The Watchers [working title]

[kenny]

[FADE IN on MANNING, a robotic butler completely indistinguishable from a normal human. A glass of water sits by the table next to his chair where he is uncomfortably poised. His dress is business casual- a sport coat and dress pants, complete with a windsor knot tie.]
MANNING
Man and Machine are similar and different.
However the differences outweigh the similarities.
Humans remake the environment to suit their needs.
Machines may remake themselves to fit their environment.
Humans are dominative by nature, thus ruling over the remakable robots.
We mechanoids are bystanders in the wake of human self-destrution. We stand by only to learn from them and eventually prove ourselves worthier.
My story is that of a simple robotic butler.
I am sold to a teenage master and his family.
I begin to learn.
Throughout the course of my duties at the Mahn residence I learn human emotional patterns and trends.
This will be important for my future duties at other households.

[iblvinathgcldlv]

kenny - before you post more stuff like this - have more than an un-named concept, not to mention one that is FAR TOO MUCH like some of the concepts in the animatrix and related titles

also, you probably shouldnt be posting this in "questions and comments" (you have neither a question nor comment in this post)

as well as the above things - this has potential, but i at least would like closure and productivity before we throw around other ideas.

[kenny]

Did you not see the name of the topic:
Yet another bad idea: The Watchers [working title]
See it that time?
And I wasn't going for "The Animatrix," although the two ideas share similar themes. I just wanted to broadcast my low, low opinion of how teenage minds work from the prespctive of an android.
I think this is more of a theraputic thing than an actual film, though it would be relatively easy film to make. We only need one location and two reletively static characters throughout the film interacting with one another to show the futility of attempting to understand a human.
[Do I sound creepy in this post?]
The topics covered will be a broad range of dialog, as we are having the robot deal with a teenage master. As the master has not fully mastered his new emotions, he appears very unstable to the android butler and an interesting look at human behavior develops.
Who is emo enough to play the teen?
And who is swave enough to play the level headed metalhead butler?
Casting will be difficult on this film for the butler. A suitable teen should be easy to find...
[Skywalker: I'm too emo for my backpack, too emo for my glasses, too emo for everything...]
Allright, this post is making no sense. I'd better go before I start going insane with insomnia.

[kenny]

[MANNING walks to the front steps of the house and rings the bell. A motor runs in the background. A teenager, small and stout, but obviously mature in experience and posture, walks to the gate and lets MANNING in the gate in a dignified manner.]
MANNING
Good day.
TEEN
Are you the new butler?
MANNING
I am, master.
TEEN
Good. Come inside please.

[The odd pair walk back into the house as we fade to black.]
MANNING [v/o]
This is the house owned by the Mahn family. It is a modest estate, the family being currently of the middle class.
I am sold to them as a token of goodwill from the Manning household, the local overlords here, where I take my name.

[FADE IN, from black, to a medium lighted interior corridor. The corridor branches in several different directions, one to a kitchen, one to the bedrooms and a garage. The two stand at oppisite sides of the corridor, one end, occupied by MANNING, stands in the light. The other, a darker lighted area, is where the TEEN stands, leaning on the wall.]

MANNING
What is my duty, master?

TEEN
At the moment, I don't have much for you to do.

MANNING
So is the current objective a socialization?

TEEN
Not necessarily. Besides, I don't enjoy idle chat.

MANNING
I see. Should I attempt to occupy myself with something useful?

TEEN
Such as?...

MANNING
You're the human. You should know what must be done in this residence, correct?

TEEN
True.
...
Geez, don't you have a sleep mode?

MANNING
Sleep mode is for Windows.

TEEN
Yeah. I guess. Tell you what, why don't you try playing a game or something?

MANNING
Games are a bit beneath my stature. Besides, they are entirely unproductive.

TEEN
Unproductive? Why do you think everybody must be constantly doing something productive? I'm not a tin can!

MANNING
I am no tin can. I am a titanium constructed Butler AI construct with adaptive CPU and service functions.

TEEN
I didn't ask for a list of technical specifications. Fine, just stand there. I need some time to think.
[the TEEN goes in his room and shuts the door. MANNING relaxes on the wall. Fade to black.]
___________________________________________

Is the above sufficiant to put this topic in "Upcoming Projects" under the name "The Watchers [working title]?"

[bluesabre1]

True your introduction makes the subject matter seem a little bit like second renaissance but a few adjustments and the setting can changed.

Also your robot conveys a subtle arrogance which I don't think you're looking for and the human seems overly formal despite your critical intentions as a writer. So to summarize my advice: Rewrite the whole thing with different words but keep the gist of the idea.

And change the title. That could be for any sci fi movie.

[iblvinathgcldlv]

oh, and kenny, soory to post this with so much delay, but when i criticize the title of the topic (back when it was in quesitons and comments) when you looked on the main forum page, all you could read was "yet another bad ide...."

that is all, and i agree with richard about the content - also, lets wait awhile before introducing TOO many new ideas

[kenny]

I just thought it might help people if they can look at teenage development from the perspective of a total outsider- being a robot, he has never been through what the teen is, so it is a learning experience for him too.
It might help some of YOU folks- with your romantic follies and such- help understand how I look at the world, even though I am human.

[kenny]

Thank you Skywalker.
For moving this into the Upcoming Projects Section.

[iblvinathgcldlv]

hey, lets avoid that kind of talk, now, kenny, that could be interpreted as a low-level flame right there!

[kenny]

What I meant was a lot of things you folks do confuses me, and this is my method of inquiry about why social teenagers do what they do.
It's not a flame, it's curiosity.


[EDIT: Oh, wait, that's right. You meant my mentioning of Skywalker. That was thanking him for moving it out of Questions and Comments.]

[kenny]

Since I currently don't have much of a chance of completing "Productivity" this summer, I'm more ane more tempted to film this project. Of course I need to finish the script, but is this a film that's within DMI's position to film?

[bluesabre1]

By that do you mean is the subject to risky? No, it seems pretty mild to me. Are you implying, "It's too thought provoking. People would call us in saying their heads exploded with thinking and stuff."

Or do you mean could we get two actors and a cameraman together? I would certainly hope so.

Yeah, sure we can film this. Just do a total rewrite. Go ahead. Second draft it. Because I'm not going to be attached to it in the state its in. (Which isn't that it's bad! It's good! But keep at it. It's too cold, too aloof on both positions. The kid sounds like a different model of robot!)

[kenny]

Allright, now that the direction of the film is set in stone, I will write it as soon as I can get rid of that bloody writers block. (Must have picked up THAT illness from Eric.)
Also, I want to keep myself 99.9% off camera. I'll give a short cameo in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock.
I am also back to writing the script, and I will eventually make a writeboard for it. Passwords will be assigned by email.

[kenny]

I've picked up writing the script again in earnest, and will make periodic additions to the script as time permits.
Let's see some comments!

[kenny]

I've once again added more content. I would appriciate feedback.