father in those strange artefacts with the other co-workers and gradually saw what happened to them, how a few of them became infected and the healthy ones turned against each other violently. Or how they experimented with the already infected ones and how the base became devastated and destroyed. That would be a nice touch too... And of course, the film would have to be made out of the storyline of both episodes...

[Petike]

If done really well, this would most certainly be a movie I'd love to see on the big screen.
[/quote]

I fully agree on that. :-)

[Kedjane]

Hm...
Someone ought to make a flash movie about this. I havn't animated in years, though.

[Petike]

If a movie version of both Penumbras was to be created one day, I would have only one little request, when it comes to casting : I want Rose Byrne ! :-) As Miss Anabel "IveGotACureForThePlagueAndACheerfulMood" Swanson ;-) ). I don't know why, but I always imagined that poor lassie (f***ing Clarence and his haluccination mind-control :-(... ) looking exactly like Rose Byrne. I dunno, maybe because she's probably one of my fav actresses... ;-) Just a hint.

P.S. Any idea, who would visually fit in the role of Philip ?

[Thaliur]

Sadly, there aren't many good young British actors who would fit into Philip's role (He should be British, I think).

Ed Coleman might fit in. He looked quite scientisty in Hogfather, and I think he could play Philip well.