I wanted to write something quick and easy as a first film. I figured that I'd get some practice, learn how to do things properly, and then start writing and filming the academy award winners once I had a bit of technique down pat.

Pat wasn't particularly pleased with this idea, and suggested that perhaps I might take the bit of technique and stuff it down myself, instead. I was about to remonstrate, and things may have become unpleasant at this juncture, when fortunately I remembered that he was entirely imaginary and therefore was unable to physically harm me in any way whatsoever. This was my first big break in making movies, and I have never forgotten Pat for it, except in that I forgot every single detail of his appearance and personality. He may have been Irish. For that matter, he may have been a leprachaun.

Lengthy digressions about Pat aside, for the moment at least, I was determined to make a film. I had a look at a couple - they're everywhere, you know - and worked out that many of them have quite a few people in them, and appear to cost several dollars over my potential budget, which extended to buying or stealing a video camera, a tripod, and possibly a microphone. Practical limitations, therefore, took precedence and I wrote down the following:

1. Indoors!

Should be set entirely indoors, otherwise it will take forever to film, what with weather, animals, lack of convenient power supply, spectators, and not to forget the sheer embarassment of having people perform something that I've written in what may be construed as a public forum.

2. Small cast!

I've heard enough stories about amateur films with enormous crowd scenes in which three extras turn up. Not a chance. There will be a small cast, which should allow me to give loving attention (ie. extreme pressure and emotional blackmail) to each cast member without being overwhelmed by their attempts to escape.

3. Short film!

I am an extremely lazy person, and an extended film shoot will end up never being finished. Therefore, about ten pages of script, and one weekend of shooting it, should do.

4. Simple location!

OK, point 1. is kind of a subset of this one, but lets get more specific. We must film at someone's home, and in a single room if possible. That will allow us to get through startling amounts of the script without the hassles of changing location. The room must be large enough to fit a bunch of people without everyone dying of heat exhaustion, and (for that matter) enough room to fit the camera in several different locations.

So, armed with my naive and dangerous perceptions of what would make the filming easier, I sat down and started thinking about a script. I'd enjoyed the card game "Once Upon A Time" quite a lot. It's a storytelling game, published by Atlas Games where each player has to try and tell a story with the cards they have in their hand (for example, "witch", "a fight", "beautiful"). Other players can take over the story, and must continue from the point where it was left off.

And the players have their own ending cards (for example, "so the spell was broken, and they were married" - obviously, the game has a fairy-tale emphasis) that they must push the story towards.

I figured that a bunch of people sitting around playing a game of "Once Upon A Time" would make a good quick story. Each player could try and pull the story in different directions, there is a story within a story, and there are no limits to what the inner story is about. Easy drama!

So I started taking down notes. I figured there should be a character who is being introduced to the game, which would provide an easy handle for exposition lumps, if required. I wanted the story to be dramatic, because "Once Upon A Time" games often are. The story should flow from player to player, twisting with each persons perception of the characters within. From there, it was pretty easy to see that there should be someone who wants nastiness - perhaps they have a grudge against another player. "Real-world" elements - say, about the relationships between the characters - should enter the story, so that the story-in-the-story is actually relevent to the players (otherwise, why not just film the story-in-the-story? Budget limitations aside, of course.) And pretty soon it moved from being a series of notes, to the beginnings of an actual script.