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The Devil's Dice by Ralph Smith - Short, Drama - Hours before the world changes forever, a scientist comes to a church for guidance. 3 pages - pdf, format
I really had no idea what was going on here. Then I read Warren's comments and now I feel stupid but I really didn't figure it out.
There's a lot of padding in this script which won't be conveyed on the screen. A 3 page challenge really emphasizes the need to keep things lean and focus on what the audience will actually see.
-Mark
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How old are RAIN and LIGHTNING? Ah, I see, they're visual effects?
I didn't get it. If not for Warren knowing or Googling, I would never have been bothered to find out. This is well-written and your asides do not bother me, however, the story is completely lost on me.
Not for me sorry to say. I just didn't get it. And I think it's because of Robert's speech at the beginning. He talks a lot, but everything he says is over my head. Then the old man says something. He has the dice in his hand and I didn't get what role the dice plays in this. I have a feeling the old man is a suicide bomber. I wonder if I'm correct. You gave us a few clues that made me think that. I may be completely off. Let's see.
Essentially a 2 1/2 page monologue in a church with barely enough clues to figure out what he's talking about. The character of the old man in the church was supposed to be the devil? An ambitious effort but could use a bit of clarity. Felt like you were experimenting with your writing style? Some things fit, others didn't.
I got Oppenheimer from Robert and the time period so I had a clue of where you were going with this, and I assume the old man is a mythical figure, however I don't know exactly who or what, and I'm not sure how Oppenheimer knew to seek him out at this Church.
From the logline and date, I knew exactly where this was going. I had a lot of preconceived notions of where this might go and was looking forward to it.
A great premise but it just didn't do it for me. I knew it would get tagged with some of the un-filmables and the dialog being a bit wordy. You have something here, it just needs to be cleaned up. I didn't get the pips growing and enveloping the hand. I want to know what you were going for here!!!
So Oppenheimer is essentially struggling with the idea of creating a weapon (the atom bomb) that can wipe out humanity -- in effect, he and his colleagues are playing God themselves. While that's an interesting premise, it's too convoluted to be presented coherently in a three page short. I think the problem here is that you have essentially written a monologue, which delves into the psyche of the character speaking, but doesn't give a more detailed look at the issue behind it all because all we're doing is listening to him babble.
Fairly well written, but needs more (like being a feature film) to make this work, in my opinion.
Best, Gary
Some of my scripts:
Bounty (TV Pilot) -- Top 1% of discoverable screenplays on Coverfly I'll Be Seeing You (short) - OWC winner The Gambler (short) - OWC winner Skip (short) - filmed Country Road 12 (short) - filmed The Family Man (short) - filmed The Journeyers (feature) - optioned
I tried to understand it, I really did. But my brain is tiny. So he's burdened by the realization of what he's created. He's going to kill himself to stop it.
And the Old Man has the same kind of burden. He could kill himself and not be The Devil's puppet anymore? Cuz the dice are controlling him. Or he's The Devil himself...
Why is he seeking salvation? How do we know it? If this were on screen, we'd see him in the pew about to kill himself, but we wouldn't know anything else. 'cept an old man behind him who keeps coughing.
Interesting story, and I feel a dialogue heavy approach is one of a couple ways to write a three pager successfully. But it needs clarity, as I really have no idea who Robert really is, or who the old man is behind him. Seems you were going for something deeper, but you just didn't hit the mark.
This is an ambitious script that flounders along the way.
There's no way to know this is Robert Oppenheimer. He's never even addressed as "Robert." We might get it at the end, given some of what he'd said in church. Still, showing his nametag as he watches the bomb test would help. (Or maybe his name doesn't really matter. Maybe he represents anyone who had qualms about development of the bomb.)
I'd cut way down what he says in church; the average person doesn't know what the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is, so I'd use only what helps us understand why this unidentified man is "seeking salvation." The old coughing guy and the strange (radioactive?) dice have some meaning, but I missed it.
Nonetheless, I give you high marks for tackling this at all, let alone in three pages.