- Type
- Short Film
Internet Connection
In the year 2015, will we even remember how to connect with each other?
An original and thought-provoking film that looks six years into the future and draws some startling conclusions. The characters in this film seem unable to connect or form full relationships; even more poignantly, all the challenges to communication are ones that we confront today, and the techno-obsessed world portrayed here is a very logical extension of our own.
Marvin Simpson, 70s, is a kind-faced grandfather with a twinkle in his eye and a story always on his lips. He lives with daughter Charlotte, son-in-law William, and granddaugher Emma, who is 8 years old. He's still got plenty of life in him, but his voice is lost amid the din of cell phones buzzing, pots and pans clanking, and a life lived ten times faster than our modern one.
Marvin's family sends him to a retirement home, and he is miserable there. He can hardly find a soul to spend time with and the few he does find are unfriendly. A kind employee, Susanne, shows him to the computer cluster and he discovers where the other old folks have been hiding.
Marvin is resistant to technology but is hooked when he discovers that he can follow his family in real time - as Emma takes photos they appear on his screen, and he can text her in real time. The family lives its life completely on the internet, so he is suddenly clued into their inner world.
When his family comes to visit Marvin is tired and haggard - he claims to be happy and says he does not want to leave. They offer him a chance to come back and he declines, both because he feels unwanted and is happy with his new cyber life.
As the family leaves, Emma asks for one more story but Marvin shoos her away. He logs onto the computer terminal to see a photo of the retirement home from the car and the text "Emma misses her granddaddy. He's so far away."
Internet Connection will be told as much through acting and visual phenomena as through dialogue. It represents a tremendous opportunity to collaborate on lighting, camera work, set design, and acting: fast-paced scenes will have a quicker visual style and slower scenes a calmer one. The juxtaposition between warm and cool colors will represent the struggle between humanity and computer culture.
This film tells a story that must be told: the importance of connecting with our families and friends on a personal level and the erosion of this connection that we are currently facing. This type of dialogue is necessary in our culture and revolutionary in the role of a short film. If we can get together and do this right, it's going to be a film people keep talking about!
Marvin Simpson, 70s, is a kind-faced grandfather with a twinkle in his eye and a story always on his lips. He lives with daughter Charlotte, son-in-law William, and granddaugher Emma, who is 8 years old. He's still got plenty of life in him, but his voice is lost amid the din of cell phones buzzing, pots and pans clanking, and a life lived ten times faster than our modern one.
Marvin's family sends him to a retirement home, and he is miserable there. He can hardly find a soul to spend time with and the few he does find are unfriendly. A kind employee, Susanne, shows him to the computer cluster and he discovers where the other old folks have been hiding.
Marvin is resistant to technology but is hooked when he discovers that he can follow his family in real time - as Emma takes photos they appear on his screen, and he can text her in real time. The family lives its life completely on the internet, so he is suddenly clued into their inner world.
When his family comes to visit Marvin is tired and haggard - he claims to be happy and says he does not want to leave. They offer him a chance to come back and he declines, both because he feels unwanted and is happy with his new cyber life.
As the family leaves, Emma asks for one more story but Marvin shoos her away. He logs onto the computer terminal to see a photo of the retirement home from the car and the text "Emma misses her granddaddy. He's so far away."
Internet Connection will be told as much through acting and visual phenomena as through dialogue. It represents a tremendous opportunity to collaborate on lighting, camera work, set design, and acting: fast-paced scenes will have a quicker visual style and slower scenes a calmer one. The juxtaposition between warm and cool colors will represent the struggle between humanity and computer culture.
This film tells a story that must be told: the importance of connecting with our families and friends on a personal level and the erosion of this connection that we are currently facing. This type of dialogue is necessary in our culture and revolutionary in the role of a short film. If we can get together and do this right, it's going to be a film people keep talking about!
Comments (9)
Julie Flynn This pitch is particularly appropriate right now. Social media is growing more and more everyday, and the recent surge in popularity of Twitter makes the issues of connection this pitch promises to touch on even more interesting. Good luck with this idea.
May 18, 2009Rachel Stern ok so apparently it takes a while to submit and i hit the button 4 times because i didnt think it was working, which seems like the guy before me did as wel...sorry
May 15, 2009Rachel Stern Hey Michael, I do think this is an excellent idea. The internet has become something so fascinating, it allows so many more people to keep in touch with each other than ever before. However, there are some negative effects, ie, will people ever need to go to a reunion of any sort? They can just look up what everybody is up to online. The only thing I was having trouble with, this film only takes place 6 years in the future, it seems like a retirement home full of computers might be a little bit further away, but who knows really.
May 15, 2009Adam Robbins This is great! You've put so much thought into this. I especially like the necessity of a set designer to create the "character" of the room. And thanks for clarifying that point Pierre made. Reaction shots will be key.
May 14, 2009Zack Beauchamp Nice idea! The concept for the last scene already made me feel kind of depressed about the fact that I'm writing this on a computer. One suggestion: the grandfather be portrayed as sympathetically as possible when he is in the computer cluster. The more you see why his love for his granddaughter ends up distancing them, the more powerful the critique of the internet's distancing power is.
May 14, 2009Heva Jasmine Saadatmand I really like this concept. It is simultaneously fantastical and apropos. I would be interested to see how your pitch translates into a complete film, especially in how the actors relate to one another, given the context of distance and barriers to full human relationships. I especially like how you've taken into account so much detail, down to the color schemes. Well done, and best of luck!
May 14, 2009Justin Janness This is a VERY well written pitch, and I can get the feel of the mood even from just the summary. But, I do agree with Pierre that will the audience want to watch people on the internet. This would be a great novel or short story, but I would like to see how you would adapt this into a movie.
May 13, 2009Michael Morgenstern Hey Pierre,
May 13, 2009Thanks for the comment, I appreciate the thoughts! It's a definite challenge in the film, and I say it requires some well-executed camera work. The script requires that the computer be treated like a character, with a hum and beeps that feel like a cold, creepy emotion. Films have started to incorporate texting/emailing - two good examples are You've Got Mail and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and I think the key in those are the reaction shots - sometimes a silent face can be more powerful than a conversation.
Also, the script is written so there's never just text on a screen.
Best of luck with your project!
Mike
Pierre Stefanos Hey Michael - I liked your pitch - you used the images well and had clear ideas on how to make the film happen! My only question is, will an audience want to watch people on the internet or texting for stretches of the film? Nonetheless, it's a smart piece of writing! Good luck!
May 13, 2009