a plot bunny, of sorts.
Had the general idea for this a while back, and now that I've reread Moving Pictures... it's back.
Other Dreams Than These
No one knows the boy's actual name, or at the very least, no one knows how to pronounce it to his satisfaction. Some of the handlemen started calling him Ichi-san, and it stuck.
Ichi-san's family moved to Ankh-Morpork from Bes Pelargic a few years ago; before Holy Wood called, he was finalizing work on his Historians' Guild license. He's got an eye for entertaining, yet educational stories, which is a definite plus with Silverfish.
One night, it occurs to him that the old Agatean stories could use a little representation in the clicks, and so he starts writing up an old, old tale about eight members of the warrior class. But when he presents it to Silverfish, he says there's really nothing in it to convince a Morporkian audience to watch, and what good is it to have all the words in the thing in a language without a locally recognizable alphabet?
This is trickier than Ichi-san thought it would be. But the idea... is awfully insistent, for as little as that makes any sense. You can get this done, it just needs a little work...
A week or so later, he takes a rewrite to Silverfish. The heart of the story is the same, but now it's in the trappings of the Sto Plains. It's not exactly historical, even in its original form, but it is legendary. And for once, that seems to be enough to do the job.
The Outstandinge Twice-Four is a three-reeler, in the end. Frequent clicks patrons call it one of the best things Untied Alchemists has come out with. Considering it runs up against one of Dibbler's more hare-brained (and therefore popular) Fruitbat films, Ichi-san's rather proud of that label.
***
Some months after the initial fuss, Sword of Passione finally opens in Bes Pelargic.
It doesn't have quite the take-off it did in Ankh-Morpork, given the sheer geography between Holy Wood and the Counterweight Continent. But Holy Wood magic is nothing if not persistent, and a group of ten or twenty people get together and decide to try making a click of their own.
Once they sort out the difficulties of octo-cellulose and picture boxes, they run into another snag: What, exactly, are they going to make a click about?
After a few more trips to the picture pit, one of their number realizes clicks don't necessarily have to have a meaningful plot, or even a logical one. If they want to film something completely ridiculous, they can. Odds are no one would question them, even if they decided to show an overgrown swamp dragon ravaging the city.
...Actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
Of course, they don't have any actual overgrown swamp dragons, so they end up putting a normal-sized one in a small model of Bes Pelargic, and cutting that film in with bits of people in the real place. But for all that, it works surprisingly well.
No one remembers actually filming the end, though, and that's a bit worrisome.
***
Shadowe of the Dessert makes quite a splash in Bes Pelargic, but no more clicks follow. Instead, the next ships to come over simply carry some very confused, disjointed messages about... something climbing out of a Morporkian picture-pit screen, and Holy Wood collapsing, and don't chance the same thing happening over here, it won't end well.
The city's own click-makers don't think their own efforts would do the same... but then again, overgrown swamp dragon. It's bound to have been alarming enough with more sentient shapes. They never get the chance to find out anyway; when they go to their click warehouse after hearing the news, it turns out all of the octo-cellulose has exploded.
Ichi-san is lucky to make it out of Holy Wood alive, and he knows it well. He takes an extra week or so to get his wits back about him, when he returns to Ankh-Morpork, and then finishes the work on his Guild license.
His script is still in the back of his mind, and he's considering writing it down in book form - it's a good story, after all. But first and foremost on his agenda is a history of this Holy Wood business, as thoroughly as he can manage to research.
This isn't something people should go forgetting about any time soon.
(This isn't necessarily the finished product; any suggestions or nitpicks would be appreciated.)
Other Dreams Than These
No one knows the boy's actual name, or at the very least, no one knows how to pronounce it to his satisfaction. Some of the handlemen started calling him Ichi-san, and it stuck.
Ichi-san's family moved to Ankh-Morpork from Bes Pelargic a few years ago; before Holy Wood called, he was finalizing work on his Historians' Guild license. He's got an eye for entertaining, yet educational stories, which is a definite plus with Silverfish.
One night, it occurs to him that the old Agatean stories could use a little representation in the clicks, and so he starts writing up an old, old tale about eight members of the warrior class. But when he presents it to Silverfish, he says there's really nothing in it to convince a Morporkian audience to watch, and what good is it to have all the words in the thing in a language without a locally recognizable alphabet?
This is trickier than Ichi-san thought it would be. But the idea... is awfully insistent, for as little as that makes any sense. You can get this done, it just needs a little work...
A week or so later, he takes a rewrite to Silverfish. The heart of the story is the same, but now it's in the trappings of the Sto Plains. It's not exactly historical, even in its original form, but it is legendary. And for once, that seems to be enough to do the job.
The Outstandinge Twice-Four is a three-reeler, in the end. Frequent clicks patrons call it one of the best things Untied Alchemists has come out with. Considering it runs up against one of Dibbler's more hare-brained (and therefore popular) Fruitbat films, Ichi-san's rather proud of that label.
***
Some months after the initial fuss, Sword of Passione finally opens in Bes Pelargic.
It doesn't have quite the take-off it did in Ankh-Morpork, given the sheer geography between Holy Wood and the Counterweight Continent. But Holy Wood magic is nothing if not persistent, and a group of ten or twenty people get together and decide to try making a click of their own.
Once they sort out the difficulties of octo-cellulose and picture boxes, they run into another snag: What, exactly, are they going to make a click about?
After a few more trips to the picture pit, one of their number realizes clicks don't necessarily have to have a meaningful plot, or even a logical one. If they want to film something completely ridiculous, they can. Odds are no one would question them, even if they decided to show an overgrown swamp dragon ravaging the city.
...Actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
Of course, they don't have any actual overgrown swamp dragons, so they end up putting a normal-sized one in a small model of Bes Pelargic, and cutting that film in with bits of people in the real place. But for all that, it works surprisingly well.
No one remembers actually filming the end, though, and that's a bit worrisome.
***
Shadowe of the Dessert makes quite a splash in Bes Pelargic, but no more clicks follow. Instead, the next ships to come over simply carry some very confused, disjointed messages about... something climbing out of a Morporkian picture-pit screen, and Holy Wood collapsing, and don't chance the same thing happening over here, it won't end well.
The city's own click-makers don't think their own efforts would do the same... but then again, overgrown swamp dragon. It's bound to have been alarming enough with more sentient shapes. They never get the chance to find out anyway; when they go to their click warehouse after hearing the news, it turns out all of the octo-cellulose has exploded.
Ichi-san is lucky to make it out of Holy Wood alive, and he knows it well. He takes an extra week or so to get his wits back about him, when he returns to Ankh-Morpork, and then finishes the work on his Guild license.
His script is still in the back of his mind, and he's considering writing it down in book form - it's a good story, after all. But first and foremost on his agenda is a history of this Holy Wood business, as thoroughly as he can manage to research.
This isn't something people should go forgetting about any time soon.
(This isn't necessarily the finished product; any suggestions or nitpicks would be appreciated.)