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Just in case you didn't already realise what this section is about, this is where you, the viewer of the site, can read about and look at the first ideas and other miscellaneous tidbits about the movie Masquerade. It's updated whenever I can think about what my first few thoughts were for the production.
THE FIRST THOUGHTS
--At first, the SGHs (Sangwine Generated
Humans) were supposed to be robots. But with the plot
of Reko and Yarlias's characters, it wouldn't make much sense, because
robots don't grow and they don't bleed whenever they get scratched, scraped,
etc. Reko would have found out too soon. This put the project
on hold for a while.
--Powerman 5000's song When Worlds
Collide gave the inspiration for the human SGHs. One
day, I was looking through a RealPlayer Installation CD, and it said that
it had some songs on it to try out the CD player on the disc. I flipped
through them, knowing they were from a few years back, and I clicked on
When
Worlds Collide -- Powerman 5000. These are the lyrics to it (and
the red words are what inspired me from the song):
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide
(science
and everyday)
Now this is what it's like
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide
Now this is what it's like
What is it really?
What's goin' on here? (Reko's
life changes)
You've got the system for total control. (Sangwine
and Paraxa)
Now is there anybody out there? (Paraxa's
hyperkinetic signals)
Now watch them suffer yeah 'cuz we can't go.
What is it really that is in your head?
(Vince's brainwashing)
What little life that you had just died. (Reko's
life changes)
I'm gonna be the one that's takin' over. (The
fight between Sangwine and Paraxa)
Now this is what it's like when wolds collide!
Are you ready to go
'Cuz I'm ready to go.
Whatcha gonna do, baby, baby?
Are you goin' with me?
'Cuz I'm goin' with you.
That's the end of all time.
What is it really
That motivates you? (Reko's
life changes)
Don't make me fly o'er this fierce star
(Reko is a pacifist and will not fight)
When you realize
That when we get there it's a nine-to-ten draw.
Who is alive and who is the devil? (Who
is good and who is evil)
You can't decide, so I'll be your guide. (Vince
trying to onvince her everything is the same)
In my world, they will be here, chosen
(Yarlias and Reko being chosen for adoption)
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide!
Are you ready to go
'Cuz I'm ready to go.
Whatcha gonna do, baby, baby?
Are you goin' with me?
'Cuz I'm goin' with you.
That's the end of all time.
<<You are a robot.>>
(Lyra and Lyko... ^_^)
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide.
Now this is what it's like.
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide.
What is it really when you're fallin' over? (Reko's
life changes)
Everything you thought was denied. (Reko's
life changes)
I'm gonna be the one that's takin' over
Now this is what it's like when worlds collide!
Are you ready to go
Cuz I'm ready to go.
Whatcha gonna do, baby, baby?
Are you goin' with me?
'Cuz I'm goin' with you.
That's the end of all time.
Are you ready
'Cuz I'm ready!
And that's the end of all time!
Are you goin'
'Cuz I'm goin'!
That's the end of all time!
--The original names and characters were a little different from the ones today. They were Aureuko (Reko), Vince (Vince), Neortho (Djai), Kenese (Kenese), Geotro (Dr. Hawethorne), Eodysis (Professor Turufo), Philaecan (Yarlias), and Rinko (Reko's younger sibling). The two organizations used to be named Cyacthys (Sangwine) and the Acanthe Troops (Paraxa). Originally, Lyra and Lyko of the Paraxa Faction were named Myria and Myrio and were in the Sangwine Organization. There also used to be a character similar to Vantie that was the Sangwine team known as Mastigia. There was also going to be a talking computer known as P.R.I.M.E.T., or the Pain Receptive Inter-Radial Electron Transmitter. (I have no idea what I was going to do with that... o_O)
-- Masquerade was initially supposed to be a comic book, similar to the Japanese comics, known as manga. This would have then been scanned into the computer and put into a Shockwave presentation as a cartoon, but I could never get the character designs down. Speaking of which...
-- The characters who were created by Dr. Hawethorne were supposed to have wild-colored hair, one of the few imperfections in his creations. For instance, Reko's hair was supposed to be blue. Mastigia (see original names and characters two scetions above) was supposed to have a strange color as well, but it was only to fit in with her friends, since she was a normal human. (It was supposed to be a joke on a few friends of mine who like to have a different hair color practically every month! ^_^)
-- Members of the Sangwine Organization had set uniforms and spectacular outfits. Unfortunately, I realised that converting these costumes into film and making them for a real person would be almost impossible, or I would have to hire Bob Mackey so he could figure out the strange patterns.... ^_^ If demand says so, I'll post some sketches of Reko's outfit for the Sangwine Organization, which she really didn't care for but got used to it rather quickly.
-- Djai talked a lot more in the original script. And it wasn't just to Reko, either! He talked almost everyone around him, but still only if it needed to be said.
-- Vince and Reko never broke up in the orginal script. And yes, Djai stayed alone. But a good friend of mine said that he was "too cool a character" to just sit there and not do much of anything. So I decided to spruce up the part a little, finding that he is my favorite character in the movie.
THE SCRIPT-WRITING PROCESS
--On July 11th, 2001, I bought the Dream Theater: Scenes From a Memory CD. There is a song on there called The Spirit Carries On, which inspired me for Kenese's character being so deeply into his Christian beliefs. I heard this song about a week after I wrote the "we don't have souls" speech that Reko makes. I heard it, and I wanted to use it at the end of the movie, but I remembered that scene and was kicking myself because I wanted to keep it in. That's when I had the idea of Kenese's dreams to become a preacher. Clever, no? Here are the lyrics and their significance to the story, coded just like When Worlds Collide above:
Where did we come from? (Reko's
questioning her existence)
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is there anything certain in life?
(Reko's life changing)
They say, "Life is too short,"
"The here and the now"
And "You're only given one shot" (The
final fight scene between Reko and Vince, oops a spoiler there!)
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that we've got?
If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on
I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I'm not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcned
I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try (Past
five lines all about Reko's questions about her own life; it's also my
senior quote! ^_^)
If I die tomorrow
It'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on
"Move on, be brave
Don't weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear" (I'm
hoping that people will pick this up as everyone who dies is remembered
throughout the movie's entirety)
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victoria's real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I'm here
It's perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means
If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on
--Something else I discussed with Rachel Maes....
In
this movie, I'm looking to do some colorblind casting, unless it works
out in a way that I think would just be so great and would express my views
so well... Okay, here's the deal. Since I've cast Reko as a
"white" person, I wanted Vince to be an African-American or other "minority"
ethnic origin, and for Djai to be "white". If you've read the script
(and this is a spoiler if you haven't, so go read it), then you know that
Reko breaks up with Vince near the middle of the story. (Told you
it was a spoiler. Now go read it.) She then pairs up with Djai.
Some people would take offense to that, saying "It's racist; you made her
break up with an African-American and she's white." Others would
say, "Oh, thank goodness she broke up with him. Interracial dating
is just so wrong!" The first group, I would tell them that I wasn't
going for that at all, and I'll explain in a moment why. The other?
Oh, I would have a field day! "Okay, which is worse? Going
out with someone of your own kind but of a different color, or someone
who shouldn't even be qualified as being the same species as you?"
Reko, who is an SGH (Sangwine Generated Human), would be going out with
another SGH in the beginning, but a bure-blooded human later on.
So, which is worse? Ha ha! Got you there!
That's all I can think of for now... 'Til next time!