Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Challenge How difficult would it be...

...to write a fanfic like the Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield?

I have seen neither one, but both seem to mention that there is no incidental music. That got me thinking. Fanfic is that way. There is no music, there is no audible warning.

So, what would those kind of films be like in fanficdom?

James

PS:This is a challenge, by the way

Let me clarify: you're asking how difficult it would be to write a fanfic without foreshadowing? Without giving clues as to what is just around the bend?

Elisabeth

Maybe...I don't know.

Added later...

I guess I am looking for something that first person which gives no insight to the thoughts of that person. All we get is what they say, what others say and maybe a stark description of what is around them them without any colorful adjectives.

James

What I've done for several crossover stories is use an outsider's point of view - someone who knows none of the players and very little about what is going on. Case in point was a Buffy / CHiPS crossover in which all that any of the CHiPS people knew was that there was something a bit "off" about Sunnydale and that they had orders not to go there.

Of course this would be very difficult in the L&C universe after episode 1 because everyone knows who Superman is - they may not know him as CK, but they're aware that he exists and may turn up to save someone, destroy evil, etc., so if something did start destroying the city the reaction would be "Superman will save us" - a lot of the fear of the unknown disappears,

That almost sounds like a fanfic written in script form.

That could probably done via a journal, or message-in-a-bottle, maybe?

Not quite what I meant. I didn't want a reproduction of the two mentioned films, just the 'feel' of the two films.

AHHHH!!! :p ICK!! I hate script fanfic.


Sorry, initial reaction.

Maybe if someone found some video tapes and watched them...nah, it would never work

James, who is just trying to plant ideas

OK,
I've seen Blair witch project, but not the other one so will only comment on BWP...

a film set to look like the whole photography, action, etc was done via hand-held personal home video cameras (think funniest home videos/Survivor/Big-brother's video diaries... done as a horror film, lasting for 1.5 to 2 hours (can't remember exact time)

If I remember correctly (a number of years back now) the film did successfully create a genuine sense of suspense and fear in the audience...
however this may be due to the fact that while sitting there in the movie theatre for two hours watching a hand-held camera that moved around so much I really did (no joke) get motion sickness (aka travel sickness...) as I would if one were to sit on a roller-coaster for two hours.... I had to rush to the exit in order to throw up into the garbage-can


I guess it wouln't be too hard to do as a fanfic...

tips:

1. set it in the first person... I did this and I saw Jimmy do that...
2. Focus on the action not the scenery i
3.in slower moving parts personal reflections could be added about the scene...(OMG what a stupid thing for Jimmy to do... or other things one might think to oneself while reflecting on recent events)

4. Be creative with your plot the plot needs to be a big part and move as much as possible, because otherwise there will be too much reflections, and the suspense would be killed... but I suppose that is just my impression from BWP...


IN BWP the lack of background music is made up for as we hear a lot of breathing patterns and footsteps to fill in the blanks where the music once told us we are meant to be scared... this is now done by the fact that the characters are breathing deeper and/or faster

Perhaps also write it in present tense? That would add to the immediacy. (Jimmy opens the door. I gasp.)

alcyone

I think something in a diary format would work... but it may be hard to do for LnC because most fics are based around a handful of scenarios and settings. In most fics you know there's going to be a revelation, or they're going to end up together and the bad guys are going to be defeated, etc, etc, etc. The story is in how they get from point A to point B, but we all know from the start what point B is.

I think a fic like Bohemia (on the nFic boards) could work (and not just because it's horror/dark like Blair Witch), because as readers we have no idea what's going to happen next or how it's going to end. It's the first fic I've read in a while where I have no idea how the toys are going to end up back in the box as they were, and I'm not even entirely sure that they will make it to the box.

Helga