Making Light :: The page of generators :: comments

The page of generators

Steven Savage has the turn of mind that plays with permutations, and has come up with an entire page of...

The page of generators -- comment #1 from jJohn M. Ford

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 16:17:48 -0500

Okay, I ran the synopses through LEADLINE 0.2 (an early alpha, don't ask) and got the following titles. Watch for these at your multiplex.

In a city of fear, four actors and a bounty hunter oppose crime.

MONEY SHOTS

In a galaxy of computerization, an astronomer tries to participate in the greatest fighting tournament of history.

THE TYCHO ALGORITHM

In a dark universe, two supercomputers hope to participate in the greatest fighting tournament of history.

ROCK 91EM SOCK 91EM ROBOTS: THE NEXT GENERATION

In a corrupt world, in a time of conspiracy and illusions, a grave robber and a conjurer seek vengance.

SPADE AND ARCHER: THE BEGINNING

In a forgotten world of magic, in a time of confusion and prophecy, three computer programmers search for a mystic artifact.

THE WAY OF THE CODE MONKEY

In a hellish empire, two colonists and a prospector battle crime.

CLAIM JUMPERS

On a planet of enchantment, a gigolo searches for a mysterious treasure and battles evil.

SAM ENCHANTED92S EVENINGS

In a terrifying city of monsters, four botanists search for fame.

BURBANK92S ANGELS

In an empire of blood and warfare, in an era of lies, three queens battle an evil corporation.

RICHARD III, LLC

In a land of barbarism, a swordsman and an artificial intelligence fight evil.

ELIZA AND THE DESTROYER

In a city of demons and wonder, a nun and a gambler attempt to solve the ultimate crime and prevent the apocalypse.

HARD 666 {from an idea by Anthony Boucher}

In an empire of dreams and illusion, four psychologists and an exorcist fight a syndicate of aliens.

EIGHTY MINUTES TO ZERO

In a mysterious land of technology, an assassin searches for the ultimate weapon and fights evil.

KILLER APP

In a universe of fear and sorcery, seven priests search for love and battle crime.

THE ORDER OF ST. ABELARD

]]>

Posted March 8, 2003 4:17 PM by jJohn M. Ford

The page of generators -- comment #2 from Brad DeLong

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 16:36:57 -0500

Re: >>In a land of barbarism, a swordsman and an artificial intelligence fight evil.

I've read this one! It was by S.M. Stirling!

]]>

Posted March 8, 2003 4:36 PM by Brad DeLong

The page of generators -- comment #3 from John Farrell

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 17:30:53 -0500

As someone who has produced trailers (see my web site, he said modestly), I was disappointed the Action Film Trailer Generator didn't lead with In a World Where... which seems to me the more common opening.

Still, it's pretty cool.

]]>

Posted March 8, 2003 5:30 PM by John Farrell

The page of generators -- comment #4 from Stefanie Murray

Sat, 08 Mar 2003 22:03:53 -0500

John: for the ultimate expression of the 'in a world phenomenon,' check out the trailer for Comedian (if you haven't already):

http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/comedian.html

]]>

Posted March 8, 2003 10:03 PM by Stefanie Murray

The page of generators -- comment #5 from Stefan Jones

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 00:35:56 -0500

All you pros out there should print the URL for Savage's generator page on a business card, and sell it to folks who ask you where you get your ideas from.

(Give half the take to the Neilson Haydens, in compensation for the horrors that would soon start appearing in their slush pile.)

"In a mysterious galaxy of sin, a terraformer and a **novelist** try to find revenge and battle evil."

Mary Sue in space!

]]>

Posted March 9, 2003 12:35 AM by Stefan Jones

The page of generators -- comment #6 from John Farrell

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 09:27:02 -0500

Stephanie,

What a gem! I can't believe I missed that one, because I visit the Apple trailer site regularly (I'll have to be more regular, I guess).

]]>

Posted March 9, 2003 9:27 AM by John Farrell

The page of generators -- comment #7 from CHip

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 21:51:26 -0500

It's interesting Teresa came up with a Brunner plot; somewhere in the thin space between her plot summaries and Mike's titles for same I remembered Brunner's contention (from The Shockwave Rider) that Chinese villagers were called on to shuffle and deal word cards so as to come up with unfiltered concepts they could discuss and report on. (I certainly don't believe the discussion was "free and unfettered" as Brunner suggests -- looking back on this, I'm reminded of a local disbeliever-in-everything's apologia for the Khmer Rouge -- but I'm amused that he claimed this depended on unique characteristics of Chinese (he didn't say whether he meant Mandarin, Cantonese, ..., or all) when a few decades of Moore's Law puts it in the hands of any fule kno.)

Should we take up a collection to buy Patrick and Teresa a huge rubber stamp with the Tor book-proposal requirements (synopsis and two chapters, IIRC) for self-defense?

]]>

Posted March 9, 2003 9:51 PM by CHip

The page of generators -- comment #8 from Bruce Arthurs

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 23:25:45 -0500

I generated a page of plotlines, and three of them had the same goal: "save the last living fertile woman."

The protagonists were: three heros and a duchess, two peasants and an acrobat, and a virtual reality engineer.

Which just goes to show: If you're the last living fertile woman, you'll be VERY popular.

]]>

Posted March 9, 2003 11:25 PM by Bruce Arthurs

The page of generators -- comment #9 from John M. Ford

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 01:37:12 -0500

>I generated a page of plotlines, and three of them
>had the same goal: "save the last living fertile
>woman."

>The protagonists were: three heros and a duchess, >two peasants and an acrobat, and a virtual reality
>engineer.

Titled, respectively, FULL HOUSE, PYRAMID SCHEME, and A SCANNER DARKLY.

]]>

Posted March 10, 2003 1:37 AM by John M. Ford

The page of generators -- comment #10 from bryan

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 08:37:01 -0500

How did it give you jack of shadows?

In a world half-night, half-day the only man capable of moving between its divisions makes out like a bandit?

]]>

Posted March 10, 2003 8:37 AM by bryan

The page of generators -- comment #11 from Emmet

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 10:30:40 -0500

As academic SF generators go, I'm still working on the setting that can plausibly contain a Department of Applied Eschatology.

]]>

Posted March 10, 2003 10:30 AM by Emmet

The page of generators -- comment #12 from James D. Macdonald

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 01:05:51 -0500

"... to save the world's last fertile woman."

That's real close to the plot of Hell Comes to Frogtown. A ex-soldier (the world's last fertile male) and a dancer-turned-FBI-agent infiltrate a pool of alien frogs to save (among other things) the world's last fertile women. Yee-hah!

]]>

Posted March 11, 2003 1:05 AM by James D. Macdonald

The page of generators -- comment #13 from Erik V. Olson

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 02:31:52 -0500

Watching Mike Ford makes me realize that we've got a consuite game here -- print out fifty or so of these buggers, read 'em aloud, and throw chocolate at whoever shouts out the best title.

And I'm laying 50 on Mike Ford.

]]>

Posted March 11, 2003 2:31 AM by Erik V. Olson

The page of generators -- comment #14 from Kevin Marks

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 06:22:57 -0500

Regarding esoteric academic titles, the rollcall of Blog U over at AKMA's takes some beating.

In fact the faculty are planning a convocation.

]]>

Posted March 11, 2003 6:22 AM by Kevin Marks

The page of generators -- comment #15 from Caryn Cameron

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 17:29:36 -0500

> In a terrifying city of monsters, four botanists search for fame.

Wasn't this the plot for the beautiful but ridiculously plotted Final Fantasy film?

]]>

Posted March 12, 2003 5:29 PM by Caryn Cameron

The page of generators -- comment #16 from Brad DeLong

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 23:58:32 -0500

http://britishspin.blogspot.com: "In a time of despondancy, mayhem and tension, a lone blogger seeks distraction and finds the action film trailer generator."

]]>

Posted March 12, 2003 11:58 PM by Brad DeLong