Please thoughts on this idea...like would you be interested. So far I only have the first scene and if you actually find this interesting it's in the screenplay forum. But that does not matter...there are a few things I believe I have to research, too...so advice would be sweet. Also I'm afraid this has been done a million times before but that happens a lot... Ok so it's sort of this mysterious story so first here is the background, Gabriel (no last name) died at war but his body was never found. Him and his troop went missing. After searching for them for a certain amount of time, his family is told that he is dead. But the story begins with Gabriel returning home after he is announced dead. He had been missing for such a long time so it was quite a lovely surprise for his family when he showed up at home one day. His mother breaks into tears but his father holds all his emotions. Before Gabriel went off to war him and his father had a falling out. Extremly upset he goes up to his room where his mom comes to talk to him. He learns that his girlfriend, who he was going to marry when he reutrned, had their baby, she had been pregnat when she left. So this was good news, but there bad news was close behind. She was now dating another man who proposed to her once and she never answered him. Gabriel decedes to talk to her, to catch up but to also to tell her to move on becuase he can't stay there for long. He wants her to be happy. He also had to meet his daughter. So while he is out amending this his father slowly realizes his mistakes but still is unable to admit them. It gets fuzzy here but he is able to amend everything with his father. And then the day comes to an end (I'm not sure how long yet but I'm hoping to fit this into at least one day maybe two). The next day, his father actually goes up to his room to see if he wants to go out for brunch but Gabriel isn't there. Then there is a knock at the door and the father answers it to learn that they found his son's body, that he had been dead the whole time. Eveyrhing ends in a funeral. So that's a terrible, terrible summerized version of my vision...I hope it's alright I spoiled the whole thing. Hopefully it's a lot better than it sounds there. Use your imagination. Thanks!
I like the idea and totally agree on it . . . But , please , like Cogito has told many writers, do not post plot ideas. Some will like it, and others will not, it's jsut personal taste ( like eating oranges ) I guess I cannot tell you what to and not to post, but for everyone that dosen't like it, you will get discouraged, no matter how many people do like it. Cheers! Tell me when you start on it, if you do! !!!
That is so painfully true. All in all. The Plot is good. I have heard it before on some of those "Stranger then Fiction" shows, but it is still a good story of you tell it right. I would look up the rules regarding POW/MIA and being pronouncing dead. I do not think there is a time limit to the POW/MIA as to when they get pronounced dead. However finding the dog tags might get a KIA quickly. It takes 7 years after a civilian vanishes to be pronounced dead.
Thanks everybody! A few things, the first scene I alreaedy have posted in the screenplay forum. Second, I don't know really anybody who would know those rules but I think I might be able to ask a teacher who might know. Or a friend who's brother is actually in the military. Hmmm...that was my main worry because I am one of those people who sits there point out those mistakes. Thanks againg.
Well I had this idea, seven years would be too long for the story work. So maybe he was missing for a long time, but never prounounced dead. But the family and all the friends believe he is dead even though they hope he is alive.
You could just make him MIA or other options like his ship went down, plane went down, etc. I believe that the military does not need to find a body to pronounce KIA when things like "His plane went down" "His ship sunk" happens as the bodies can be destroyed/eaten by the calamity or just not able to be recovered, countless other problems as well can be put up to make a KIA an inevitable situation. Use your imagination for this and you might get some really good ideas as well as be able to put out a feel for what happens in a war.
Hey Thanks for the suggestions esp. the plane one because my dad was in the air force and might know a thing or two about that. So I could even have specifics. It's always fun watching Top Gun with him becuase he knows so much about planes.
Not to throw a wrench in your works, but this plot sounds eerily similar to the 2002 made for cable movie, "A Christmas Visitor." In this movie, William Devane and Meredith Baxter star as John and Carol Boyajian. Their son was lost in Operation Desert Storm and with Christmas around the corner, they learn that their daughter may have cancer. It has been 11 years since they celebrated Christmas following the death of their son ... but with their daughter in such straits, they decide that they need to make an effort for their only surviving child. Their faith is ultimately restored by the arrival of a mysterious stranger who saves the father from a mugging. The stranger is a veteran who like their son, served in Operation Desert Storm. In point of fact, he was in the same unit, though he claims to not have known the son. The father prevails upon the stranger to join them for Christmas. He also talks the young man into pretending that he knew their boy. As the visit progresses, a strange thing happens. The stranger knows things about their boy that he couldn't possibly have known. When the father takes the stranger out of town, it turns out that the mysterious visitor was in fact the long dead son. He is now an angel and he returned to his family to help them make peace with his death.
