BEYOND
f8
In fact, Jason conceived a general backstory to better support the film’s underlying narrative, and upon which I based the first draft of the screenplay. Not everything about the setting was explained, though. (One example: What the hell is that thing the hero climbs inside where the golden light engulfs him? Jason himself never fully figured an explanation for this.) But, in the context of a film short, the enigmatic imagery spoke on its own on an ethereal, emotional level. Thus, for the most part, such nitpicky “story details” didn’t matter too much to us at the time.
Conceding to the interests of “important people” in the movie biz, I went back over my brother’s original notes to flesh out, expand upon, and add more elements in order to provide a stronger foundation for a movie, TV series, or other media property which would continue the story of f8. A large part of the credit for this goes to Andrew, who, on his own, continued to create concept artwork, long after the film was completed. His work, and passion, helped to keep the world of f8 alive in my mind when I wrote.
So, presented here publicly for the first time ever, selections from Andrew’s concept art and the plot and characters I developed reveal the story that was to go beyond the film short. New characters. New settings. Some answers are revealed, but along with new questions raised.
As for what it is the film’s protagonist climbs into: It’s a “sky jelly” – a giant, airborne animal that resembles a jellyfish. Our hero hides in it – its bio-luminescence naturally jams the signal detection equipment of his pursuers. The sky jelly is dying, showering the last of its light protectively upon him, as its life comes to an end.
And, yet, this is when the story of f8 begins.
–Howard Wen
Dallas, Texas
November 2, 2003
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the never-before-seen movie treatment that continues the story of f8 after the original film short!
f900
This character was imagined as a “collective consciousness.” Because of the many faces it wears, the f900 is imbued with the memories, knowledge and skills of several individuals.
Insect God
This fusion of insectoid and human could be a “spirit guide” appearing in the dreams of characters. Or it could be one example of how the Hybrids might evolve from their biomechanical forms to a totally biological one.
Salvage Bot
In areas outside of The City, robots are terraforming the natural environment of the planet to make it habitable for their masters – the same ones who created the Hybrids to construct The City.
Gunner
Engineered to be a “living gun,” this is the foot soldier of an alien race that has a vendetta against the Hybrids’ masters. It feels no allegiance, however, to the Hybrids or to their growing Resistance movement.
The similarity between the Gunner’s organic exoskeleton and the mechanical exo-suit of the Hybrid Security Cyborg (a.k.a. the “Commando”) suggests that these aliens were also genetically manipulated by the Hybrids’ creators at one point in their history.