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I love how this one always seems to come on finals week for me. Thanks Phil!
-Tyler Higgins
P.S. That was sarcasm, I'm not actually happy, I don't love it, I'm bitter and I hate it.
P.P.S. This is a pity post, i want at least one person ro start a following post with something along the lines of "oh1 thats terrible!" and it cant be sarcastic.
P.P.P.S. Does this remind anyone of killer klowns from outer space?
What kind of producer would be corny enough asking for a such idea?
Michel’s observation is technically correct, IMO; I doubt that a producer would hire a writer to write an horror script based on a premise that doesn’t even sound scary (i.e. milk). But I think that the point of this exercise is different.
When a producer decides to spend some thousands in paying a screenwriter to write a script around an idea, such idea will likely be a commercial one; the kind of premise that instantly sounds like a movie (the kind of idea that maybe some were expecting to see as genre and theme for this challenge).
Writing a script around a strong/commercial idea will likely be easier than writing one based on an “uninspiring” genre & theme like “sci-fi/ pop corn”. But if the writer learns to find interesting angles even in premises of this kind, he/she will have a much stronger training when (and if) the day comes in which a producer hires him/her to write something around a really great idea.
Think of a football coach ordering his team to climb up and down a muddy hill on a rainy day. There aren’t hills and mud in the football field, just green well kept grass on a flat terrain. Yet, climbing the hill again and again is what makes the player’s legs stronger and ready for the real match.
For my part, I consider this exercise like a similar kind of training. Dealing with “muddy” premises forces the writing muscles to their limit, making them stronger.
No more than four submissions per person per one week challenge (I call this the Helio rule).
While I think Phil may be expressing a little sarcasm here, can we please make it one submission per person? The point is to see if one can write the given theme and genre in one week, not how many scripts one can turn out in one week. Plus reading multiple entries from the same person I think is unfair for everyone else. But that's me.
I think if someone can turn out more than one GOOD script during this exercise, then there's no problem. But turning in four mediocre scripts defeates the purpose of the exercise.
And to debunk the possibility of sci-fi and popcorn, it's been done. In the Veggietales video "Are you my Neighbor?", there is a Star Trek spoof as one of the two stories. In this story, the USS Applepies must somehow get out of the way of a giant popcorn ball. There's a message to it of course, and they launch two gourds into the popcorn ball to eat it before it can hit them, but it fits sci-fi and popcorn. So detractors, be silent. It can be done.
P.P.P.S. Does this remind anyone of killer klowns from outer space?
YES! I thought of the same exact thing when I read the theme.
And I agree with Greg on lowering the entry amount. 4 seems a little excessive. Maybe even split it right in the middle and just say 2 per person.
"Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd" - George Carlin "I have to sign before you shoot me?" - Navin Johnson "It'll take time to restore chaos" - George W. Bush "Harry, I love you!" - Ben Affleck "What are you looking at, sugar t*ts?" - The man without a face "Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death." - Exodus 31:15 "No one ever expects The Spanish Inquisition!" - The Spanish Inquisition "Matt Damon" - Matt Damon
I thought Phil was being sarcastic about the whole 4 submissions per person thing. I'm sure of it. I think George is right in saying that if, and that's a big IF, anyone can write more than one GOOD story about popcorn in sci-fi land then submit them... as long as there isn't more than two or three perhaps. But they should be worth the submission and time to write them.
Someone thinking they can write two really good shorts for this in a week doesn't really do anything for anyone. Daniel Robinson thought he could write awesome shorts in about 10 minutes, and we all know what happened there. I just think that for this to really be a "challenge" it should be one per person, period. IMO this should be the "crown jewel" of what you can come up with in a week.
I know this is all by chance, but say someone who didn't submit a script decides to read some of the entries anyway. Well, let's say that this person by chance reads all of the scripts submitted by one author for the exercise. Doesn't that kind of ruin it for the other writers? Instead of reading a script by a different author for the select stories that they chose, they happened to read all of the selections from one person, and that takes away from other scripts.
I know that we've had multiple entries from quality writers in the past, but you see where I'm coming from here, right?
What kind of producer would be corny enough asking for a such idea?
While a producer probably wouldn't produce such a script, he might ask you to write it to see what you can do. Writing a sci-fi script about an alien invasion would be too easy. This is supposed to be a challenge.
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January 2007 One Week Challenge
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