WHEN THE DEAF CAN HEAR

[gjg 4 REEL]

         I have this idea for a movie about a deaf man who has been deaf for 20 years, the first 15 minutes of the movie is silent, maybe in pov shots, the man spends a lot of time on the internet because its his only voice. he has become totally uninterested in people, very isolated and depressed, what could be worse than not being able to communicate with people in person?and of course no one really wants to be friends with a deaf guy, cuz it would all be to difficult to talk to him. the one day he gets an email from his doctor saying that he has some very important news for him, he has discovered a technological advancement that can cure his severe condition
but to do it he has to cut in to the guys ear drum , place this little bug or chip in it , and he'll be able to hear. so the guy goes down to the doctor the very next day. during the operation, as they cut in a loud ring starts to leak in, this ring is so loud it will make the audience cringe, i dont care how the volume is. when he wakes up the doctor is talking to him , figuring that he can hear everything just as good as a regular human being , we cut back and forth from the doctor talking to him , and a pov shot, with an extremely loud buzz, the doctors old face filling the frame, all we can hear besides the buss is a little mummble in the backround, but cant make out any words. so the guy is sent home, and he loves hearing this ring, it gets him high, what else could be better than to finally hear after 20 years of silence? he walks around his apartment, purposely dropping things on the floor just so he can hear the slight 'THUMP' behind the ringing.and then one day the ringing starts to fade, and he starts to hear a womans voice coming in , the woman is screaming, a loud white trash voice that most would cringe away from , but he loves being able to hear a voice, and he can still undersrtand human language, its been a while but he still knows how words sound and what not. he starts to hear all of these different conversations, arguments, tv's, movies, music,sex,flirting etc... all the time, and its like satelite tv to him , we never see a frame without him smiling, he just loves the sound of....SOUND.but he knows something isnt right, but not to his disadvantage, but the only neighbors he has is an old lady with cats and a single mother of three, not the types to be bitching and moaning all day. what is happening is the doctor has risen his long distance hearing ability by accident,he had to make sure he was adjusted so a loud crash wouldnt blow his head off. he still hears things very loud, around his apartment, his neighbors, but its only a little above normal, but his neighbors 5-6 stories up are sounding extremely loud!  
  he starts paying attention to their stories, the abusive husband, the drug dealing puerto rican, the slut, the music man, the old couple, etc... its alot like 'rear window' except there is no possible way that he can get caught, he can eavesdrop, without eavesdropping ya know what im saying. i was thinking that a murder mystery could be eventually involved or a conspiracy of some sort, i was thinking he could learn how to talk but that would just add time to the movie and take away its authenticity. music is a must, he will listen to music all the time, the movie will have one of the best soundtracks ever, there are numerous other things that would be so fun to write and direct for this type of situation, post your ideas, theres probably a hundred things that havent even come to mind yet!  

   


thanks for reading
 

PEACE  

[kotte]

I don't know...seems too gimmicky...

Sure, but without a great, well-crafted story the movie will fall on it's face...with a cool soundtrack or not.

[MacGuffin]

Deaf for 20 years and he hasn't learned sign-language or to carry a pen and paper with him to communicate?

Sounds like the deaf version of this movie.

[kotte]

Deaf for 20 years and he hasn't learned sign-language or to carry a pen and paper with him to communicate?

You know how lazy disabled can be

[kotte]

I think people are looking for originality in the wrong places.

Instead of looking for The Story with The Twist they should be focusing on the characters. Sounds like a cliché but the amount of bad movies coming out of Hollywood each year proves it's not.

[Leatherface]

Actually, I think it is a very cool idea, if done right. Cut out any murder mystery or crazy twist...

[Weak2ndAct]

Well, there's already been a movie made that uses the deaf-angle for a thriller.  A French flick called "Read My Lips," starring Vincent Cassell, was released earlier this year.  It's a great film, and it uses the sound design to emphasize what's it's like to not be able to hear/putting in hearing aids, etc., and uses it during key tension moments.  Barry Levinson's company picked up the remake rights.

[Ghostboy]

Damn remakes...that was a great movie, Read My Lips.

[Alethia]

sounds cool, but yeah, don't put in a murder mystery or any of that shit, you'll ruin it.

[Cecil]

sounds cool

heheh

[gjg 4 REEL]

thanks for posting the other movies that have been mind on the deaf and blind, i had been wondering if it had already been done, obviously someone would think of that (" i got it , a deaf guy who can hear , it'll sell! and maybe even encourage deaf people to learn how to hear!!!" )

i know the whole operation thing sounds a little cliche, but i like the idea, and like that guy said, its not really about the operation and all that stuff leading up to a cure, its about this guy realizing for the first time all these new things , so much is different to him , i think the main impact of it is to make the hearing realize they shouldnt take their senses for granted. what really interested me was how he can hear his neighbors, a murder mystery does sound cheesy, but its like this guys been living around these people for years and years and has no  clue who they are, then he finally gets to meet them in a way making up for all the time spent not knowing them- IN THEIR PRIVATE LIVES. he starts to understand how humans live and different cultures in ways besides just surfing the web, with actual communication. i shouldnt have named those cliched characters, the puerto rican dealer and what not, those were just rough ideas, i could definately think of something better than that.

 i havent even seen all those other movies but i know no one could do it like me, trust me. if you see this film some day you will see the difference, its more than 'read my lips', its more than 'rear window', its about a guy who has totally missed out on life, and when he finally gains it back, he has a gift furthering his senses beyond there regular ability, imagine how scary it would be , thinking someone is breaking into your house when its really 6 stories away, AND YOU CANT EVEN HELP THE PEOPLE you have no idea where they are yet you know everything about them in their personal lives
     

    and about the guy not carrying around a pencil or whatever, obviously he would do that when its needed, but really he likes to stay isolated because he doesnt believe other people can understand him , he knows sign language too of course, but prefers the web for its wide access and advanced methods of communication. there are many other things id have to study about the deaf , how they live and what not, but reallyi was just typing the main idea of the story , hopefully this has made it a little clearer to you that it wont be completely ordinary.  

     thanks for the support whoever gave it, its good to have people that can actually try to give some insight than just :

  " naaaah its already been done - give up now"