Regarding swearing in scripts:

Quoted from eldave1 They do. If someone drops a curse word and I laugh - all good. If someone drops a curse word and I empathize - all good. If someone drops a curse word and I cringe - no good. It's about the context.  When someone uses profanity that yields in a laugh or empathy in terms of what's happening in a story then it works. If it looks gratuitous - it doesn't work.

I completely agree with this.

I don’t have a problem with swearing in a script, but it needs to be done right, and I feel that there are a few scripts in this OWC where it hasn’t been. So for me otherwise good scripts have been let down by inappropriate bad language. On a few occasions it’s changed the tone of the script so much that it's been jarring.

One thing I definitely don’t agree with, because I personally don’t like it, are the really over-sexualised scripts. Sure you can say “what about Something About Mary”, but that was comedy gold. If you pull something like that off I'll let it slide, but until then I might pass on the anal manipulation and overly-crude jokes.

Quoted from PKCardinal I've been one to mention "naughty" content in a few of my reviews. To clarify my position just a bit: In one review, I mentioned that a singular f word felt out of place. It wasn't that it shouldn't have been there in a romcom, it's that the one line felt out of tone with the rest of the script. In another script, I thought a scene had too much sexual content. Again, it wasn't that the content was inappropriate, it's just, in this particular script, I felt it would work better without it. And, yes, on a few, I did feel the content was way over the top. So, I do believe that TOO much sexual content takes the romance out of the romcom. I guess I feel like there's a middle ground in there somewhere. And, maybe since these are shorts, not features, that middle ground is a bit harder to establish. Not sure if these very slight distinctions will make sense to anyone else, but, somehow they make sense to me.

Agreed, it's all about how it's done.

I agree too that there's a time and a place for it in scripts, but I have literally seen one review where the reviewer stopped at page one because there were some f bombs, which I don't think is even a possible position from which to judge the appropriateness of the language within the context...anyway, let's let it lie.

The overt sexuality, now there's an interesting one. To me, a romcom MUST HAVE COMEDY (annoyingly subjective as it is)!!!! And then there is a relationship between two people which ends up in peril, but somehow through a romantic connection it is saved and becomes a fuller union.

There's one exceptionally sexual script here that kinda ticked the romantic trauma box and it really threw me (as well as tortured my mind a bit). It didn't have the funnies though (again, subjectively IMO), and so that solved the first problem but if it was an LOL-er it would have been one hell of a dilemma.

Quoted from Cameron To me, a romcom MUST HAVE COMEDY (annoyingly subjective as it is)!!!!

I agree. That's what it came down to for me. There was a strong contender that would have been in there, but they had "one of these things belong together, one of these things just doesn't belong". Too bad, because I liked that one.

I've got my top three chosen.  

So on a totally different matter, but entirely related to the one week challenges, my short script "Skip" from the Quickie challenge last year was filmed last week in L.A.  So proof once again that these one week challenges do matter and they are looked at by up and coming producers and directors.  

It was shot with an all-African American cast and crew, which I'm also proud of.  The film is going into a lot of black film festivals, and once that's out of the way, I'll post the video here on the site.

But it's just another indicator that this is the best site anywhere for getting people to see your work!

Gary

Quoted from Gary in Houston So on a totally different matter, but entirely related to the one week challenges, my short script "Skip" from the Quickie challenge last year was filmed last week in L.A.  So proof once again that these one week challenges do matter and they are looked at by up and coming producers and directors.   It was shot with an all-African American cast and crew, which I'm also proud of.  The film is going into a lot of black film festivals, and once that's out of the way, I'll post the video here on the site. But it's just another indicator that this is the best site anywhere for getting people to see your work! Gary

Very cool

Quoted from Gary in Houston So on a totally different matter, but entirely related to the one week challenges, my short script "Skip" from the Quickie challenge last year was filmed last week in L.A.  So proof once again that these one week challenges do matter and they are looked at by up and coming producers and directors.   It was shot with an all-African American cast and crew, which I'm also proud of.  The film is going into a lot of black film festivals, and once that's out of the way, I'll post the video here on the site. But it's just another indicator that this is the best site anywhere for getting people to see your work! Gary

Gary, that is such good news!!! I'm really happy to hear that. When you work so hard and you can see your words turn into pictures, vision from directors, producers & feelings from actors and all the work from all the sound people and. these people and those people... so many...-- man, that's gotta be special!

Thank you for sharing that!

Quoted from Gary in Houston So on a totally different matter, but entirely related to the one week challenges, my short script "Skip" from the Quickie challenge last year was filmed last week in L.A.  So proof once again that these one week challenges do matter and they are looked at by up and coming producers and directors.   It was shot with an all-African American cast and crew, which I'm also proud of.  The film is going into a lot of black film festivals, and once that's out of the way, I'll post the video here on the site. But it's just another indicator that this is the best site anywhere for getting people to see your work! Gary

Congrats, that's makes 2 produced from the same challenge. Will go back and have another read of it.

Quoted from Warren Congrats, that's makes 2 produced from the same challenge. Will go back and have another read of it.

I rewrote the script just a bit for the filming.  Here is the updated version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wavkowg4jgtmz7x/SKIP_v5_yf.pdf?dl=0

Gary

Brilliant, Gazza.
Look forward to seeing it when we can.

Congratulations! Totally awesome!!!!

Would be interesting to know how many OWC and 6WC scripts have been produced by now. I know at least two features from the 6WC and there seem to be a LOT of the OWCs.  

Quoted from Gary in Houston I rewrote the script just a bit for the filming.  Here is the updated version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wavkowg4jgtmz7x/SKIP_v5_yf.pdf?dl=0 Gary

Excellent, thanks I'll have a read.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Congratulations! Totally awesome!!!! Would be interesting to know how many OWC and 6WC scripts have been produced by now. I know at least two features from the 6WC and there seem to be a LOT of the OWCs.

4 of my produced shorts have been from either an OWC, the Quickie Challenge, or the Writer's Tournament.

SS is seriously the best place to get stuff made, but also to get the creative juices flowing. I would never have written those scripts otherwise.

Congrats, Gary.  That's awesome!

Quoted from Warren 4 of my produced shorts have been from either an OWC, the Quickie Challenge, or the Writer's Tournament. SS is seriously the best place to get stuff made, but also to get the creative juices flowing. I would never have written those scripts otherwise.

This is what I keep repeating. I sound like a broken record, but these challenges really do challenge us to write... And that's what it's all about.

I had been working for a good seven months on the same thing without switching things up. Well, that's not totally true, I was reading and studying various films etc... But I really needed to have a break from what I was doing.

The challenges help us if we're in a dry spell or not, but we just need the challenge. To sharpen our keyboards and get us crackin'. ... And then when we work to crit others' work, that's a whole different aspect that helps us so much also.

Yes, we have a lot of people to thank for the headway we might make.  

Sandra