Quoted from DustinBowcot Some scripts have been disqualified, so if the scripts are listed, I take it they meet the parameters enough to be judged.

Well, all the scripts were not read in their entirety prior to posting.

As it turns out, the theme seems to be something that most just didn't get, decided not to adhere to it (as happens in every OWC), or is a grey area that is up to how peeps read into it.

Quoted from Cameron The way I judged a fish out of water was a character in a completely foreign/unfamiliar situation/location. To not supposed to be somewhere in a moment could be trespassing, which isn't really the same thing.

Yes, this is what I was after, Cam.

Quoted from Dreamscale Yes, this is what I was after, Cam.

That's a relief, thought I was losing the plot. Think I'll stick to the one grade down for every rule break that occurs, probably a reasonable way of going about things.

"a character in a completely foreign/unfamiliar situation/location."

It's hard to do this with a 4 character limit. That was the wall I kept running into.

I finally had an idea, and even opened Final Draft and gave it a title, Carnival at the End of the World...but then I ran into the next wall of everything having to be completely real. The limitations just didn't mesh well.

I suppose the subjectivity of how people presented their take on the theme will be a matter of argument. There is always the case of what you have in your head versus what people do with that idea, so I have been approaching every read with the idea that everyone interpreted the idea somehow, and so presented that interpretation somewhere in the text. It's like the difference between your vision of a story as a writer and someone else's as a finished product. Same thing, but they didn't see it the way you did. I think one of the most interesting things about the OWC has always been the individual interpretations of the same idea.

I confess that I had the "Stranger In A Strange Land" phrase stuck in my head more than "fish out of water," and so mine adheres to the former idea more than the latter. An unintentional oversight on my part that I noticed later.

Of the ones I've read, there was only one that really didn't appear to even come close to the theme. Most of the others hit it somewhere or at least tried to.

EDIT: And another thing, what the heck is that screenwriting program (it's got to be one of them) that is bold facing crap in the scripts? Whatever setting that is, you all need to turn it off. That is incredibly distracting while trying to read these. Seriously, make it go away.

I've missed a couple reads, but mostly done, and enjoyed these -- having the different genres was nice.

Lots of strong writing on display to appreciate and learn from, but nothing that seems ready-made for production, like there sometimes is in these challenges. My favourites were the dramas, which were mostly quite expensive for what they were.

I thought the majority of them had a pretty obvious "fish out of water" theme. There were obviously a couple -- In A Pinch, Plight, Mountain City -- that took "fish out of water" as the central premise and conflict of the story, which I gather is what was expected. But it's not like all the rest ignored the requirement.

The Atom and Eve has Eve in a former home made strange by disaster. Red on Yellow has a modern logger in Kawahiva territory. Shalom, Naziboy has a German neo-Nazi in a Jewish cemetery in the States. Dream has an assassin sent to a foreign country. And so on.

Ok, after reaching the end of the scripts (and I commented on my own so no one can figure out which is mine), I do have a comment regarding the page count. I know the 9 page minimum was intended to root out the pisser scripts, and I have no doubt that it did, but it made everything longer.

I read 21 scripts which boast a minimum of 189 pages. Most were more pushing us close to the 210-220 mark. A fair number of these were actually longer than they needed to be. The writers padded their original idea to push the count up past the minimum, which is a good skill to have, but when you commit to going back and reading every one, you're left with 5 pages of really good, four pages of fluff, and an ending that you wish happened four pages ago.

My first draft came out to around 6 pages with two characters, mostly action, and minimal dialogue. To pad it out, I added two characters and some babbling. I squeezed a few more pages out of the deal, but I'm not sure I made it better as a result. I also wrote it in two hours while procrastinating on what I should have been writing, but that's another matter entirely.

Hence, my opinion is to either not use a minimum page count or make it considerably lower for whoever does the next one. It will make for tighter scripts, and if someone drops a pisser in there, it's usually a one or two pager anyway, so no time lost ... unlike a couple of stinkers which left us reading 10 pages of schlock in this one.

Quoted from George Willson Ok, after reaching the end of the scripts (and I commented on my own so no one can figure out which is mine), I do have a comment regarding the page count. I know the 9 page minimum was intended to root out the pisser scripts, and I have no doubt that it did, but it made everything longer. I read 21 scripts which boast a minimum of 189 pages. Most were more pushing us close to the 210-220 mark. A fair number of these were actually longer than they needed to be. The writers padded their original idea to push the count up past the minimum, which is a good skill to have, but when you commit to going back and reading every one, you're left with 5 pages of really good, four pages of fluff, and an ending that you wish happened four pages ago. My first draft came out to around 6 pages with two characters, mostly action, and minimal dialogue. To pad it out, I added two characters and some babbling. I squeezed a few more pages out of the deal, but I'm not sure I made it better as a result. I also wrote it in two hours while procrastinating on what I should have been writing, but that's another matter entirely. Hence, my opinion is to either not use a minimum page count or make it considerably lower for whoever does the next one. It will make for tighter scripts, and if someone drops a pisser in there, it's usually a one or two pager anyway, so no time lost ... unlike a couple of stinkers which left us reading 10 pages of schlock in this one.

I hear what you're saying, George and apparently, you are not alone in not liking the minimum page length requirement.

As stated earlier, this minimum was not meant to have peps pad their 4, 5, or 6 page scripts - it was meant for peeps to come up with a 9-12 page script that has 9 to 12 pages of material.

It's kind like what's happening in the VOD/DTV movie realm - "movies" are being produced with a runtime of 80 minutes or so, including pre and post credits and titles, and even at that pathetic short runtime, they're padded.  Bottom line is they shouldn't be made period, because there's not enough material for a movie.  As in THE WHOLE FUCKING CONCEPT SUCKS and never should have been made.

I'm sure the OWC will not have a minimum page count and peeps can go back to their 5 page shorts.

I think George has the right idea on page count. A friend was going to submit to this, but there was no dialog, and and her action-only script came out to only 6 pages.

Quoted from Dreamscale I hear what you're saying, George and apparently, you are not alone in not liking the minimum page length requirement. As stated earlier, this minimum was not meant to have peps pad their 4, 5, or 6 page scripts - it was meant for peeps to come up with a 9-12 page script that has 9 to 12 pages of material. It's kind like what's happening in the VOD/DTV movie realm - "movies" are being produced with a runtime of 80 minutes or so, including pre and post credits and titles, and even at that pathetic short runtime, they're padded.  Bottom line is they shouldn't be made period, because there's not enough material for a movie.  As in THE WHOLE FUCKING CONCEPT SUCKS and never should have been made. I'm sure the OWC will not have a minimum page count and peeps can go back to their 5 page shorts.

Well, I'm with you on having actual material as opposed to padding. I also accept that I should have reconsidered my approach when I found what I ended up with.

Beyond that, however, it would just be a lot quicker to read them all if they could be a bit shorter. So my thought was more directed to the speed of reading the whole as opposed to simple individual length.

Page count is b/s anyway. A director can turn a 5-page script into a 10-minute film and a 10-page script into a 5-minute film.

Tbh, I don't even remember there being that many short shorts in the last OWC, certainly only a couple being at 6 pages. As I said in one review it only seems to be an issue when it's given as part of the initial brief, then everyone seems to feel pressure and it hanging at the back of their head, plus I'm sure we've had a minimum page limit without the fuss before.

Wasn't that much of an issue in my opinion. Write to the requirements, and bring other bits in if short, not to pad but rather another angle just take your story that little bit further. Simples!

Quoted from DustinBowcot Page count is b/s anyway. A director can turn a 5-page script into a 10-minute film and a 10-page script into a 5-minute film.

Yes they can, but the better question is probably should they do that?  IMO, no, they should not.

Quoted from Dreamscale Yes they can, but the better question is probably should they do that?  IMO, no, they should not.

You're not a director... are you? You're not qualified to say what they should and shouldn't do because you don't have much of an idea how they work.

Not to bring in MoviePoet here all the time, but that site was intended so that writers and producers/directors could come to one place. Come to one place for what? That much sought after 5 page short...  Many festivals don't want longer than 5 minutes and it's also about the right length for something that can be shot over a weekend, which most indie films are.

MP lasted  eight years running monthly contests for free with 5 page or less shorts. There were about 40 entries every month! So, even if Jeff despises the 5 page shorts, there's definitely a market out there for those.