IMOPRTANT: THE LATEST POLL IS APPROVED AS OFFICIAL BY VOTE. I WILL CLOSE IT TOMORROW. it is looking like we will be Rating (scale of 1-10) the script "elements", and approving (for use in the next stage) the top ranked 40-50%. We NEED someone to duplicate the "story lines and concepts" page, with the content reorganized in categories of "elements" and "main concepts". Seriously, can someone step up and tackle this?

@Elenion, in the future ALL voting will be nominal. I simply did not want to start this stage of polling all over a third time just to include that. If you wish to look at the results, there are instructions on how to do so on the Poll page of the wiki. @thepalalias in a public polling situation, I would certainly use y/n questions, under your same logic. But this is a small group of people who I'd hope are more concerned with detailed feedback than how fast they can get thru the poll. If you were looking at the first poll, that was a bad first attempt. The way things are, the majority want to use a 1-10 rating system, so that's what we will go with.

To be democratic, I think I will whip up another poll concerning what to do with the main script concepts. It may be that we will not deal with them until the next stage, but there may be ways to handle them in some capacity at this time as well. Any suggestions for me to put on a pole on this subject?

yes, there will be a poll on how to handle each stage. this last one is just a poll for getting us to the next stage. We need need ideas for

a) what to do (if anything) in this round about main concepts
b) what to do in stage 2
c) how to poll and move to stage three

@atticusd A couple days would be fine, I think. If you do it live on a new wiki page, several people could chip in and work on it, and the authors would also be able to make changes on their own of need be. Many hands make light work, but someone needs to take the wheel. Thanks for stepping up.

@atticusd thanks for working on this. Has anyone looked into polling plugins for direct wiki use?

Awesome. Thank you @Vitaliy_Kiselev

IF someone else could learn how this plugin works, that would be fabulous. I have no time this week.

The "Elements and Main Concepts" page is almost ready. I'll have it online tomorrow. Thanks for the patience.

Great start, @atticusd! I think you've got the right idea, but take it farther. simplify the "elements" even more. make them short and generic, very adaptable. Some of the ones you lay out contain multiple elements, and could possibly be separated, but for the most part, spot on! Just go thru and try and remove any heavy suggestions for "plot" from the elements. Here is an example of how I would brake down my own idea:

Elements:

1. Multiple characters connected by having the same name
2. Main character has flashbacks in which they are “other people”
3. Painful medical experiments
4. Main character hunted by secret task forces
5. Sympathetic scientist character
6. Traveling consciousness character
7. A trusted friend becomes enemy
8. Given an new identity in the end
9. Set free in the end

These should be generic snippets only, reformed and easy to implement with any plot or story. They must contain no specific plot or story stipulations. See how I have pulled “elements” out of my script, and successfully separated them from specific plot concepts? They must be very nearly, if not completely universal. This will make it easier to fit together the elements that we all like the most, once we get to the next stage.

Main concepts:

1. Peter Smith learns that he has been jumping from body to body, and that he is being hunted, etc. (Lay out the plot.)
2. (Main Concepts are story LINES, plots, overarching guidelines that are not universally compatible with other story lines or plots. For example, meshing mine with the “occupy Wallstreet” one would be very difficult if not impossible. We will not I think deal with these until AFTER we have surveyed on the “elements”.)

yeah, again . . . thanks. I've been tempted several times today while in the depths of writing my exegesis paper to take a brake and check in here, but I pushed thru for a good 7 hours. Like i've said, no real time in the world for me for another week here. But then I'm on Christmas break, and I'll push us thru this and likely the next round (then its off to LA in January . . . so excited!)

@atticusd Everything you did with my section seemed to be on track. Thanks.

Good work guys! I'll try to get up to speed tonight!

stuff like "johnny gets hit by a bus" is not really an element, though. that type of thing won't fit with just any story, that's the issue. I think it is better at this point to get to the underlying concepts of stuff like "johnny hit by a bus" and make it something like "an unexpected accident". This could be many things, rather than just getting hit by a bus . . . but it still completely includes getting hit by a bus as one possible concrete option under the larger general concept. (maybe its just semantic that is confusing us, IDK.)

and this isn't even touching on "1. johnny hit by bus. 2. johnny taken to hospital" - sorry, but this is a main concept, not different elements. separate, they could be elements. but together, they are a VERY specific storyline that certainly is not going to fit with certain other story-lines. we have to stay away from such concrete things in the beginning to allow for collaborative creativity. Just to be clear, we are NOT at this stage at all interested in original author voice. Don't take that the wrong way . . . we'll bring all these more concrete ideas and voices in at a later stage. Right now I'd like to get a bunch of really loose elements together and poll to condense them down to a smaller number of the ones folks are most attracted to . . . the stronger ones. AFTER THAT, we can each reconstitute some of the more concrete ideas, working of course with our generic elements. They'll be there to get the creative juices flowing, etc.

Do not worry about this not getting of the ground. @atticusd and myself share the same sentiment. I too will see this to completion even if I have to write it myself. But doing this together is more fun (even if a bit slower and more messy), and I think we will end up with a better script by working together.

oh, and @atticusd don't even talk about unemployed people not being busy. If you are looking for work, it is a full-time job. hope you find good employment soon, I know how not having work can mess things up real fast.

EDIT:
Ok, let us redefine our two categories:

1. PLOT/STORY LINES (anything dictating a concrete plot or scenario)
2. Generic Conceptual Elements (NO scenarios, NO plot points or progressions. Everything else. These can be parts of storyline/plots, but ONLY ones that have been extracted and generalized to the point where specific plot and storyline are no longer present.)

May be I do not understand anything in collaboration processes in filmmaking :-)

But I think that it must be pretty similar to normal filmmaking.
I mean less democracy, more order and results.

From my poor view you need some order.
Don't want to interfere, of course. Just some thought.

@Vitaliy_Kiselev
Thanks for your input Vitaliy! You certainly got a point there. Only problem I see is that in these initial stages and taking into account that we're using online forums as the main form of communication, if you start giving orders without trying to get a consensus, even if you have the best intentions in mind, you're likely to come up as a dictatorial douche bag. Right now we need some democracy to choose the base ingredients of the project, then the main roles will be assigned and everything will go much more smoothly (I hope). And by the way, you have every right to interfere and are very welcome to do so.

@B3Guy
Ok, then. I’ll start working on it. Let’s build this motherfucker up!