A common criticism of the cinema is that Hollywood is devoid of original ideas. Sequels, book adaptations, rip-offs, there doesn't seem to be any imagination in the system. I enjoy film quite a bit, and find myself reflecting on this accusation of a lack of creativity. I am only twenty year old at time of writing, but several movies have came out that I had the idea for first, thus, I wish to set the record straight on the couple of original ideas that have allegedly came out of the pictures.
Inception
The summer of 2010 was blessed with a masterfully directed, edited, acted, and scripted heist movie about people that can enter your dreams. When I was in eighth grade, I drew a 40 page comic book about two guys that are trapped in somebody else's imagination. When discussing this comic with a friend, it was mentioned, "Hey, what if you're trapped in somebody else's dream, and you had to keep them asleep so that you don't die?" This is years before Inception. And if you remember, there is a Spongebob Squarepants episodes where he jumps from one person's dream to another.
Click
Summer 2005, I film a skit inwhich I have a remote control that effects the flow of time. I don't think anybody was calling Adam Sandler's Click original, but serious, I thought of it first!
Death Bell
This is a 2008 South Korean horror film about teachers killing their students for being bad students. When I was 14, I made a sound recording of myself narrating a story and added keyboard music later. The story was "The Story of Bob," a disturbing story about a kid named Bob, whose teacher kills students for talking during class or not doing homework. Listening to it now, I am surprised that I wasn't commited considering how messed-up the subject matter.
Kick-Ass
In my freshman year of high school, I was a part of a high school screenwriting competition in the greater Milwaukee area (I didn't win.) We submitted an entry, and if one were selected, one moved on to the next round of submitting a fully-written short film screenplay. The winner had theirs produced. My final entry was about a high school student that was beat-up so many times that he decided to become a superhero. He designs a costume, wears it to school, and slowly seeks out the bad guys in day-to-day life. Basically, it was Kick-Ass in its "high-concept," except without its level of violence and young girls dropping the C-Bomb.
Borat
At the same time that I was writing a short screenplay, I also was producing a year-long documentary about my life, entitled, The Life of Brendan 2005 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5UZUCbTM9Q). I used primitive equipment, and even more primitive techniques as I films myself walking around, interviewing strangers, making people feel uncomfortable, and getting myself into strange situations. I was Borat, except Sasha Baron Cohan was acting, I was being myself, but I created the same effect without a mustache and an accent.
I am sure there are others. For example, I thought, what if video game imagery were used in a movie artistically? Then Scott Pilgrim came out. Maybe originality really is dead, but that does not stop me from enjoying the movies.
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