Help! In need of ideas/input for my screenplay!

[SpaceMutt07]

Shit, I've been gone for too long! I haven't posted here since... I don't even know! But I'm back, so you can all celebrate at will. But if not, you should help me with some ideas for a screenplay. I never quite get ANY of my screenplays off the ground, mainly because I can't think of anywhere to take the story and the characters, but I might actually have something here... but probably not. But seriously, I want to do a horror flick with the main characters being robots, and not the kinds with the synthetic skin and the impossibly perfected human appearance. I want this to be a character piece as well, show that perhaps one day robots can have feelings and emotions. But one thing I really would like to focus on is: In a world where humans are extinct and robots outlive all other organisms, what if robots had the intelligence to question their own existence and creation? Would they turn to a God? And what exactly would a robot god be? Humans? Or would it be the same God as the past humans? These are all ideas that get me excited to write, but I just can't come up with any sort of story or characters, and I would like to incorporate a horror element in there somewhere. Help! I need some input!

[butters]

Sounds like a sound idea. All i would say tho is that it doesn't seem to need a horror element just for the hell of it. It sounds more like a drama to me. Your off to a good start, you know what you want to comment on, e.g. ethics of religion and also technology. All you need now is a solid narrative, interesting characters and some good dialogue and you've got yourself a movie! :D good luck

[C-Desecration-]

I want this to be a character piece as well, show that perhaps one day robots can have feelings and emotions. But one thing I really would like to focus on is: In a world where humans are extinct and robots outlive all other organisms, what if robots had the intelligence to question their own existence and creation? Would they turn to a God? And what exactly would a robot god be? Humans? Or would it be the same God as the past humans? These are all ideas that get me excited to write, but I just can't come up with any sort of story or characters, and I would like to incorporate a horror element in there somewhere.


The first one don't concentrate too much on. We've had squillions of movies about "can robots feel", and nowadays the concept is just dull.
But, I like the idea of "would robots turn to a God," etc, even if it is kind of sci-fi movie-of-the-week-ish (COULD be sci-fi movie-of-the-week-ish).
If you want to come up with characters, robots offer you quite a lot of leeway. They're programs, all of them, so in this story of yours you could - maybe - have 'societies', or factions, that humans created in order to study their robots' ability to "react". For instance, put two opposing programs - two opposing personalities, since all programs would give the robot an individual personality - together and watch how they react to one another. After all, robots being able to react with a level head would be a priority. So maybe this world of yours could have factions of sorts where opposing personalities were moved together, but since the robots got used to this over the years their reactions adapted. So maybe if they ever branched out they, like, couldn't react well to a robot that wasn't antagonizing them someway, and would therefore have trouble co-existing with robots that were similar in any way. Like if the feeling of "love" was brought in one of the robots would kill the other because their reactions to that situation weren't honed.
Just play around with the whole thing. Robots are actually reletively unexplored in movies and books. There's still a lot of gray area to explore.
Maybe robots being able to give "birth" to weapons. Or fusing themselves with other robots. Or robots trying to find 'pain' and whatnot for themselves so they could be more like their creators (humans). Etc. etc. etc.

And about the God aspect, here's the only problem--if mankind had no fear of death there would be no God. So unless the robots had a fear of death they would feel no need to create a God, and if they could not die, then . . .

By the way, I know people post things on these websites, but it's a little dangerous. Let's say that you came on here and posted your synopsis as . . . okay--"hector and vick are two robots who go to college and party so hard they miss the big test! Uh-oh! Now they have to kill everyone for some reason."
I could copyright that synopsis and then sue you when you finished the script (as long as you didn't stray from the concept). You might win, but still. Because remember that schmoes aren't the only ones seeing this. Like joblo said, there are hundreds - thousands, maybe - visitors here a day that could see what you posted.
Just be careful posting here to get ideas.

[mary lou 102]

It's a neat idea! but the horror part of it would be weak at best. It is more of a drama than horror. Horror robots are the evil or creepy kinds like Stepford Wives or Halloween 3.

[SpaceMutt07]

Thanks, dudes! The input was well received on these parts, and yeah, a horror element isn't needed and would only cheese up the story. C-Desecration - I've given some thought to your suggestion about the robot factions and societies, and I think I've come up with something solid. I'll continue brainstorming, but please, if anyone else has any input I'd be glad to hear it (perhaps PM it to me, seeing how it's quite true that many people view these boards).

[Bear]

My favprite horror robots are the ones in Chopping Mall. Man, they were great.

[Kocko]

There's an Isaac Asimov story that deals with this. In the book I Robot and I think Complete Robot is a story called 'Reason'.

Two robotic engineers are on a space station supplying energy via beams to the planets. The robot that controls the energy beams has been given a unique ability: reasoning. Using this skill it decides that the humans that inhabit the station are unimportant, and that it serves a greater purpose (i.e. God). The humans initially attempt to reason with the robot until they decide that they can't win, and the robot can still perform its job well. The only difference is that, as far as it is concerned, it doesn't do it for the benefit of the humans, but for its deity.

[tvmorbid]

Originally posted by C-Desecration-
And about the God aspect, here's the only problem--if mankind had no fear of death there would be no God. So unless the robots had a fear of death they would feel no need to create a God, and if they could not die, then . . .

Not nescercerily (sorry cant spell at the mo) C, what if the robots forgot where they came from and created a God to explain how they came to be? And while they may not fear death as such, they may fear what comes AFTER death, thus creating a religion that goes along the lines of "If you are a good robot in life then you go to CyberHeaven" or somesuch (yes I know I've ripped that straight from Red Dwarf but I'm only offering ideas).

[Socrates]

hey you've got some great ideas

i'm a script writer myself and i want to help you

maybe someday u can help me

but there are few problems

1 there are already so much robot films: metropolis, A I, i robot, bicentenial man and much more

and robots having a so called god is already used in A I

but keep thinking and it will work out

my first script reminded everybody about the blairwitch

i was angry when they said it but after reading it i found that they where right and now it is alot better!

grtz socrates.