constituent
10-13-2007, 08:06 AM
I saw yesterday that our good friend "Torchbearer" (which mind you he actually is, if you can and haven't yet, please send him a PM and find out about donating to his campaign) that there were individuals out there looking to fund grassroots projects. This got me thinking about the GR successes to date like Lord Xar's radio ads and flyers, Operation NH, Operation Flowerdrop, the list goes on.
By now, many have come to the conclusion that the Paul nomination is in the bag, it is just a matter of everyone continue and expanding their efforts to get the word out, educating friends and family on the issues, and ultimately the primaries coming up.
Building on that and the expressed desire of others to get involved with a GR project through either funds or participation, moral support or whatever, it is clear that the time has come to work on some national (propaganda?) efforts (print, radio, and t.v.).
Taking it one step further, here is a compilation of commercial ideas that work as a series to play off of the "spamy" nature of the campaign. The idea is that once you get it, you see it everywhere, and "it" is everyone all coming together to build something, anything, better for the future.
This is a series of five commercials. If you have any recommendations on script edits, changes in setting, themes, bumper stickers, all the sublime little elements that will help bring these together, please post the info. here. I have every intention of e-mail the completed product to the official campaign and to the people mentioned in "Torchbearer's" post.
I: Down the Road
This requires three vehicles, four actors and very little camera work, three cameras total. CAMERA ONE (CAR A) that needs an active cameraman, CAMERA TWO mounted on the hood of a follow car, and CAMERA THREE (CAR B) mounted on the dash, only two cars will be in the commercial.
"CAR A" has a young couple in it, "CAR B" has an old couple in it.
Commercial Starts in CAR A, shot is looking down at a cell-phone whose browser is in a generic forum (representing of course a Ron Paul forum, it would help if the general appearance was like that of ronpaul2008.com on a cellphone).
the camera picks up from the phone's screen and moves backward so that it is facing out front of the car right between driver and passenger.
in the right third (out the passenger side window) you see a van pull up and slightly ahead of CAR A. This van is CAR B.
camera shot is then out the window of CAR A looking at an old couple in CAR B that looks really happy and is chatting it up.
voice of driver in CAR A: Hey, they're Ron Paul fans!
cut to CAMERA 2:
CAMERA 2 shows the rear bumper of both vehicles on a city highway side by side. the back of both vehicles are plastered in (or at least have one or two) ron paul for pres stickers. The audio is CAR A honk honk honk honk honking at the old folks in
cut to CAMERA 1:
Driver is waving and honking like crazy as camera moves in between driver and passenger and looks down at the cellphone screen.
Driver: (lightly, in jest) Ahhh, those crazy old folks, can't even hear us.
On the cellphone screen, passenger sends a text that says, "we're driving next to some old folks in a van w/ Ron Paul stickers right now!!!!!"
Driver: oh well. crazy old people, let's go.
On cellphone screen a text comes in that says, "is that you in the (whatever color, make) CAR A. as this is on screen, the passenger in CAR A says,
Passenger: Is that you in the (color, make) car?
CAMERA ONE pulls back from the cellphone to the split driver/passenger shot as the two look at each other kinda puzzled. cut to CAMERA THREE
CAMERA THREE is mounted on the dashboard of CAR B. Inside you hear the radio,
"if you google Ron Paaaauuul, if you google Ron Paaaauuul." and you see the old folks, driver and passenger waving out the window.
cut back and forth from CAMERA THREE to CAMERA ONE, audio is a fade from the old people laughing to the young people laughing. Cut to CAMERA TWO
CAMERA TWO looking from behind sees the stickers prominently in the shot as CAR A speeds away and both cars drive off, follow car applies brake to allow both CAR A and CAR B to pull off into the sunset.
II: Jogging Grandmas
This one is about two old women who meet up to go "jogging" but they're really trying to keep it under wraps that they're guerilla style Ron Paul supporters... so they sneak out w/ a sign and hop in a van... go and hang the sign over the freeway during rush hour traffic... run into either their husbands, or some young people, whoever. They setup the Ron Paul banner across the overpass, and begin broadcasting guerilla radio, or bullhorning the the traffic below.
Script:
Grandma #1 in workout clothes walks up a sidewalk to the door ::in a type of townhouse complex, i have a particular one in mind.. will describe in more detail if necessary:: rings doorbell.
Grandma #2 (workout clothes) opens the door.
Grandma #1: are you ready?
Grandma #2: of course.
Grandma #1: do you have the... trails off
Grandma #2: yea uh... right here ::she does that shifty eye thing and reaches
behind the door. Just take this.
Grandma #2 hands Grandma #1 two signs rolled together to obscure their contents. the two old ladies, carry the flags off like a body and run away looking sneaky to Grandma #1's van parked up the road. The two get in and floor it.
camera fades out
camera comes back in as Grandma #1 slams the van in park off the side of a busy access road. the two old ladies get out A-team style and grab the signs... unfurling them, they look proudly (guiltily) at each other and jog to an overpass. When the two arrive, they see two other people (old men, young people, whoever... dressed ninja style or something) who've arrived with their Ron Paul banner and loudspeaker.
The two parties make eye contact and both see each other's Ron Paul banners... smile and wave as the two old ladies begin jogging back and forth waiving their banners, and the others setup their station in the middle of the overpass to blast their message. Below gridlocked traffic.
As the camera moves away from the overpass and glides over the stalled traffic an announcer could say anything relevant to the campaign and local events taking place.
::edit:: better yet, have it be their husbands all dressed in fishing gear.
III: Grassroots vs. Official
CAMERA 1
City Street framed by tall buildings, standing on opposite sides of the street
are two "armies."
Army #1 Consists of men and women in business suits all prim and propers,
talking on the cell phones etc. w/ a few notable campaign faces in the front of
the crowd. In the back you see the standard style Ron Paul 2008 signs like
battle flags above their heads
Army#2 Consists of men and women in all sorts of clothes, casual, black, etc.
and they have the R 3VO_| ution signs in the back.
You see the eye to eye old western bit between a couple people in the front of Army #2 and then a couple of people in Army #1 (pref. campaign staff). The shot cuts back and forth back and forth, and the two "armies" begin charging at each other up the street.
CAMERA 2
looking up street intersecting where the two armies will collide. Up the road, across the fated intersection you can make out a figure in a business suit
(could that be ron paul?). the camera pulls a bad ass action movie dolly ride through the intersection just spining around and stopping as the two "armies" collide in the middle.
there's shirt grabbing, the whole bit going on, when suddenly their is a loud whistling noise and the sound stops. everyone looks at the camera, the camera turns around looking at Ron Paul.
Ron Paul signals to the two armies to follow him and they follow him up the road.
Are you seeing the pattern? This dovetails with the “Blue Sky (#5)” as well as the “Jogging Grandmas,” which collides with the “Grassroots vs. Official” and the “Down the Road” commercials during the following:
IV: Commercial - Convergence
Camera One: This one begins inside the young people’s (Down the Road Commercial, DTRC) car as they are continuing up the freeway after passing their counterparts in the previous commercial. One is humming “if you gooooogle ron pauauaual.” The driver speaks:
“Hey (pronoun), Check that out on the overpass, (reading sign) ‘Big Event.’”
Camera Two: Side Angle on the overpass looks at characters (Jogging Grandmas) as they are taking down their sign and packing up to leave.
Camera looks down below the overpass, as the young people’s (DTRC) vehicle passes honking underneath.
As they (grandmas) are looking down, the (Grassroots vs. Official) mob envelops them, and they begin walking up the street with the crowd. The crowd crosses the street.
Camera Three: Lady (Blue Sky) walks out of corner house with little red wagon and two children as the crowd’s last stragglers are moving past. A van (vehicle two DTRC) passes by and honks briefly at the mother, commercial closes as mother watches the van drive off, with multiple Ron Paul for President stickers on the back.
V: Commercial – Blue Sky
on screen:
a blue sky, wind, first autumn leaves...
close up shot of hippie mom's (R 3Vo_| ution shirt) face as she pulls away from setting her two kids in a little red wagon (wood slated sides), says "I love you guys."
panning out... she grabs her man's hand and they take off walking up the road as camera pulls further out and into a passing car.
Inside car man is listening to a Ron Paul song or something upbeat, you see his face smiling as camera spins around over his shoulder and back out the window.
camera behind car sees ron paul bumper sticker and spins as car pulls into the driveway (left). man in car's wife is visible in left third of the shot running toward car in Ron Paul shirt w/ her kids in tow (ron paul shirts). Husband pops out of the door and asks, "we're not late are we."
wife replies... "no no no, just hurry. come on kids, let's go." Lady tosses shirt to husband who fumbles with it as he gets into the car and they back out of the driveway.
camera follows car momentarily and then zooms straight ahead, up the road into a town square situation. as the camera moves up the road, you see people exiting their homes, a church lets out, more families and young people all converging on some spot ahead... the crowd gets increasingly dense. A young person (Internet Rockstar shirt) turns around and waves to the camera.
It is increasingly clear that some sort of event is taking place, but when the camera gets to the middle of town, there is no event, only people talking and laughing and shaking hands. some people picking up trash ::you know some volunteer activity going on:: music has been building all along and crescendos as the camera moves overhead panning out up into space (you see a huge crowd below clogging all entrances to the town center, RP in the middle).
Then as the camera moves away and the lights fade, with text and perhaps a voice,
Narrator: Something big is happening, but you won't see it watching t.v. The world is changing one person at a time. Guess what? You're Next.
Be Alive.
Be Free.
::Ron Paul Logo::
Hope for America
Be a Part of it.
If everyone starts considering these thematic elements (or those of your choosing), intertwining their discussion posts, blog entries, press releases, etc., to generate buzz, and create a unified front that is "on message" it would be a huge boost to the efforts of the real campaign.
By now, many have come to the conclusion that the Paul nomination is in the bag, it is just a matter of everyone continue and expanding their efforts to get the word out, educating friends and family on the issues, and ultimately the primaries coming up.
Building on that and the expressed desire of others to get involved with a GR project through either funds or participation, moral support or whatever, it is clear that the time has come to work on some national (propaganda?) efforts (print, radio, and t.v.).
Taking it one step further, here is a compilation of commercial ideas that work as a series to play off of the "spamy" nature of the campaign. The idea is that once you get it, you see it everywhere, and "it" is everyone all coming together to build something, anything, better for the future.
This is a series of five commercials. If you have any recommendations on script edits, changes in setting, themes, bumper stickers, all the sublime little elements that will help bring these together, please post the info. here. I have every intention of e-mail the completed product to the official campaign and to the people mentioned in "Torchbearer's" post.
I: Down the Road
This requires three vehicles, four actors and very little camera work, three cameras total. CAMERA ONE (CAR A) that needs an active cameraman, CAMERA TWO mounted on the hood of a follow car, and CAMERA THREE (CAR B) mounted on the dash, only two cars will be in the commercial.
"CAR A" has a young couple in it, "CAR B" has an old couple in it.
Commercial Starts in CAR A, shot is looking down at a cell-phone whose browser is in a generic forum (representing of course a Ron Paul forum, it would help if the general appearance was like that of ronpaul2008.com on a cellphone).
the camera picks up from the phone's screen and moves backward so that it is facing out front of the car right between driver and passenger.
in the right third (out the passenger side window) you see a van pull up and slightly ahead of CAR A. This van is CAR B.
camera shot is then out the window of CAR A looking at an old couple in CAR B that looks really happy and is chatting it up.
voice of driver in CAR A: Hey, they're Ron Paul fans!
cut to CAMERA 2:
CAMERA 2 shows the rear bumper of both vehicles on a city highway side by side. the back of both vehicles are plastered in (or at least have one or two) ron paul for pres stickers. The audio is CAR A honk honk honk honk honking at the old folks in
cut to CAMERA 1:
Driver is waving and honking like crazy as camera moves in between driver and passenger and looks down at the cellphone screen.
Driver: (lightly, in jest) Ahhh, those crazy old folks, can't even hear us.
On the cellphone screen, passenger sends a text that says, "we're driving next to some old folks in a van w/ Ron Paul stickers right now!!!!!"
Driver: oh well. crazy old people, let's go.
On cellphone screen a text comes in that says, "is that you in the (whatever color, make) CAR A. as this is on screen, the passenger in CAR A says,
Passenger: Is that you in the (color, make) car?
CAMERA ONE pulls back from the cellphone to the split driver/passenger shot as the two look at each other kinda puzzled. cut to CAMERA THREE
CAMERA THREE is mounted on the dashboard of CAR B. Inside you hear the radio,
"if you google Ron Paaaauuul, if you google Ron Paaaauuul." and you see the old folks, driver and passenger waving out the window.
cut back and forth from CAMERA THREE to CAMERA ONE, audio is a fade from the old people laughing to the young people laughing. Cut to CAMERA TWO
CAMERA TWO looking from behind sees the stickers prominently in the shot as CAR A speeds away and both cars drive off, follow car applies brake to allow both CAR A and CAR B to pull off into the sunset.
II: Jogging Grandmas
This one is about two old women who meet up to go "jogging" but they're really trying to keep it under wraps that they're guerilla style Ron Paul supporters... so they sneak out w/ a sign and hop in a van... go and hang the sign over the freeway during rush hour traffic... run into either their husbands, or some young people, whoever. They setup the Ron Paul banner across the overpass, and begin broadcasting guerilla radio, or bullhorning the the traffic below.
Script:
Grandma #1 in workout clothes walks up a sidewalk to the door ::in a type of townhouse complex, i have a particular one in mind.. will describe in more detail if necessary:: rings doorbell.
Grandma #2 (workout clothes) opens the door.
Grandma #1: are you ready?
Grandma #2: of course.
Grandma #1: do you have the... trails off
Grandma #2: yea uh... right here ::she does that shifty eye thing and reaches
behind the door. Just take this.
Grandma #2 hands Grandma #1 two signs rolled together to obscure their contents. the two old ladies, carry the flags off like a body and run away looking sneaky to Grandma #1's van parked up the road. The two get in and floor it.
camera fades out
camera comes back in as Grandma #1 slams the van in park off the side of a busy access road. the two old ladies get out A-team style and grab the signs... unfurling them, they look proudly (guiltily) at each other and jog to an overpass. When the two arrive, they see two other people (old men, young people, whoever... dressed ninja style or something) who've arrived with their Ron Paul banner and loudspeaker.
The two parties make eye contact and both see each other's Ron Paul banners... smile and wave as the two old ladies begin jogging back and forth waiving their banners, and the others setup their station in the middle of the overpass to blast their message. Below gridlocked traffic.
As the camera moves away from the overpass and glides over the stalled traffic an announcer could say anything relevant to the campaign and local events taking place.
::edit:: better yet, have it be their husbands all dressed in fishing gear.
III: Grassroots vs. Official
CAMERA 1
City Street framed by tall buildings, standing on opposite sides of the street
are two "armies."
Army #1 Consists of men and women in business suits all prim and propers,
talking on the cell phones etc. w/ a few notable campaign faces in the front of
the crowd. In the back you see the standard style Ron Paul 2008 signs like
battle flags above their heads
Army#2 Consists of men and women in all sorts of clothes, casual, black, etc.
and they have the R 3VO_| ution signs in the back.
You see the eye to eye old western bit between a couple people in the front of Army #2 and then a couple of people in Army #1 (pref. campaign staff). The shot cuts back and forth back and forth, and the two "armies" begin charging at each other up the street.
CAMERA 2
looking up street intersecting where the two armies will collide. Up the road, across the fated intersection you can make out a figure in a business suit
(could that be ron paul?). the camera pulls a bad ass action movie dolly ride through the intersection just spining around and stopping as the two "armies" collide in the middle.
there's shirt grabbing, the whole bit going on, when suddenly their is a loud whistling noise and the sound stops. everyone looks at the camera, the camera turns around looking at Ron Paul.
Ron Paul signals to the two armies to follow him and they follow him up the road.
Are you seeing the pattern? This dovetails with the “Blue Sky (#5)” as well as the “Jogging Grandmas,” which collides with the “Grassroots vs. Official” and the “Down the Road” commercials during the following:
IV: Commercial - Convergence
Camera One: This one begins inside the young people’s (Down the Road Commercial, DTRC) car as they are continuing up the freeway after passing their counterparts in the previous commercial. One is humming “if you gooooogle ron pauauaual.” The driver speaks:
“Hey (pronoun), Check that out on the overpass, (reading sign) ‘Big Event.’”
Camera Two: Side Angle on the overpass looks at characters (Jogging Grandmas) as they are taking down their sign and packing up to leave.
Camera looks down below the overpass, as the young people’s (DTRC) vehicle passes honking underneath.
As they (grandmas) are looking down, the (Grassroots vs. Official) mob envelops them, and they begin walking up the street with the crowd. The crowd crosses the street.
Camera Three: Lady (Blue Sky) walks out of corner house with little red wagon and two children as the crowd’s last stragglers are moving past. A van (vehicle two DTRC) passes by and honks briefly at the mother, commercial closes as mother watches the van drive off, with multiple Ron Paul for President stickers on the back.
V: Commercial – Blue Sky
on screen:
a blue sky, wind, first autumn leaves...
close up shot of hippie mom's (R 3Vo_| ution shirt) face as she pulls away from setting her two kids in a little red wagon (wood slated sides), says "I love you guys."
panning out... she grabs her man's hand and they take off walking up the road as camera pulls further out and into a passing car.
Inside car man is listening to a Ron Paul song or something upbeat, you see his face smiling as camera spins around over his shoulder and back out the window.
camera behind car sees ron paul bumper sticker and spins as car pulls into the driveway (left). man in car's wife is visible in left third of the shot running toward car in Ron Paul shirt w/ her kids in tow (ron paul shirts). Husband pops out of the door and asks, "we're not late are we."
wife replies... "no no no, just hurry. come on kids, let's go." Lady tosses shirt to husband who fumbles with it as he gets into the car and they back out of the driveway.
camera follows car momentarily and then zooms straight ahead, up the road into a town square situation. as the camera moves up the road, you see people exiting their homes, a church lets out, more families and young people all converging on some spot ahead... the crowd gets increasingly dense. A young person (Internet Rockstar shirt) turns around and waves to the camera.
It is increasingly clear that some sort of event is taking place, but when the camera gets to the middle of town, there is no event, only people talking and laughing and shaking hands. some people picking up trash ::you know some volunteer activity going on:: music has been building all along and crescendos as the camera moves overhead panning out up into space (you see a huge crowd below clogging all entrances to the town center, RP in the middle).
Then as the camera moves away and the lights fade, with text and perhaps a voice,
Narrator: Something big is happening, but you won't see it watching t.v. The world is changing one person at a time. Guess what? You're Next.
Be Alive.
Be Free.
::Ron Paul Logo::
Hope for America
Be a Part of it.
If everyone starts considering these thematic elements (or those of your choosing), intertwining their discussion posts, blog entries, press releases, etc., to generate buzz, and create a unified front that is "on message" it would be a huge boost to the efforts of the real campaign.