One sentence plots, conflict and resolution (a reductionist game)

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

So I was watching Brandon's 300 level Sci-Fi Fantasy BYU lectures, and in lecture 3, The Illusionist writer, one exercise he had students do to emphasize that the sense of progress in a book was an illusion was to have them rewrite a complicated book in a single line where they state the conflict and the resolution, essentially wrapping the story up in a single sentence.

The primary example was for Lord of the Rings, which if you make it take a lot less time, can be rewritten as "They fly giant eagles to Mordor and drop the one ring into Mount Doom".

I think this is fun, so I suggest the following game-ified version of this, the person before you states the book/movie that they want to see to see simplified into a one sentence resolution, and the next person simplifies said suggestion and then suggests another book/movie that they want to see simplified.

So to start things off, lets go with a bit of an obscure reference, write a sentence that shows the full arc of Harry Potter.

Edited October 8, 2018 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine

[+Sorana she/her]

Wow, that was harder than I thought initially. I'm not sure if I got that right.

They oppose the evil sorcerer and destroy the hidden parts of his soul including himself.

 

So MB Era 1. I hope most should know it

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

Nice one Sorana!

16 minutes ago, Sorana said:

So MB Era 1. I hope most should know it

The dirty peasants suffer terribly until a half-man becomes two gods and cleans the world up.

 

Next up: Crime and Punishment.

Edited October 8, 2018 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine

[+Sorana she/her]

11 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Next up: Crime and Punishment.

I don't know that one. And after reading wikipedia I'm confused. Sry -.-

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

1 minute ago, Sorana said:

I don't know that one. And after reading wikipedia I'm confused. Sry -.-

It's a great book, you should check it out. Dostoevsky is my favorite Russian author, so good.
I was just reading the economist, and there was a quote by Solzenitzin (another great russian author) that was amazing:
"The line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human".

How about The House with a Clock In it's Walls, specifically the book by Johnathan Bellairs (haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard it's pretty different).

[+Sorana she/her]

4 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

How about The House with a Clock In it's Walls, specifically the book by Johnathan Bellairs (haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard it's pretty different).

I only know the book And I added the other one to my "to-read" list.

So I would sum it up like:
An orphan convinces a ghost to stop a ticking clock from destroying the world.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson (the book not the film)

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

1 minute ago, Sorana said:

So I would sum it up like:
An orphan convinces a ghost to stop a ticking clock from destroying the world.

Perfect! I'm out of upvotes at the moment, but will get you one for that when they come back online.

Haven't read I am Legend, but I did see the movie, which I can sum up as "Should have spent two hours organizing my sock drawer instead".

So "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor is still up and so is Sorana's "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson

[+Sorana she/her]

Just now, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Perfect! I'm out of upvotes at the moment, but will get you one for that when they come back online.

Haven't read I am Legend, but I did see the movie, which I can sum up as "Should have spent two hours organizing my sock drawer instead".

So "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor is still up and so is Sorana's "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson

I liked the book, but I never saw the film, since everybody told me it was terrible.

 

What about: Pride and Prejudice?

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

6 minutes ago, Sorana said:

What about: Pride and Prejudice?

A very stuffy lady who wants to marry a bloke with a nice house, falls for a guy who she thought was a jerk but it turns out he's really just boring and stuffy like her, and this all happens with much harrumphing, impugning, and corsets, lots of corsets.

How about Beauty and the Beast (do any version you feel like, just let us know which one you're doing)

[+Sorana she/her]

13 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

A very stuffy lady who wants to marry a bloke with a nice house, falls for a guy who she thought was a jerk but it turns out he's really just boring and stuffy like her, and this all happens with much harrumphing, impugning, and corsets, lots of corsets.

That's great! And so true.

 

The Disney version (although it fits most of them):

A beautiful girl finds the love of her life behind the mask of a beast.

 

1984 - George Orwell

Edited October 8, 2018 by Sorana

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

1 minute ago, Sorana said:

A beautiful girl finds the love of her life behind the mask of a beast.

Aww, that's sweet. It's a great story.

1 minute ago, Sorana said:

1984 - George Orwell

A british guy wakes up and discovers that the world is being run by a Reality TV show (Big Brother).

Man Orwell predicted the future, just picked the wrong reality TV show.

 

How about Smokey and the Bandit (the Burt Reynold's trucking movie, which has one of the finest theme songs of all time, East Bound and Down by the incomparable Jerry Reed)

[+Sorana she/her]

2 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Aww, that's sweet. It's a great story.

Yes it is. The new movie counts to my favourite ones at the moment.

 

2 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

How about Smokey and the Bandit (the Burt Reynold's trucking movie, which has one of the finest theme songs of all time, East Bound and Down by the incomparable Jerry Reed)

Smuggling beer he won a bet, a bride, escaped justice and learned nothing.

 

Since we're stuck with movies, how about "From dusk till dawn"?

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

Just now, Sorana said:

Smuggling beer he won a bet, a bride, escaped justice and learned nothing.

Hahahahhahah, so good! So true. You've got lots of upvotes coming later today.

2 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Since we're stuck with movies, how about "From dusk till dawn"?

Some bad people go out to a bar and it turns out that they don't get any sleep that night because they happen to like their blood in their body for some reason.

How about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick? Or if you would rather, how about Through a Scanner Darkly?
Both of these have great movies too, so take your pick, book or movie.

[+Sorana she/her]

13 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Hahahahhahah, so good! So true. You've got lots of upvotes coming later today.

I'm not posting for the upvotes this is fun. (Not that I won't take them though xP )

13 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

I don't know the other one, sry. And I only know the book.
That was a hard one, I decided to interpret a bit, and focused on the, in my opinion, central conflict, although that blured the plot. It's not perfect, but I'm not really sure how to better represent the plot.

A bounty hunter wants to buy a pet, but ends up drawn into a philosophical conflict about the soul of his targets.

 

Edit: Forgot the next book/ movie.

The phantom of the opera, because I like it. And the musical is great.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Sorana

[Quantus he/him]

11 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

How about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick? Or if you would rather, how about Through a Scanner Darkly?

Both of these have great movies too, so take your pick, book or movie.

A bounty hunter has an existential crisis and doubts the nature of morality and his own existence, then kills some folks and retires. 

 

How about: The Dark Tower

[+Sorana she/her]

1 minute ago, Quantus said:

How about: The Dark Tower

Faster xD

You mean the Dark Tower by Stephen King?

[Quantus he/him]

Just now, Sorana said:

Faster xD

You mean the Dark Tower by Stephen King?

Yup, Steven King novels, sorry.

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

2 minutes ago, Sorana said:

A bounty hunter wants to buy a pet, but ends up drawn into a philosophical conflict about the soul of his targets.

Nice!

 

2 minutes ago, Quantus said:

A bounty hunter has an existential crisis and doubts the nature of morality and his own existence, then kills some folks and retires. 

Also nice!

I've got to log out of the shard for a bit, trying to get an illustration done, sheesh. This was fun, will check back in later tonight.

 

Still up for plot reductio ad absurdum:
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
I am Legend by Richard Matheson
and the Dark Tower (by Stephen King)

[+Sorana she/her]

7 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Yup, Steven King novels, sorry.

The man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed*, always forgetting what happened before.

 

Next one: The Phantom of the opera.

*Stephen King "the dark tower"

Edited October 8, 2018 by Sorana

[whattheHoid she/her]

Are we doing Phantom of the Opera? If so...

A hideously disfigured man obsseses over beautiful, talented girl who becomes caught between said man and another man and both men never forget her.

Wow sorry guys this is easy harder than I thought. Ok um, Abarat by Clive Barker.

[Nathrangking he/him]

5 hours ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

Former student of the law does the crimes and the time.

 The Scarlet Pimpernel

[Snipexe he/him]

A rich aristocrat turns out to actually have a double life, where he saves people from bad guys, and is not named Batman

Inception

[whattheHoid she/her]

A man is able to enter the subconscious world and plants ideas into other people's minds, however danger awaits.

Golden Compass, book.

[Nathrangking he/him]

Girl discovers her parents and the answer to every question in all of existence.

The count of Monte Cristo

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

4 hours ago, Nathrangking said:

The count of Monte Cristo

How many people have wronged me, one, ha-ha-ha, two, three, four it is fun to count no? How many people did I deliver ultimate vengeance to? One, ha-ha, two, three, this is very fun to count, four, five ha-ha-ha.

 

EDIT*:
Forgot to add another book/movie.

How about Labyrinth?

Edited October 9, 2018 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine