Yeehaw Junction is in the middle of nowhere! Drive past it every time I'm heading south to West Palm. I have never stopped there. Not even for gas. It's a place you just drive past.  

Quoted from Grandma Bear Yeehaw Junction is in the middle of nowhere! Drive past it every time I'm heading south to West Palm. I have never stopped there. Not even for gas. It's a place you just drive past.

Highlighted: There go the three titles I was considering for my script  :p

Quoted from Mr. Blonde I think my biggest problem is trying to figure out what exactly "supernatural" is. I'm not asking a dumb question, here, although it would likely be considered one. From what I'm reading, supernatural could be anything ranging from ghosts to God to The X-Files.

super natural
adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.
2. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or attributed to God or a deity.
3. of a superlative degree; preternatural: a missile of supernatural speed.
4. of, pertaining to, or attributed to ghosts, goblins, or other unearthly beings; eerie; occult.

noun
5. a being, place, object, occurrence, etc., considered as supernatural or of supernatural origin; that which is supernatural, or outside the natural order.
6. behavior supposedly caused by the intervention of supernatural beings.
7. direct influence or action of a deity on earthly affairs.
8. the supernatural,
a. supernatural beings, behavior, and occurrences collectively.
b. supernatural forces and the supernatural plane of existence: a deep fear of the supernatural.


FWIW, I'm having mild difficulty with the PAST - not present - supernatural activity aspect.
The situation, by nature, demands more exposition than I'm accustomed to.
"Show. Don't tell" sort of stuff.

And I guess this will eventually cycle back to an issue of "how strictly do we stick to the guidelines when evaluating the submissions."
Would a production company seeking screenplays to produce on a limited budget, with this one location limitation, seeking this premise disqualify an otherwise excellent proposal because it had present supernatural activity instead of past?
Would a production company d/q a screenplay that included just one easy & inexpensive additional shot that wasn't at the run-down motel?

Do we want to agree on some "My ProdCo" generally accepted rules of leniency ahead of time - or screwwit - strict given criteria pass/fail evaluations?



Also, word around the water hole in Hollywood studios is that mimes are making a great comeback in the coming decade.
Anticipate an entire inter-studio battle over mime themed tentpole franchises including mime origins, mimes first class, mimes in space, robomime, I was a mime werewolf, and the anthology of mime memes.
I'm currently in nogotiations with an unnamed studio exec about a reboot "I was a coal mimer's daughter."

Quoted from RayW super natural adjective 3. of a superlative degree; preternatural: a missile of supernatural speed.

Thanks! You told everyone my idea.
Now I can't write my script about a missile with supernatural speed heading toward a beat-up motel during a hurricane.
Back to the drawing board.

Quoted from RayW Would a production company seeking screenplays to produce on a limited budget, with this one location limitation, seeking this premise disqualify an otherwise excellent proposal because it had present supernatural activity instead of past?

Maybe this is a stupid question, but did it say that we could ONLY USE ONE LOCATION?
I know it says people seeking refuge in a motel. But it doesn't say we have to use that location exclusively.
Or maybe I'm wrong...

Okay, looking back, I'll be honest. It wasn't that the supernatural bothered me so much. It was this:

"...must have some history involving a supernatural event in their lives that factors into their choice."

History = past. Pas = exposition. Exposition = dialogue.

Okay, maybe I'm generalizing too much, but the point is, is it okay if the supernatural isn't so much the past as it is the present? That would make things so much less tough.

It does seem challenging to get more than one character's backstory to involve the supernatural.
Especially for a ten pager.

But, I love challenges.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde History = past. Pas = exposition. Exposition = dialogue.

History = past but the past can be 5 minutes ago and based on the brief probably not something that happened during the short.

Past doesn't always equal expositional dialogue.  That is just one way (a lazier way) of doing it.  For example - you can tell a lot in a glance at a photo.   You can even tell a lot by what objects people carry with them or what habits they have.  

Exposition can be hidden in a conversation or an argument.   Or it can even be hidden in VOs while a character reads a document or a letter.  

There's all sorts of ways to make exposition interesting - just make it active.  

And if you can do it on a micro-budget,  The brief doesn't say a thing about not including a flashback.   Though if this were being produced, and I would say you should treat it as if it is, then another location might count against you.
  

Quoted from mcornetto Though if this were being produced, and I would say you should treat it as if it is, then another location might count against you.

How about a scene in a car?

Quoted from Steex How about a scene in a car?

Though if this were being produced, and I would say you should treat it as if it is, then another location might count against you.  

Good answer!

What about a scene at a circus with dancing bears and 12  to 19 different clowns?

Or, how about just one like 30 second scene taking place at one of the Disney properties, somewhere in the world?

I hope I can incorporate both into my mime themed OWC script entry.  Mimes are pretty cool, when you get to strip the white face makeup away and delve down deep into their actual souls and character arcs.

MIME POWER!!!!!

I'm going to write one about a mime. But when he stips down and takes off the make-up, he's a dinosaur.

TYRANOSAURUS MIME!

I've got my characters, my story, and my structure, but it's damn ambitious for 12 pages. I'm going for it anyway, of course. I likes the pain.

How 'bout some Mime pun-age?

Mime-nority Report
Yours, Mime and Ours
Mime-y Vice
Hot Tub Mime Machine
Enemy Mime
A Mime To Kill
Star Trek: Deep Space Mime

...just a few off the top of my head.
Maybe we should start a MIME THREAD, eh?

Some mimes are damn dangerous.