Ideas for making a road trip movie. Has to be film rather than book because visuals.
Road movies are expensive, I assume, because travel is expensive. So you don’t do it. Maybe a few shots of the car interior in day and night, a few shots of the car exterior driving down the road, ditto.
However.
Car interiors are boring. The view of the road ahead is boring. After the first few hours, the people are boring because someone is probably asleep.
Exterior shots have to be pricey to get the second car in a position to film the first car. Plus, also boring after a few miles.
You could film in a stationary car on a set and project the scenery on the car windows. But, a) that looks cheesy & b) the actors never behave as they would if they were conducting half a ton of rolling death trap down the road. Too much looking at the other actors.
So skip it entirely.
The entire movie takes place during rest stops. The characters get out, they talk, they interact. If it’s a gas car, they mainly interact inside the store. If it’s an electric car, they have the added time of waiting for the car to charge. Plot points abound.
The movie only uses one set. Well, two actually. An outside set for the car to drive up and gas up/plug in. Then an indoor set when they come in to get food, go to the bathroom and so on. In the first scene, it’s called the Xpress Mart and has a purple color scheme. The next scene, it’s Gas ‘N Go, with orange strips on the walls. The movie keep using the same space. Just renaming and repainting.
Location changes are indicated by wall murals, posters, postcards, whatever. Characters can give non-decor cues, for example, ‘Pork rinds. Now I know we’re in the South.” Location can also discussed as relevant to the plot.
So far so good. Here’s the cute bit.
One actor plays the cashier. Every time it’s the same actor. The actor plays different characters, young, old, preppie, stoner, whatever. If the actor is male, he plays a female in one scene. If the actor is female, she plays a dude.
Either stop there or hire more actors to play other customers. Have a rotating group in each scene, again playing different characters.
Of course the audience will notice that it’s the same room and the same actor over and over. The characters never do. It is never mentioned in-universe. No snide comments along the lines of, ‘Hey, do you have a brother in South Dakota.” They simply never notice.
The movie never points it out. The repetition is there but never underlined. The audience is left to work it out. Reward them for being clever.
The whole things becomes a meta-commentary on identity and change.
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Afterword
Would this work? Does this have anything to do with how movies are made, or what works as a movie? Shrug. As before, I’ve spent close to 500 words considering a fictional universe. I’m good. [Location Scouting]
Inspiration. I got the idea during the long drive to the show for a lesson. [Change Partners]
It started as a person giving a presentation and using this idea as a product placement for a car. This method maximizes screen time for the exterior of the car, particularly waiting for an electric car to charge. ‘And the whole time, there’s the car, sitting in the background, being a rolling advertisement.’ Too much confusion without compensatory benefit. Dropped concept and presented idea directly.
Still not a short story complete with plot and all, but something. Someday I will have my own path to publication story.
“It was that I set forth to be more awesome. I kept honing my craft, starting new projects better than the last, producing other works, articles, music, essays, research, the blog. I made my fire burn bright in the dark. People do see.” Ex Urbe: The Key to the Kingdom, or How I Sold Too Like the Lightning
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 