Fun Any Writers?

[Doctor Omega]

Just a place to discuss your writing and to share your writings with the world.....

If in doubt, perhaps try writing a "Drabble", where the challenge is to create a story of exactly 100 words. No more, no less, using the word-counter link below to count your 100 words......



WORD COUNTER....

https://wordcounter.net/

 

[GDLWSK]

I write sometimes. Sometimes I don't.
I've been struggling most of time.
The inner feeling that nothing I write is worth finishing. I've written plenty. Mostly short scripts and two feature length that I haven't really revisited because I know they are not as good as I thought they were.

I guess a lot of it comes with the fact that I don't know what I want my next film to be. Constantly juggling multiple ideas until something fresher comes around. But I do write. Sometimes.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

I have two unfinished screenplays. Both horror. One is a slasher/supernatural film with a group of paranormal investigators and a skeptic cop going up against a murdering doctor who was brought back to life. I abandoned it and need to dig it out and just rewrite it and make it better.

The other is an anthology, with a wraparound. It tells four horror stories that all took place in a small midwestern American town. They range from supernatural to slasher, and at its core plays on the innocence - or the illusion of such - of small town living, and the dark secrets that are hidden by smiling faces who don't talk about what isn't polite and proper outside of hushed tones and gossip. It was also mostly abandoned, but a friend of mine who writes for Dreamworks says I should find an artist and release this one as a graphic novel if I can't get funding for a movie.

I would also love to write a good horror anthology television series. Also, a buddy of mine and I want to call Berlanti and see if he'll let us write a Green Lantern series to tie into their other CW DC shows.

 

[GDLWSK]

I once wrote first act of a horror about paranormal investigators. It was kind of like Scooby Doo but with a R rating and there was no dog. The characters were different for obvious reason but it was still about group trying to find paranormal activities but only running into fraud until they take on this case. I eventually abandoned it because I felt it wasn't really that good. It's a fun concept. Mix of horror and comedy, a bit like Cabin in the Woods but on much lower budget. Maybe one day, I'll decide to give it another go.

I been meaning to revisit my second feature screenplay (first isn't even worth it in my opinion). It's about a rape victim trying to overcome her fears of being alone. She gets stalked by someone and envisions him as werewolf. It's sorta psychological-supernatural I guess. It needs a second draft, but I am worried it is much worse than I remeber it to be.

Sits in my desk under folders of research. Maybe one of the days.

 

[PF4Eva]

by
metzler-bgl
» Sat Jan 28 2017 14:11:17 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since October 2004
My film plays in three different time periods. Do I give the same character different names? Like young Bill or so?

Sopranos - Breaking Bad - The Wire

I, too, have a script that follows the same characters coming of age. (I asked a similar question way back when. That thread's probably long gone now.) Let's see what IMDb's Shop Talk Writers had to say:

by
ALWrite
» Sun Jan 29 2017 16:51:26 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since April 2009
Depends on your story. You could write:

BILL (aged 5)
Bla bla bla...

and
BILL (aged 27)
Bla bla bla...

Check out the script "The Time Traveller's Wife" for this.

Here's one from Bill Martel:

by
wcmartell
» Tue Jan 31 2017 21:27:57 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since October 2004
Think of the character slug as an actor... when they run your screenplay through Movie Magic Scheduling or Gorilla Scheduling programs it will collect all of the character names and treat them as the actor who will play them. If JOHN is age 15 in one scene and age 35 in another scene that will probably be two different actors playing the role, so you need to give them two different names. That could be by using ALWrite's method: JOHN (age 5) as the character slug, or you could use YOUNG JOHN. Both work.

Be careful to pay attention to the Three Greek Unities and limit the number of time periods. Usually two time periods - past and present - is the limit. If you have many different time periods we are talking about casting many different actors who all look alike - and that can be a casting nightmare.

- Bill
Free Script Tips Every Day:
http://www.ScriptSecrets.Net

by
Bioparadoxous
» Tue Jan 31 2017 23:39:56 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since June 2004
Thanks for clearing that up, I was going to say it, but I wasn't sure about it myself.

--
There's no such thing as the establishment. Everyone knows that!

by
metzler-bgl
» Wed Feb 1 2017 07:26:08 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since October 2004
Post Edited:
Wed Feb 1 2017 08:17:59
Thanks for the replies. I have a story which forms the framework, where they are all 40 years older than in the main story (3 characters are in the later story from the main story). And I have 2 flashback scenes to childhood which play about 25 years before the main story. But they contain only 2 characters of the main story.

You think, this is already a casting nightmare :) ?

Since the framework is only in the first scene, another scene in the first 15 minutes and the last scene and since the 2 childhood scenes are just flashbacks, I think, there would be no problem with the Three Greek Unities ;) .

Sopranos - Breaking Bad - The Wire

 

[PF4Eva]

Archiving this from IMDb's Shop Talk Writers for posterity.

by
S_Leone
» Mon Jan 23 2017 19:06:39 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since June 2006
What types of stories are more suited to short stories and stage rather than film

by
Bioparadoxous
» Tue Jan 24 2017 02:17:12 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since June 2004
The types of stories best suited for short stories are stories that are short. Seriously. Think about the beginning of your story. Now think about the ending of your story. If that feels like a long way off, it's not a short story. That's pretty much the only way to pre-judge it. You might even be wrong. I could bullshit you and say "science fiction" because just look at Twilight Zone - and most of those were based off of already existing short stories - but it's just not the way it works. Short stories are necessarily short, the same way epic novels aren't shorter because the plot demands the books' girth.

There's a stronger argument to be made for the stage. Depending on the type of stage work we're talking about. Lion King was made into a stage production, if you get creative you could probably do anything. However it wouldn't hurt if you say... did a story about 12 people, arguing in one room alone together for a couple of hours. Dialogue heavy stories, with minimal locations and limited casts are natural stage productions.

But I'd be surprised if I'm telling you anything you don't already know.

--
There's no such thing as the establishment. Everyone knows that!

 

[PF4Eva]

Man, everything that's gonna get lost unless someone archives it.

by
michaell-burris-243-954095
» Thu Jan 5 2017 21:31:16 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since February 2015
Never ran into this before and thought I'd give this message board a try with a simple craft question.

I want to camera (shot) stream or better yet convey a "streaming jump shot" from one location to another maybe even in fast forward continuous motion only consisting of a couple blocks on action OFF a finger point from a narrator character who we also periodically see.

Would this be better as an action element or is it too risky putting it in as a transition called "streaming jump shot" with to and from locations or maybe just calling it a "streaming jump shot" giving locations to and from in the scene heading.

This might sound weird having a narrator on camera but this becomes important due to paralleling a mini story with the "Big Picture" story in different era's and the main story sparks from the eyes of the narrator due to simple happenstance and timing causing recollection. Yet the main story really has nothing to do with the narrator other than a second hand telling. That's why this jump shot is so important even though it actually occurs in same era. Where the jump shot ends is revisited a few times in different era's throughout the movie.

It's a based on true story spec. script for the Nicholls. Oddly or luckily enough it is not an adaptation though.

Enough Rambling.

Feedback would be appreciated from those who have ran across such craft questions or similar craft questions.

Michael L. Burris
"Life is way too short not to look at the lighter side of it."

by
michaell-burris-243-954095
» Thu Jan 5 2017 21:51:30 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since February 2015
I could simply do it in an action sequence this way but this is a VERY IMPORTANT camera shot to convey to audience, reader and hopeful eventual director.

OFF FINGER of narrator view travels from (Whatever point a) to (Whatever point b) in fast forward continuous motion.

There seems to be some weird hard and fast rules with spec'ing yet some ACTUAL industry readers say do what you need to.

I'm just trying to find the best way to convey this without coming off too amateurish.

Getting tired and need to look at things with fresh eyes tomorrow but answers to this question will help me evaluate usefulness of asking craft questions in a few different places and narrow my tool use, time consumption giving to different discussion boards.

Michael L. Burris
"Life is way too short not to look at the lighter side of it."

I don't quite get what he's talking about, but here's what Shop Talk Writer thebigmouth had to say:

by
thebigmouth
» Fri Jan 6 2017 13:24:45 Flag ▼ | Reply |
IMDb member since February 2002
Personally, I would just describe it in action. For practical reasons more than anything else. You're far more likely to convey what it is you mean that way than with some technical jargon that may or may not be understood by your reader, even assuming it's correct.

TV: http://ihatemydvr.blogspot.com
LOST:http://eyemsick.blogspot.com

 

[Hux]

Kevin: Colonel Sanders, did you invent the fried chicken secret recipe?

Judge Judy: You don't have to answer that question!

Col. Sanders: I'll answer the question!... You want the recipe?

Kevin: I think I deserve it.

Col. Sandra: You want the recipe?

Kevin: I want the basic ingredients!

Col. Sanders: You can't handle the basic ingredients!

 

[elanor]

Kevin: Colonel Sanders, did you invent the fried chicken secret recipe?
...
Col. Sanders: You can't handle the basic ingredients!

Sorry, I don't recognise the scene. Maybe I haven't seen the film. But on the other hand, I'm rather bad remembering dialogue.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

This is a wonderful idea and a great challenge! It will, however, take some practice to come up with something I'm willing to post on the thread.

Warning: I love to write and love a challenge!
Thanks again Doc!

Yeah! At last a thread I can throw a kiss and a "twirl" dance at!

 

[ant-mac]

A police box, which was not a police box at all, was adrift in the continuum of space and time. It was in fact an extremely advanced space/time craft called the TARDIS, which belonged to a mysterious time traveller, known only as the Doctor. The TARDIS was currently in a dangerous position, above the outer border of a colossal black maelstrom that swirled forebodingly, deep within the continuum. Gradually, the time machine was drifting steadily closer and closer towards the menacing whirlpool of darkness. Suddenly, the lantern on the police box’s roof flashed briefly on and off and it disappeared.

 

[ant-mac]

I was hungry and wanted to eat at the Italian restaurant on the corner. The cool night air of the city was full of drizzle, so I put on my old raincoat and fedora for the short walk. I was halfway there when a dark figure emerged from the shadows of an alleyway. He threatened me with his switchblade. I gave the punk my wallet. He was looking through it when he found my police badge. When he looked up, he was just in time to glimpse the last thing he ever saw - the barrel of my .38. Punk...

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

Suddenly, the lantern on the police box’s roof flashed briefly on and off and it disappeared.

I was hungry and wanted to eat at the Italian restaurant on the corner

Didn't your Mum ever tell you not to suck to the joy out of people's dreams by making everything you do look so easy?


I woke up alone on what appeared to be the bridge of a spaceship. Screens up and running, posts singing out their mechanical news.... no one to receive them. Wandering the ship in search of answers about why I was alone, what had happened to the crew and my inexplicable knowledge of the ship; I came to a long hallway with portraits of a wide variety of men there. Each had a plaque with a name and two dates on it. I was no fool, this was a Captain's Hall!...... My name and picture were there, at the very end.

100 words and a mystery to boot..... take that you, you, you man with an active and fully functional brain! Just take that!!!!

And for Doc's idea and you being you... it's time for:

 

[ant-mac]

Didn't your Mum ever tell you not to suck to the joy out of people's dreams by making everything you do look so easy?

Sorry...

I was just trying to have a little fun.

The first one is an altered version of the opening paragraph of some DOCTOR WHO fan fiction of mine. The second one is based on a homework assignment I helped my son with when he was in high school a few years back. Of course, for his assignment, we had to tell the story in just 50 words.

I went out to a restaurant one night, because I felt hungry. I’d walked halfway there when he threatened me with a switchblade. I gave the scum my wallet. He found my police badge and looked up just in time to glimpse the last thing he ever saw. My gun.

 

[ant-mac]

The man lay motionless in the hospital bed. His skin, a pale pink in colour, was cool to the touch. He was naked beneath the thin white sheet, with only his head, broad chest and muscular arms visible. Around him, various pieces of hospital equipment hummed away contentedly. Nurses came and went about their duties quietly and efficiently, dispensing medication, writing down their observations and various other tasks. Next to the man’s bed sat two middle-aged women and a young boy. Although the boy didn’t know it yet, it was time to say goodbye. Everything was about to change… Forever.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

The first one is an altered version of the opening paragraph of some DOCTOR WHO fan fiction of mine. The second one is based on a homework assignment I helped my son with when he was in high school a few years back.

@duzit Please see above (for Doc Omega's explanation of the game) and below (for my discovery that AM made me really, really mad Duz and I want you to punish him OK?!)

Aha! So you cheated!!!! You do, of course, realize that I am going to have to invoke rule #187 which clearly states that: "You are in violation of something you said or something you did which somebody found offensive" Therefore, I have no choice but to register this "infraction" to the Mighty, Furious Duz; she who is the "keeper of the punishments" with which to spank any member who is in violation of any rule we decide to invent on the spot; for any infraction we deem worthy of said punishment for any reason we choose. I'm sorry. I just have to do it! (and then, you know, there's the whole: Wow, I wonder what she's going to do to you?????? I just lost my DBs for 3 days....and it was absolute hell darling, let me tell you... absolute hell!)

(But for the record, and let's keep this on the "down-low" OK?....50 words would be really, really tough... so he gets a DB! )


So will you please punish him oh Mighty, Furious Duz? And make it count..... pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!

 

[ant-mac]

@Janine The Barefoot - How about my third effort?

That's just a true story.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

He was naked beneath the thin white sheet, with only his head, broad chest and muscular arms visible.

Oh no you don't!!! You do not get to "sex me up" to get out of your punishment (great imagery by the way)! Uh-uh... not going to happen!

@duzit where the hell are you!!! I need some serious punishment and I need it now!!! where the hell is a Cyberman when you need one?????

 

[ant-mac]

The young woman enters the sleazy bar, in a dangerous part of the city. It’s dimly lit in soft red light and smoke fills the air. She can just make out groups of men standing around, drinking and smoking, laughing and listening to the music from the jukebox. All eyes turn towards her as she enters. She knows they’re all analysing and studying her body in every detail. She finds him. In the darkness of the alley out back, his hands find her body, while her gun finds where he lives. Sweet release! Justice! He’ll never rape anyone ever again...

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

I had a chinchilla named Luna. On the days I was lonely he was my friend. On the days I didn't believe in anything he behaved exactly as he always had; proving consistency in an inconsistent and often overwhelming world. One morning, I woke up and found him almost unable to move on the bottom of his cage. I picked him up, snuggled him to my chest and wrapped us in a blanket. He didn't move for almost 30 minutes or a lifetime as much as I could count. Can I go with, over the "Rainbow Bridge", if he dies?