(Before anyone asks, this has nothing to do with the Kickstarter idea I posted a few weeks ago.)
I've started on a screenplay that's heavily inspired by the Japanese horror genre. I don't want to go into too much detail about the plot ATM, but the protagonist is an American guy in Japan who undergoes a metamorphosis into a
yurei (female ghost).
What I'm grappling with right now is how to present the transformation, and this seems like the best community to ask. Should it be a more rapid change, i.e. taking place over a single night, or something more gradual, like Cronenberg's version of
The Fly? The first scenario would allow more time with the character after he's fully transformed; the second would be more drawn-out.
The structure of the transformation tends to influence the structure of the story, which is why I'd like to hear from other TF enthusiasts about what they'd personally like to see in this kind of movie, in the freakish chance it ever gets off the ground someday.
The film itself would basically be a moody character piece, with most of the narrative unfolding from the perspective of the "transformee." If anyone's ever seen
I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain, that's a pretty good example of the kind of tone I'm hoping to recreate.