i'm thinking about doing a slasher flick.... and i want to do it in that sort of survival fashion "small stranded group of characters vs one madman with a big knife.."

with that said... i have two dilemmas i need help with.... setting... and # of characters.

the most obvious place to do a slasher flick like this is either in the dessert, in the woods, on a ship (in space or at sea) what do you/would find most intriguing???

and with my second dilemma... how many characters should be used in this? taking into account i like to establish all my characters and give them interesting arcs...before killing them off. i hate it when horror films just kill people off and you dont care "IE Wrong Turn"

this of course needs to be balanced against a sufficiant body count to satisfy the horror fan's blood thirst.

In a slasher flick, the obvious setting is the woods which has been overdone too many times with Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp, and other movies. I suppose you do a ship cause that was never overdone many times except for movies that have to do with the supernatural or monsters.

The average number of main characters are usually 5. At least all known horror movies have at least 4 - 5 characters, and it depends on how well done the killings are, not just on how much the body count is. Sleepaway camp had at least 7-15 ( I Lost Count) killings and they were done off screen which in my opinion was lame. So it matters on how well done it is.

I hope this is helpful.

E.T.

Here's a piece of advice, HD:

STOP POSTING SHIT ON THE BOARDS!!

You started posting here only two days ago and you've started your third project already, completely forgetting about the other two.  You keep asking for advice and then you move on, wasting everyone's time.  

Keep this up and you'll never write a script and everyone will ignore because you have the reputation of someone who comes up with hundreds of ideas and works on none of them.


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe Here's a piece of advice, HD: STOP POSTING SHIT ON THE BOARDS!! You started posting here only two days ago and you've started your third project already, completely forgetting about the other two.  You keep asking for advice and then you move on, wasting everyone's time.   Keep this up and you'll never write a script and everyone will ignore because you have the reputation of someone who comes up with hundreds of ideas and works on none of them. Phil

dude, chill out

i'm here to get feedback on projects i've been working on.

if you have a problem with my posts, take it up with don. dont clutter the boards with uncalled for and irrational posts.

thanks

You started out with Jack and Jill.  Then you started talking about Welcome Home Benjamin.  Now you're asking about a slasher film which you haven't given much thought to.

As I said earlier, others use to flood the boards with their idea du jour.  After a certain point, no one responds to them and they disappear.  Trying to help you out here.  I'll stop.


Phil

Noted.

I think you should do it on a ship or something. Like this guy could be a professional at killing, and soon everybody on board is dead except for only a few survivors who try and get out, but each mysteriously (okay not THAT mysteriously) get killed. Then you can have the killer end up being shot off the boat and getting sucked up by the propellors or something. Just my idea on a slasher flick.

As for the number of characters, as E.T. said, probably 4-5 at the least. I mean you could have more, but soon people will lose track of the characters, and you might accidentally leave out a character as well. I have, and it wasn't cool when I found out because I had to change all this stuff in my script and it got so irritating.

Good luck on this script, that is, if you finish it.

Sean

should the killer already be on the boat? should he speak? i notice some horror films not have the killer talk.

i used to have a problem forgetting characters too.. now i make a list and write a few sentences out about their personality and what they look like....

then when they die... i cross out their name

These are all things you should really work out yourself.  This is what I would suggest:

Work up your different senarios.  Put in a lot of thought before posting.  Then post the senarios you can't decide between but have a good solid foundation, then ask for opinion.

You really don't want everyone else to write your script for you, (or maybe you do) therefore you should do the head work, flesh out your synopsis, get a few characters and such, then ask for opinions, so we have something to comment on, rather than broad whimsicle ideas.

Just a thought, good luck.

Sara

Phil has a point, don't overload yourself. Work on one project then once you have that established and at least know where you're going with it then you can think about other projects. I use to post every little idea I had, now I just post the ones I know I'm going to work on.

Quoted from Herodreamer79 the most obvious place to do a slasher flick like this is either in the dessert... what do you/would find most intriguing???

Definitely the dessert. It's certainly original and it gives you license to place your heroes in some sticky situations. I recommend a trifle, and throw in some custard at the end of act one.

I'm not sure why anyone wants to write slasher flicks any more. They've been done to death. If you want to do this, avoid all the cliches (yes, I know Scream tells you "the rules" but I get so tired watching a bunch of idiotic teens running up the stairs.) If I were you, I'd avoid teens altogether. Maybe set it in a factory on the night shift where a disgruntled ex-employee returns for a murderous rampage against his former colleagues.

Quoted from Martin If you want to do this, avoid all the cliches...

Here is the coolest idea for a slasher that I will never, ever use:

Set it in a nursing home, with old people.  But don't do a "Bubba Ho Tep" with it.  Play it straight.  Not for laughs.  Could be really chilling stuff if you do it right.

The title should be "Expiration Date".

If anybody writes this I gaurantee that lots of people will read it.

I think you've mentioned this idea before. I actually started writing an outline but eventually got distracted and moved on to something else. Maybe I'll dig it up.

Martin:  If you are ever crazy enough to work up a draft for this -- and if you want to -- you send it on and let me spend a few weeks with it, OK?

(Just Martin.  Please don't flood my mailbox with ideas for bedpan killings... )

Haha... sounds like you secretly wanna write it yourself. I have a lot of stuff in progress at the moment but I'll have a look on my other PC when it's fixed and see if I can rustle up that outline.