Story:
As technology evolves, so does society, so does organized crime. If you don't keep up you will be left behind. The Lords Of Lotus Land are stopped at a major cross-roads... keep with tradition or modernize. Talk of a changing of the guard? Whispers of a new morality? The Lords stand face-to-face with the monster of their own creation. Subdue it or be devoured by it? All they know is nothing will ever be the same again.
Prologue:
"They say entire societies have vanished for their inability to adapt to a changing world. Revolution is their only hope. Into it they fall old, out of it they emerge anew.
"I am watching 'this thing of ours' stagnate into a slow oblivion. I guess I'll just have to start a revolution of my own.
"If I could just find a way to introduce them to the more lucrative, more sophisticated, more elegant ways of modern-day corruption ... without getting my head blown off."
Title:
The story takes place on the streets of Vancouver on Canada's west coast, where a representation of gangs from around the world has been flourishing for years. News articles from the past 20 years show an alarming rate of gang turf wars and drive-by shootings for such a seemingly tranquil region. This part of the country is temperate in climate and adorned with natural beauty. Its stunning landscape of majestic mountains, rich green parks and glistening waters has earned it the magical name Lotus Land, the land of peace and harmony. But on the underside of this beautiful canvas a seedy underworld thrives in the dark. This film traces the rise and ultimate fall of the largest gang of the bunch... the fictional Lords of Lotus Land.
Scene-Specific:
I have long been impressed by self-imposed constraints, where people willfully accept restrictions they could easily avoid. Often the force that compels them is loyalty - sometimes to ideals, sometimes to other people.
Now it's normal enough to see the average person deny themselves certain freedoms for their loyalty to people or ideals. But to see a villain do it, to discover that some villains have the same emotions, beliefs, ideals and loyalties as anyone else - well, we find that quite fascinating. Even more surprising is when their ideals prompt the criminal to admirable action. There is nothing interesting about a good person behaving respectably, but it is completely unexpected and extraordinary to see a villain exhibit respectable behaviours such as justice, generosity, forgiveness, even morality.
As with most studies of human behaviour there is usually more than one underlying observation to fascinate us. And in this study too there is a second fascination...I have always found it sadly amusing when youth start their lives criticizing the adults they know - and then grow up into them, becoming the very things they once ridiculed.
Here we see the younger Bruiser criticizing the older Frankie for allowing his loyalty to their Don to override seemingly obvious reason. Yet by the end of the scene, the impetuous youth allows his loyalty toward his mentor Frankie to suppress his own sense of logic, and he chooses to remain as loyal toward Frankie as he has been criticizing Frankie for being toward their Don.
In both of the above observations on human behaviour perhaps this conclusion becomes evident... we all like to believe we are in control of our own lives, but in reality we and every decision we make are dominated - even subjugated - by the loyalties we choose to respect.
Delivery:
In making the conversation between the two characters appear seamless, the tone and pace of each character's response need to be hit just right. The pitch in the voice, the speed of the speech, and the force of the tone had to join fluidly to the previous line in order for the conversation to appear to be happening in real time.
I performed each line some 5 to 10 times, altering the delivery in one way or another. This allowed me a range of deliveries to choose from during editing so that at least one take might have the right pitch/speed/tone/etc to maintain a fluid conversational rhythm.
I was quite surprised how in more than one instance the tone, pace or rhythm of a line ended up being quite different from what I originally had in mind when I first wrote it. I love it when the piece takes to making its own decisions. It is then that you realize - your creation has come to life.
Collaboration:
I have several unproduced scripts I have written for features and television movies, some for animation. If you are looking for creative and unordinary projects to produce, let's collaborate. Contact me at jcaf@telus.net (Vancouver, Canada) and let's see if one of my stories ignites a creative fire.
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