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It was an honest effort but I felt this one was pretty lackluster. Isn't the O-zone hole, like, stabilized now? And unless 200,000 people move to Boston in the next 13 years, overpopulation, I think, is impossible.
Sorry, but the dialogue just wasn't very exciting and overall the story just didn't do it for me.
Not too sure about your twist. That is, using the twist of another sci-fi classic. Interesting setting in the church, but I don't think you utilized the atmosphere as much as you could have.
The story line is pretty dry...nothing happening...even though I think the beginning felt like this would be a fairly good script, it just didn't bring the right "meat" to the table.
Lots of mistakes throughout and my favorite part was the opening description. You did meat the challenge theme, so that was good.
I love words and the fact that when the page is blank...there's nothing there until words are formulated in my brain. Those thoughts...rushing through my viens and out my finger tips, find "life" on the page.
When people and places come to life...that to me is exciting.
MBCgirl =) My finger nails should look nice while I type - Red works!
There wasn't a great deal to the story here and it felt like this might have been a rushed effort. The opening scene of a dilapidated church...3rd script from this challenge describing something as diapidated, is that the buzz word of the month?
On the first page, this reads very awkwardly to me: 'An ANCHORMAN'S VOICE comments flash inserts of different events throughout the world.' The anchorman's speech is a bit off, to the point where I'm tempted to guess English is not your first language. If that's the case, then fair enough. I think the science behind your premise is a bit flawed though and didn't sound feasible. How is the ozone hole going to have a dramatic effect on soil fertility in the next few years? If soil was infertile wouldn't the mid west be one of the places to suffer most? Out near the coast ie. Boston the soil is going to get more water than further inland. And why would the fact that they can't grow food necessitate moving to the mid west? Surely they could still transport food around the country even to places where they can't grow it. And if overpopulation is a huge problem why try and force the whole country's population to move into a smaller central area? I don't get it.
I would advise naming your characters so that it personalises them a bit more. At the moment they just feel very generic. On page 4 when the young man says 'I've heard in China, people kill people to eat each other', it's another example of awkward phrasing.
Overall nothing really happens by the end of the story, there is just some chat between the two but little in the way of conflict or drama. It just left me with a pretty empty feeling because there was no story or characters to invest in. Well done on completing the challenge though.
This one was a little bit clever in that it summarized the priest's faulty reliance on the bishop in two words "S____ G____."
Characters should have names. I've noticed this lack in a couple of entries now.
"He's a small, fat, little man in his early 60's." Classic faux pas in a time rushed OWC entry.
The setting in an old church was good but the dialouge and narrative could be tightened. For example, the "priest realizes it was a dog" should be shown to us via the dog collar, the shape of the carcass... not just told to us.
OooooohKaaaaaaay. So, I take it this was an honest effort and not a pisser, so I'll try and be gentle and nice and all that crappy stuff.
It didn't work for me at all. Most of the phrasing is extremely awkward, Most of the dialogue is pretty bad (the stuff about the kid eating people was just downright odd). The grammar is simply terrible (for some odd reason, you continually write "the bishop's, using an apostrophe for absolutely no reason at all). And the story/plot itself, just 1 big old cliche.
I have to agree with an earlier poster that English hopefully isn't your first language.
Have to quote this line, cause it's funnier than fuck - "The young man is now eating the dog's head. The priest cannot help grinning." - Just a really odd passage, first of all. The fact that it's so passive is also humorous. But the funniest part about it for me is the last line about the priest grinning as he watches some kid eat a dog's head...WTF?
Why aren't the characters named? What's with the Soylent Green ref at the end? Extremely cheesy...
OK, enough. Sorry for being harsh. Good job completing this in a week. Next...
There wasn't a great deal to the story here and it felt like this might have been a rushed effort. The opening scene of a dilapidated church...3rd script from this challenge describing something as diapidated, is that the buzz word of the month?
You got to admit that's funny, Tim.
Ultimately, there is nothing to take away from this story. It's a conversation without a conclusion. It feels like there is a loose intent to weave religion into the fray, but the script lacks tension and conflict. We need to see something that makes us want to read on. The characters do not provide anything that challenges, nor takes us to a sense of urgency/surprise. The dialogue needs more focus. As they say: if your character has nothing interesting to say, then don't let him speak.
Pg 1 – A stark visual setup. I always find news reports and newspaper inserts a bit devicey, but they work.
“A noise can be heard O.S.” – Too vague. What kind of noise?
Pg 2 – “Sorry. Thought the place was empty.” – For me this is an example of on-the-nose dialogue.
Pg 3 – “How do you manage to survive then?” – This question triggered my “Cannibal Murder” alarm bell, we’ll see if I’m right.
Pg 6 – “SOYLENT GREEN” – This ending was lost on me. I’m going to cure my ignorance by googling it. Okay now I’ve looked it up and it makes sense although perhaps it is a bit out of left field in your script.
Overall I like the visual set up of the church and their chat is interesting. I’m not sure that the TV element of this adds much, it seems like the story could work fine without it.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS **********************************
Ok, WTF? This was going along nicely! i really saw big things for this. Everything was set up for the priest to kill and eat the guy. His description 'small, fat', doesn't that hint that he's been survinving ok? picking off individuals and eating them? That's what came to mind for me anyway. I'm surprised no one else mentions this.
Maybe the author ran out of time in the end and tacked on the Soylent Green ref. But this has real potential with a decent re-write.
You can start right inside the church, don't need the exterior scene because your description just repeats what the slugline says.
"The hand of an old man STANDS a remote control..." Why not just put it on the table?
How old is the YOUNG MAN? 18? 27? A 27 year old man is very different from a 18 year old teenager.
Not too much conflict going on between the young man and the priest. Could have more argument between them to make it more interesting.
I didn't understand the ending though. Soylent Green is a movie that shows almost the same thing as you depicted in this script?
Anyway, good effort, but not really for me. Kinda fell flat.
FEATURE:
Memwipe - Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller (114 pages) - In a world where memories can be erased by request, a Memory Erasing Specialist desperately searches for the culprit when his wife becomes a target for erasure -- with his former colleagues hot on his trail.