Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite

I'm so fortunate that this film is based off of pre existing materials, because despite the fact I'm still in the process of writing the script, and rewriting, the script, I'm still able to know more or less exactly which characters are appearing, and where they'll be appearing at. At present, I'm figuring out how they'll appear, and what they'll do when they do appear, aka, writing out their scenes.

I keep going back the beginning, because really the first 10 minutes of any movie is so crucial to getting the audience connected with the story you're trying to tell. And in the case of Bionicle, I have to attempt to explain that robots with elemental powers, great spirits, and mind controlled monsters all are just part of every day life, without it being complicated, or worse, boring (which is easier then one might think).

At first, I was approaching it in a very, almost, Alice in Wonderland kind of fashion. There's an early draft for a beginning sequence which actually placed the audience inside Tahu's head, with voice-overs of his thoughts, much like Bionicle Comic #1. Even the camera shots to a certain extent were first person, not fully revealing who the speaker was until Jala captures him in the Charred Forest. In the end it came across cheesy, confusing, and didn't even fit with the rest of the movie's style, for that gimmick was never used again. While somewhat artistic and fascinating, it just didn't work.

I think that was the only version that was completely ruled out.

Later came the "Briefing Room" opening. After the mysterious Toa arrival as seen in the current storyreel I have on YouTube, began a sequence where the Jala and the Ta-Koro gaurd were planning a Rahi hunt, and eventually begining their journey into the charred forest where they capture Tahu. This one has stuck around for a while, but the problem with this sequence, is that planning scenes might aswell just be labeled as "plot exposition." There's simply too much talking, thus in my mind telling the viewer TOO MUCH information, in a very short amount of time.

After that, came the "Public Announcement" opening, in which Captain Jala arrives at Ta-Koro, to inform the inhabitants of the village that there is an incoming Rahi threat. What I liked about this one is that I was able to keep it reasonable in terms of not boring the audience with information. I was able to bring up the general turmoil aspect, of the Rahi attacking villages, and Tohunga being scared to even wander outside their villages, without really awkward conversation. But in the end, the problem lied that in the story, it's in fact not a Rahi they find in the Forest, but Tahu, and being that needed to be a surprise to the Tohunga who discovered him, there was a sort of awkward "Well, we don't exactly know what Rahi it is" kind of thing going on, which didn't really make much sense, and just came across very awkward and stupid, which it was.

So, after those options, I'm trying a different approach, which I think will probably work the best. I'm taking a page out of George Lucas's book, heck, even Hayao Miyazaki's book, which is more or less "Throw your audience into the thick of things from the very start, regardless how foreign it is!"

Think back to A New Hope, that movie begins right in the middle of a war zone. Ships firing at each other, evil sith lords swishing his cape around, talking robots, a princess in distress, all in a itty bitty span of time. Throughout the course of the movie, you learn retrospectively what it all means, and in short, KEEPS YOU INTERESTED, and with the help of fascinating locations and characters, the audience will WANT to be.