Team Prospero Brainstorming Thread - SEMI FINALS: The Best Picture Show

[JokersWild]

Super rough outline of my initial thoughts. I'm not terribly happy with it, but I think that there are some interesting ideas present and it's a good starting point at least. I really don't want this to be a book report attraction, but with there being no world to work with outside of the story, it might have to be. Transition scenes are meant to be the dialogue cards featured in the film.

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Scene 1 - Entrance
.Vehicles enter through the screen featuring the title card for The Artist. Blinding light is coming through the opening in the screen.

Scene 2 - George Valentin
.George stands at reverse side of screen guests have just passed through, watching his latest film from backstage (effect achieved with too different film screens, separated by a thin layer of wood making it appear to be the reverse side of the screen guests have just passed through. Piano is the only instrument used in the score for this scene.

Transition 1 - “Where are you going, miss? We still have a picture to shoot.”

Scene 3 - “A German Affair”
.Vehicles separate to explore the ballroom set of “A German Affair” each stopping at a different take (initially hidden by a scrim themed to a clapboard which denotes which take it is?) of the dance scene between George and Peppy. Music changes from strictly piano to orchestral as they dance.

Scene 4 - Sound
.Vehicles pass through the back of a studio screening room which is showing an audio test of Romeo and Juliet. The sound, while audible, is very tinny.

Transition 2 - “If that’s the future, you can have it!”

Scene 5 - Sounder
.Montage scene of sorts of various film screen with Peppy’s acting jobs, focusing in on her name rising through the credits, eventually ending in her features and her starring talkie roles. Sound from the talkies is audible, and of better quality than the screen test.

Scene 6 - Soundest
.The streets of Hollywood. 1930. An almost overwhelming number of sounds can be heard in the street. Passers by, vehicles, roadwork, and diegetic music can all be heard as the vehicles pass down the street. Every theater has posters and marquees featuring Peppy’s films. The largest theater features a massive marquee for her new film “Beauty Spot.”

Scene 7 - Tears of Love
.The sounds of the previous scene come to a head as the vehicles pass George who is furiously working at a type writer. With a large staccatoed note, all of the sound immediately stops except for the typewriter, which fades into the piece of music linked for this scene. Scene transitions into the mostly-empty screening of “Tears of Love.”


Scene ??? - Arson
Vehicles pass another film screen featuring one of George’s films. The filmstrip begins to burn up guests transition into George’s burned out apartment

Scene ??? - Finale
I’m picturing something similar to the ending scene of Singin’ in the Rain. Super abstract representation of Hollywood. Initially black and white, but through projection mapping it bursts with color as Peppy and George begin to dance. Scene/ ride ends with the final lines from the film.

Also, really poor concept art for the first scene, which I'm pretty sure I unintentionally lifted from the Great Movie Ride attraction poster.

 

[goofyyukyuk]

Just finished and wow, I liked it wayyyy more than I was expecting! That was great! I'm gonna take a minute to get my thoughts together and try and post something before I go to sleep lol

 

[goofyyukyuk]

So I'm thinking that we should start keying in on the idea that George is a guy who's been on top for a long time, and he spirals out of control, but it's slowed by Peppy, who he falls in love with. I don't think it needs to be a real retelling of the movie because I don't think that would be E-ticket material to be honest... looking through the notes I took during the movie, I think that this theme should be central, even if the plot isn't.
I think we need to lay the groundwork for George being this entertainment icon, maybe with some sort of Audio Animatronic movie montage if that makes sense? Idk I'm tired so I'm pushing through haha
I think a lot of transitions can play off of the caption things
Peppy has a cool acceleration of her career and it's reflected in the way she dresses and who she associates with... if we figured out the montage thing, it could work well there too... just trying to think of ways to make this dark ride a true E-ticket tbh
I wonder if we even include sound from the scenes? What if we put guests in George's position in the dream? When the talkies start blowing up, they can hear piped in mechanical noise of the attraction running? I like the idea of amping up audio quality, although I'm not sure if it fits with the way the movie is... but I'd be okay with it to be honest.
What if, for the Tears of Love sequence, we implement your idea for the first Valentin scene? Guests see Valentin working through Tears of Love frantically in front of the screen, the screen shows the film, and behind the screen is a mostly empty theater?
I really like your ideas for the ending... the arson scene could be especially cool and E-ticket-y

I'm interested in working on the music and art for this stuff too, but I also wanted to throw out some other things I picked up on in the movie.
Focusing on the use of sound... sometimes it was amped up where you'd expect it and other times it was silent
Get the dog in there!
We need to accurately convey George's spiralling (mouth scene)
It'd be cool to make the ending seem like it was the attraction designers rather than movie folks

Anyways, that's what I've got for now, and now, I'm going to head to bed!

 

[JokersWild]

So I'm thinking that we should start keying in on the idea that George is a guy who's been on top for a long time, and he spirals out of control, but it's slowed by Peppy, who he falls in love with. I don't think it needs to be a real retelling of the movie because I don't think that would be E-ticket material to be honest... looking through the notes I took during the movie, I think that this theme should be central, even if the plot isn't.
I think we need to lay the groundwork for George being this entertainment icon, maybe with some sort of Audio Animatronic movie montage if that makes sense? Idk I'm tired so I'm pushing through haha
I think a lot of transitions can play off of the caption things
Peppy has a cool acceleration of her career and it's reflected in the way she dresses and who she associates with... if we figured out the montage thing, it could work well there too... just trying to think of ways to make this dark ride a true E-ticket tbh
I wonder if we even include sound from the scenes? What if we put guests in George's position in the dream? When the talkies start blowing up, they can hear piped in mechanical noise of the attraction running? I like the idea of amping up audio quality, although I'm not sure if it fits with the way the movie is... but I'd be okay with it to be honest.
What if, for the Tears of Love sequence, we implement your idea for the first Valentin scene? Guests see Valentin working through Tears of Love frantically in front of the screen, the screen shows the film, and behind the screen is a mostly empty theater?
I really like your ideas for the ending... the arson scene could be especially cool and E-ticket-y

I'm interested in working on the music and art for this stuff too, but I also wanted to throw out some other things I picked up on in the movie.
Focusing on the use of sound... sometimes it was amped up where you'd expect it and other times it was silent
Get the dog in there!
We need to accurately convey George's spiralling (mouth scene)
It'd be cool to make the ending seem like it was the attraction designers rather than movie folks

Anyways, that's what I've got for now, and now, I'm going to head to bed!

I don't think that we necessarily have to outright show how famous George is at the start of the story. I think that the dance scene (should we include it) would relay enough of that information without needing a huge montage. Unless, maybe, we shift my idea for the first scene a bit and have the large screen that guests pass through be surrounded by other smaller screens playing George's features? Something like that might work?

I also like your idea for Tears of Love. Having guests look through the back of the screen would be a super interesting way to convey that scene, I just really like the transition between guests literally jumping into the film, with George looking out through the same screen into the film's world as the first scene haha.

Music is probably going to be the most important part of this ride if we're really going to pull it off. Personally, I'd like for the music to update with the attraction as well, which is why I mentioned having the ride start with solely piano (excluding the introductory scene) before building into full orchestral arrangements. Same with the use of sound; start it sounding less natural before transitioning into actual real life diegetic sound. I think that your idea of making the actual attraction mechanically louder in certain scenes is super interesting. There would be a super fine line to walk to make it work, but i like the idea. That's kinda what I want to do with the LA scene that I outlined; have everything be suddenly almost overwhelmingly noisy. Also, I don't think that we should have any true silence. It's effective for film, but off-putting in an attraction.

I would absolutely focus on George's spiral more so than the actual story of the film. Keep the ride easy to follow, but thematically abstract.

I'm iffy on having the attraction designers show up at the end. It's an interesting idea, but I think that it's a bit too weird to really work.

 

[goofyyukyuk]

I don't think that we necessarily have to outright show how famous George is at the start of the story. I think that the dance scene (should we include it) would relay enough of that information without needing a huge montage. Unless, maybe, we shift my idea for the first scene a bit and have the large screen that guests pass through be surrounded by other smaller screens playing George's features? Something like that might work?

I also like your idea for Tears of Love. Having guests look through the back of the screen would be a super interesting way to convey that scene, I just really like the transition between guests literally jumping into the film, with George looking out through the same screen into the film's world as the first scene haha.

Music is probably going to be the most important part of this ride if we're really going to pull it off. Personally, I'd like for the music to update with the attraction as well, which is why I mentioned having the ride start with solely piano (excluding the introductory scene) before building into full orchestral arrangements. Same with the use of sound; start it sounding less natural before transitioning into actual real life diegetic sound. I think that your idea of making the actual attraction mechanically louder in certain scenes is super interesting. There would be a super fine line to walk to make it work, but i like the idea. That's kinda what I want to do with the LA scene that I outlined; have everything be suddenly almost overwhelmingly noisy. Also, I don't think that we should have any true silence. It's effective for film, but off-putting in an attraction.

I would absolutely focus on George's spiral more so than the actual story of the film. Keep the ride easy to follow, but thematically abstract.

I'm iffy on having the attraction designers show up at the end. It's an interesting idea, but I think that it's a bit too weird to really work.

That’s a cool idea of having the different films playing around the main screen... like I said, I’m just looking for ways to really push the tech and E-ticket factor, but sometimes simple is better

I think using some of the types of background music that they used in the film would be a good starting point and then moving into more and more noise, even if it’s not hearing the people talking?

And yeah, the attraction designer idea may be a bit of a stretch... it’s easier to suspend disbelief in a film showing filmmakers than an attraction showing the construction/designers I think

Interested to hear what everyone else’s thoughts are, especially on how Jokers and I should look at viewing these attraction scenes!

 

[spacemt354]

Just finished and wow, I liked it wayyyy more than I was expecting! That was great! I'm gonna take a minute to get my thoughts together and try and post something before I go to sleep lol

Props to you for going out and watching the film. Since I have a pick apparently for the finals I won't forget that

 

[Outbound]

Props to you for going out and watching the film. Since I have a pick apparently for the finals I won't forget that

ssssshs Space I watched it too sshshssh

 

[Outbound]

That’s a cool idea of having the different films playing around the main screen... like I said, I’m just looking for ways to really push the tech and E-ticket factor, but sometimes simple is better

I think using some of the types of background music that they used in the film would be a good starting point and then moving into more and more noise, even if it’s not hearing the people talking?

And yeah, the attraction designer idea may be a bit of a stretch... it’s easier to suspend disbelief in a film showing filmmakers than an attraction showing the construction/designers I think

Interested to hear what everyone else’s thoughts are, especially on how Jokers and I should look at viewing these attraction scenes!

I think there should be absolutely no sound in the first scene. Any dialogue could be communicated by a dialogue box behind the animatronic. This would hammer home the state of Valentin’s career.

Then there could be an audio test, very quiet, that becomes increasingly louder as we get into the hustle and bustle of 30s Hollywood (though all the sounds are seemingly random and unidentifiable). Valentin looks completely out of place. The sound exponentially grows until it is unbearable.

Also the dog needs to be in this.

 

[JokersWild]

I also watched the Artist today

 

[goofyyukyuk]

I think there should be absolutely no sound in the first scene. Any dialogue could be communicated by a dialogue box behind the animatronic. This would hammer home the state of Valentin’s career.

Then there could be an audio test, very quiet, that becomes increasingly louder as we get into the hustle and bustle of 30s Hollywood (though all the sounds are seemingly random and unidentifiable). Valentin looks completely out of place. The sound exponentially grows until it is unbearable.

Also the dog needs to be in this.

I agree with starting with no sound and building... really fits the film!

 

[JokersWild]

I think there should be absolutely no sound in the first scene. Any dialogue could be communicated by a dialogue box behind the animatronic. This would hammer home the state of Valentin’s career.

Then there could be an audio test, very quiet, that becomes increasingly louder as we get into the hustle and bustle of 30s Hollywood. Valentin looks completely out of place. The sound exponentially grows until it is unbearable.

Also the dog needs to be in this.

Disagree about no sound. We need music at least. Like I said earlier, silence works for film, but not an attraction. Aside from that, the music should build on top of itself and there should be a lead in/ build to diegetic sound, like you said.

In terms of dialogue, I don't think that we need dialogue boxes directly behind the animatronics. I think that a few dialogue boxes between scenes would be effective enough to convey the same information without cluttering the scene.

 

[DashHaber]

Disagree about no sound. We need music at least. Like I said earlier, silence works for film, but not an attraction. Aside from that, the music should build on top of itself and there should be a lead in/ build to diegetic sound, like you said.

In terms of dialogue, I don't think that we need dialogue boxes directly behind the animatronics. I think that a few dialogue boxes between scenes would be effective enough to convey the same information without cluttering the scene.

Oh, yeah. I'd imagine we'd at least have music. I mean, the main theme from the film would have to be present somewhere.



In either case, I like the idea of building up the presence of noise and more naturalistic sound from the more silent start.

 

[Outbound]

Disagree about no sound. We need music at least. Like I said earlier, silence works for film, but not an attraction. Aside from that, the music should build on top of itself and there should be a lead in/ build to diegetic sound, like you said.

In terms of dialogue, I don't think that we need dialogue boxes directly behind the animatronics. I think that a few dialogue boxes between scenes would be effective enough to convey the same information without cluttering the scene.

I suppose we can have the main theme play (as silent films often did have music playing in loop) but I would really want to emphasize the difference between the start and the end. Perhaps have the animatronics appear to be talking, but no sound comes out.

In contrast, I would suggest the ride ends with color. I know there’s no color in the actual movie, but I think it would make for a strong contrast and suggest symbolically life is getting colorful again for Valentin.

 

[JokersWild]

I suppose we can have the main theme play (as silent films often did have music playing in loop) but I would really want to emphasize the difference between the start and the end. Perhaps have the animatronics appear to be talking, but no sound comes out.

In contrast, I would suggest the ride ends with color. I know there’s no color in the actual movie, but I think it would make for a strong contrast and suggest symbolically life is getting colorful again for Valentin.

That's basically what I had in the outline I posted earlier. Have the music start with strictly piano before transitioning to full orchestra when George and Peppy are dancing. Then transition into sound by having it sound tinny and relegated to screen use before transitioning into a bustling Hollywood street scene with full sound. The have the finale turn to color. I'd love a projection mapping effect where the whole set is black and white, but turns fully color leading into the finale action. Earlier I compared my thoughts for it to the Broadway Melody scene in "Singin' in the Rain." Not really within the world of the movie, but it gives us a huge show-stopping finale with a really interesting effect.

 

[goofyyukyuk]

I suppose we can have the main theme play (as silent films often did have music playing in loop) but I would really want to emphasize the difference between the start and the end. Perhaps have the animatronics appear to be talking, but no sound comes out.

In contrast, I would suggest the ride ends with color. I know there’s no color in the actual movie, but I think it would make for a strong contrast and suggest symbolically life is getting colorful again for Valentin.

Definitely agree about the color... I think it was mentioned earlier but I think that’s important to really push the progression of the movie... like when sound progresses, color does too
Some music in the background at the beginning makes sense, although I still think it’d be cool to be silent at some point, but it could be too much haha

 

[goofyyukyuk]

That's basically what I had in the outline I posted earlier. Have the music start with strictly piano before transitioning to full orchestra when George and Peppy are dancing. Then transition into sound by having it sound tinny and relegated to screen use before transitioning into a bustling Hollywood street scene with full sound. The have the finale turn to color. I'd love a projection mapping effect where the whole set is black and white, but turns fully color leading into the finale action. Earlier I compared my thoughts for it to the Broadway Melody scene in "Singin' in the Rain." Not really within the world of the movie, but it gives us a huge show-stopping finale with a really interesting effect.

The projection mapping idea is super cool... definitely could be a show-stopping effect

 

[DashHaber]

That's basically what I had in the outline I posted earlier. Have the music start with strictly piano before transitioning to full orchestra when George and Peppy are dancing. Then transition into sound by having it sound tinny and relegated to screen use before transitioning into a bustling Hollywood street scene with full sound. The have the finale turn to color. I'd love a projection mapping effect where the whole set is black and white, but turns fully color leading into the finale action. Earlier I compared my thoughts for it to the Broadway Melody scene in "Singin' in the Rain." Not really within the world of the movie, but it gives us a huge show-stopping finale with a really interesting effect.

That projection mapping effect would make for such a great finish with the ending dance scene.

 

[goofyyukyuk]

So going back to the idea of how we relay George’s fame at the beginning of the ride, I know that the screen idea was discussed, but I think if we’re doing Tears of Love in a similar way, then I’d really encourage that we try and do some sort of Audio Animatronic montage... maybe like the split scenes that Outbound started with in the Pride and Prejudice scene a couple projects ago? Unless the majority of the project is going to be AAs, in which case we can do either

 

[Outbound]

So going back to the idea of how we relay George’s fame at the beginning of the ride, I know that the screen idea was discussed, but I think if we’re doing Tears of Love in a similar way, then I’d really encourage that we try and do some sort of Audio Animatronic montage... maybe like the split scenes that Outbound started with in the Pride and Prejudice scene a couple projects ago? Unless the majority of the project is going to be AAs, in which case we can do either

We could have a small tunnel, and on each side are the animatronics vignettes that turn on as the ride vehicles pass. Each shows George Valentin in a starring role with applause heard in the background. Then transition to the first scene.

That said it’d be way easier to just do screens of movies, as unlike the literature ride this is about film. Animatronics are an unnecessary cost imo.

 

[goofyyukyuk]

We could have a small tunnel, and on each side are the animatronics vignettes that turn on as the ride vehicles pass. Each shows George Valentin in a starring role with applause heard in the background. Then transition to the first scene.

That said it’d be way easier to just do screens of movies, as unlike the literature ride this is about film. Animatronics are an unnecessary cost imo.

I like this idea a lot... I know it would be an unnecessary expense, but the screens aren’t putting guests into the film like the AAs would, and since this is a dark ride E-ticket, I think it makes sense to have these extra expenses, right?