This screenplay has the makings of a great character-driven, straight science fiction story, however, the execution was distractingly below the story's potential. The audio and cinematography were cell-phone quality. There were some scenes early in the film that looked and sounded like they were taken on a camcorder using the built-in omni microphone -- every echo in the room came booming through! Other scenes were harshly lit with exposure and color balance issues. And the CGI -- it looked like a cartoon.
There were also problems with the characters. They didn't seem to behave as you'd expect they would based on how the characters were developed. Example: a stoic, disciplined astronaut with multiple arm tattoos? I guess that was foreshadowing for the poor decisions that character would make with life-long consequences. Also, there didn't seem to be any highly planned and structured protocols for the astronaut to follow as you would expect on an important space mission. In a fantasy/scifi you can get away with ad-hoc, goofy behaviors by the characters, but this film is a straight, reality-based science fiction story, so the characters need to act like real-life astronauts and scientists.
That aside, the plot was easy to follow without any gapping holes or inconsistencies. The acting performance by Brandon Ray Olive (who played the sole astronaut on the mission) was extraordinary. You don't expect this kind of quality acting in such a low-budget film. He got 90% of the screen time and held the project together.
This film is a great sales demo for the screenplay. Maybe a major studio will pick it up and put a real budget behind it. Tweak it a little -- add a few more astronauts, hone the character development and dialogue, hire more science consultants -- and it could be another "Marian" or "Interstellar."
Triggers: strobe effects; text >200 wpm
There were also problems with the characters. They didn't seem to behave as you'd expect they would based on how the characters were developed. Example: a stoic, disciplined astronaut with multiple arm tattoos? I guess that was foreshadowing for the poor decisions that character would make with life-long consequences. Also, there didn't seem to be any highly planned and structured protocols for the astronaut to follow as you would expect on an important space mission. In a fantasy/scifi you can get away with ad-hoc, goofy behaviors by the characters, but this film is a straight, reality-based science fiction story, so the characters need to act like real-life astronauts and scientists.
That aside, the plot was easy to follow without any gapping holes or inconsistencies. The acting performance by Brandon Ray Olive (who played the sole astronaut on the mission) was extraordinary. You don't expect this kind of quality acting in such a low-budget film. He got 90% of the screen time and held the project together.
This film is a great sales demo for the screenplay. Maybe a major studio will pick it up and put a real budget behind it. Tweak it a little -- add a few more astronauts, hone the character development and dialogue, hire more science consultants -- and it could be another "Marian" or "Interstellar."
Triggers: strobe effects; text >200 wpm