(Excerpts)
Beginning (10 minutes): Huge triangular spaceship with the name ‘Stellar Flash’ orbits Pluto. Then, many-doored futuristic corridor. Captain Jonathan Hogart, 30s, (Protagonist) banters with Sue Ciao, 30s, volcanologist (Key Support 2) about Pluto, the rising magma under Earth’s continents, his immaturity, and upcoming broadcast. Their affection is interrupted when Spiney, 80s, alien First Officer (Key Support 1) ‘flash-appears’. Sue taps her armband and ‘flashes’ back to Earth. Spiney and Jonathan banter, then enter the spherical Control Centre where six other very different aliens are at their lectern-like stations. Jonathan speaks to camera about the pending supernova of a star, live-streamed to various receivers across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Turning point 1: Surround screen shows five planets explode before the star does, revealing it is deliberate. The Supreme Leader of Earth realises their star system is in danger, and orders Jonathan to find the perpetrator using any means necessary. Turning Point 2: Jonathan contacts Sue but is shocked to find she has decided to stay on Earth to find a way to save it. If he doesn’t stop the Sun exploding, he’ll lose her – the thing that is most important to him above all else.
Middle (1 hour): Jonathan and crew flash to seven different worlds, meeting many kinds of aliens in their search, while Sue and a group of holographic alien volcanologists work together to save the Earth. A shadowy tentacled villain, Vaxin, (Antagonist), causes problems for Jonathan, though they have had no relationship before this. Turning Point 3: Jonathan discovers the order of exploding stars is creating an energy wave. Earth’s Sun has only a few hours left. Human refugees attempt to leave the Solar System but there’s not enough human-style infrastructure in the Orion Arm for 10 billion of them. Automatic flash visas are denied, stranding them. If Jonathan doesn’t save the Sun, humanity will die with it. They’re led to the Skrpx, praying-mantis-like beings, but they won’t say where the weapon is. Earth Council flashes battle fleets to the Skrpx star system as part of its negotiation tactic. After a fight, the location is finally released because it no longer matters. Turning point 4: Jonathan finds the location is a lone planet that he had previously ignored on a mapping mission, so he thinks the end of the human race is his fault. After they flash there, Spiney is shot in a laser fight. Jonathan kills Vaxin but fails to stop the hyper-time dark energy weapon from shooting the Sun. Spiney is dying, the Sun will go supernova, his girlfriend will die with the Earth, humanity will be destroyed and its all his fault. Turning point 5: Spiney is saved. Jonathan and crew return to the Solar System near Pluto and begin flashing to the ship as many refugees as possible. (Thousands) Sue contacts Jonathan and tells him that the Sun will expand instead, and Pluto will be the only safe place. The Sun, with its time sped up, turns red and absorbs Mercury, Venus and then expands towards Earth. Sue creates a new survival plan based on something Jonathan had said. Her signal is cut just as the sun envelopes Earth. Jonathan believes all is lost.
End (10 mins plus credits): Turning Point 6. Land masses appear near the Stellar Flash. Sue has used the heating magma to explode countries from the Earth’s crust just as it was absorbed by the Sun and flashed them to Pluto. The Stellar Flash and other ships use energy beams to guide and lock together continents into position on the surface, like a new Pangaea, making Pluto the core of New Earth. The Sun stops expanding after it swallows Mars, as the dark energy has been exhausted. Almost losing Spiney, Jonathan has matured. Seeing this, Sue asks him to marry her.
Rules of Cerebral Space Opera: Also known as soft science fiction, this genre conveys a spectacular, yet thought-provoking story, grounded within extrapolated science, usually with aliens present in some form, in a ‘high concept’ style. “Colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action, and usually set in the relatively distant future, and in space or on other worlds, characteristically optimistic in tone.” (Hartwell & Cramer, 2006) Stories regularly reference physics, chemistry, biology and other scientific disciplines. “The ability to challenge the viewer in a way that’s new but believable is the hallmark of the best cerebral sci-fi movies.” (Wong, 2016) Examples include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival, and Wandering Earth.
Notes on Location: Across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Opulent, vaulted-ceilinged building of the Supreme Leader of Earth; an alien tents on a desert planet; an alien casino on top of a kilometre high skyscraper on a high tech planet; a ecological research centre hidden on a rainforest planet; a rotating three-ring alien space station orbiting a purple gas giant, a water world, a blue sphere of energy in space, and a planet where everything is black so other spectrums for viewing must be used. Three main sets include:
Stellar Flash Central Control Dome: INT. Inside a sphere with a 360 degree screen surface. Central glass pole connecting vertically, cut in the middle by an invisible floor, surrounded by 8 lectern-like digital work-stations facing outwards. Three doors lead outward to three long corridors.
Volcanologist’s Research Centre: INT. One huge ceiling-wide hologram of Earth with zoomable maps of magma channels under the continents.
The Vaxin Leader’s Lair: INT. Rock hewn cavern. Steps and outcrops lead to exits. Central retro-futuristic and organic-looking device – base: metal ring; middle: pyramid of dark crystals; top: impossibly moving intertwined metal rings. Wide, throne-like seat with arm controls sits behind.
Character Biographies
Protagonist: Captain Jonathan Hogart. Confident, witty. Has difficulty seeing the big picture. Grew up in Australia with a loving family. Considers himself a citizen of the galaxy. Most beings like him. Always learning about new cultures and customs so that he can relate to anyone. Has a ‘can do’ attitude. Likes to translate science explanations into absurd comparisons. Goal is to find the destroyer of star systems and kill them. Fear is that he will lose Sue to someone or something. Eventually understands that many small pictures create big pictures, and they’re all important.
Key Support 1: First Officer Spiney. A purple, ball-shaped, alien with lots of spikes, like a sea urchin. Very wise. Good friends with Jonathan. Long history. Spiney’s goal is to protect this funny human from himself. His fear is that he will fail at this, and the relationship between his race and Jonathan’s will be diplomatically affected. Spiney continues to push Jonathan into seeing the big picture and to be a new type of galactic human. Can see beyond the big and small pictures.
Key Support 2: Sue Ciao. Grew up in Guangzhou with tough parents who were disappointed she quit her astrophysics degree at the Interstellar Space Academy to pursue volcanology on Earth. Confident, no nonsense, smart, loyal. Never a victim. Likes tradition, but modernised. Loves Jonathan but won’t allow him to have an ego around her. Wants to ask him to marry her but needs to push him into being more mature first. The pain of her parents dying before she could prove to them how important volcanology is drives her to do what she can to save the Earth. Can see both the big picture and the small and has decided to always fight for the small one.
The Antagonist: The Vaxin Leader. Goal: to prevent the Milky Way Galaxy from crashing into the Andromeda Galaxy in a million years. If it can’t, the crash will kill centillions of life forms in that galaxy. To prevent this, it must blow up stars to divert this galaxy away. Fear: It will be unsuccessful. It has no interest in humans and cannot see anything but the big picture.
Bibliography
Hartwell, D., Cramer, K. (2006) The Space Opera Renaissance, Tor, p.17.
Wong, Eddie. (2017) ‘Best Cerebral Sci Fi Movies’, Futurism, 15May. Available at: https://futurism.media/best-cerebral-sci-fi-movies [Accessed 1September 2019]
Stellar Flash 2135 A.D.
Extract 1 from the beginning: Mainly using the method of introducing the characters to the viewer by demonstrating their relationship through their words and actions.
EXT.SPACE – PLUTO
Nearby, a black, triangular ship with a small half sphere in the centre, and lights along its three sides, is in orbit. We hear: the hum of the ship, and two voices talking happily.
JONATHAN (V.O.)
It looks like an ice cream without a cone.
SUE (V.O.)
Can’t be. Pluto’s now much harder than ice cream.
FADE TO: INT. LONG MANY-DOORED FUTURISTIC CORRIDOR. CAPTAIN JONATHAN HOGART (early 30s) walking with DR. SUE CIAO (early 30s)
SUE
You could put a settlement on it!
JONATHAN
A cone-shaped one?
SUE
Oh, you’re so immature sometimes.
JONATHAN
That’s why you love me.
SUE
(They stop. SUE straightens JONATHAN’S jacket.)
Well…So, it’s your big broadcast. A quadrillion viewers!
JONATHAN
Yeah! Told you I was famous. Going to watch?
SUE
Going back. Rumbling under Yellowstone. Volcanologist, remember?
JONATHAN
With all that magma, you’d think countries would have exploded into
space by now.
SUE
You have no idea about geology, do you?
JONATHAN
I guess I didn’t swallow that capsule.
SUE
You’re on in five minutes. Good luck.
Jonathan and Sue are about to kiss when FIRST OFFICER SPINEY, (round, purple alien, like a sea-urchin,) appears in a flash of light, interrupting.
SPINEY
Er, Jonathan… Captain Hogart?
JONATHAN
(Turns to SPINEY.)
Now?
SPINEY
The Supreme Leader of Earth is about to throw to you.
SUE
Next time! Yi huir jian!
(Touches JONATHAN’s cheek, grinning, then presses her armband and disappears.)
JONATHAN (Sighs. Tidies clothes)
Right. Let’s do this. How do I look?
SPINEY
Human!
JONATHAN
Honestly, Spiney. That joke is getting old.
SPINEY
Do you really think we’ll get there in time?
JONATHAN
Have I ever let you down?
SPINEY
Is this where humans expect me to lie and say, ‘no’?
Extract 2 from near the end: Mainly using the method of ending where the story began. NB: For this exercise I have restricted the dialogue to just Jonathan, Spiney and Sue.
INT. STELLAR FLASH SPHERICAL CENTRE CONTROL ROOM. Surround screen shows a serene live stream of a turning Pluto, and a violent live stream of the Sun with zoomed images of Mercury and Venus. The alien crew are at their stations.
JONATHAN (speaking into his armband)
Sue! The Sun is going to explode!
SUE (V.O. from JONATHAN’s armband)
The Sun is a G2V yellow dwarf star. Even with the hyper time of
the dark energy matrix, it doesn’t have enough mass to…
JONATHAN
Layman’s terms please. Look. Just imagine that I’m dumb.
SUE (V.O.)
I don’t need to imagine.
JONATHAN
Come on! Summarise!
SUE
The Sun won’t explode
JONATHAN
Oh, good.
SUE
It’ll just keep getting bigger until Mars.
JONATHAN (Pauses, overwhelmed.)
…Got any good Chinese swear words? English ones aren’t big enough.
SPINEY
Sir. You may wish to see this.
Jonathan looks up. Surround screen. Zoomed image of the Sun turning red and expanding, swallowing Mercury. Jonathan turns back to his armband.
JONATHAN (Panicking)
Sue! It’s started. You have to leave Earth. We’ll take as many
people as we can. The Stellar Flash can fit thousands.
Surround screen shows the red Sun with swirls of dark energy across its surface. It expands suddenly again, as though time has been skipped, swallowing Venus.
SUE (Signal breaking up)
We have a plan. Something you said about the magma. You
….magma… the continents…we’ll…
(A disconnection beep)
JONATHAN
Sue. Can you hear me. Sue? Sue?
SPINEY
Signal lost, sir. Even with all power through your direct link.
The alien crew watch the surround screen as the zoomed image of Earth and the Moon are swallowed by the expanding Sun. JONATHAN gasping, stumbling. Gripping a station.
JONATHAN
(A single tear drips down his right cheek.)
No…
SPINEY
Sir, I’m detecting a new asteroid. 8,000 kilometres long,
5000 kilometres wide and deep
JONATHAN
(Wipes away tear. Stands straight. Work now, grieve later.)
On screen.
Screen: Large mass of land appears in space. Huge frozen waterfalls around it. Fiery red flames underneath. Enveloped by a force field, slowly moving towards Pluto. As it turns, the land’s shape becomes recognisable. Behind it, more flashes appear.
JONATHAN
Wait. Is that…North America? Cropped?
EXT. More land masses, surrounded by flickering force fields, flash into orbit several kilometres away from the Stellar Flash, making it look tiny. South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia.
INT: Stellar Flash. JONATHAN looks stunned. A flash of light off screen.
SUE (O.S.)
Well, get those beams ready!
JONATHAN
(Turning, sees her, runs over and finally kisses her.)
Sue! You’re alive!
SUE
Well, yes! And we owe it all to you. I’ve sent the instructions
to your ship.
SPINEY
Sir, shall I activate the program?
JONATHAN
(Turning to SPINEY)
Yes, do it.
(Turning back to SUE)
So…what are we doing, again?
SUE
Moving to Pluto! I’ve taken enough of the crust to rebuild
Earth using Pluto as the core, though we might get a few
new mountains.
EXT. Multiple flash ships surround various countries. They stabilise them, then settle them onto Pluto’s surface, covering the whole planet with them, locking them together like a round Pangaea, with no space for oceans.
INT. STELLAR FLASH CONTROL CENTRE
JONATHAN
(Puts his arm around SUE, watching the birth of new Earth.)
Now Pluto really IS a planet!