I'm shocked that writers are having a hard time coming up with ways to develop a story with the tools we've been given.  Keep in mind nothing has to be Citizen Kane here.  And I, for one, don't want to have my hand held through the competition.  I'll write within the guidelines and if it's good it's good.  If it's not, it's not.  There might be one instance where I might get flack, but I hope not as it's not a character or monster.  Rather an object/item.

Yes he did, Murph.  Go back and view the thread.  It's there in black and white.

Okay.

I stand corrected.

Three human actors = three human characters*.

So...you CAN use termites.
A Old Priest in a wheelchair, his two assistants (including young nun) dispelling a bad mojo in a rundown house is alright, so long as Demon does not appear in the flesh or speak.
Three dunderheads play with Oujia, one of 'em gets possessed. (Technical loophole- he/she is still "human")

Still, I came up with something a bit more out of the box, yet fair game.
Again, I'll be stunned if I'm the only yahoo who picked up on it.

Quoted from Dreamscale Yes he did, Murph.  Go back and view the thread.  It's there in black and white.

Yeah, buried somewhere in 250+ posts.

Anybody looking for "official rules" is gonna be screwed.

You guys do this every single time.

Why can you use termites but not a whale or a rat?

Quoted from Dreamscale I understand, Don.  a total of 3, but you said they all had to be human, meaning no non human characters.  You said no whales, no rats, all human. Did you not?

Your actors are human.  How you use them is up to you.

Quoted from bert Yeah, buried somewhere in 250+ posts. Anybody looking for "official rules" is gonna be screwed. You guys do this every single time.

As far as I am concerned the only rules are in post #1. In a legal sense I think these would supersede anything that follows in the thread. I have checked with my lawyer, he agrees, he thinks we will have a case for a class action if my rat gets disqualified.

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley Okay. I stand corrected. Three human actors = three human characters*.

No, I said, there are three human actors.  I did not say three human characters.

Don

But...

Oh fuck it.  I give up.  This really doesn't make sense.

Based on what you keep repeating, it sounds like the 3 actors can play multiple roles, some with makeup, some with CGI effects, others with wigs and long Amish beards, and then shrunk down to a human rat, and finally blown up to a human whale.

Looks like it could be time for a pisser again...

Quoted from Dreamscale But... Oh fuck it.  I give up.  This really doesn't make sense. Based on what you keep repeating, it sounds like the 3 actors can play multiple roles, some with makeup, some with CGI effects, others with wigs and long Amish beards, and then shrunk down to a human rat, and finally blown up to a human whale. Looks like it could be time for a pisser again...

Dude, think about what you just said...

Actors getting dressed up and wearing makeup, playing multiple parts, pretending to be animals. Does that really sound weird to you?

Have you never been to see a play?

Quoted from Da Man Don No, I said, there are three human actors.  I did not say three human characters. Don

I tell ya. Fuck's sake. One thing I would not be is a Mod or a gafffer for SS. You guys got my sympathy. I remember being a primary school music teacher. You guys got it harder.

Good luck. Some people are beyond teachable.

R xo

With all due respect to the organizers, this is why the OWC sucks now.

Every time the genre and theme get announced, everybody tries to find ways to work around it, no matter how loose the guidelines are. There's nobody stopping you from taking the guidelines of the challenge, writing your own script and submitting it outside the challenge. In fact, when has a script ever been rejected from the OWC just because it didn't conform perfectly to the "rules?" Never. You could always just write it the way you want and submit it anyways, just to see if it'd get by. It probably would. In fact, it certainly would. The pisstakes already have. But instead, everyone has to ask a bunch of questions and out themselves as people who don't want to write the way the challenge has been set out. In fact, you could probably get away with more if you didn't propose so many examples of what might be against the rules.

The fervency of people arguing the OWC guidelines is akin to directors arguing ratings with the MPAA. It's retarded. Why do you guys care so much? Is there really that much at stake? When has a OWC script been the best someone ever wrote?

Seems pretty straightforward to me.  Two males, one of them in a wheelchair, and a female.  Those are the actors that must be included in the story which takes place in the rundown, abandoned house.  Don't use the word Halloween and don't burn the house down.  As long as you include those elements, do whatever you want.  Throw in a sperm whale and a swamp donkey if you want.  

Nope, Ryan, there in lies the problem.

Nothing else allowed...no animals...no nothing, just up to these 3 human actors.

You see the issue???

swamp donkey's rule. Deathspank taught me that much.  But i still don't see why everyone is so confused by this challenge. I kinda get the feeling now that they're not. They're just stiring the pot.