I've read six or seven, and really enjoyed all of them.

(No arguments from me!)

I have to agree here that the range of scripts I've read have all been very varied.  I was surprised, as I thought there would be a lot of people trapped on a boat out to sea but no.

Quoted from alffy I have to agree here that the range of scripts I've read have all been very varied.  I was surprised, as I thought there would be a lot of people trapped on a boat out to sea but no.

I've seen a few scripts where people have been called out for not using the boat enough, but honestly the contest called for a thriller, and that the boat had to be incorporated somehow.  

It didn't have to be the central location, so I'm not sure where the people are coming from there.

I've read some more, and I'm just so not seeing anything great...I have been called a bitch and other stuff for being hard to please but I'm really not asking for too much. Somehow 'houseboat' to most means...redneck, which I found interesting to say the least. I just wasn't impressed, but I'm sure everyone's a good writer nonetheless. AB, are you a (just wondering) homosexual?

Quoted Text I've seen a few scripts where people have been called out for not using the boat enough, but honestly the contest called for a thriller, and that the boat had to be incorporated somehow.

I've been calling people out on that. The reason being that the boat was the theme of the OWC and the previous OWC's that I've read had to adhere closely to the theme that was set. So I just went with that.

If you don't have the theme as the central part of the script, you may as well dispense with it altogether as you can fit in a physical object into any script ever written with a minimum of fuss. All you would have to do is transplant one scene onto the boat to qualify in this instance for E.G

That is hardly the point is it? I thought it was supposed to be a writing challenge in that it was hard to achieve.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films If you don't have the theme as the central part of the script, you may as well dispense with the theme altogether as you can fit in a physical object into any script ever written with a minimum of fuss. All you would have to do is transplant one scene onto the boat to qualify in this instance for E.G That is hardly the point is it? I thought it was supposed to be a writing challenge in that it was hard to achieve.

I totally agree . Why bother with a challenge otherwise.

I thought the OWC is supposed to be for fun....

This isn't the Oscars or anything. Why are some of you getting into arguments? I'm only reading these for fun and in the process hoping that I can point out some good and less good parts about the scripts and that way be helpful. Bickering makes me almost want to wait until the names are revealed...

Quoted Text Why are some of you getting into arguments?

No-one is arguing Pia. Just chatting about stuff that is all.

Out of the few scripts I've read so far, I don't think any of them have had trouble incorporating the boat into the story and a few of those scripts were slammed for not doing so. I can see what others are saying about the theme but I don't think genre and theme are being handled the same way this time around. Don said this OWC was going to be a little different. The fake email set up for the OWC said that the boat should be incorporated into the script. I don't recall the word theme being used. Besides, the genre has been used just as loosely as this so-called theme, which the email mentioned was fair game.

In any case, the scripts I've read so far have been decent. A few of them were problematic but I can't remember any of them being horrible. I've seen some rather interesting interpretations of genre and theme and I'm sure I'll see a lot more. This is by far the biggest OWC I think the site has seen yet.

I don't find the boat to really be a theme, which was a topic of discussion not long after the topic was announced.  It really varies from contest to contest as to whether there's a real theme to go by or not.

Some examples...

Gothic horror in a dog run (Genre and Location.)
Western in a general store (Genre and Location)
Drama after a family picnic (Genre and Time)
Comedy - "Why is everyone always shooting at me?" (Genre and a line of dialogue)

The last challenge "Comedy - Telling your spouse you lost your job" definitely had a theme, which I liked because you could interpret it how you want and hopefully get a vast array of stories.  

Except I ended up disliking it, because nobody could see the logic in somebody losing their job in the literal sense and it grew to be quite aggravating.

Yeah, Ziggy.  It happens to everybody.

That's a fair point James.

I never got the email because I was too late in entering my piece, so I'm just going off the initial remit and my own beliefs. The remit called the boat "the set" so I've used that as a barometer to judge things by.

At the end of the day, what I think doesn't matter a jot anyway. I'm just telling it how I see it and I'm personally more impressed by the scripts that have used the boat in a genuine and inventive way rather than the scripts that could have been written anywhere and at any time and converted into having a boat. (I'm not saying any were!!!)

Plus people voted to write thrillers (and moaned that they couldn't write a film noir which could have been any genre!) so I think it is only fair that they make sure they write thrillers and not something else. : )

As I say my opinion doesn't count for anything. The OWC is just for fun, so people are free to write what they want and I'm free to judge on what I want.

Not that it matters, ziggy, but yeah, I'm a big ol' homo. Why do you ask?

Quoted from ZiggyplayedGuitar I've read some more, and I'm just so not seeing anything great...I have been called a bitch and other stuff for being hard to please but I'm really not asking for too much. Somehow 'houseboat' to most means...redneck, which I found interesting to say the least. I just wasn't impressed, but I'm sure everyone's a good writer nonetheless.

Just calm down a little there, guy.  You've been flying off the handle like you're going to lose the rights to your first born if somebody doesn't like your script.

Remember, O-W-C spells fun!*



*Copyright Pending

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films That's a fair point James. I never got the email because I was too late in entering my piece, so I'm just going off the initial remit and my own beliefs. The remit called the boat "the set" so I've used that as a barometer to judge things by.

I'm not talking about an email that was sent out. I'm talking about the one posted on the site specifically for the OWC. I gather you and I read the same thing.

Tittles for OWC scripts.
Trivial but fascinating.

I was quite amazed to see that two scripts out of 40 have the same tittle.
Quite odd for such a small amount of scripts.