Quoted from leitskev I just started reading a script that is currently a Nichol's finalist(top 10). No FADE IN or OUT. I f'N love it! There is a THE END instead, and at the beginning is a NOTE explaining it is mockumentary.  I love it!

I still don't know what mockumentary is. I think I searched it once, but wasn't interested.  

Anyways, Kevin, (I love the name Kevin. Have two close Kevins that I love and ones a Scorpio. Love Scorpios) anyways, I have a script that had me under its spell and I mean it with a capital "S". It's still in production, and G-d only knows how I found it. I wasn't searching, just doing crazy Internet stuff. I really don't know how I stumbled upon it. I was looking something up. I scare myself sometimes...

So. When we get all this OWC over with and we're not all "hopped up" as my dad used to say. And I think we definitely are on this one, I will send it to you and anyone else. I think it would make a really good Script club. But maybe I should be like all hush-hush or I'll have the secret writing police after me.  

Sandra

Lol! Yeah, don't mention the script. I actually got contacted from someone on this site that I had never seen here before looking to see if I had Django. Maybe it was nothing, but could be suspicious. I had already dumped the script though, thanks to the advice of Pia. So I never shared it with anyone.

I hand out on Scriptshadow, and they review scripts there. Pretty sure this one I was referring to was given to them by the writer in order to get a review.

Mockumentary is a fake documentary like that Catfish one, or like the beginning of that recent alien film in South Africa(brain fart on name). I think Blair Witch counts too, though not sure, as that's a fake camera left behind type thing.

I read the first 20 of this Nichols one. It's kinda funny. I don't relish the idea of reading a whole script like that, but I think the writer has some talent.

I've now read at least part of a few of this year's Nichol's finalists. They're decent scripts, but I don't think they would be received well here.This is crowd that looks for different things then Nichols. Nichols seems to like drama or quirky, preferably both. They also like scripts that touch on social issues of the day. Remember those old ABC Afterschool specials? Kind of like that.

I never said don't keep a script, just be careful trading or spreading it around.

Phil's Pugumentary is an excellent example of a mockumentary.

Quoted from Grandma Bear I never said don't keep a script, just be careful trading or spreading it around.

Just like chlamydia.  

Sandra

All right.  I read my first five based on which titles I like best.  By the way, I missed 'Annabel', which I probably would have put as my third or fourth favorite title.

Now, the next five I'll read based on my favorite loglines:

1.  The Open Casket
2.  Our Lady of Eternal Suffering  -  (Already read it, though.  Just wanted to put it out there that it's still my 2nd favorite logline.)
3.  Veil of Blood
4.  Innocence Condemned
5.  Annabel  -  (Already read it.)
6.  Abracadabra
7.  The Stone Within



I know, I know.  The Open Casket is probably the clunkiest and cluttered logline out of all of them, and it shouldn't be my number one choice, but with a quick brush up:  'An artist is commissioned to paint a portrait of a less than honorable viscount.'  this quickly becomes a story that I really want to read.

The same with 'Innocence Condemned'.  With a quick brush up:  'A young woman accused of witchcraft discovers death is not the worst punishment.'  Now I'm very interested.

As for why 'The Stone Within' is on my list without a logline at all...  Why the hell not?  My top favorite movies, I saw them all before I even saw a trailer or commercial for them.  (Don't anybody ever say I'm not adventurous.)

Woke up this morning and was disappointed not to see further bust ups on this thread. You all should really  try harder!

Well, finished all the scripts so i now need to read my short list again and ponder.

Out for a few beers tonight so intend to bore my mate senseless with this.

Cheers everyone.

Mark, great idea to list based on title and log. That should be a future part of this. Very helpful to getting people thinking of the importance of thar.

Quoted from leitskev I just started reading a script that is currently a Nichol's finalist(top 10). No FADE IN or OUT. I f'N love it! There is a THE END instead, and at the beginning is a NOTE explaining it is mockumentary.  I love it!

I got a notice about the Nicholls finalists yesterday.

http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/fellows/fellows.html

Some of those loglines are a tad, chunky, IMO.

E.D.

I am certainly no authority on Nichols, but it does seem, for good or bad, they march to their own tune.

Quoted from leitskev I am certainly no authority on Nichols, but it does seem, for good or bad, they march to their own tune.

Nor am I, but I do wonder how those loglines would be received here.
Say, if a script popped up here from an unknown with those loglines.
Would you open it?

Perhaps it's somewhat moot, being a Nicholls finalist gets you read, period.

If I were to crack one of those open here...
It would be the FBI and autistic psychic boy one.

And dovetailing this back to our OWC...
I don't read the loglines. I simply go down the entire list of the scripts, in order.

I wouldn't have a prayer in this industry without this site and its members.
So, I read them all, knowing many of them are written by regular contributors.
Hopefully, there's a nugget in there somewhere that helps the writer.

It's rare that a logline grabs me.

E.D.

With the OWC, I don't read the logs or titles closely either, since I try to read them all. And in fact, I myself always forget to write a log on these until I fill the form out.

But, a lot of people only have time to read several, so they pick from the logs and titles, like Mark did. Which makes this a really great exercise in what works and doesn't for those critical elements. It was actually kind of cool having the scripts posted all at once, as you could monitor which titles and logs were effective simply by the number of hits early on. At some point that begins to be impacted by the reviews, but early on it comes down to what logs and titles appealed to people.

There were a few of the Nichols that looked interesting to me. More than I esxpected compared to past years, which I did research a little.

I just got a group email listing links to 3 more current Nichols scripts if you're interested. They will be reviewed on Scriptshadow next week,

The thing about a contest is that all the scripts get read, so the log is less important. But outside of contests, the log and title has a huge impact on whether your script gets read. Even if you win Nichols, a producer will know that the title and log will have a big impact on being able to develop that script.

The Nichols scripts I've read are pretty well written. Nothing magical or brilliant, but very competent. Usually brilliant writing in a script is a sign of a problem anyway. Brilliant writing is for novels. And for my posts on SS!  

How many Nicholls scripts have been turned into films?

I don't pay much attention to logs either, I dive straight into the script. I am no good at writing logs and suppose it raises mixed feelings about its importance.
For a spec i imagine it is very important to grab the reader's attention from a pile but i'd hate to think they wouldn't even give it a skim just because of a clunky log.
I'd say the opening slug and action would (should) be more important.

Im with leitskev, I forget about a log line everytime. Then I'll notice this little box that says logline and go "damn!."

By then I'll be worn out mentally by trying to write the script down and dont wanna fool with it anymore and then I'll rush some corny log line off the cuff.

I need to work on that lol.