Should all the temple be included in the film? How about all the bosses? Should we pick and chose temples? How should the temples work in a film, as opposed to a video game?

Bleh. I posted a reply and it never went through. Bleh! So, retype:

The thing about Zelda is that it's not really... most of it is a widget-hunt. Temple after temple doesn't make for an interesting movie. Watching Link solve block puzzles and smash jars is boring.

A temple that I would really like to see included is the Shadow Temple. First of all, it requires that he go back in time in order to complete it, which I think is interesting and different. Then there's the temple itself, which is super creepy. It would give you the chance to put some horror and suspense in what is otherwise an adventure comedy drama... thing. The Lens of Truth would make for some spiffy filmmaking tricks as well. The only problem is the boss fight, because unless you have the biggest trampoline in the universe which you can wrap around with a green screen, Bongo Bongo will be freaking impossible.

I would not be heartbroken if you glossed over the Water Temple. First of all, it's notoriously disliked by everyone because it's so freaking hard, but more importantly, it would require a lot of underwater shooting, which I just don't know if you'll have the budget for it.

It's more important to nail down what each temple does for the characters.

I find it interesting that you like the Shadow Temple, so much. It's the hardest temple in the game for me, so I've never been a fan of it.

The water temple is a taboo for most fans, so it's better to think about thinks surrounding that temple in the story: There's meeting Ruto again, the draining of the Lake, and the moment between Link and Shiek.

So how does each temple contribute to the characters?

Sigh. I typed out a whole massive response, which I then accidentally navigated away from. So I'll retype that, but in the meantime:

I actually hate the Shadow Temple too. But every time I tried to come up with a reason to cut it, I found another reason it has to stay.

I think the Temples are important because of their connection to the Sages. Every one of the Sages (except Rauru, but he's important for the "dood u just missed a lot" thing) is someone Link met when he was a child, and meeting them again as an adult makes for strong character development possibilities. Re-imagining the Temples more as prisons, designed by Ganondorf to imprison the sages, could justify making them a lot shorter. Reducing each temple to its most memorable bits and bosses only would make it a lot easier, I think. No one wants to sit through the whole Forest Temple, but leaving in one twisty passageway is cool, and one room with a Wallmaster is a great suspense device (Wallmasters always scared me more than any other Zelda baddie), and the fight with Phantom Ganon is just too cool. Then again, having to shoot five different, completely unrelated, and totally fantastical locations for the sake of maybe fifteen minutes of film each seems like an awful lot.

The temples are meant to be sanctuaries, but Ganondorf perverts them, and they do become prisons for the Sages. It'd be nice to add a wallmaster just for the nostalgia, but you don't want to over-boss a movie.

But it would also be very cinematic-- the whole "look out for shadows of things on the ceiling" and to see it looming suddenly above you.

There's also environment to take into consideration. The Spirit Temple is at the Desert Collossus, and is supposed to look all big and temple-y. The Fire Temple, on the other hand- Link is descending into the mouth of an active volcano. That's all the danger that's really necessary.

I think that you have to choose which temples are going to best compliment the story that you're trying to tell. In a film, every scene has to advance the plot and aid the hero's journey. In the video game, the temples are more important the story. Someone playing a video game doesn't mind spending 30 hours or so completing it, but films are rarely over 2 hours or so.

Ostensibly, Link's journey is to save Hyrule (and Zelda) from Ganon, but at the same time he's maturing as a person and becoming the Hero of Time. The Temples have to fit into this story.

I don't know exactly how you've structured the screenplay, but it seems to me that the first act should end as soon as Link leaves the Lost Woods. He's leaving the world he knew, like when Luke Skywalker flew off in the Millennium Falcon. Stepping onto Hyrule Field is a big turning point in the game, and it seems like the perfect way to start Act 2. The midpoint of the game seems to be when Link enters the Temple of Time and wakes up 7 years later. It's the story's biggest twist.
This would mean that the first half of the film is the 3 dungeons when Link is a child, and the second half if the 6 when he's an adult. It makes the film a little lopsided, so the final 6 will either have to be cut or shortened considerably.

Just some thoughts, and sorry this post is so long.

Never apologize for long posts! They make the world go round.

You make a valid point about act breaks and turning points, but have also highlighted a feasible fix for the problem: ostensibly, waking up as an adult could be seen as the start of act two, because it's a much larger divide. While the forest is Link's home, the Hyrule he encounters is generally a friendly, thriving place. It's when we walk out of the Temple of Time and see the destruction- the redeads and the mayhem of Castle Town- that we truly cross the threshold.

I say this for two reasons. The first and more story-driven is that Link's adult story is more interesting in almost every way (thematically, plot-wise, cinematically, and yes, romantically). The second and more practical is that, well, child actors are hard to find, good ones harder, and ones willing to work for free harder still. The less taxing the role of Young Link is, the better.

I've always thought of kid link's part of the story as Act 1. Act 2 is the middle muck in the temples, and see that the world has changed. In Act 2 Link must discover who he is. However, I do not have a clear break between Act 2 and 3 yet. The main reason is that in a video game, you beat all the temples. You feel like Link isn't all-powerful because the game is challenging and it doesn't come easy for him (aka us). We have to die a few times before we can beat a boss. That is why there is no failure moment for adult Link in the games.

I think that this, has been the most challenging aspect of the writing the script for me. Everything comes too easily to Link, without the challenge that exists while playing a video game. I'm going to have to have Link fail, but I'm not sure how yet.

Well, there is an obvious failure moment: Zelda gets kidnapped right in front of his freaking face. Basically five minutes after she lowers the disguise she's held for seven years, Ganon finds her (which leads me to believe there was at least some magical protection involved in the Sheik identity) and Link is powerless to stop it.

Unfortunately, that comes a bit too late in the plot to be a proper act break.

My suggestion is that it comes when he has to go back in time again in order to complete necessary tasks/item-getting, whether it be during the Shadow or Spirit Temple mission.

I hadn't really thought about the adult Link being the act break, but I think you're right. It works better like that.

Zelda being kidnapped works well as the 2nd act break, especially if you move it to the Shadow/Spirit Temple. Someone may have mentioned this earlier, but it's probably a good idea to play around with the story at least a little bit. After all, if the film is exactly the same as the video game, why not just play the video game.

What might work is if, during the Shadow or Spirit Temple, Link is on the verge of dying after a fight with the boss, or after some accident or something. Sheik finds him and brings him to the Fairy Fountain, which heals him completely. This will give the film a kind of metaphorical rebirth. Then she reveals she's Zelda, and is kidnapped by Ganon.

I kind of hate to admit it, but I've never actually finished Ocarina of Time. The furthest I've gotten to is the Shadow Temple. I don't know why. I've finished every other Zelda game I've played. For some reason, I just never finished the game.

The shadow temple is a pain, I don't blame you.

The Shadow or the Spirit Temple would be the best time to have Link "fail" because they are the only two new locations that we visit as an adult, the first time we are meeting new people as an adult. Therefore, there would more room to add new plot points.

Hello people who dont know me!

I signed up for the sight just to help with this.

I've personally beat this game dozens of times just for the fun of it. The last 2 days I spent at my cousins house playing this and just about beat it.

Just one thing i want to point out right now.
Link does fail. Right before he enters the Shadow Temple. When the creature come's out of the well and tosses Shiek. He goes to fight a threat he cant see and gets the tar beat out of him. You dont even get to see this fight. but it ends up blacking out and being revived by Shiek. Very bad failure on his part.

I also think him obtaining his horse his a very good point to include. Epona is one of the few friends he has to help fight the evil directly. Everyone else floats in and out. His horse is always there.

If ya'll lose contact with me on here try my Myspace.
Http://myspace.com/johnistall