Pook's Place

Yu-Gi-Oh! Live Action Movie
By Pook

5.20.04   -- Part 2: Plot and Special Effects

Last week I had some fun with the casting ideas, and a whole bunch of people really liked who I had suggested. Thanks everyone. This week, I’ll be focusing on two big aspects – the movie’s plot and its special effects.

The problem with adapting an anime series into an hour and a half movie is that there is just so much material to worth with during one story arc. So, I’ll have to take a few creative liberties.
I mentioned last week that this movie would be about the Duelist Kingdom. However, we wouldn’t even see the Kingdom until the movie’s second act – for those who don’t know, movies are divided into 3 acts. During the movie’s first act, we would be introduced to the main characters (Yugi, Grandpa, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Kaiba). We’d see Yugi completing the Millennium Puzzle and begin to deal with Yami Yugi’s presence. The big payoff for this act would be the duel between Yugi and Kaiba.

Act two would begin with Pegasus starting the Duelist Kingdom tournament, as well as snagging Grandpa Moto and Mokuba. We’d meet Mai and Bakura. Weevil, Mako, Bonz, and Rex would be very small parts, probably just even during a montage of duels (can’t waste too much time on them). We’d also see Kaiba set out on his own and become a one-man wrecking crew through the Duelist Kingdom. This act would end with the 2nd showdown between Yugi and Kaiba (there is a reason for this being relatively early – it sets up the plot/conflict for the 2nd movie, Battle City).

Of course, act three would be the semifinals and finals for the tournament. This would have to be condensed for time purposes, naturally. The movie ends with Yugi’s victory, him freeing everyone, giving Joey the prize money, etc. Like I said last time, I want to keep to the plot as much as possible, but a few variations have to be made for the sake of time.

Now, for what will probably be the most controversial aspect I’ll introduce – the special effects. Luckily, the Duel Monsters arena is a computer hologram, so using computer generated effects isn’t such a bad idea. The real question is what company should do the effects? Personally, I’d like it if WETA (Lord of the Rings trilogy, upcoming live action Neon Genesis Evangelion movie), because their effects looks beyond realistic. Then again, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) did The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, so they have a knack for the Egyptian design. Only problem is that their effects look a bit too cartoony (think Star Wars: Episode Two – Attack of the Clones). And then at the same time, cartoony would work – think about it. If the effects look realistic, but at the same time look like they came out of a cartoon would tie it to its anime roots. That’s when I came up with another idea – hand drawn animation. I don’t think it would work, but what if the monsters were part CG/part hand drawn (not like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) just to make it look authentic. But I’m not sure it’ll work. I do know that having people/animals be the monsters just wouldn’t work – it’d end up looking like Power Rangers or something.
Next week, the shooting locations and directors.

See you then ^_^