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"If you can't find a nice person in the world, be that nice person"
These words were spray-painted on a wall in Venice Beach where I get my coffee every morning. When I read your script for the first time it reminded me of these words and how a simple statement like that, at the right time, can make a huge impact on someone’s life. It can make them stop and think and see not just the world around them, but reflect back on themselves and examine their own life and the measure of their own existence.
by JB Carlin
That's what "Better World" means to me. To do better is to be better. To share, to care, to understand, to accept, to save, to love, to do better, and be a better person so that we may all live stronger, happier, healthier lives.
That's exactly what we need in the world today. We need someone to write those words on a giant wall for the whole world to see. It will summon people's spirits so they may find some inspiration in the idea that we can live better lives. That's the impact that this powerful film can have on the world stage right now. And that’s the kind of film I want be a part of.
Our 2-to-3-minute film will follow our hero, Chris Evans, as he travels from the shores of a beautiful seaside cliff overlooking the ocean, to a thrilling ride on his motorcycle down a picturesque seaside road, through dense mountains, and into the city where he descends into a near futuristic tunnel where he ends up in a control room surrounded by hologram-like images that form a brilliant glowing orb around him – the orb’s shape symbolic of our planet.
Chris will be featured in nearly every image of our film from start to finish. He is our vessel guiding our films message, summoning the viewers with his words to take action, to follow in his footsteps, to live smarter so we can all make the world a better place. This film will be breathtaking, engaging, inspiring, authentic, and highly cinematic – all while driving it’s poignant and powerful message home.
I am so excited about the potential of this film on so many levels. We truly have an opportunity to not just create something extraordinary, but to be a part of something that can make a difference.
Our setup already has a truly cinematic look and feel by finding inspiration from some of the best “round up” scenes in film history. These are the scenes in Hollywood action movies where the hero reunites with his team to form a plan to destroy the villain. Like the memorable moment in Jurassic Park where Hammond lands his helicopter in the middle of the archaeological dig to summon the two doctors. That’s a memorable scene because they tell the audience that these characters are the best of the best and are needed urgently. It’s the type of broad setup that adds international urgency to our film, creating a sense of anticipation as it drives us toward our final climactic scene in our high-tech control room.
There’s obviously a lot to discuss and the following pages are only a jumping-off point. As we move along through this process, through numerous conversations and discoveries, we will work together to flesh this film out even further so we make it the very best film it can be. In the meantime, here are some initial thoughts and ideas I have on how I see it playing out.
Beyond the breathtaking imagery, the key to making this story compelling is going to be in the unexpected details of our hero, Chris Evans, and the power and authenticity in his performance. It’s these details that will make each scene with him engaging, as well as giving him a sense of individual personality, allowing him to have a mini arc from the first time we meet him standing on that cliff to the final scene in our high-tech control room.
Our film opens flying over the ocean while driven by a powerful and emotive musical score. We slowly tilt up to see the vastness of the distant shore to reveal Chris Evans standing on the edge of a seaside cliff at sundown. He’s staring out at the churning sea, serious, contemplative, with concern in his eyes. As the camera continues to move in closer to him, we begin to arch around Chris in a large swooping circle.
While we arch around him, Chris remains grounded in the center of the frame, suggesting to the viewer that not only is he grounded in this world, but it also suggests that this is his story and that we’re telling it from his point of view. As we move in even closer, we hear his voiceover:
In life what we believe in makes us go different ways.
The camera continues to circle him, getting closer and closer while we continue to move around him, which enhances his next line:
What we do affects the people and the world around us.
Now we’re close on his face as we begin to hear the distant roar of an engine growing nearer and nearer until…
We cut to Chris on his motorcycle ripping down a windy, scenic ocean road – the roar of his engine now close. He rides like he’s on a mission, but the audience is left to wonder where he is going, which builds intrigue and mystery, making the viewer want to know more.
For our bike footage, we’ll utilize a combo of a heavy-lifting Drone and a Russian Arm Camera Car and film our hero ripping turns and racing through the windy roads on his cycle, pushing him (really his stunt double) and our cameras to the max to make sure as much horsepower as possible ends up on film.
A roaring engine, jaw dropping vistas, a slow-motion moment of dust and debris kicked up by his bike’s tire as we follow him at maximum speed while we’re only an inch off the dusty, sandy concrete.
We cut into a macro extreme slow motion shot as debris skitters across the glossy surface of Chris’s facemask. His mask is clear so we can clearly see him and know that is Chris Evans riding this bike.
Chris now cuts up through the canyons on a windy mountain road with picturesque views of the vast Santa Monica Mountain range with a spectacular view of the ocean behind him. We cut to an arial view from our drone where we’re high up over the mountains looking straight down on his bike, appearing rather small against this vast landscape, as he winds through the mountains.
In the reflection of his bike’s side mirror, we see Chris racing around a corner, the camera shaking slighting from the bike’s velocity.
We will capture an abundance of dynamic angles on Chris, from ultra-wide shots, to extreme close ups while he’s racing down the various ocean and mountain roads, so we have tons of great options when we get in the edit. The idea is that Chris is being summoned by something, and whatever he’s being called in for is of vital importance.
At this point in the film, we see a stunning image as Chris rips out of the mountain road, pulling away from camera – and in the background – we see the cities magnificent skyline. We hear his VO:
But one truth remains. If the world gave us another chance, what would we do?
Now Chris exits the freeway and enters the city streets. He passes by people walking – a diverse group from all walks of life, both rich and poor. We cut in close to Chris and see reflections of the city in the surface of his face shield. He sees a homeless man pushing a grocery cart with everything in his entire life packed inside. He passes a child, maybe six, walking with her mother. This child watches Chris as he passes. Her youthful image representing our future and enhances Chris’s words:
How it all turns out depends on the choices we make.
We cut in close on Chris through his mask as he looks away from the little girl and enters a magnificent and multicolored tunnel in the city, its walls reflective, bouncing this colorful light as if he’s riding through a prism -- its colors reflecting brilliantly off his face shield. From there we follow Chris as he descends into a near futuristic, brightly lit tunnel underneath the city. He rounds some corners and takes a few hairpin turns before ripping down a straightaway with its ceiling lined with a row of magnificent light. We cut into his face shield to see his eyes as we hear his VO:
I would do good.
His brake lights illuminate as his bike comes to a stop in front of an interesting door, its edges glowing in white light. A heroic low angle image captures Chris getting off his bike portraying him in an epic and heroic way. He pulls off his helmet and looks to camera for the first time and says:
No, I would do better.
Chris steps up to the door. A wave of digital light scans over his face. The door opens in an interesting way and Chris steps inside. We cut to a tracking shot along a glossy floor. We pan up from his boots to reveal we're in a control room underneath the city, slightly futuristic, yet authentic and real in every way. In the center of this room there is a bright light shining down from the top. Chris steps into this nuclear light. As he does, a large sphere begins to build and grow and illuminate out from the floor and continues all around him. This light grows and grows until Chris is completely surrounded inside a large spacious orb made entirely by light.
Along the surface of this orb, appearing like holograms, play hundreds of beautiful images from around the world. He looks around, discovering all these images as he goes. Chris appears in every image, connecting him to the faces and places while he summons the viewers with his words to take action, to follow in his footsteps, to live smarter so we can make the world a better place.
Another option to look at for our holographic images would be, instead of the orb, we use one massive and long screen that has any combination of holographic images playing inside it (see Battlestar Galactica rendering below). Basically, we’d be in a control room with a giant, slightly U-shaped screen and inside of this screen is an endless virtual environment filled with any number of images.
Either way we go, all these holographic images will give off a brilliant glow that will illuminate him in this space – again, using subtle visual metaphors to help enrich the telling of our story and help create character. These images will enlighten and illuminate his path, and in turn, the viewer’s path as well. We hear him say:
I will push for what I believe.
The light from these images will reflect off his skin, even off his eyes, as he watches. He’s captivated, inspired, and empowered by what he sees. Our camera will mimic Chris’s movement inside this orb. When he is static, the camera is static. When he moves, the camera will move. Again, illustrating that we are seeing these images from Chris’s point of view, that he is our focus, our narrator.
For this last line, we will push in on Chris’s face to see the images reflecting off his eyes as he watches intently.
I will live smarter to make the world better.
It would be powerful and poignant if Chris looks directly into camera for this line. It now becomes more of a declaration, more of a statement, as he declares his intentions to the world.
I do love that we’re cutting back to him on the edge of the cliff, going back to the beginning and bringing it all back around full circle as he speaks directly to camera. However, and this is just an idea we can discuss, but he could, after he makes his declaration to camera in the control room, turn and we follow him as he walks out of the orb, right through its surface. He heads toward the door and exits. As he gets back on his bike and fires up the engine, we intercut him racing back out of these tunnels with images back inside our orb.
We cut around to the numerous images still playing inside this orb. As we intercut Chris racing through the tunnels, we see more and more of these holographic images, fleeting, coming faster and faster, showing the size and scale of the world effected, until –
One by one, Chris appears inside each screen talking to camera from back at the beginning of the film – standing on top of the seaside cliff. It’s almost like he had never left, like HE is on reset and getting a second chance, again, enhancing his words visually.
As we continue to intercut cut him ripping through the tunnels on his bike, as the edit builds and builds, images coming faster and faster, Chris begins to appear in more and more screens. In each screen, the angle on him is different, but in each he looks directly into the camera, looking directly at us, and says:
It does not matter who you are or where you are now. Whether you take small steps or giant leaps. You have the power to make your life mean more.
We cut in close to him in one of the holograms as he says to camera:
The world is on reset and it is giving us a second chance. How do I know this? Simple Smart Ako.
We cut to Chris as he races toward the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. He’s going faster and faster as we cut back to the multitude of Chris’s inside the orb’s holograms as each one says in unison:
What are you prepared to do?
We cut back to him racing for the light, almost out of the tunnel, out of the darkness until he breaks the surface and is completely engulfed in bright light as we smash cut back to the inside of the orb. The multitudes of Chris say’s to camera:
(Smartees assemble).
Cut to black. The End.
Again, these are just some ideas I have. There’s so much potential here for greatness. We’ll work together to continue to flesh all this out even further. And I’m excited by the possibility to do that with you on this extraordinary film.
It goes without saying that the imagery in this film needs to be stunning, epic and highly cinematic.
We will utilize a large format camera with anamorphic lenses – to give us a truly cinematic, big picture feel.
For our opening images, we’ll employ the use of a drone to fly over the water and circle around him on the cliff. The views we will achieve with an arching drone shot will be absolutely stunning. We’ll use a specialized heavy lifting drone that carries our cinema camera as well as our large cinema lenses. This is an important aspect to achieving our truly cinematic vision.
Of course, we’ll have astonishing footage of our hero riding his motorcycle through the picturesque landscape. To achieve this footage, we will use a combination of a Russian Arm camera car and our heavy lifting drone. The Russian Arm will allow the camera to move with the bike at high speeds capturing dynamic images of the front, rear and sides of our cycle, as well as the ability to get in close on some graphic details, like his hands, a boot, a tire, etc. It’s an extremely versatile and fast-working tool that allows us to shoot a ton of amazing footage in a short period of time.
The drone will also allow us to get high-angle images looking down on the bike as it weaves down a mountain road or cuts through city traffic. It enables us to get wider tracking shots on him as well. Imagine a shot from out in the ocean, similar to our opening shot, where the camera flies over the surface of the water as its tracking Chris on his bike cruising at high speed on the road. These are the sort of images that only a drone can achieve.
These two tools together will allow our camerawork to have a sense of scale — from vast ocean vistas to extreme closeups on his fingers revving/shifting the throttle on his bike as he accelerates around a turn.
I’m obsessed with cinematography. I am always looking for new perspectives, new unexpected angles and compositions, and I’m excited to do that with you on this project so that we create the most dynamic and visually striking film possible.
I could not be more excited to shoot this in my backyard of Los Angeles where we have access to the very best of the best in terms of crew, resources, and equipment. I know first-hand that it’s a truly remarkable place for filming, one that makes it easy to go from an ocean vista, to mountain roads, to a modern skyscraper very easily. It’s exactly the place we’ll need to bring a sense of global scale to this film.
For our locations, we’ll be on the north end of Malibu for our cliffs. The road that these cliffs are on (the PCH) is the road we will shoot our stunt double on the bike. One side of this road is the Pacific Ocean while the other side is the Santa Monica Mountains. This road is windy in spots and will look stunning, especially when photographed in the late afternoon where the sun is low over the ocean, or even at sunset with some brilliant and colorful light reflecting off the water. The southern California sunsets tend to be stunning, especially in the winter.
We will then move from there up through one of the many windy canyon roads that cut through the Santa Monica Mountains. These are winding and tight roads that head up through the mountain range. From certain angles you can get beautiful views of the ocean as well.
For our location that features Chris exiting the mountains and riding toward the city skyline, there are several areas that work for this. We will search locations to find just the canyon road that offers us the perfect view of the city’s skyline.
For our city, we will travel through a portion of downtown LA before we descend into the numerous tunnels under the city. The idea is to dramatically juxtapose this setting with the ocean and mountain locations.
For our control room and our orb, and perhaps even for some of our tunnel, we will be on the Universal Studios lot.
I’m really excited to be able to shoot this in Los Angeles. Instead of restricting our ideas, it’s the type of locale that will empower us to design the most stunning imagery we can think of, and I look forward to figuring out how best to take advantage of everything Los Angeles has to offer for you.
The close-up images of Chris on the shore and on his bike will be achieved in a studio setting. Because we only have Chris for one day on a stage, we plan to shoot a combination of practical scenes on location with Chris’s stunt double while shooting all of Chris’s scenes on a green screen set on one of the studio's large stages, like Paramount or Universal.
First, for our oceanside cliff scene, we will work with our post VFX team and our production designer to create a large chunk of the exact rock for Chris to actually stand on. We’ll place that in the studio and shoot him against green screen. This will allow us to place Chris on our seaside cliff and make it look authentic and believable in every way.
Then we will design our orb and decide what that will look like. Once we plan out our orb, we will set out to capture all our footage with Chris’s stunt double. Our post VFX team will photograph, track, and map the locations so they can replicate the real world in post.
Once we have all of our plates, we will have a prelight day with our full crew. A prelight day allows us to lay out all our sets and prelight them with our stand-in. All the lights will be rigged to a dimmer board so we can program them. This way we have complete control of how we want our sets to look and we can move quickly on our shoot day.
On our prelight day we will be able to essentially shoot all of our scenes exactly the way we want, pinpoint our lighting to match the plates that Chris will be comped into later, rehearse our camera moves, choose lens sizes, and even modify and change the sets to our liking.
The next day, we would shoot Chris. Because our sets are prebuilt, preplanned, and prelit, we can move very quickly on our shoot day. Chris will be able to step up onto the fabricated cliffs edge, he can sit on his motorcycle and race through the mountain road, leaning it to each turn, and he can walk into his control room and pretend as though he is looking at the images surrounding him. Great care will go into the lighting of each scene so that our effect-work looks hyper-real and lifelike.
For the orb and Chris’s interaction with our holographic images, this will all be created digitally in post-production. I will work with Chris and our VFX team as well as our cinematographer so we match his timing and movement, as well as to perfect the lighting from the various sources glowing on him from our hologram images. The end result will be completely captivating.
Here’s a link to our VFX partners who we hope to work with on this project:
click below to know more about
Zoic Studios
Music and sound design are obviously very important to the success of this film. Finding the right music for film is really a process of exploration and discovery for me that starts from conception and continues into the edit. It’s really one of my favorite parts of the filmmaking process. Obviously, for these films, we’re instrumental. We want a powerful track that moves and inspires. The use of natural sounds will also be a nice touch. Imagine the sounds of the ocean or of the motorcycle always audible from only Chris’s point of view. It’s a technique that will really bring out humanity and realism of the film. These audible cues will serve to fill in the blanks and paint a fuller picture of Chris's personality.
Here’s a few musical scores that I used as inspiration while working on this treatment.
click below to listen to a sample
I am so excited about this project. This film has such potential to move and inspire. For me, it all starts with the ideas. Then comes the visualization. Followed by the process. And along the way, we’ll have tons of discoveries, spontaneous reactions, and creative collaborations together. I love living and breathing this process from start to finish, from concept to color correction – fixating on every detail to make sure we deliver something truly outstanding, effective, and memorable.
To succeed today we can’t be the thing that interrupts what people are watching – we have to be the thing they want to watch. My process and my approach, because we are open to discoveries, and open to spontaneous reactions, while willing to collaborate creatively, will allow for this to happen, and we will create a film that people will connect with. That’s how we move the needle, that’s how we make this work for your client, that’s how we help to build the Smart Ako brand.
Thank you for the opportunity! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to discuss anything further. I can’t wait to watch this truly special project evolve.
--JB
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