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Scheisse by Jordan Littleton (nomad) - Short, Comedy, Horror - An inept scientist attempts to breathe life into his greatest creation. 6 pages - pdf, format
Hi Nomad - I thought I'd check this out - yeah it made me laugh - let's not be coy - it ain't the best written script, but I like that you've having fun with them - there's a nice idea here, and you went with it - as long as you enjoy what you're doing - then the rest may well come together in its own time - nice one!
An amusing little short. This would be great shot for an appropriate Film Festival (Cirque de Nocturne, maybe?). While not earth-shatteringly ground-breaking, it has something to offer to the genre. It may not vcome out side-splitting funny, but certainly amusing. I especially liked Humpen's "This, I can fix!"-attitude. It is technically good writing, especially your action/descriptions which build good, strong visuals.
other than that:
Minor typo, p2; "BEGIN FLASHACK:" = "BEGIN FLASHBACK:"
... there's a nice idea here, and you went with it - as long as you enjoy what you're doing - then the rest may well come together in its own time - nice one!
Thanks for the read SiColl007. This was a challenge from Movie Poet where at least one of your characters had to be a zombie, mummy, vampire or ghost. I chose to have them all in one character.
The lightning illuminates the lantern, so is the lantern not lit? You describe things happening off screen, inside the grave but then the coffin opening which would suggest we can see in the grave? Also Humpen speaks before being introduced. Maybe his dialogue should be O.S?
You say Smith wears a hospital gown and then again in the next action, this can be cut.
page 3, Humpen's dialogue should be O.S. again as you faded out and he spoke before the fade in.
You have few grammar issues too, with missing comma's and the like.
It's not all bad though as the story is interesting enough and is quite funny to boot. I'd like Humpen to have a more distinct accent but that's an easy fix. Tidy this up a bit and it's not bad.
Hope this helps.
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The lightning illuminates the lantern, so is the lantern not lit? You describe things happening off screen, inside the grave but then the coffin opening which would suggest we can see in the grave? Also Humpen speaks before being introduced. Maybe his dialogue should be O.S?
You say Smith wears a hospital gown and then again in the next action, this can be cut.
page 3, Humpen's dialogue should be O.S. again as you faded out and he spoke before the fade in.
You have few grammar issues too, with missing comma's and the like.
It's not all bad though as the story is interesting enough and is quite funny to boot. I'd like Humpen to have a more distinct accent but that's an easy fix. Tidy this up a bit and it's not bad.
Hope this helps.
-The lantern is lit but it's not discernible. I should clear that up. -You're right, Humpen should be O.S. We don't see the coffin open, you just hear the noise. I'll put 'creaks' in caps. -The use of 'hospital gown' twice doesn't seem out of place to me. I could say 'attire' the second time but it didn't strike me as too critical. I'll give it another look. -I thought Humpen speaking right after, FADE OUT, was clear that he wasn't on screen, but for proper format reasons, I think you're right. -I need to work on my commas. I know.
I like the story. It is really funny. But I would like to see more changes in Smith before he turns into a ghost.
Thanks for the read, javisiete. The challenge I was tasked with was to use at least one, Zombie, Mummy, Vampire, or Ghost. I used them all in one character and I had a 5 page limit. In a rewrite I could expand on the various forms Smith takes on.
Hi Jordan, It was an amusing read. I agree with javisiete in that I would like to see more changes from Smith before he turns into a ghost. Nice little story- Dirk
Hi Jordan. Liked this one and could see why it's today's 'Script of the Day'. Not much to add really. The sudden change in tone on page 2 was a little jarring at first but I soon got used to it.
Really liked the line: "No Mr. Smith, you are not dead and this is not heaven. This is not even Iowa. " A nice "Field of Dreams" reference which worked well tonally.
Think it would be more authentic if Humpen addressed the dead guy as Mr. Schmidt rather than Mr. Smith.
My only criticism really is, I struggled visually to see exactly what was going on with the vampire bat and the head. Just couldn't picture it - but that might just be me.
I enjoyed it. It's a fun little script and I gotta admit it made me chuckle.
The format was spot on and the writing in general was just excellent.
Actually, my only complaint was that some of the ealy dialog was a little on the nose and just didn't flow. but once you got settled in and got into a groove it was smooth sailing.
My German Ex-Girlfriend used to call me a Scheissekopf when she was pissed at me. I'd tell her I wanted some das hund action, if you follow.
Jordan, on a serious note, as others have said, there are lots of mistakes on display here. many of them, rookie mistakes, others just lazy ones. All in all, I actually like your writing style for the most part. Your voice shines through and that's hard to do.
I was liking this early on for what it was, but as it went on, it lost its glimmer, IMO. I understand it was written for a certain challenge, but on it's own, it does not stand up for me, as there's very little story here. I guess it could be funny, if executed in an old school Mel Brooks style, but I found myself looking forward to finishing it, the longer the same jokes kept coming.
I see this was written awhile ago. My advice is to edit your work very carefully and present the best you, you can. I think you've got some writing talent, Jordan - just make sure we see that, and not the mistakes.
I thought this was a cute script, though it ran a little long. Comedy has the rule of three's and I think you would benefit from following it. Otherwise, it was well written.
I have a problem with Humpen calling himself a physician's assistant. It sounds self-depreciating and not something that any mad scientist would be. Just leave that part out.
Thanks for the reads everyone. Like Jeff said, this was for a challenge a while ago. It got an honorable mention at Movie Poet, but it's by far not my best work.
It's a little painful to read my older stuff and see all the places where I could have tightened it up. It's probably the same for all of us.
I didn't think this was bad at all and put a good couple of smiles on my face when I was reading it. That's always a good thing. I take it iowa isn't the place to live then?
I'm still trying to repay my reading debts and I found this one in your sig.
I thought it was pretty funny. I have no idea what issues with the writing some people have. Either this one is a later draft or I'm just blind to that stuff.
Story wise I thought it was cute, but I would've like some kind of twist or something more ironic happen to Humpen himself. Other than that, pretty good job!
Hi Jordan. I thought i would reciprocate after your little feedback for Winnie's Memorial.
An interesting little screenplay with concise descriptions, though are not entirely needed as we know what a laboratory looks like tbh.
Personally I would use BTS (Back to Scene) after END FLASHBACK. Better than INT. LABORATORY, since we know where we are.
I'd also use Beats, instead of FADE OUT then FADE IN.
And I would you DISSOLVE TO: if Smith returns again, otherwise an enjoyable read.
My Screenplays Two Moons The Deadly Fruit Of Original Sin The Blue Room No Time For Love The Implosion Resistance The Pearl Earring The Bigger The Storm Before She Died
I'm still trying to repay my reading debts and I found this one in your sig.
I thought it was pretty funny. I have no idea what issues with the writing some people have. Either this one is a later draft or I'm just blind to that stuff.
Story wise I thought it was cute, but I would've like some kind of twist or something more ironic happen to Humpen himself. Other than that, pretty good job!
Thanks for the read, Pia. I'm a little behind on replying to comments on my scripts. Just a few years shy of a decade. Right on schedule.
As I re-read this I see areas where I'd do things slightly different, but over all, it still holds up. I can see it and it could be filmed the way it is now. I'm fairly certain that this is the only draft I've uploaded.
Hi Jordan. I thought i would reciprocate after your little feedback for Winnie's Memorial.
An interesting little screenplay with concise descriptions, though are not entirely needed as we know what a laboratory looks like tbh.
Personally I would use BTS (Back to Scene) after END FLASHBACK. Better than INT. LABORATORY, since we know where we are.
I'd also use Beats, instead of FADE OUT then FADE IN.
And I would you DISSOLVE TO: if Smith returns again, otherwise an enjoyable read.
Wow....
Thanks for digging this one up, Stoneyscript. I wrote this over a decade ago and imagine my surprise when I see it at the top of the forum.
In my mind there are a lot of different types of laboratories... -There's the clean, white, organized type. -There's the dark, damp, medieval type. -There's the industrial, stainless steel, slaughterhouse type. -There's the gadget and gizmo, contraption, Rube Goldberg type.
Mine was a combination of those so I wanted to make sure I got that across.
I think BTS might have worked better in this script. It helps it flow.
I wanted to use FADE OUT: and FADE IN: to show that Smith was going unconscious and waking back up. That would allow for the screen to be black for as long as the director needed to get that point across.
There's more than one way to skin a cat so a lot of what we suggest on here is just that... suggestions. There's no definitive way to write a screenplay, but we try to stick to the conventions that have worked in the past.