What is Your Story? Intro

All you need to make a movie is a guy, a girl, and a machete

I believe this, as a general rule--yes . . . that and a smartphone, laptop, and $4k, but you get the point.  Gender is not relevant--I just like saying "a guy, a girl, and a machete" because it has a better rhythm than "two humans and a large knife".  Bottom line: it's all about the triangulation of desire (based on either a lack or excess, doesn't really matter).  If you can't make a plot out of two humans and a deadly weapon, you need to work on your story basics.  Anytime two humans desire the same thing, especially something dangerous, you have the opportunity for conflict that can be dramatized.

And believe me, at this level you need as much conflict that can be visually dramatized as possible.

What kind of guy, girl, machete, story is it?

Now, although Holiday is a movie about a guy, a girl and a machete, the actual story, as I mentioned earlier, is one of revenge.  With a guy a girl and a machete you could write a rom-com, a thriller, a love story, a slasher story, almost anything.

I chose revenge for reasons I'll get into later.  The action is driven by the abductor, Graham, and his conflict with The Russian.  The young abducted girl, Anne, and the phantasma Helen, the Tattooed Woman the men dream of, are both only collateral damage in a conflict between The Russian and Graham.  Yet I use the emotional state of the abducted girl to control the style of the storytelling: at first her world is sunny and beautiful, then foggy, druggy, and frightening, then finally real, brutal, and horrifying.

The point is, there are infinite stories within any genre, so don't get caught up in the "uniqueness of your vision"--that's just annoying to everyone around you.  Try working on these questions: Do you know how you want to visually tell your story?  What is readily available to you?  Do you know what the end result of editing those images together might be?  What do you want to say?