I Want to Create A Lucid Dream Short Film

[Buddy]

I'm trying to get back into lucid dreaming because I know how interesting it can be, but I want to do more than just get started again. I'm a filmmaker and I would love to create a short film sharing the idea of Lucid Dreaming. It still seems like a relatively unknown thing, which saddens me. Hopefully this can be something to show those people so they get a better understanding of what it can be like. I haven't really put a whole lot of thought on the plot as of right now but it's not as important as the lucid dream(s) itself...I'll need some help. I'm a few years out of practice but I do have some vague memories of the amazing things I've done and seen in the past. I was wondering if anyone had some interesting moments or ideas that they might like to see in the film, or just anything to help me figure out how to best show what it's like. As for the plot, I would love to hear if anyone has some personal stories of why you lucid dream (Besides fun), how you found out about it, or how it has helped you in any way. Post only if you don't mind sharing, of course. Also, I can add CGI effects as long as they fall within my limited self taught skill set: Destroying things, CG smoke and fire, and (Just started/Still learning) photo-real architectural visualizations (For backgrounds...or possibly floating furniture? ). I doubt the film will run over 10 minutes, if that, so don't hold back! Above anything, I want to make sure I accurately and realistically portray what a lucid dream is like (With some creative merit), regardless of what it ends up being about. I know it'll be challenging, but I think I can pull it off with everyone's input. And finally, I apologize if this is in the wrong section. It's kind of a weird topic. tl;dr Making a lucid dream short film: Ideas? Thanks!

[SinisterDezz]

For the short film, you could have someone alone perhaps in a field or something similar, nature. They realize they are dreaming, and do a RC. They feel that moment of excitement and begin doing regular dream control powers like changing the scene, playing with super powers, etc. Just throwing out ideas. Also, if you end up finishing this, I would be honored to put it up on my YouTube channel to get it even further out there (To a whole 11 more people) Make sure you portray the fact that it's a dream. I feel like if you didn't tell people directly through the video, it wouldn't be easy to understand.

[rynkrt3]

I think to get a large amount of people interested in LDing, you need to sell the benefits of it other than fun. Everyone I tell doesn't want to put in the effort just for a little "fun" Lucid dreaming can be a great way for people to get over fears. My friend used it to get rid of his social anxiety. In his LD's he used the idea that everything was fake and he had nothing to fear to put himself in social situations. Through this, he learned that he had nothing to fear in real social situations... it was all in his head. I have heard of people getting past a fear of heights as well. Just some food for though.

[SinisterDezz]

I think to get a large amount of people interested in LDing, you need to sell the benefits of it other than fun. Everyone I tell doesn't want to put in the effort just for a little "fun" Lucid dreaming can be a great way for people to get over fears. My friend used it to get rid of his social anxiety. In his LD's he used the idea that everything was fake and he had nothing to fear to put himself in social situations. Through this, he learned that he had nothing to fear in real social situations... it was all in his head. I have heard of people getting past a fear of heights as well. Just some food for though. I agree actually. Selling the benefits of lucid dreaming is the best way to get people interested. Throw in some extra cool fun things on the side, kinda like the scenes from Inception when Ariande is folding the city into itself.

[intheworldofnim]

I think to get a large amount of people interested in LDing, you need to sell the benefits of it other than fun. Everyone I tell doesn't want to put in the effort just for a little "fun" Lucid dreaming can be a great way for people to get over fears. My friend used it to get rid of his social anxiety. In his LD's he used the idea that everything was fake and he had nothing to fear to put himself in social situations. Through this, he learned that he had nothing to fear in real social situations... it was all in his head. I have heard of people getting past a fear of heights as well. Just some food for though. How the hell do you get rid of something as debilitating as social anxiety through lucid dreaming alone. That makes no sense to me and sounds more like a placebo. Either that or he didn't have any real social anxiety, maybe just shyness of some sort but I seriously doubt his social anxiety was anything severe.

[Mismagius]

Like Dezz said, maybe have a scene where someone realizes they're dreaming and have that shocking and excited feeling. Maybe show a time lapse of someone WILDing, you could have it shift from the time lapse to Hypnagogic Imagery or overlay the HI upon the time lapse footage. I would also love to see dream character friends used in it. I like the overcoming fear idea too, would make for good footage of people standing on the edge of buildings/bridges. Good luck, keep us updated on the short film

[Buddy]

Thanks for the input so far guys! I didn't expect this to get this many responses so soon. I like the idea of tackling a fear - I'm sure I might go with that once I start brainstorming ideas. Can anyone share a weird conversation they've had in dreams? I feel like the ones in my dreams usually are, but I have really bad recall and can never remember what they were about. I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to writing dialogue anyway that I'll probably struggle to make it sound as surreal and weird as it probably would be.

[Buddy]

I just wanted to let everyone know I am going to finish up a test film in the next week or two. It's super short (Just over a minute) and only has one character with no dialogue. To be honest I just did it for VFX practice to make sure I still know what I'm doing! I'm thinking about adding a narration over it too, since it seems pretty empty without a message and just cool shots of stuff happening. Even though you guys haven't seen it yet, does this sound ok? I'm going to try and get it recorded this Wednesday, so anything is bound to change before then. Everyday I question my reality. I ask myself: What am I doing? How did I get here? Usually the answer is simple. However, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes, I find myself in a new world. A world unlike before. A world I control. A world where anything I think will happen. A world with limitless possibilities... This is the reality of my dreams. ...Until I wake up. And question reality again. Will you? And as for news about the actual short film - I think I've settled on having it be about overcoming a recurring nightmare, where a friend helps them get lucid because of it. If anyone knows of any good posts or threads about a similar experience, let me know. I'm going to search for those myself too, but I'll take any help I can get before I start writing.

[Buddy]

Oh my god I'm tired of looking at these VFX shots lol. I'm done with my test film - I already spent a day more on it than I intended. Now to focus on research and writing the actual short!

[Artie J]

Looks good! I admit I was pulled in. Only little nitpick I have is that the voice starts to get lost in the music when it builds. Where did the music come from? Good job on that too. I was going to offer my services for music tracks or audio mixing but it seems like you have it covered. I take it this will be sort of a short drama story that indirectly educates the viewer, as opposed to some kind of documentary narrative.

[Buddy]

Actually, I could use some help with original music. I'm reaching out to a local band right now for some ambient tracks, but for now I don't really have anything. The track I used in the test film was just something I found on a video forum I frequent - It's called The Girl, by Josh Flori. And you nailed it. I want to make something that can teach people about lucid dreaming, without being a tutorial, or documentary.

[Artie J]

I have some demo stuff at Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/musicteam3 Check out Asea mt3 01, Asea mt3 02, Asea mt3 04 and Asea mt3 06-3. (The top entry Tashows 03 gtrs was a collab for which I just provided guitars.)

[Artie J]

The music fit perfectly, I though maybe it was composed to match the action, but sounds like you edited video to match the music? You definitely want original compositions or clearance from artists for music you use. If you have some rough specifics (scenes, moods, length) in mind just PM me or post some details here in case others may be interested. If you're on the fast track with this, I don't know if I can keep up due to other commitments and projects, but this is the sort of thing I'd love to work on!

[Agaruff]

I can't wait to see the finished result! I want to make one too now! I think for me I started lucid dreaming not so much for dream control, but for seeing what stuff happens in my subconscious. Asking the dream "show me something" or asking a DC "take me somewhere" or even just examining my dream. Of course that's more boring than levitating a chair, and it's too late too change your whole short film. I was actually going to write a book about lucid dreaming, the idea being that what we see in our "reality" is only the smallest fraction of what is actually there, and it might not actually be real at all but just false senses. Because we can only perceive things to a point as a human. So becoming lucid in reality or learning to perceive things in dreams as a being and not a human. Argh I don't make any sense.