(Click here for a printable version of this challenge)
THE STORY:
The “Institute of Eternity” is constantly at work behind the scenes, unseen by humans, monitoring all the happenings, comings-and-goings, births, lives, and deaths on Earth. It may be a drab, mundane space with fluorescent lights and rows of old-school desks, or a high-tech, busy office with cubicles and computers and bustling workers. Do Heaven and Hell exist? If they do, the Institute is the place that monitors all people and, ultimately, shepherds them to their final resting place. Lots of lives, lots of paperwork; sometimes a nudge here or there from institute personnel might help to keep things moving along. This is, of course, not officially allowed, but….
A confused, mysterious stranger, with no identification, reports for work at the Institute. Soon afterward, some of the people of Earth receive a mysterious message from a place identified only as the “Department of Death Reporting”. The message alludes to information regarding a loved one. The sender apologizes for they delay, and promises that more details will be forthcoming. Things begin to get disrupted at the Institute, typically a quiet and orderly place, as more and more of these messages are sent. Dread begins to grow within the hearts of the recipients, as they wonder whether the messages can be real. Tension and chaos build at the Institute, and the supervisors wonder about the origin and intentions of the confused, mysterious “Stranger”. The dread culminates as each of the message recipients finds a blank, sealed envelope in his or her mailbox. Each of them struggles with the choice of whether or not to open the envelope, and the potential consequences of that decision. Finally, each recipient makes their decision. At the Institute, the true nature of the Stranger is revealed….
THERE ARE TWO ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS PROJECT!
You can submit for one or both of them.
ASSIGNMENT #1: “Mysterious Messages” (Unscripted)
(Click here for a printable version of
ASSIGNMENT #1: “Mysterious Messages”)
Your assignment is to create a short film between 10 and 30 minutes in length. Your main character (who can be either male or female, any age, any ethnicity, etc.) should be going about his or her regular routine when an unexpected message appears. This message can arrive via text, email, telegram, etc. At first, your character may be intrigued, amused, confused, or offended by the message. It’s your call. Your submission MUST INCLUDE your main character reading the content of the message (either outright or as a voice-over, but it MUST be read in the main character’s voice), as follows:
“Greetings. I am sending you this message in regards to (name of a loved one). I am fairly new to my position, and I regret to inform you that my department is experiencing a slight delay. A detailed update will be forthcoming shortly. Please look for a letter from my office in the very near future. I apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause. Regards; T.C. Gray, Department of Death Reporting.”The “loved one” referred to in the message can be a child, spouse, parent, friend…it’s up to you. The origin of the message should be a mystery. (A text message with a return number of “777-777-7777”…an email which causes a “page not found” error message when replied to?) Your character may have a prankster-friend whom he or she initially suspects and/or accuses of sending the message (optional). As the story progresses, your character’s feeling of dread should increase as he or she re-reads the message. Perhaps your character struggles with the decision of whether or not to warn the loved one about their impending doom. There may be subtle warnings, blatant warnings, or none at all. You may choose to feature the “loved one” prominently in your film, or simply by reference, with no screen appearance at all. It’s your call. At some point, your character should confide in someone with a spiritual, religious, or somewhat supernatural nature (a priest, religious scholar, psychic, Gypsy, clairvoyant child…???) This is a MUST-HAVE: The “spiritual advisor” should imply that the message came from a realm outside of the mortal world, and may not be part of the natural order of things. He or she should discuss the fact that there are both light and dark forces at work. The light forces are natural and orderly. The dark forces represent chaos. This character can vocalize these concepts in any way you see fit, however, he or she MUST SPEAK THE PHRASE: “Confusion is the realm of the Devil.”
After meeting with the “spiritual advisor”, your character should return home to find a single letter in the mailbox. (For continuity’s sake, it should be a sealed, plain white “letter-sized” envelope with no writing on it). Your character’s feeling of dread should climax as he or she makes the fateful decision; to open it or not….What happens next is up to you. You can include any supporting characters, locations, storylines, etc. that you wish. Just be sure to get release forms for any actors, music or locations that you use in your submission (feel free to include titles in your movie, however; if you are chosen as a winner, you will be required to supply a copy of your submission without titles…see the FAQ’s page). Your submission can be a drama, sci-fi, comedy, action flick…even an animation or CGI. Let your imagination run free (just please be sure to avoid nudity or excessive profanity!)
GOOD LUCK!
ASSIGNMENT #2: “The Institute of Eternity” (Scripted)
(Click here for a printable version of
ASSIGNMENT #2: “The Institute of Eternity”)
Your assignment is to create a short film between 10 and 30 minutes in length, using this script. You are encouraged to be as creative as you like in your interpretation of the material. Feel free to add any dialogue as you see fit. However; we recommend that you don’t remove or severely alter any dialogue, as this may disrupt the continuity of the overall project. For scripting purposes, we have chosen genders for the characters, but you can assign your characters’ genders however you wish (but please keep the name of Mr or Ms Gray for your “Stranger”, for the sake of continuity). Feel free to add establishing shots, montages, etc. The footage from this assignment will be intercut with footage from Assignment #1, above (“Mysterious Messages”). The script is divided into four segments…these are the points where it will be intercut with footage from the other assignment. You can use these as a guide for your “in” and “out” points (fade in, fade out, fade to white, straight cuts…whatever works for your movie).
VERY IMPORTANT: If your submission is selected, you will have to provide release forms for all the actors, music & locations in your film. We strongly recommend that you get these signed right away. Don’t wait to find out if you are a winner…people may move or become difficult to track down(or become famous and get “weird” about independent film projects), so get these done as you shoot!
GOOD LUCK!
Pandora's Note
If you could know
the time of death
of your most
precious loved one...
...would you look?
