There were 31 scripts submitted within the timeframe given.  I will be posting them roughly six at a time every 12 hours or so.  Please note that * in the title indicates that the person who submitted the script is a member of the discussion board AND has in the past thoughtfully read and reviewed scripts.  Those new to the board and who wrote a script for the challenge are encouraged to read and review at least 6 scripts at which point I will add a * to his/her script.   All participants are highly encouraged to read and review OWC scripts.

The Dark by Steve McDonell (stevie) - Short, Fantasy - A mysterious warning drives a man to the brink of insanity... - pdf, format

Issues by P. Cook (me) - Short, Drama, Horror - Longing for love, can make you do bad things. - pdf, format

Sanitarium by Cindy L. Keller - Short, Horror - An orderly tries to make life bearable to a young girl who is lost in Hell. - pdf, format

Revenge by Gary Rademan (grademan) - Short, Thriller - A man mourns the death and rape of his sister. His uncle’s revenge leads to their capture by the killers. - pdf, format

Shamrock by Seth Hamilton - Short, Psychological Thriller - A Priest, having killed, struggles with whether or not to take his own life. - pdf, format


A Night To Remember by Javier Torregrosa (jayrex) - Short, Dark, Thriller, Horror - Tyler awakes to find he doesn't know who he is, and all he has to go on are the clues left behind to help him retrace his whereabouts. - pdf, format

The Light by Michel J. Duthin (michel) - Short, Fantasy - In a (near?) dark future, the last family in the country waits for the light to come... - pdf, format


Monster in the Dark by Zack Akers (splatter boy) - Short, Thriller - Disturbed cop Jack Morton is followed home by a dark secret. - pdf, format

Sisyphus Imagined by Anthony Russo (ajrscreenworks) - Short, Fantasy - A re-telling of the myth of Sisyphus, who does battle with Zeus and Hades. - pdf, format

The Killing Gene by Tim Ratcliffe (trojan) - Short, Supernatural Thriller - A man has his beliefs put to the test when he is confronted with an offer he simply can't refuse. - pdf, format

The Dark Place by T. Joseph Fraser (blakkwolfe) - Short, Science Fiction - Surrounded by darkness, A young man struggles between compassion and commitment. - pdf, format

Three Strikes, You're Out by Jeff Bush (Dreamscale) - Short, Horror - First comes the love, then comes the marriage, then comes...the infidelity...and bad shit. - pdf, format

The Room of Doors by Paul J. Gitschner - Short, Supernatural Thriller - A woman wakes up somewhere strange and tries to make sense of it all.  - pdf, format

Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Ronald Simpson - Short, Supernatural Thriller - A dark supernatural thriller that digs deep into the philosophical minds of sophisticated people, and really makes you wonder what really hides in the depths of the shadows of darkness. - pdf, format

Eyes in the Dark by Zach Shearer (Zach.scripts) - Short, Horror - A man comes to terms with his lack of humanity. - pdf, format

Dragan's Apparatus by Martin B. - Short, Horror - A professor must foil a desperate man who holds him captive for a non-existent formula. - pdf, format

The Environmentalist by James Williams (jwent668 - Short, Horror - A young girl alone in her parent's plush ski retreat gets a visit from a malevolent stranger. - pdf, format

Marooned by Mark-Curtis Dunn (currentcmine) - Short, Science Fiction - Two space deputies put off on Ganymede to save shuttle fuel discover a hermit scientist in residence. - pdf, format

Auto-da-fe by William Pearce - Short, Horror - {no logline} - pdf, format

It Gazes Back by Jon Barton (jonnyboy) - Short - A writer struggles with a dangerous obsession. Remember, He's always watching... - pdf, format

Cul-de-sac by Ezekeil Obregon - Short - {no logline} - fdr, format

Stranded by Herman Chow (coding) - Short, Science Fiction - Two survivors stranded on a spaceship need to find whatever ways to survive.-9 pages - pdf, format

One For The Road by Cameron Mitchell (cam17) - Short - Four people in an isolated Nebraska diner encounter a stranger with a horrifying secret. - pdf, format

The Ass Spider by Greg Baldwin - Short, Science Fiction, Thriller - The saying "I've got butterflies in my stomach" takes on a whole new meaning. - pdf, format

OK, I've read and commented on 11 scripts (I can't open Poor Mr. Burns).

I'm sure alot of people are cursing me and wondering why I'm such an ass.  Not my intent at all, and I apologize up front for my harsh comments.

Whether or not we have a time deadline, I see no excuse for such poorly edited and proofed scripts.  A couple mistakes, sure, no problem, but the vast majority of these scripts are just littered with mistakes and poor writing.

I'm always going to give my honest opinion, and if they seem harsh or cruel, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, as I don't think it helps in any way.

I'm hoping the next batch will be an improvement in quality, as well as meeting the challenge better.

I'm almost through this 12 and I have to say I'm pleased with the entries I've read so far and at least one of them is definitely going to get selected.   I'll make sure of it.

I'm looking forward to the rest of them.  

And while it's good to comment on grammar and such, I feel I should let you guys know that I'm not in the least bit concerned about the grammar or typos while I'm perusing these scripts.  So if you have some mistakes of that nature don't let it worry you.

31 scripts? This is lower than usual. Not a bad thing at all. The challenge was actually challenging. Did I meet it? Maybe not.

Still, big thanks to Mcornetto for making it interesting, not to mention all the work that will be involved in his making the Moviestorm movies!

So, again, thanks!

Seth

Quoted from Grandma Bear I like it better with fewer entries. There have been some scripts so far that didn't tickle my fancy, but I have not read anything that was complete crud either. The Dark seems to get hammered, but I thought it wasn't that bad at all. Just didn't fit the assignment.

I, too, like that there are fewer entries (still a good number). It speaks to how challenging the challenge was. And The Dark, although, it didn't stay within the parameters, was funny as hell! I hope, if Mcornetto doesn't, someone takes the time to make it -- so I can kick back, drink in hand, laughing my ass off!

Yeah, props to MC for putting this together.

I didn't enter this time, which I'm kinda annoyed about. I'm going to read some random scripts though soon, looking forward to the entries.

Quoted from Dreamscale OK, I've read and commented on 11 scripts (I can't open Poor Mr. Burns). I'm sure alot of people are cursing me and wondering why I'm such an ass.  Not my intent at all, and I apologize up front for my harsh comments. Whether or not we have a time deadline, I see no excuse for such poorly edited and proofed scripts.  A couple mistakes, sure, no problem, but the vast majority of these scripts are just littered with mistakes and poor writing. I'm always going to give my honest opinion, and if they seem harsh or cruel, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, as I don't think it helps in any way. I'm hoping the next batch will be an improvement in quality, as well as meeting the challenge better.

Jeff,

I've never really had a problem with your reviewing (April OWC aside) but this time you're being a little too tactless with your comments.

Don't want to start something (just being honest) but every script is peppered with complaints of "awkward phrasing, bad grammar", etc, etc. To me, it seems like an exercise to be seen reading every script, and less a concerted effort to provide helpful feedback.

Let's not forget that almost everyone here is an amateur writer, so approaching our reviews in this way would really seem the way forward - we're helping one anther grow, right? Those who are working professionals may be justified in your tone, but you're really not.

bert pretty much hits the right tone, 'cos he's harsh when necessary, but actually able to provide insight as to why.

Just felt the need to say it, Jeff, 'cos I personally find it annoying to read the same thing each time, and imagine others feel the same, which of course you alluded to.

Andrew

I'm actually finding this OWC quite amusing.

The board absolutely loves horror and when the chains are finally removed...everyone writes a thriller.

MC gave us no less than four possible genres and still most of us failed to hit one!

Not being critical there, I know that we can be lenient with the genre, I just found it funny.

I personally think the general standard of the scripts is excellent. There are several scripts out of just the initial batch that have real potential. A couple are almost fully realised already.

For me that is an outstanding achievement in just a week.

I've never written a script in a week in my whole life before, and it more than shows. Neverthless I'm extremely pleased with my concept and have full confidence that it will become an exceptional film in the future.

I think to expect some level of perfection after just a week is crazy to be honest.

I take my hat off to the writers who can write to a professional level in such a short space of time, particularly as most people work, but I'm not one of them. My script will evolve over the months ahead, partly based, hopefully, on the feedback I receive from my fellow readers here.

Feedback is critically important and is at the core of this site's existence. I think it should definitley be kept constructive, especially when we are dealing with scripts that have gone from concept to completion in just a matter of hours.

Andrew, if a script is poorly written, peppered with bad grammar and awkward phrasing, then I'm going to mention that.  Why wouldn't I or anyone else, for that matter?  You don't need to be a pro to know how to write a proper sentence, phrase, passage, etc.

Pretty simple stuff, actually.  Sorry you have a problem with the tone of my reviews.

Quoted from Grandma Bear I think the limitations set by the MovieStorm thing prevented people from doing full blown horror. Not that it can't be done, but that may have lead people to think in different directions. Cornetto said he could only do some blood and there was also limitations in weapons used as well as character having physical contact... or something like that.   I've read a few that people said didn't fit any of the genres. "Issues" for example is definitely DARK and HORROR in my book. I saw it as dim lighting with the lightning flashes and the dark was the doctor's dark mind and how can it not be horror when there are flashes of dead women all the time and a killing in the end. It certainly wasn't comedy. There were a few scripts like that I've read that fit the assignment in my mind, but got complaints by some others about not fitting the challenge.

I'm sure Michael will be lenient with the genre anyway, so it's no big deal.

I personally would call Issues a thriller. You can get dead people and serious violence in thrillers, eg Silence of the Lambs.

There are basically only three sub-genres of Horror:

Horror of Armageddon (Eg The Stand, 28 days etc)
Horror of Personality (Hostel, Psycho etc)
Horror of Demonic. (Exorcist, Reeker, Jeepers Creepers etc)


Issues doesn't really fit into any of them. The core of the story is about people personal issues. It's a drama/thriller at heart.

Just my opinion of course, and I'm sure it doesn't matter, as I say.

I thought you wrote it by the way...

So, Jeff is not crazy about the problem with some of these scripts in regards to the PDF conversion.  At least, he is not crazy in that specific regard.

I am also getting messages about "CourierFinalDraft", and the file appears as only a series of dots.  They are unreadable.

Anybody know of a quick fix for this, aside from downloading some other form of reader that I do not care to download?

Or perhaps somebody can convert those files to readable form and shoot them back to Don for another upload?

[EDIT]

And if we go to the extra trouble, I darn sure hope those files belong to members who are participating in the reading of these scripts, or I'll be kind of pissed.

Bert, Pia sent me the pdf's of the 3 I couldn't open, and I still couldn't read them. Same exact problem you're having.  I'm not into loading any other reader, either, but I would like to read these scripts.

As far as the font thing goes, you should try downloading the Courier Final Draft font.  If I wasn't trying to get out to work atm I would upload it for you but I have to run.

Did a quick search.....

Try this.

http://kb.instantservice.com/iskb/SearchAnswer.cfm?nodeid=203952&PopularLink=1

Quoted from Grandma Bear Don said scripts with a * after it are all by active board members.

Yeah -- but his definition and mine do not always align in that regard.

He is much nicer than me -- as is just about everybody, I suppose.

Quoted from Dreamscale Pia sent me the pdf's of the 3 I couldn't open, and I still couldn't read them. Same exact problem you're having.  I'm not into loading any other reader, either, but I would like to read these scripts.

Unfortunately, that may take knowing who the authors are (or is) -- as I do now -- so I would wait for Cornetto or George or one of our other resident geeks to get a fix into place.

I am pretty sure one of those guys will know what to do once they are aware of the problem.

That link doesn't work at all for me, Michael.  Says"End of session - debug".

Hey, Bert, what do you mean you know who the authors are now?  What's up with that?