Thinking about making a mermaid short film/movie

[Mermaid Elena]

So, I love film production and have a lot of experience with video editing and such. I'm thinking about making a short film this summer that includes mermaids (of course). I feel as though all of the mermaid movies we see center around the mermaid coming onto land and having legs. I'm thinking about doing things differently and focusing mostly on the mermaid living in the water. So I have a lot of ideas for the story and I can't decide if I want to make it a love story or not. If I did, it would be a guy who falls in love with the mermaid. They meet in the water and he doesn't realize she is a mermaid at first. They later meet again in the water and he figures it out but he's cool about it. (I want this to be more modern and realistic, not your classic fairy tail story). Of course he is surprised but in real life if you met a mermaid would you be freaked out or like "that's awesome"? Anyways, they fall in love and stuff and that's pretty much as far as I've gotten. I have ideas for the ending but I don't want to give it away!

Let me know what you think or if this sounds interesting to you. Is the love story too cliche?

[Mermaid Annariea]

nah, it's not too cliche. just give it an awesome, unexpected twist so it's not a typical love story.

and have fun writing. :D

[Carolina Mermaid]

I want to see this!

[Mermaid Varshana]

That as a basis is fine. Love stories have existed for thousands of years, and yet writers are still finding ways to make fresh ones. Watch some movies that have a fairly normal story as a backdrop, but do something awesome to put a twist on the tale. Movies like Shrek succeeded amazingly by doing just that. You don't have to go super dark or turn it into a soap opera to make it not a cliche. You just have to be clever.

[spottedcatfish]

That sounds like a cute, fun movie.

[Mermaid Elena]

I think you guys are definitely right about giving it a twist. I'll need to give it some more thought and planning. Any suggestions? Like what do you guys like to see in a mermaid movie or what have other films with mermaids fell short on? I'm not a huge fan of the "fins in water and legs out of water" idea only because nearly all mermaid related movies use it.

[Mermaid Varshana]

Let me tell you what. Don't set out to reinvent the wheel. That's how writers end up with a pretentious piece of doodie that no one cares about, including themselves. No memorable story is created with the idea of, "What's never been done before," because nothing's worse than watching or reading a product of someone who was trying too damn hard. There are, however, new ways of telling stories.

Something that really helps me come up with great ideas for a story is by fleshing out all the characters. Give them backstories. Give them interesting personalities and flaws. Really think about what they would and wouldn't do, how they would or wouldn't speak, how they're connected with each other. Likes and dislikes. I find that unique twists and ideas practically make themselves when you let the characters come to life. You can have cliches and stuff that everyone else has done, but no one will care because the characters are just so believable and awesome that the cliches are interacted with in a way that no one else has done before. Like how most really well done stories borrow from other great stories, or are just remakes altogether, but they're hailed as masterpieces because the characters and storytelling MAKE it new. Make sense?

[Mermaid Elena]

I think I have to disagree. If you think about all of the most successful movies and novels, they are all original and bring something completely new to the table. I'm sure there are aspects of the story that are borrowed from other stories but after a while the same story being told over and over again can get kind of predictable. For example, Cinderella. A great classic fairy tail. It was remade in 2004 in a more modern way as "Another Cinderella Story". It was successful but I'm sure not nearly as successful as the original. In 2008, the story was used again in "Another Cinderella Story". This movie was likely not as good and many people have probably forgotten about it by now. I believe it got a rating of 5 out of 10 even with different and interesting characters. What if they made another movie called "Another Cinderella Story Again" or something. I'm not sure how interested I would be but that's just me.

Personally, I like creating stories that are different and original. Of course no one can ever make something 100% new and original but we like to get as close as we can. I'm not setting out to "reinvent the wheel" but there's nothing wrong with striving for originality. Nothing new would ever be created if all the great writers just tried to make different characters and tell the same story in a new way.

I do like your advice on giving the characters more depth, I think strong character development is really important in any story.

[Mermaid Varshana]

I didn't mean don't strive for originality - you can't do anything great without that! I just meant dont hurt your head too much over it when things come up that have been done before. Just let your characters and story world interact with those aspects in unique ways. Retelling a story premise doesn't mean a remake of the same exact story. For example, Pocohantas, Ferngully and Avatar were the same basic premise, but their characters and story worlds were unique enough so that at least two of those movies were awesome and stood on their own. Cinderella, Stardust, and Harry Potter have the same very basic premise, but they stand on their own as great stories. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was basically a damsel in distress premise inverted on its head. Star Wars is a space version of Akira Korusawa's movies.

Almost all of these stories are brilliant and loaded with originality despite borrowing and retelling. That's what i mean by not being afraid of using cliches and making them your own in clever ways. The key is to not look like you were trying waaaaayyyyy too hard to be special, instead focusing on character and plot development that will lead to making the story special :)

[Mermaid Elena]

Oh, I understand better what you are saying now. While many stories come from older classic stories, they are still very different. I agree with you and like I said earlier, no story can be 100% original because of the influence we have from other stories.

[Mermaidwriter]

I can tell you why so many movies have the mermaid growing legs. Two reasons - budget, and putting the mermaid in situations where Hilarity Ensues®. Literally a Fish Out Of Water. It's great that you're looking to avoid the cliches, but a love story is broad enough that people won't view it being a cliche just because love stories have been done before. People associate mermaids with seduction of land folk and so it's acceptable, just as having a vampire drink blood is acceptable or a werewolf change on the full moon. Dealing with the differences between your lovers could create a very interesting story. Perhaps have there be some consequence of their relationship that threatens to bring tragedy? That will make the viewers care about them and want them to overcome it.

[Mermaid Varshana]

This is so exciting, because there's so much you can do! What will you have to work with, actor wise?

[Mermaid Elena]

I like the idea of seduction! I'll probably end up using that in some way. I haven't started looking into actors just yet but I don't know where the filming of it will be yet so I have to figure that out before I start looking into actors. I'm sure whoever is in the film would want to be relatively close to wherever it's filmed. If anyone in the midwest here is interested in being in it, that would be totally cool!

[spottedcatfish]

Maybe have the couple both turn into merfolk, and try to live with one another and not get caught.

[Mermaid Varshana]

I like that idea. So many stories have the woman turning human to live on land. Why not have the man decide whether or not to sacrifice his legs to live in the ocean?