Want to make a cinematic, need plot ideas.

[Mariux]

So yes, I know I'm still a newb at making videos. When using my editing software (Lightworks) I found some effects I'd like to play around with, but speedbuilds don't really need any special effects and I had to resist the temptation. I have decided to make my first short cinematic video, but can't really think of a good story line. I'm planning the video to be about 10-20 minutes long. No guarrantees I'll succeed though.

 

[AAlexandrosTGreat]

A story about two rival characters one trading guild the other pirate battling it off over and over until they both die...but their sons take over and continue the feud of unknown origin until they die...etc

 

[Mariux]

A story about two rival characters one trading guild the other pirate battling it off over and over until they both die...but their sons take over and continue the feud of unknown origin until they die...etc

Interesting, I'll consider that.
[DOUBLEPOST=1420999866,1420996906][/DOUBLEPOST]Any more ideas?

 

[Snk]

A trade captain trying to make enough money to keep his ship and feed his family. Unknown to him, his family is breaking apart back home due to constant reaver raids, drugs, and his wife never being home as she is part of a militia gun crew.

 

[jayman38]

A ship captain is given coordinates to an unmined blue asteroid detected by an amateur astronomer. The captain gets the coordinates wrong and starts mining an owned asteroid. The owner shows up and is angered by the trespass..... The ending could go lots of ways. Make alternate storylines! Example: A straight battle would be simple, but maybe have the trespassing captain realize his mistake and buy his life back with the coordinates of the unmined asteroid.

 

[MossyStone48]

I think the plot should parallel your own endeavors into the cinematic. You are in search of a vehicle. You are soliciting help and opinions in a public but select group. Your hero should do the same. They start out with a concept. They want to document a voyage from beginning to end. An outsider looking into the lives of a ship, her captain and her crew. Just as you'll need to find a medium, a director and folks who can handle the demands of production. The end of the story is simple: The hero, or at least their completed footage, returns home and their documentary is published.

Good luck!

 

[RobinZ52]

You could maybe have a story about a fellow finding his identity among the stars.
-The first act takes place on a backwater Terran planet (with only a few huts among the grass and trees)
-The protagonist lives with a few family members (sounds a bit like Star Wars at this point)
-The second act begins with a ship core plummeting into the planet in front of the protagonist
-The protagonist painfully and lovingly puts together a basic ship from the materials available to him (or her!)
-The protagonist blasts off, with his family watching on
-The third act includes him being taken in/finding his/her place
-Conclusion: Hero returns home rather well off in a fancy ship, and the whole family leaves, Star-wards bound

Basically capture the spirit of what the game is about. Just an idea!

 

[Snk]

If you want to REALLY capture the spirit of the game, here is what you do:

A man wakes up in a station with no idea what he is or what he is doing there. He makes a ship, blasts off, ignoring the man who tries to hand him a "tutorial" because he's a badass.

He warps into a star and dies, only to wake up in the same station. This time, he looks where he's plottted. Now, he's cruising along mining asteroids when a station snipes him out of nowhere.

This time, he's smarter. He stays on a planet, builds up his resources, and constructs a decent ship. His final days are spent fighting pirate stations, when one is just two much and he is swarmed by Isanths and missiles and dies.

Now he has no money and no way to do anything. He flies into a star with a core, and dies. The end

 

[questorhank]

If you want to REALLY capture the spirit of the game, here is what you do:

A man wakes up in a station with no idea what he is or what he is doing there. He makes a ship, blasts off, ignoring the man who tries to hand him a "tutorial" because he's a badass.

He warps into a star and dies, only to wake up in the same station. This time, he looks where he's plottted. Now, he's cruising along mining asteroids when a station snipes him out of nowhere.

This time, he's smarter. He stays on a planet, builds up his resources, and constructs a decent ship. His final days are spent fighting pirate stations, when one is just two much and he is swarmed by Isanths and missiles and dies.

Now he has no money and no way to do anything. He flies into a star with a core, and dies. The end

Is this your average game? :D

 

[Mariux]

Excellent ideas, everyone. I really like the documentary-style cinematic, as WarSong said, if I understand it correctly. Maybe I should go on an actual adventure in a multiplayer server myself and make a documentary-style cinematic? Though I quite like the idea of the hero in search of his place in the universe, too. The thing is, I want it to be deep. Maybe not good in visuals (I'll do my best though), but interesting in plotline.

Another possibility is a possible future of humanity. For example, it's year 2180. First functional warp-capable ship is built, Earth is exhausted from it's natural resources, humanity is forced to move outside the solar system. Cliche, but it's just an example.

One more idea is if the hero is a fighter pilot. Or a mercenary, fighting someone else's war and one day has to take part in an attack on his home planet...

 

[WaffulMann]

You could go for something simple, like a short trading run. Shows ships, stations, NPCs, everything in a lot of detail.

 

[Saxopi]

I recommend watching some of the works of Joshua Mutter. They're mostly silent films moved only by musical cues and sound effects, but they still manage to effectively convey the story.

 

[MossyStone48]

Conveyance is very important. On a simple trade run you might find yourself among pirates, mercs, less than noble trader merchants, poorly managed stations, utopias with dark secrets.. it's a universe of possibilities. You might start out just having videolog entries of some schlep just trying to make some cash that turns into an accomplished fighter pilot, trader prince and revolutionary.

If it were my story it'd be simple. A lackadaisical journey through the nearest reaches of space with a bit of lite hedonism and a shot of lime. It could still happen. With a concept like this your protagonist could go from cheery youth to a disillusion starbum then bounce back build a corporation, then tear it down from inside only to end up a farmer with a cat.

 

[Snk]

Is this your average game? :D

No, actually, the server I play on is pretty great. This is how I understand it is over on the larger servers where the forum warriors play