Here's some of my favorites in no particular order:

Three - Some people didn't like this, but I thought it was a very promising start for a feature.  Three distinctly different personalities blended with a good dose of humor.  I would be interested to see where that one goes.

Of Mice and Monsters - This one had the benefit of having a really good ending so it was a complete story in a batch of feature introductions.  I'm a history buff, especially the WWII era, and I enjoyed the subtle touch of witchcraft/magic/gypsyism/whatever you wanna call it.

The Secret War - Another really interesting start to a feature reminded me a bit of Saving Private Ryan.  However, instead of the intense drama it throws in the fantasy factor.  Should the writer continue with the feature, I'm not sure a witch would be the way to go, but definitely something or someone with powers.  Maybe a Jedi =D

Hellfire - The start of what could be a pretty cool action/thriller.  It also kind of reminded me of End of Days, so...be careful

Blood Roots - Liked the direction this one went.  Really reminded me of some corny reality TV show that may air late night on the Sci-Fi channel...except it wasn't corny.  Could be fun to continue with this one.  

Those are my top 5 I'd say.  A couple others on the bubble:

Sinister Plans - I really liked the ideas brought up in the first 10 pages but think they should be rearranged.  I would have liked to see more of the girls and their lives and what they're up to and then would have liked the creepy "uncle" to make his appearance.

Cherry Bomb - Very well written.  Story-wise I didn't think it held up with the direction that some of the others went.

Greg

The only reason I know who wrote Real Counterfeit Witches is because Pia said the name in her review. But then again, I'd probably know who it was if I had been here long enough to learn people's styles.

I'm really having trouble evaluating and listing favorites. I think I still have a few to read, too.

The problem is some of the better written ones have stories that I don't think have market potential, or would even be interesting in film.

Some of the ones that would be interesting are not at all well written. And I'm not talking about formatting or even action writing, that stuff doesn't go in the film. I'm talking about dialogue that has a LONG way to go, or even plot elements that don't work.

Like the Hellfire one. I liked it, but that critical scene in the middle where he calls the girl from the hospital because the men's room door handle breaks and there's a smelly, skinless biker in the room. I just could not understand why he called some woman who gave him a card at the hospital.

Secret War has a great concept, might even be my favorite, but the way things played out in the village did not feel real to me. And it seemed hurried. The German would ask a question, have a bunch of people shot; ask another question, have more shot. That sequence of scenes, especially with the burning of the church, the questioning that came before, the escape...that would take 15 minutes of film, at least. But it was only, what, 6 or 7 pages, maybe 8.

Blood Root was one of the better written ones, but was flat. The characters, the tension, the emotion...kind of flat.

Sinister probably seems like the one that has the best chance to make it. Nothing that's going to change the history of film, but I can see where the tension will rapidly build after page 10, so this one could make it to the finish line.

The bada$$ cop witch has some market appeal.

I'd have to see where Cherry goes next. That one is tough to tell on 10 pages. Written well enough, and creating enough interest to keep the reader reading, which is priority number one as a writer.

Dry Spell could make a fun short. Needs a few more one liners, but would be funny and easy to film. Worth working on.

Witches Flame has a unique and appealing setting, and an intriguing protag. Plus an interesting dynamic with the 3 main characters, one ripe for conflict. The mother witch and her coven needs to be reworked, and without giving the thing away, a better idea of what this is about should be given to the reader.

Witch Hunt could make a great SNL skit. Needs to be washed, rinsed and focused so that things are tight. Less characters, more humor, clearer setting(no court).

Of Mice and Monsters needs a better title. The title almost suggests humor, but it's a serious short, which could perhaps be expanded.

Quoted from Dreamscale Are you guys frickin' serious?  The writer of this script has a long history of writing such scripts, especially in OWC's.  If you go back to any and every OWC that he or she was a part of, you'll see immediately what I mean. And I will give you 2 hints - I didn't write it and Stevie didn't write it.  Hope that helps, as I'm sure the two of us were at the top of your list of possible writers.

I'm absolutely frickin' serious, Jeff! I have no idea and am too lazy to search through old OWC's to find out. Seems the author is well known and all will be revealed soon.

At least I wasn't the only one. That makes me feel better.

2 more clues...

The writer is not of Aussie descent.

The writer does not live in America.

OK, fuck it...3 clues...

The writer just may live in the Great White North...

Read Pia's review and you'll know who wrote it.

Quoted from Dreamscale 2 more clues... The writer is not of Aussie descent. The writer does not live in America. OK, fuck it...3 clues... The writer just may live in the Great White North...

I'm gonna need a fourth clue, Jeff Keep em' coming

The fourth clue is right below Jeff's post...

I think my favourite at the moment is Blood Root.

I need to re read a couple to remind myself where the others lie. However, it is quite clear that all the scripts need some attention so! in some ways, I am looking at this in terms of a concept that could be taken forward.

For that reason, whilst I enjoyed both Of Mice etc and Dry Spell, I feel these are less feature material. Others may not consider the scripts in that way, but to me the challenge was mainly a feature attempt that could be taken forward.

Whilst my own needs a lot of work, and I kick myself for errors and other things, it has been an experience!

Quoted from Felipe The fourth clue is right below Jeff's post...

Eureka! By George, I think he's got it!

Thanks Felipe and Jeff.

"Unless a character does something that virtually no one would actually do in a real life situation, it is foolish for someone to continually question the character's actions.  It just doesn't make any sense at all.  Characters in scripts and movies can do virtually anything their creator wants them to do."__ Jeff

Who is this guy? And what happened to Jeff?

The Jeff I know questions virtually every action of every character in every script. I mean that with no personal disrespect, truly.

Recently, the old Jeff, in a review of a short, could not suspend disbelief that a hot girl would hook up with an ugly guy because he had a good pick up line. He could not accept that a girl in a bar would offer a guy oral sex after just a dance.

The old Jeff could not accept any characters that acted in a way that was outside of his personal experience or expectations.

Again, this is not meant to be disrespectful, and I hope it's not taken that way.

The topic of when an audience can be expected to suspend disbelief is an interesting one, maybe more suited to another thread. There's no correct answer, of course, but it is useful to get different opinions on.

There was a scene in a script we've been discussing: The Disciple Project. It is probably the best and most memorable scene in the story, one which will be most remembered if filmed. And yet it also really did not make sense.

I guy with military training is trying to discover assassins who killed his wife. He knows they will come for him next now that they know he is investigating them. So he sets up in his house.

Next we see the bad guys gas the bedroom so he will sleep, then shoot him in the neck with a knockout dart.

They then take him, unconscious, and his car so they can set it up so that his death looks like a drunk driving accident. As they are setting up the accident, they notice his eyes are open. It creeps them out a second, but they know he is paralyzed by the dart poison and harmless. Then, with a stomach tube, they pour enough alcohol into his system so his corpse will show intoxication.

Now comes the surprise. One of the assassins discovers a metal plate in the guy's neck. He realizes the dart had hit metal, and the guy is not really paralyzed, but is merely waiting for the right moment. At this point, a big fight breaks out, and the protag kills the bad guys.

It's a cool scene, very tense. The idea that he's patiently sitting there allowing these guys get ready to kill him, biding his time, hoping to hear more about his wife's death, is very memorable. It really shows how cool headed this guy is, and how badly he wants to hunt his wife's killers.

And yet the scene is hard to belief. How could he know exactly where in the neck he would be hit by a dart? And would he keep up the act even while they were placing a tube in his stomach and pouting scotch down it? Very unlikely stuff.

And yet I approve the scene, because I feel it will play extremely well with audiences. So I am willing to suspend disbelief.

Suspending disbelief is a tricky thing. It obviously varies depending on the circumstances. I usually try to approach a script prepared to try to meet on its own terms, play by its rules. I want to buy into it. Butt that doesn't mean I always can.

Hey Kevin,

I think the main think that a writer needs to do is tell us who the character is and how he acts in order for us to believe in their actions. If they stray too far from the archetype we've been introduced, it can be jarring and, in some cases, completely take us out of the story.

Obviously this depends on the story, but I feel it is the case most of the time. Actions need to be motivated.

Quoted from leitskev Who is this guy? And what happened to Jeff? The Jeff I know questions virtually every action of every character in every script. I mean that with no personal disrespect, truly. Recently, the old Jeff, in a review of a short, could not suspend disbelief that a hot girl would hook up with an ugly guy because he had a good pick up line. He could not accept that a girl in a bar would offer a guy oral sex after just a dance. The old Jeff could not accept any characters that acted in a way that was outside of his personal experience or expectations. Again, this is not meant to be disrespectful, and I hope it's not taken that way. The topic of when an audience can be expected to suspend disbelief is an interesting one, maybe more suited to another thread. There's no correct answer, of course, but it is useful to get different opinions on.

The old Jeff was an evil robot created to harass talented unproduced writers into becoming even more talented produced writers.  He is not dead, but he's being recharged and retrofitted with some new software.  

Kev, I totally understand your point, and I wish I could articulate my point better, but maybe I need that Jeffbot back...I don't know.

First of all, the example you bring up now from The Chat Up Line is a little out of context, IMO.  Sure, any of that stuff could happen...and does happen on a nightly basis everywhere around the world.  But, in the context of the story, IMO, it was foolish, unbelievable, and completely unnecessary.

So, let's look at a new example and see how this flies...

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with the James Bond franchise, right?  Don't worry, I'm not going to go into whether or not it's remotely conceivable that James would be bale to survive even 1% of the shit he gets himself into, as it doesn't matter - it's the classic situation of suspending disbelief within the context of the story and character.

What I do want to bring up is how literally every single James Bond Antag, within every single James Bond novel and movie has the ability to kill James and get back to their dastardly ways, but doesn't immediately, and and instead sets up some elaborate death trap that James escapes every time.

Is this a bad thing?  Is this something that detracts from the movies?

No, it's the way these movies, and others like them work, and without them, we wouldn't have anymore James Bond movies, because he'd be dead.

I think Steve Austin fought the Jeffbots in season 3. One of the Jeffbots did Jamie Sommers though, and old Steve was never the same after that.

Good example with James Bond, and I don't even really have an answer. Cinemachado raises a good point that a character should be consistent with his archetype, which applies perfectly to Bond...and to Jeffbots.

I do think the old Jeff certainly had a VERY low life line when it comes to suspension of disbelief. The Chat Up line was just a recent example. It's not just suspension of disbelief, maybe, but also a set of expectations about what people do or how they act in situations that was limited to his own notions. The new Jeff makes a valid point that characters are unpredictable, or act according to their own inner impulses, not what we might do in their shoes.

Jamie Sommers was hot. I don't blame Steve for losing his bionic mojo.

Movies are just what ifs of life. There are times when it seems plausible and other times it doesn't. People are different. As a writer, you're not going to get everyone to like your work. It's a tough balance.