WOOHOO BIGASS POST INCOMING
I don't think a full film would be stretching the story at all, i feel like a short film would be too limiting on Michael's creation! the meaning is there, there just has to be a way to make it work.. i think it would be a horror movie.. if anything were to be created out of such a heart aching harmony.
Just because it's a short film does not mean it's 'limiting'. Many stories are told better through the art of short film than through feature film.
Let's say you want to make a feature film based on the lyrics of Little Susie, as you have written above. The feature film needs to be seriously developed and fleshed out immensely, which potentially risks it deviating too much from Little Susie. Obviously, there are a
large number of aspects you need to consider when making feature films so here are a very small number of things that need to be considered:
-Subplots. Every proper feature film has at least one subplot, what could be a subplot for this film? Could it risk it potentially deviating too much from the song of Little Susie?
-Shifts in mood. Look at your favourite feature films, there are times when things are working in favour for your protagonist (even when they're the underdog) but many times when things are looking grim against them. You can certainly have your protagonist lose a lot but you need to have her win sometimes.
-Properly developed characters. Now there is far more on this topic that I can write into one post (and I'm certainly not going to - but go have a Google and look around), and in addition obviously you're not going to have a properly fleshed out character this early (many of your favourite feature film characters took months, if not
years to flesh out properly). Susie is a character who so far is passive and just lets shit happen to her. Obviously, she is a small child so it's to be expected she doesn't have much control, but I recall one aspect that's almost always found in great characters is that they
make decisions. Luke Skywalker decides to run away with Obi-Wan Kenobi and go on the path to become a Jedi Knight, Indiana Jones decides to go after the Lost Ark of the Covenant, Maximus decides to go after the Emperor and avenge his slaughtered family in
Gladiator, L.B. Jefferies decides to spy on his dodgy neighbour in
Rear Window instead of passively ignoring it and going on with his day-to-day life. In the synopsis you have provided, Little Susie's character doesn't decide anything until the very end. Of course, I'm not expecting you to have written out an entire novel, but she does need to make decisions if she is going to be a successful character. Perhaps she could try to escape her living situation for example? Another decision could be that she is scared of 'the man next door' at first, but then one day she decides to venture out and see him? A decision that overall affects where the story itself is going.
-Monetary aspects How is this film going to make money? The Estate would obviously be looking to make a return on their investment, especially since making a feature film can be quite expensive. You can't just rely on Michael Jackson's name because the song Little Susie is little known outside the fan base (doesn't matter if you own the album, my parents bought the album but they wouldn't have a clue what Little Susie is). Also, depressing films don't tend to necessarily make a lot of money, which is why you'll often find feature films usually end on a high note to make you feel good. There are exceptions of course, Schindler's List for example. That deals with extremely depressing tones and is one absolute masterpiece of a film - easily one of Spielberg's best. But how often do you rush to go see that film? (and even then, it overall ends on a high note. World War II finishes, Schindler saved as many Jews as he could and thanks to him, many thousands of Jewish people are alive today). There is no one right way to make a successful film and there are certainly outliers that defy the odds, but you'll usually notice trends and for good reasons.
-Distributors Further expanding on that last point, the internet has completely revolutionised how people view their films. The Estate would be looking to make their money back on the film and the most obvious way would be to distribute this film to cinemas worldwide through a third party (i.e. one of the bigger studios/distributors). Yes, you can distribute it through the internet but look at the recently released
The Interview. That film got
far more media attention than this project could hope to get and it just barely made back it's
production budget of ~$40 million (that's not including the budget set aside for marketing - you need marketing as well!). Of course, you can make a feature film for faaaar less (Nightcrawler was made on $8.5million) but the likelihood of it attracting anywhere near as much attention as The Interview is small. So, at least right now, you're going to look more at theatrical distribution right? Well this film so far goes against a few typical trends that encourage monetary return so more likely than not, the distributor is going to want changes made to the film that could and probably will deviate it further away from Michael's song.
Those are just a very small number of elements that need to be considered.
This is a few of the reasons why I'm seeing this more of a short film at the moment. The filmmaker will have much more artistic freedom because they don't have to make as much money back, allowing them to stay truer to Michael's song and vision. It would be easier for fans to make this a monetary success too (remember, the Estate is a business). I feel we could keep closer to the song and it's lyrics if we were to keep it a short film in all honesty as it would allow the filmmaker to be more experimental and not necessarily follow tropes seen (or even needed) in feature films. I can recall seeing a 10 minute short film a few years back about a little girl who was shifted from foster home to foster home. Barely remember it but I do remember enjoying it, even if it does finish with her leaving for another foster home and I also remember there was happier moments for the little girl's character too. Despite it's shorter time length, I feel you could tell the story of Little Susie just as effectively and keep closer to Michael's vision.
Also, all the above is assuming the film is
based on the song, and not necessarily
inspired by it, which would allow for more freedom in regards to what happens during the film. Of course, the great thing about filmmaking is that there is no one right way to do things and that usually, the one way is not always the right way. Many masters of cinema have managed to defy trends and typical expectations and gone on to great success, but it is certainly something that is rare in all honesty.
So yeah. That's some things off the top of my head. Like I said, I obviously am not going to expect you to flesh out something as massive as a feature film, but well, you wanted feedback on the idea anyway so there is some. Both from the artistic and monetary side.
Also, what you have described is not really a horror film, Zakk. It might borrow an element or two from the horror genre, but so far it is definitely leaning more-so towards drama. From Wikipedia:
Wikipedia said:
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, sexuality, poverty, class divisions, violence against women and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena... ...At the center of a drama is usually a character or characters who are in conflict at a crucial moment in their lives. They often revolve around families; movies like Ordinary People dig under the skin of everyday life to ask big questions and touch on the deepest emotions of normal people. Dramas often, but not always, have tragic or at least painful resolutions and concern the survival of some tragic crisis
Looking at the lyrics, it would've been interesting to see Michael make this into a short film actually.