Summary This work combines the scripts of the first Lord of the Rings film with Mean Girls. It was using by creating a text file that combined the two scripts which was then run through GPT-2. From there, excerpts were taken by calling the prefix of a character's name and a length of at least 5000 to form somewhat of a meaningful new script. Passages which did not appear to combine the universes were ignored while those that created anachronisms and interactions between characters of different films were taken as samples.
Instructions To run the project, select "LordoftheMeanGirlstraining.ipynb" and run the files. You will need to upload the mgfotr.txt file available in this repository to the files on the lefthand side. When you reach the "Generate Text" step (#13), be sure to include a character from one of the films as a prefix and include at least 5000 words. The generation is most successful when using a Lord of the Ring's character and Merry received the most mixing of scripts of any of the prefixes.
Sample Output: Gandalf: (rises) Do you not understand that while we bicker among ourselves, Sauron’s power grows?! None can escape it!
Man: You’ll all be destroyed!
(Frodo watches the Ring, the angry figures of the council reflected on its surface. Suddenly, flames flare up, engulfing the surface of the Ring)
Ring: Ash Nazg Durbatuluk! Ash Nazg Gimbatul! Ash Nazg Gimbatul! Ash Nazg Gimbatul!
(The intensity of the arguments increase. Slowly, Frodo understands what he must do. He rises and takes a step toward the arguing council, trying to make his voice heard above theirs)
Frodo: I will take it! I will take it!
(Everyone stops arguing. Gandalf closes is eyes as he hears Frodo’s statement. Everyone slowly turns toward Frodo, surprised)
Frodo: I will take the Ring to Mordor. Though.. I do not know the way.
Gandalf: (walks towards Frodo) I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, so long as it is yours to bear. (puts his hand on Frodo’s shoulder)
Aragorn: (rises) If you ask it of me, I will give you the One Ring.
(kneels before Frodo)
Aragorn: It is yours now. It will not be destroyed.
Gandalf: (rises) It is my own, Aragorn. And I have nothing to give it to.
(kneels even more before handing it to Frodo)
Aragorn: The Ring is beyond my control. It will only be destroyed.
Gandalf: (kneels) It will be destroyed! It will be destroyed!
(Karen enters the room)
Karen: (to Frodo) It’s mine! It came to me! It came to me!
Gandalf: (whispering) What about Frodo? He will not be destroyed.
Karen: (to Frodo) It’s important! It must be kept secret!
(Frodo decides to keep the Ring secret. He keeps it a secret from everyone except for his closest friends and family)
Friends: (to each other) You have been very persistent, Mr. Frodo.
Frodo: I know, I know. It’s important!
Friends: (to each other) Don’t worry, we will find out who did it.
Frodo: (gruffly) I think I’m the one who did it.
Gretchen: (stands up, looking serious) We think we know who did it.
Frodo: (smiling) I think I know.
Gretchen: (laughs) Well, it’s not you.
Frodo: (smiling) I think I know.
Gretchen: (laughs) So you think you know something about it.
Frodo: (smiling) I think I know.
Gretchen: (laughs) Well, if you don’t, then I think I know.
Frodo: (smiling) I think I know.
Gretchen: (laughs) Well, that settles it.
Frodo: (smiling) Thanks.
Gretchen: (standing up, looking serious) I think I know who did it.
Frodo: (smiling) I think I know.
Gretchen: (laughs)
Frodo: (whispering) I think I know something that will help.
Gretchen: (holding up a hand) Whatever. It’s not your call.
Frodo: You can't just ask people for help.
Gretchen: You know that? That's just…old-fashioned.
(Scene cuts to a corn field where Sam is rustling through. He looks ahead and behind him, then around nervously)
Sam: (somewhat calm) Mr. Frodo? (growing anxious) Frodo? Frodo!
(Frodo turns the corner and looks at Sam confusedly)
Sam: I thought I’d lost you.
Frodo: What are you talking about?
Sam: It’s just something Gandalf said.
Frodo: What did he say?
Artist Statement This work is the result of attempting to study "character growth" from various members of the Fellowship by finding sample phrases that compared the first and third films. Unfortunately, the lines of the script were often too short to create anything meaningful or recognizeable as "in-character". As a result, this work is inspired by various bots that take or respond to text and reply in modern forums with unusual responses. One example particularly related to this work is gandalf-bot (https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes/comments/ca64fa/introducing_gandalfbot_ask_him_anything/) which replies to questions as if it were Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings. The failure of my first attempt led to me adjusting the temperature of the output to higher degrees which created a number of outputs that drew from other science fiction and fantasy scripts. For example, it generated text talking about "Mudbloods" and at one point included Picard as a character in the form of "Picard:" in the output. I opted to deliberately combine two scripts as a result of this (the failed GPT-2 ipynb file is included in the repository) and instead combined two films of very different genres to create something distinct. Stylized script available here: https://rittermi.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/fellowshipofthemeangirls.pdf
The scripts were taken from https://transcripts.fandom.com/wiki/Mean_Girls and https://transcripts.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring.