I honestly have no idea how I’d approach writing the script for a movie about Shadow of the Colossus. It’s one of the few games where the sense of discovery, wondering alone in a desolate landscape is such an integral part of the experience, that removing it and turning it into a movie would ruin the experience imho.
I’m not hating on the movie before it even releases, mind you. I’m just saying that I certainly wouldn’t know how to do it, and that it seems, to me, an odd pick. Would 100% watch it if it’s good.
I think you could do a fair bit by following the priest and his soldiers that are chasing Wander more than the game did. He can provide exposition to the soldiers as they travel, seeing more and more pillars of light in the distance as they do so. Have some banter along the way to get us to like one or two or the soldiers as well. Play up this party’s protagonist energy.
In the meantime, let Wander talk to Dormin more. Dormin remains honest and helpful throughout the game, so I think you could easily add in concern for Wander and curioisity about why he’s doing what he is doing. “What a strange, fascinating little mortal. We do hope he knows what he’s doing.”
I suppose you could probably only show maybe three colossus fights max, including the ending. Picking which ones get done in full would be tough. First one almost certainly has to be on the list. I think the giant flying serpent in the desert is probably the best one visually, so that’d be my other pick
I agree, I think it’s feasible. Start with Wander getting to the temple, revealing the bundle on Agro is Mono when he places her on the pedestal. The first words can be Dormin speaking to him. Then cut to the priest leading his men along the path we saw glimpses of Wander taking.
Alternate back and forth, the priest and Dormin doing the talking, with Wander rarely talking, and to Agro when he does. With the focus on Wander adventuring through the beautiful world, interesting visual storytelling with him, Agro, and their travel. And then the fights.
Though I think you need 4. A human-ish one first, a four-legged bestial one, and a flying one, before the final one. Then the priest and crew arrive, and the end happens. I think it all depends on the director.
I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, but I think Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,) David Lowery (The Green Knight,) and Nicholas Ashe Bateman (The Wanting Mare,) could all handle a great movie with limited dialogue and beautiful visuals. They might need help with action, but they could hire for that.
I don’t know about the attached director, Andrés Muschietti (It, It: Chapter 2,) but I’m going to try to not judge him by The Flash.
Though I think you need 4. A human-ish one first, a four-legged bestial one, and a flying one, before the final one. Then the priest and crew arrive, and the end happens.
Oh, I was including what happens after the priest (whose name is Lord Emon, now that I have actually gone to check because I certainly didn’t remember) as one of the colossus battles. Just trying not to openly spoil a nearly 20-year-old game for some reason I guess. My concern is that the value of the colossus battles in the game comes largely in the form of puzzle-solving, something that won’t translate to film very easily. In the game, the fights don’t advance the narrative much. The deteriorating state of Wander and some of the environmental cues do, but neither of those require the actual fight to be shown in full. We need one fight to set up the nature and danger of Wander’s task, at least one more to make tangible that he has to do a bunch of these and they’re all differently dangerous, and the confrontation with Emon because that’s the conclusion to the story.
David Lowery (The Green Knight)
That’s a brilliant suggestion, that film was exactly what would be needed to adapt this game. I don’t have… well, much of any hope for the guy who is actually attached to it, but I suppose it’s unfair to judge him too hard before we have any idea of if or how it will actually happen
I think I was thinking more significant changes than your were. I’d go so far as to re-write it as 4 colossi (not counting the finale.) I’d be sacrilegious enough to combine elements of them along the feature-sets I grouped them into. For instance, the first of the four main fights could introduce the puzzle solving against a biped. Use elements of the sword-carrier mostly, probably. The smaller four-legged beast colossi could group well; it could chase Wander around some ruins, and end up fighting in a dilapidated arena. For the flying one, I’d have it start as fighting in a cave, going in the sand there, before bursting out of the cave and flying into the air along the beach. Then the final fight for Wander has to be against the final Colossus that you fight AA Wander; you have to hit that story best with Agro and get emotional resolution for it, which perfectly sets up the finale.
Basically for me the fights are an opportunity to showcase visual spectacle in both colossi and the world as he combats them, in addition to overcoming the challenge both in plot and the eyes of the viewer. I imagine the 4 fights being probably 15m or less each. (The first being longer, to lay out the rules, then shorter and shorter.) That’s less than an hour of hard action.
That leaves you an hour for the other three significant parts of the film: a) serene beautiful shots of Wander and Agro in this world to establish their bond: hunting lizards, camping, climbing trees, showing Wander getting less healthy, and showing the two of them bonding. b) Intercut that with Lord Emon and his men traveling and camping with Emon explaining their mission to the men. Add in a little foreshadowing of how they might have to face “the colossus” when they get there. c) Then the finale and resolution.
Lowery
Dude killed it with The Green Knight. It wasn’t even the scene with the giants that made me think of him, but the pacing and quiet solemnity that made parts of it feel like a storybook. That whole part with him coming up to the battlefield was great. The stop at the other castle felt like a whole other movie, yet still felt perfect. It was great. He could make a compelling story about a man and his horse. And I think that’s the part everyone assumes will be “the challenge” of the film, and makes me doubtful with almost any director.
I felt the same about the serenity and visual elements of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, if you haven’t seen it. The cast may not have agreed gracefully (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck,) but the movie they made is a masterpiece as far as show deliberate pacing with moderate amounts of silence go. Dominik was great for this. Add in Roger Deakins and it’s worth a watch and a rewatch, imo.
I honestly have no idea how I’d approach writing the script for a movie about Shadow of the Colossus. It’s one of the few games where the sense of discovery, wondering alone in a desolate landscape is such an integral part of the experience, that removing it and turning it into a movie would ruin the experience imho.
I’m not hating on the movie before it even releases, mind you. I’m just saying that I certainly wouldn’t know how to do it, and that it seems, to me, an odd pick. Would 100% watch it if it’s good.
I think you could do a fair bit by following the priest and his soldiers that are chasing Wander more than the game did. He can provide exposition to the soldiers as they travel, seeing more and more pillars of light in the distance as they do so. Have some banter along the way to get us to like one or two or the soldiers as well. Play up this party’s protagonist energy.
In the meantime, let Wander talk to Dormin more. Dormin remains honest and helpful throughout the game, so I think you could easily add in concern for Wander and curioisity about why he’s doing what he is doing. “What a strange, fascinating little mortal. We do hope he knows what he’s doing.”
I suppose you could probably only show maybe three colossus fights max, including the ending. Picking which ones get done in full would be tough. First one almost certainly has to be on the list. I think the giant flying serpent in the desert is probably the best one visually, so that’d be my other pick
I agree, I think it’s feasible. Start with Wander getting to the temple, revealing the bundle on Agro is Mono when he places her on the pedestal. The first words can be Dormin speaking to him. Then cut to the priest leading his men along the path we saw glimpses of Wander taking.
Alternate back and forth, the priest and Dormin doing the talking, with Wander rarely talking, and to Agro when he does. With the focus on Wander adventuring through the beautiful world, interesting visual storytelling with him, Agro, and their travel. And then the fights.
Though I think you need 4. A human-ish one first, a four-legged bestial one, and a flying one, before the final one. Then the priest and crew arrive, and the end happens. I think it all depends on the director.
I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, but I think Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,) David Lowery (The Green Knight,) and Nicholas Ashe Bateman (The Wanting Mare,) could all handle a great movie with limited dialogue and beautiful visuals. They might need help with action, but they could hire for that.
I don’t know about the attached director, Andrés Muschietti (It, It: Chapter 2,) but I’m going to try to not judge him by The Flash.
Oh, I was including what happens after the priest (whose name is Lord Emon, now that I have actually gone to check because I certainly didn’t remember) as one of the colossus battles. Just trying not to openly spoil a nearly 20-year-old game for some reason I guess. My concern is that the value of the colossus battles in the game comes largely in the form of puzzle-solving, something that won’t translate to film very easily. In the game, the fights don’t advance the narrative much. The deteriorating state of Wander and some of the environmental cues do, but neither of those require the actual fight to be shown in full. We need one fight to set up the nature and danger of Wander’s task, at least one more to make tangible that he has to do a bunch of these and they’re all differently dangerous, and the confrontation with Emon because that’s the conclusion to the story.
That’s a brilliant suggestion, that film was exactly what would be needed to adapt this game. I don’t have… well, much of any hope for the guy who is actually attached to it, but I suppose it’s unfair to judge him too hard before we have any idea of if or how it will actually happen
I think I was thinking more significant changes than your were. I’d go so far as to re-write it as 4 colossi (not counting the finale.) I’d be sacrilegious enough to combine elements of them along the feature-sets I grouped them into. For instance, the first of the four main fights could introduce the puzzle solving against a biped. Use elements of the sword-carrier mostly, probably. The smaller four-legged beast colossi could group well; it could chase Wander around some ruins, and end up fighting in a dilapidated arena. For the flying one, I’d have it start as fighting in a cave, going in the sand there, before bursting out of the cave and flying into the air along the beach. Then the final fight for Wander has to be against the final Colossus that you fight AA Wander; you have to hit that story best with Agro and get emotional resolution for it, which perfectly sets up the finale.
Basically for me the fights are an opportunity to showcase visual spectacle in both colossi and the world as he combats them, in addition to overcoming the challenge both in plot and the eyes of the viewer. I imagine the 4 fights being probably 15m or less each. (The first being longer, to lay out the rules, then shorter and shorter.) That’s less than an hour of hard action.
That leaves you an hour for the other three significant parts of the film: a) serene beautiful shots of Wander and Agro in this world to establish their bond: hunting lizards, camping, climbing trees, showing Wander getting less healthy, and showing the two of them bonding. b) Intercut that with Lord Emon and his men traveling and camping with Emon explaining their mission to the men. Add in a little foreshadowing of how they might have to face “the colossus” when they get there. c) Then the finale and resolution.
Dude killed it with The Green Knight. It wasn’t even the scene with the giants that made me think of him, but the pacing and quiet solemnity that made parts of it feel like a storybook. That whole part with him coming up to the battlefield was great. The stop at the other castle felt like a whole other movie, yet still felt perfect. It was great. He could make a compelling story about a man and his horse. And I think that’s the part everyone assumes will be “the challenge” of the film, and makes me doubtful with almost any director.
I felt the same about the serenity and visual elements of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, if you haven’t seen it. The cast may not have agreed gracefully (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck,) but the movie they made is a masterpiece as far as show deliberate pacing with moderate amounts of silence go. Dominik was great for this. Add in Roger Deakins and it’s worth a watch and a rewatch, imo.