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Home Security by Boris Karloff - Short, Horror - After shooting the home owner during a burglary, two thieves must decide whether or not to finish the job. - pdf, format
A pseudonym that speaks for itself. Logline sounds interesting.
Looks well written and I didn't want to do this this OWC, but as they're your very first words, I'm going to point it out:
Code
Rain pours down...
I'm left wondering in what other direction rain can pour? Rain pours... works far better than, rain pours down.
Over talking in places, saying more than is necessary. Not subtle enough. Too expository.
Oak desks generally are expensive... but I'd avoid oak (unless carved), go for rosewood or an unusually figured yew. If you want to get really fancy, then use something like ebony. Just describe the desk and the wood it's made from without using 'expensive'. Show us how it is expensive. That's my opinion, not saying you should do it.
Unless you can find a mansion with a secret chamber and a laboratory you can use for free, this isn’t going to be low budget.
As for the story, it was a nice easy read. The whole thing seemed a bit Scooby-Doo and there was loads of exposition at the end but it was decent enough.
Well done for taking part in this challenge.
-Mark
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The Elevator Most Belonging To Alice - Semi Final Bluecat, Runner Up Nashville Inner Journey - Page Awards Finalist - Bluecat semi final Grieving Spell - winner - London Film Awards. Third - Honolulu Ultimate Weapon - Fresh Voices - second place IMDb link... http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7062725/?ref_=tt_ov_wr
could be played with some more though. For instance I did not understand why the doctor had to stage someone stealing from him. I'd prefer if the Doctor arranged his own death or something. The stuff he's saying there - people want to steal from him is a bit hard to buy into.
Oh, and I don't think you need a mansion. It could be anything. The mansion puts it over the budget. Why not a house?
1. I don't understand why he does so. 2. Is he wearing gloves, I guess so, and perhaps I read over it (keyword -fingerprints)...?
Pulling the book was a bit too easy and felt random. It could be developed smarter.
I think you could have displayed the whole search in a more interesting way, foreshadowing the doctor's got shit going on differently.
The climax changed the tone and the feeding of the monster was one of those Yikes moments. Ugly. Nice.
The dialogue of the crazy doctor was a bit too long and a bit too much of explaining stuff in hindsight, that could work easier and more direct. Such as: The doctor didn't need to engage them to fall in his hands. I think it would have been much more interesting if indeed a rival had sent the thieves to find the doctor's secrets.
The thematic what they search exactly, and how, would be much more intriguing for my part. This subject is unclear.
The transition of the shot on p1, leading to Freddy standing there with a gun in his hand worked very well.
Not as good as it could be yet, naturally. More theme needed, perhaps.
I’m at page 6 and though the set up is good, the story is kind of dragging. I’m also unsure if they’re looking for something specific or just looting in general. Freddy mentions grabbing a hard drive. Is this important? The whole reason they’re here? I started to think so, then he mentions finding a TV even though they haven’t seen one yet. It’s pretty clear where they are and who they’re robbing, so I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Revealing that the Doctor gave Freddy the gun, AND put blanks in it, (and apparently they know each other?), it’s too much; too scattershot an explanation for me to swallow.
LOL. I like that Freddy tries to shoot him again even though he’s just been told it has blanks in it.
Okay, so the Doctor knows Henry, and Henry is the one who provided Freddy with the gun. I think the set-up needs to be reworked to account. If Henry is pulling the strings then he’s the one who suggested this robbery, suggested the house and put a gun in Freddy’s hand. That info should be given up front or else the reveal isn’t really a reveal, it’s just being blindsided by info. Henry should seem like he’s in charge, not straggling along, though you could build in some conflict where it looks like Freddy is “assuming control” and Henry wants out. Like in Panic Room when the masked guy kills Jared Leto.
Not bad overall, though. Aside from the already mentioned issues, this was a pretty good take on the challenge.
Characters don't seem very real or act like peeps in this situation probably would.
Things get dull after the setup and go downhill from there...to...
The bad news...
The ending...which is contrived, all exposition and explanation, and just not good. The Doctor speaks 12 times in a row from the bottom of Page 7. Pretty ridiculous.
Not bad, but this took a lot of time to get going. Dialogue was wordy and too much of it, as was the action. Could've gotten to the point much sooner than you did. Once there, you had a twist but it wasn't enough to turn this into a very memorable story. On the plus side the writing was pretty good, with a few twists and turns and good descriptions. Overall, not for me.
THE GOOD: There is talent here, assured writing, and I get the tone you are going for. Freddy and Henry play off one another just right, and you keep them consistent. I enjoyed those two. And the secret door. Everyone loves a secret door. And the reveal of the Doctor, handled with aplomb. I am sure I would have liked this even better had it not been one of perhaps a dozen Franken-themed scripts I've just read.
THE BAD: You do get a little over the top with the Doctor near the end. And it isn't that the big monologue is inappropriate, really, for the style you are working with here. Some of it is just too much. A line such as the one I've quoted above -- though it amused me greatly -- only serves to undermine you in the end. But that's really all I've got by way of negatives.
A solid entry. Lots and lots of Frankentein scripts this time it seems, many of which go down pretty much the same route: intro characters, dance around a bit creating tension, reveal the creature and BANG explosion of violence. Having said that, this was decently executed.
As you'll see in my notes below, my main issues were slightly 'plot heavy' dialogue, and an inconsistency with Freddy's character - who I was a bit bored of by around page 7, we get it, he's a dick. Otherwise it was... good? Sorry, that sounds really limp - I do like the concept of the Doctor asking Henry to recruit Freddy to break in, but I feel you didn't quite tell it as well as you could have.
More below. Well done for getting a script in.
--
PAGE 2 Freddy and Henry do a lot of 'talking the plot' to each other here - we establish that the doctor was a genius, they're here for a hard drive which they're going to sell, and that Freddy has a family - but only because characters very explicitly come out with this information. It comes off as quite unnatural - to me, anyway
PAGE 3 - didn't really buy Freddy's reaction, you've established him as someone entirely unmoved by shooting a man dead (not just unmoved, actively proud of it), and now he's horrified by the photos? A bit of a lack of consistency for me
PAGE 5 - how do they 'definitely' know the Doctor was dead? Perhaps one of them - probably Henry - could check his pulse on page 1? - Freddy keeps calling Henry a 'pussy', yet his own reaction to the photos and Henry's appearing at the door confuses this. Maybe you're going for his hypocrisy, but I can't quite grasp his character yet. His dialogue doesn't match his actions
PAGE 7 - nice twist - though were the groans just for effect? Why did the Doctor groan earlier, didn't that run the risk of giving the game away? Reinforces the idea of possibly having Henry check his pulse on pg 1, would remove the doubt of the Doctor being 'dead' (for the viewer) and also push Henry slightly further out of suspicion
PAGE 8 - I like the concept, but don't love the way you've handled it. Rather than have the Doctor just tell us the backstory, maybe this could be an extended intro to the script? Henry and Freddy meet in a bar or somewhere, Henry tells Freddy the plan, then they head on up to the mansion. Would give you a chance to feed us the info on Freddy / the Doctor in dialogue, rather than them just state it on page 2. I know you couldn't do that here, you'd go over the page limit, but if you choose to rewrite...?
PAGE 9 - the actual moment of the Creation's awakening needs something more, somehow. Obviously not throwing an electricity switch - too cliche - but pulling out some tubes and the Doctor shouting, then the Creation slowly sitting up, was a bit underwhelming for such a big dramatic moment. Maybe you could whack some music over the top of it.
PAGE 10 - interesting ending, though Henry hasn't been your protag so why end on him? That's a point, actually - does this script have a protag?