Hi Jerry :)
Here's the plan for Total Recall: the two characters, then the whole story from the first second to the last, timed to your song.
The first part is shot by shot, because that's what I'm building now. The rest is the outline it leads into, so the first minute is made as the opening of the full film and not as a separate test.
Every time below comes from your final song, measured on the vocal. Tell me anything you'd change and I'll change it before I start.
The two characters
Both come straight from your artwork: same faces, same look, same red and gold light. These are early look frames I made from it, and they stay exactly like this in every shot.
Him · the rock star
Early 40s, charismatic, a little guarded. Black leather jacket, aviators, the necklaces and bracelets from the artwork. Never on stage playing, never singing.
Confident, then uneasy, jealous, angry, and finally full of regret.
Her · the movie star
Mid 30s, elegant, at home in front of the cameras. Black evening gown at the event. She never does anything to provoke him: his jealousy is his own fight.
Confident, then frustrated, worried, let down, and finally distant.
The whole song at a glance
- A pure story film. No band, no stage performance, no lip sync.
- Every action lands on the line that's sung: when the words are about the fight, you see the fight.
- Cinematic, slightly stylized realism, with the colour and mood of your artwork.
- The dream stays a secret until "Wake up" at 2:18.
- Titles are minimal: "Total Recall" with "Scripted Edge" smaller underneath, over the opening and again on the closing image.
The night of the fight · 0:00 to 1:04
One celebrity event, three places: the main room, a private corridor, the entrance outside. I end the first part right after "But at night, I have total recall" at 1:04, so the cut lands on the end of the chorus and not in the middle of a line.
1 · The arrival
Night, outside an elegant celebrity event. Luxury cars pull up under warm lights, photographers crowd the entrance. He and she step out together: a glamorous couple, the centre of the night.
2 · Her moment to shine
Inside, the cameras turn to her. Flashes all around, she poses with ease. He stays a step behind, smiling at first, then something in his face shifts.
3 · The fight
A quiet corridor away from the party. They're arguing. Her frustration, his anger. She reaches for him, he turns away. A glass hits the marble floor on "can't be unsaid".
4 · Jealousy
Back in the main room. She talks with guests, nothing more. He watches from the bar across the room with a drink in his hand, fighting himself.
5 · She works the room
She moves through the party, greeting people and laughing. Cut against him, alone at the edge of the room, closed off.
6 · He walks out
He puts the glass down and leaves. We follow him down the corridor to the exit. Across the room she sees him go, and her public smile drops into worry.
7 · Will she stay?
Did you leave, or did I convince you to stay?
Outside the venue, a car waits. She comes out after him. They see each other from opposite sides of the entrance, and neither one moves. She stops by the car door on "did you leave". He looks at her and stays where he is.
8 · Total recall
But at night, I have total recall.
She gets in the car. It pulls away slowly. He stands alone under the event lights while the party carries on behind him, and the place that felt so exciting now feels empty.
The outline · 1:04 to 3:54
The same two faces and the same look carry on from part 1 without a break.
The tour
Take the stage. Fits of rage. Emotions pour.
Don't look back now. Embrace the crowd. The show must go on.
Morning: two different airport gates, two different planes. Backstage that night he loses it in his dressing room. Then he looks at her photo on his phone, puts it away, and walks down the tunnel toward the stage lights. We stay behind him, his silhouette swallowed by the light and the crowd's roar. We never see him play.
Apart
Tour bus windows, hotel rooms, city lights. Far away she's on a film set, checking her phone between takes. Both of them awake in different cities on the same night, and neither one calls.
The paparazzi
He said. She said. Can't take it no more.
Rewind that moment in time. Take back all that was said.
Forgive or forget? Not sure.
They run into each other again outside a hotel, and the paparazzi swarm in. Flashes on every beat of "click whack". He accuses her right there in front of the cameras of loving all this. On "rewind", the flashes freeze and time slows. On "not sure", they just look at each other in the frozen light.
He wakes up
Limelight gone. Nine to five. No emotion. Just gray.
Can't sleep. Need to return. The dream's a blur.
But I know it's more alive than this.
Hard cut on "wake up": the same man in a small plain bedroom, the alarm going off. All the red and gold drains to grey. No leather, no sunglasses. A packed commute, an office desk, the nine to five. That night he lies awake with his eyes shut, trying to get back, and a flicker of red light crosses his face.
The dream leaks in
The dream starts bleeding into his grey days: red light in an office window, a flash of the party in a crowd, her face for one second on a movie poster at the bus stop. Most days he can't hold onto it. At night it all comes back.
He chooses the dream
I'd rather immerse in the drama than be bored and awake.
He lies down and closes his eyes on purpose. We push into his face, and the red light comes back: the event, the flashes, and she turns to look at him. He'd rather have the drama than his grey life.
That's the full story :)
Reply on Fiverr with anything you want changed: a scene, a moment, the look of either character. Once you're happy, part 1 goes into production.