A Vision

 Okay so, my ideas have been changing maybe just a tad bit. It's difficult to stay within an idea without wanting to incorporate other things- but then it ends up straying quite far from the original and revised ideas as well as other scrapped ideas, etc. Or usually I end up going in a circle where I have an idea, stray really really far, and still somehow end up close to where it started. It's inconvenient, but my picky self couldn't settle on an idea until that idea truly hits. Like finding a soulmate but with an idea. But unfortunately that hasn't happened yet and my previous idea wasn't satisfactory enough to be developed any further. I think I might be developing my ideas a little backwards though, in a way.

In this case now, the story idea still ends with a death. Or two. But is it a physical death or a psychological one? Or a metaphorical death? Well. I'm not too sure yet.

Before I came up with the one I want to explain I came up with a different idea where the friend character is painting a piece that becomes their 'ultimate' work in the way that it's their final work, but with a sort of secret hidden in the painting. The main character has gone missing for a week by the time the main character finds the unfinished painting and figures that there's something eerie about the painting. The symbolism within the painting resembles death. It's not too prominent of a feature to the regular eye, but a closer look and some art history knowledge would put everything together (but I thought this idea made the target audience a too niche for my liking, so I have this idea set aside). The ending will reveal the missing friend who murders the main character to use their blood as the final incorporation to the painting.  The painting in a way represents the previous sins of the character in which they decided to incorporate both the blood of the resented figures in their life as well as the (the only) loved figure of their life. 

I felt like the middle of the idea might be a bit boring and I wanted to make a different story idea.

I have an idea for the film that I really want to do though. The sort of idea that isn't really part of story context but rather what I want the film to look like. Enough with what I'm trying to explain- now to explaining:

I want the film to incorporate a montage. It'll be like a VHS, similar to The Backrooms (Found Footage)

This means the setting will be when VHS was used, of course. It would only make sense. I wanted to capture like a low quality and eerie sort of video, which VHS are perfect for. The rewinding, fast forward, pause, and the overall visual effects have been used in many horror media forms for an uncomfortable and intense feeling.

 Another instance VHS is depicted to be eerie is the usage of VHS in the game Amanda the Adventure, a horror game. Though not the genre I'm particularly aiming for, the eerie and uncomfortable feeling is something I am aiming for.

In the most basic way of explaining, the montage will be like a collection of primary sources that reveal the main character's crime. The film will show only two characters, the main character and the friend. It'll start with simple, cute, and friendly interactions with the two characters interacting with a certain object (basically, the montage will show different sentimental objects and the two characters interacting with it). Multiple objects are incorporated and the content of their interactions will grow to be concerning. Not violent though, just uncomfortable. There will be certain cuts to the current timeline sometime in between the montage to depict that someone is actually watching the tapes, not just to provide context for the audience. The montage will end by around the 3 minute mark (including cuts). By now the audience will already understand who the person watching is by the little peeks from the cuts (it's the victim- honestly the victim would be more like the main character but they're both the main character depending how you look at it). The perpetrator walks into the room, which the audience will then understand that it's a sort of cage, metaphorically. The point is, the victim can't leave. 

The film will depict the development of an obsessive kind of love, though not particularly romantic, it's possessive to the point where freedom is restricted. 

It'll end with a connection back to when things were more innocent.

This idea definitely needs more refining but it definitely has more content than my other ideas.