Official: Rotor DR1 Community Collaboration Thread

[RoyBro]

I kinda jumped ahead... I would prefer that the drones not be self aware or be controlled by some super computer intelligence. I would rather see the drones controlled by people. Good, bad, self serving, etc. The message being that drones are neither good nor evil. They are just tools of those controlling them.

That being said, I do like the companion drone story as well. Hey, I liked Wall-E too.

Maybe the companion drone is an advanced prototype. Or built by the kid's genius father who sent the drone to find the kid, getting damaged along the way. The kid (does it have to be a boy) equally genius, doesn't trust the drone at first, and even tries to destroy it as he /she does all drones. Until she sees something different about this particular drone. After trust issues are resolved, kid sets to repairing, even upgrading the drone.

Of course we need a long lasting power source. I like an advanced, highly efficient solar cell.

I think I got carried away.

 

[BankNYank!]

There is a movie called "A Boy And His Dog" that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The boy communicates telepathically with the dog and he uses the dog to find food and... women. The "boy", who is much rather a man, is rather sex crazed in the movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072730/ It's a weird movie to say the least.

I was thinking more along the lines of Benji or Lassie.

 

[rcspaceflight]

I was thinking more along the lines of Benji or Lassie.

Yeah... it's a rather dark, weird, messed up movie that I probably shouldn't have mentioned.

 

[meganry]

Maybe the companion drone is an advanced prototype. Or built by the kid's genius father who sent the drone to find the kid, getting damaged along the way. The kid (does it have to be a boy) equally genius, doesn't trust the drone at first, and even tries to destroy it as he /she does all drones. Until she sees something different about this particular drone. After trust issues are resolved, kid sets to repairing, even upgrading the drone.

I get the impression that the hero is pretty set in stone as a boy, but I'd like to see a female character in the story somewhere. Not necessarily the superhero movie stereotype of the woman that just kicks everyone's butt or the token romantic interest, because that could get hokey fast.

I'd rather see someone who is mentally strong and extremely resourceful. Maybe she helps the hero repair the drone after some bad guys attack, then they become allies. Or something, I don't know. Just throwing ideas out haha.

 

[stay-fun]

+1 on the female character! Maybe not a tech-nerd like the boy probably will be, but definitely not a noob! It'd be great if she could ask questions and give insights to what he's doing. Like Passepartout (around the world in 80 days) (or Josh S for that matter)... but still a knowledgeable person, as I (we?) don't want to let people think that girls don't know anything about this stuff!

 

[BankNYank!]

+1 on the female character! Maybe not a tech-nerd like the boy probably will be, but definitely not a noob! It'd be great if she could ask questions and give insights to what he's doing. Like Passepartout (around the world in 80 days) (or Josh S for that matter)... but still a knowledgeable person, as I (we?) don't want to let people think that girls don't know anything about this stuff!

Maybe it could be the other way around. What if the hero, while able to fix most things on DR-1, needs help in one area (maybe programming) and seeks out the help of this female character? Or maybe she's a super connected scavenger and she has the rare parts or knows who does or where to get them. This could send the two characters on a mission together so you could really get to know her. I agree with leaving out any romantic interest though. Talk about cliché. This female character could be a long time friend but not someone the hero sees very often for whatever reason. Maybe they grew up together but one of them had to move away. What if her dad was never in the picture and she was raised by mom. Then one day, back when she was younger, the bad guys came and took mom away. Or what if mom just left her? Like one morning the girl woke up and mom was gone? You could make it obvious mom left or make it a mystery. Putting mysteries like that in at the beginning of a story is nice because you can use those mysteries to tie things together later on. Or it can just be revealed anticlimactically. The girls mom really did just leave her. So anyway, then the girl had to go live with other relatives in another village/town or whatever community's they have. I see her as being strong and motivated but not overbearing or tomboyish. Maybe, if she is well received by the viewers, she could end up being with the hero for a portion of his journey.

Anyway, that's my take on a female character.

 

[RoyBro]

So is this movie, media, series, whatever, a vehicle for testing the interactivity of the community, or is there going to be a message, or moral, or agenda?

 

[Craftydan]

While I'm all for incluson and having a female character for, well, females to identify with . . . how strongly will the story revolve around "a boy and his Drone"? depth in the story is nice, and there needs to be more than two characters and scenery . . . but how much would the female protaginist(ish) detract from the focus storyline? It could be added depth, could be a distraction . . . dunno.

As for the Drone being special . . . hokey mechanism, yeah, but how could it not be? If all the drones are out to . . . well . . . whatever the neferious plot against humanity (vampire drones, Jhtsma, that's Crazy cool but dark ), this relationship can only form if the drone is different somehow, and the boy could only bond with him if he's different somehow . . . on the hero's journey to find/help his dad . . . sure good enough for him.

but DR-1? I've been thinking about drone classes . . . what class of drone is DR-1? I'm thinking he's a soldier command drone with a broken radio. As a command drone he has higher than averege intelegence and autonomy. Without the radio, he can't command his soldiers, and without a link back to his kind, he's guided with the last order he's recieved . . . hunt and capture the hero . . . but now what? well not kill, wasn't in the orders . . . defend then . . . accompany . . . and slowly bonds with the boy -- a bond that will have to be challeneged at some later time . . .

. . . neat stuff

 

[BankNYank!]

It's been hit on a couple times and most recently by RoyBro and I have to agree. I'm kinda leaning to all the other drones being non-intelligent and mission based. rcspaceflight said like the drones in Empire Strikes Back at the beginning on the planet of Hoth. I honestly don't remember them in that movie but I do remember the one's in the first prequel that the Darth guy with the red and black painted face set off when he was riding his floating motorcycle. I think that would be a good way to go. Make all the other drones mission based and make DR-1 sentient. Maybe the father's job while in captivity is working on a sentient "flight controller" for lack of a better word and he has been telling his captors that progress is going slower than it really is and he built the prototype in secret and put it in DR-1. We could lock in the fact that DR-1 is going to be the only sentient drone for a while by having the father destroy the files he made to create DR-1. Or maybe he built the sentient DR-1 before he was captured in his own lab and he destroyed all the data when the bad guys came to kidnap him.

I don't know if it's usable, but thinking along these same lines, what if DR-1 was left behind in his old lab and the father has found a way to communicate with DR-1 from captivity, sending it mission updates but the father can't reveal who he is for fear of being discovered and DR-1 doesn't actually know. Maybe it could be revealed later on. But thinking in this direction lets say, after being captured, the father is able to contact DR-1 who has been sitting dormant in his lab or a secret location and he boots him up and uploads the mission protocol. "Find my son. Lead him on this mission to save the universe. Keep him safe at all cost!" Maybe it could be easier for the son to meet DR-1 that first time after the father reactivates it if the son can remember as a little boy, being in his fathers lab and watching his dad build DR-1 and test flying it. Upon seeing DR-1 and remembering, this would cause several things. 1. He thought his father was dead. Now he knows he's alive! 2. DR-1 must be there to lead him to his father! Which in fact isn't the case. DR-1 is there to lead him on this mission. As a twist, what if his mother was believed to have died when he was very young and he's never doubted that and in fact his dad really is dead , or being held in a prison camp under horrible conditions if you want to reunite the family at the end of the story. And its actually his mother that sent DR-1 to him? This of course would not be revealed to the viewer until way later in the story. Maybe not even until the boy meets his mother. For the longest she could just be shown as this woman who for some mysterious reason is shown to the viewer doing these secret little things. Maybe she is just a secretary for the bad guys but throughout the series you see her doing all these little things while avoiding detection. Stealing files, tapping on a keyboard while looking around hoping shes not caught, plugging mini flash drive type modules into computers. You could push the story really hard that its the father who sent DR-1 without actually ever saying it is. Just in the boys belief alone. And you could push the story that the woman is some kind of a spy imbedded in the enemy home office. And maybe she is. But shes also the boys mother and like I said, shes the one that activated DR-1. And no one would ever know until the end of the story when the two character actually meet.

Wow. I really went off rambling again! My point to this post was supposed to be, all the other drones are mission based and people use them in their daily routines. The "follow me" flight mode could be used extensively for average people doing daily chores. Maybe they just wear a simple wrist band with a button. This would give awesome opportunities for the viewers to see how drones can be used for good on a daily basis. But then again I do like the idea that drones are hated by people and this causes problems for the boy and his drone. Good drama there. But then again, I think this series would be a good opportunity to get the word out that drones in civilian hands aren't bad and in fact can be useful and painting them as the evil enemy of mankind is really not a good idea. "Drones" already get enough bad press.

 

[rcspaceflight]

rcspaceflight said like the drones in Empire Strikes Back at the beginning on the planet of Hoth. I honestly don't remember them in that movie

I found this video to refresh your memory. But it's actually someone's re-edit of clips of the movie to focus on the drone. Which fits this situation perfectly.

 

[BankNYank!]

I found this video to refresh your memory. But it's actually someone's re-edit of clips of the movie to focus on the drone. Which fits this situation perfectly.

I remembered them as soon as I saw your youtube post with the preview image!

Those are a good example. They don't have to be intelligent, they are just preprogrammed to carry out a mission. In these guys case it's to search for the rebels. The ones I was talking about looked a lot different but they had the same mission, to search for people. In that instance jedi if I remember correctly.

Following along those lines I can see Craftydan's class system coming into play. Each class is built differently to be able to carry out their assigned job with different preprogrammed routines. In a world where there is no government and no infrastructure, the poorer common class of people could have the future version of a carrier pidgin. They would be fast and sleek using speed to get the message there quickly and avoid attackers. Just one idea of one class. Crafty-D was on a roll earlier listing out different classes and their purpose.

I still like CD's idea of "power pellets" (gotta find a better name for those!) It would be interesting to, rather than having charging stations there are reload stations where the drones drop off their spent pellets and pick up new ones. If you put them up high, maybe on "towers" that have self defense mechanisms which also alert the bad guys that someone is attacking. This would make a really cool cinematic shot if the hero was able to disable one of these towers without it calling for help and climb to the top to get pellets for DR-1 who would have to be disabled at the time otherwise he could just fly up there and get them himself. I can imagine him standing up there around say, a hundred feet up, looking around or maybe in the direction he is headed, while a camera slowly pans around him taking in the awesome background scenery while keeping the hero in the shot. Maybe a communications tower or a fire tower could be used for this shot? Anyway, I'm rambling again. Last thing, I also like Craftydan's idea of these pellets being used for currency. Maybe the fully charged ones glow brightly and the more they are discharged the less they glow becoming less valuable. I can see these being the new world version of gold. Not only would these be very valuable to use to barter but displaying one openly might also raise questions in poorer communities and possibly cause the holder to be robbed if not careful. Where did you get these? Is there more? Take us to the place you found these. Something along those lines.

 

[StoneKap]

So is this movie, media, series, whatever, a vehicle for testing the interactivity of the community, or is there going to be a message, or moral, or agenda?

Our vision is to innovate the way entertainment is created. By having community input throughout the entire series it'll be a truly collaborative effort.

I see it as either 12 X 10 minute episodes or 6 X 20 minute episodes. We can make further adjustments between the release of each episode keeping it dynamic. Then we can edit it into a full length feature film.
What do you guys think?

 

[BankNYank!]

Our vision is to innovate the way entertainment is created. By having community input throughout the entire series it'll be a truly collaborative effort.

I see it as either 12 X 10 minute episodes or 6 X 20 minute episodes. We can make further adjustments between the release of each episode keeping it dynamic. Then we can edit it into a full length feature film.
What do you guys think?

I'm behind this project a hundred and ten percent! Just in case you hadn't noticed. Maybe I'm being a little to over zealous. I like to think I have a rather creative imagination and I love giving creative input in this project. I like the build. I like taking a concept that someone else comes up with and interacting with others to build a common story. Even if my input is just a very small part of the much bigger picture. That and the idea that even one of my suggestions might make it into the series has me very excited!

 

[Splatwillicrash]

Per Eric's contract

Oh - as part of Eric's contract, include a provision that he must make everyone coffee at least twice a day.

OH HECK YEAH.... Eric Morrow, Craft Services....

 

[Splatwillicrash]

Perhaps the Drones themselves were part of an experiment, a kind of survival of the fittest done with micro drones at a college, (Ala the current videos of formation, and music playing drones and the code got accidentally (or maliciously) included in a militarized SUAV. The drones that are on humanities side could be an outgrowth of SUAV's designed to do Search and Rescue work.

And I have had this vision of a Tricopter, all black, with a syringe of clear glowing green liquid slung under it for a weapon.... I had plans for making it and using it in a music video I want to produce for Con Bro Chili. By the way Devin is an amazing shooter, take a look at some of his stuff, mostly shot with a 5Dmk3 and a Glidecam, he has produced shows for Ford, and Mountain Dew (easy Josh!!!) and is one of my favorite web producers, But I digress.

I like the idea that the evil drones are controlled by this hidden character but a nice plot twist would be a suspicion that BOTH drones are controlled by him because he wants to find the father before or as the son does....

 

[JamesWhom]

I am defiantly behind this project. The audience collaboration concept is a great idea! I'll be back with suggestions when I've finished reading all of this thread's posts

 

[makattack]

What of the idea that natural resources necessary for survival will be scarce (which may not be too far from the truth) and the primary use of drones as a resource finder / gatherer? People on the ground look for swarms of drones to indicate something such as fresh water beneath them so the competition is to get the resources and gain control of the drones to try and find resources?

 

[BankNYank!]

What of the idea that natural resources necessary for survival will be scarce (which may not be too far from the truth) and the primary use of drones as a resource finder / gatherer? People on the ground look for swarms of drones to indicate something such as fresh water beneath them so the competition is to get the resources and gain control of the drones to try and find resources?

I think this idea is brilliant! In this concept the drones are actually good. A benefit to humanity and the conflict between good and evil is put on the human characters in the story. This way there doesn't have to be evil drones and the viewers will only see drones in a positive light!

 

[Gikar]

I see the story of Rotor DR-1 being set in the spring of 2027 after the earth is crippled by climate change and the crash landing of one of the USA early space probes. The space probe crashed in the bread basket area of the US where it causes the release of mutant fungus that destroys the crops that we depend on for food. As the unstoppable fungus spread throughout our county and to the rest of the world the human and animal population is starved off.

The young boy lives and survives in the mountains of West Virginia because the unearthly fungus cannot survive in the presence of a mushroom native to the state. The young boy, helped by a group of aging RC hobbyist modify a 10 year old agricultural multicomputer to spread the native mushroom to other areas making for a bigger and bigger area of safety from the malignant off world menace. The copter has also been modified to scan for and locate his father’s location. The copter must also avoid people who still fear the presents of a “drone” in their airspace. Since there is no longer any GPS the copter must depend on aerial maps, star charts and dead reckoning to navigate while on it journey. One advance in technology is that the copter is equipped with high efficient solar cell and biological batteries. The control system on the copter is also a blend of hardware and organic cells.

There should be some interesting side stories as the copter, the group of people and the hopes of the human race continues its journey.

 

[Waffleman]

Heres my adaption of what the basic idea is:

In the future, the world has been taken over/destroyed by a nefarious organization using drones. (Imagine DJI phantom with guns)
A boy who is a part of the resistance sets out to find his father with a drone companion and possibly a secondary female character.
For the drone companion, I imagine a metal tube v-tail quad frame with some fancy bits on the main hub. Got to make it look futuristic, but not too clean.

-Boys backstory - Son of a leader in the resistance, he is kept in the dark about his fathers activities until two years after he disappears. is father knows something important and he needs to be found and brought back, so the boy sets out to find him. I imagine the boy to be scared and timid at first, but quickly learns to adapt to new circumstances.
-Drones backstory - An early model reconnaissance drone (Drone Recon 1.) from the year 2017, (I imagine the story taking place in 2025 or so) this drone has been programmed to "have a mind of its own" to better perform its task. However, it was shot down in battle. When the boy finds and repairs it to hopefully use it in his search, the grateful drone sides with him over its controllers and acts as a companion.
-Possible female character - A tech savie scavenger, she assists the boy for her own purposes and helps fix/hop up the downed drone. Maybe she wants to find a piece of old technology that can be used for something important. (Like recharging power supplies?)

For the power supply concept, why not use aesthetically altered DJI phantom 2 batteries? those seem kinda futuristic, and they are already used to power drones.

It should be stressed early on that the drones are not the ememys, but the tools that the ememys use. Make sure that the "freindlys" rebel group have drones of their own that are different than the "military" drones. But the companion drone needs to stand out from bot groups.

For the companion drones communication, why not do it with a small built in LCD and beeps?

You can also tie in the competition for natural resources. maybe when the started to disappear, the father tried to find out where they went? The boy and drone can follow clues presumably left behind by the father to reach him, and along the way discover some disturbing facts about the environment and whoever the operators of the drone army are.