So, I was thinking about this whole "write a feature in a month," and it occurred to me that I'm already doing this. The point of writing something with that tight a deadline is because someone asked for something, and by the time they ask, they usually want it yesterday (or at least in a couple months). That couple months is a finished draft, which indicates a first draft in a month to give time for pondering and rewrites. The initial idea for this OMC was a script in any form, as long as it's finished.

I checked when I created the file I'm working on and it was on 8/11. The topic I'm writing on? Well, just go back to that request thread by Randy Robinson. It's that creature feature thing. He gave me an idea of the plot he wanted, the number of characters, and some locations along with some restrictions based on budget. It's a heck of a lot more than we would use on any kind of challenge, but this is real life.

So I volunteered because I wanted to write something, and I knew (based on prior experiences) that I could write something quickly, and it would be a fairly passable first draft. Granted, I have someone in the wings to bounce ideas off of and ready to read it as soon as I've got it done, but again, that's how it works sometimes.

So, I'll go ahead and prove to Jeff that this can be done by using a real life experience to do it. It's been 9 days so far, which leaves me about 21 days to finish the first draft (22, if you consider 31 days in August). I'm going to prove it because I pretty much have to.

Where am I on it at this point? Well, I filled out his plot and changed some stuff around to make it flow a little better. I'm currently working on the characters' back stories. Once I have that all together, it'll be ready to pace out the plot, and then write the thing. Because I'm taking such a methodical approach to it, the first draft will flow right out. I won't have to wonder about where the plot is going because I've already figure that out. I won't have to worry about who the characters are or whether they're acting right because I've already got them figured out too.

I figure I'll keep you updated as to where I am on this, so you can see how this sort of thing can grow. By 9/11, there will be a first draft, at least.

Fantastic, sounds exciting.

Good luck with it, I was wondering who took up that creature feature request.

Good luck with it George. I imagine we won't get to read it until the movie's done or...?

Quoted from George Willson (22, if you consider 31 days in August)

I guess it's the most practical thing to do since it really messes up the calendar if August all of a sudden only has 30 days

Quoted from sniper Good luck with it George. I imagine we won't get to read it until the movie's done or...?

I dunno. I can see if Randy has any issues sharing it or not when it's done (after I've re-read it, of course). I don't really post first drafts. I do re-read them at least once to clean up the stupid typos.

Quoted from George Willson By 9/11, there will be a first draft, at least.

Hmm...hope that isn't prophetic.  I might have picked a different day.

Good luck with it.  I am available if you want to bounce some ideas.

Write a feature in a month? Not really that challenging, don't ya think? I've written plenty of 90, 100, 110 paged script in only 3 days. But than again you would need the extra time to proof read and add some stuff, but all in all the script can be done with in a fraction of the time.

And some very successful films have been written in 3 days. Like... Rocky, Little Miss Sunshine, etc...

Good luck, George.

Go get 'em, tiger.

Andrew

Sounds good George.  I also wish you luck.

I talked with Randy as well and decided to pass on it because of the zero budget and the fact that he was not going to let me retain rights to the script (or pay for it).  I was interested though for sure and was pretty close to jumping on board.  In the end, I just thought that if something ever does come of it, I would be kicking myself for relinquishing rights and working for free.

The one thing I did really like about it was that it was going to be a very, very simple idea.  I pictured myself writing the entire thing in 6 weeks and that was goiing to include at least 5 edits and re-edits.  Don't take these comments the wrong way, cause they're not intended to mean anything other than what I'm saying.

You don't need to prove anything to me - I know you can do it.  I am available to edit or give it a look if you'd like at any time.

Let me know.

Thanks for the encouragement. I just figured I'd talk about it in this context since it sort of fit another topic that had been breached before. Thought it was interesting that it came up again about the time I was actually trying to do it for real. Sure, there's no money involved in this, but it's not always about the money, is it? As long as I have my credit, I'm good. Not doing any ghostwriting here. That don't come for free.

I think people  chasing the money should be in the banker, sorry, winker business, not films.

Wish you the best George. Good luck with it.

As I said, it was a matter of rights to the script, as well as the fact that there wasn't any money.

It's one thing to write a script that you come up with and think will be a god idea.  It's another thing for someone to tell you what to write, retain rights to "your" script, and not pay anything.

Personal decision, I guess.

You should have challenged others to do it with you and in that one month see who would have a finished script and let the reviews decide who wins but at the end of the day everybody would win. Reviews help with future rewrites and so on.

Well, if it were a full on deal, that would have worked, but as it is, it only occurred to me that I was actually doing the parameters of this OMC thing after I started. And when it comes to script rights, when you write for a studio, they buy the script, right and all, anyway to make the movie. They want to own every piece of the process. I figure I wouldn't fight with Warner Bros. over the rights to something. No reason to fight with this guy over the rights (unless he doesn't make the film, and then we'll talk).

My progress is still in the characters. I'm working out the details of the fourth character who is minor compared to the other three, but he's a person all the same like the others are and gets a lot of screen time. I've also found in working his story out that I need to tweak the plot a bit since his character wouldn't bend over backwards to do what the plot is currently prescribing him to do (that involves his unfortunate, painful, and quite bloody demise).

Quoted from George Willson I'm going to prove it because I pretty much have to. Where am I on it at this point? Well, I filled out his plot and changed some stuff around to make it flow a little better. I'm currently working on the characters' back stories. Once I have that all together, it'll be ready to pace out the plot, and then write the thing. Because I'm taking such a methodical approach to it, the first draft will flow right out. I won't have to wonder about where the plot is going because I've already figure that out. I won't have to worry about who the characters are or whether they're acting right because I've already got them figured out too. I figure I'll keep you updated as to where I am on this, so you can see how this sort of thing can grow. By 9/11, there will be a first draft, at least.

Thanks George. This will be very interesting to keep watch on as you work. Reality Internet at its finest I think.

Keep us posted.

Sandra

So, in keeping with the reality internet, I thought I'd update my status on this. There are four primary characters and I've worked out the basic life stories of each of them. The one that Randy only called "The Stranger" in the idea he sent to me originally was probably the hardest since he was in all of two sentences: the one where he showed up and the one where he died. So I had to create a full back story for this character who is actually in at least half the script.

Characters are done, so now I'm filling out the basic plot I had done at the beginning to being a full treatment to send to Randy to make sure I haven't come up with anything he can't (or won't) shoot. Don't know how long this treatment will be. I haven't set myself a page limit and Randy won't care, I'm sure. Its purpose is both to make my job easy when I write the actual script, since all I'll need to do at that point is come up with dialogue and pad out the actual actions along with making it look like a screenplay and so that the filmmaker has a pre-first draft to critique before it gets more complicated to make changes.

At the treatment stage, it'll be easy to move scenes around, add or remove extras, and that sort of things where after it's written, those things would be more complicated since those "minor changes" could affect multiple scenes.

So that's where I am. I'm about halfway through the treatment, which I plan to finish before the week's out to send over to Randy to look at. He's kind of excited so I doubt it will take him long to look at it. So unless he has any major requests, I'll probably start the actual script phase next week which gives me a solid two weeks to  write the 90 pages (or whatever it comes out to) and probably even check it for typos.