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You're writing has gotten considerably better in a short amount of time, so kudos. Still a little rough around the edges in regards to economizing your words in description and sentence structure (affecting flow of the read), but it's still an easy read.
Thanks brother. Still working the way to eradicate the roughness.
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The tone was pretty creepy and the premise is very interesting, though I'd like more clarity as to where we are, exactly. I know it's a rundown house, but is this set in a dystopian future? Or are we in a third world country? Or is this a period piece (which is what I kinda imagined in my head).
No such thing. Don't need to go that far. It's just the normal modern world we live in. A normal world with normal weather and normal people. Just the times are dark, very dark. That's all.
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Anyway, nice work here. No happy endings here -- it's implied that the dogs will at least confront the little girl, most likely devouring her, which sucks after that old man sacrificed himself just to feed her for a day. They should've at least given her more food to make the trade more even lol. At least when the dogs attack her, she could use some of the food to get them away from her -- which would suck, too. Starve or get torn apart by dogs?
Yep, it has a sad ending. 'All happy, no problem' is not my thing.
It definitely evokes a certain mood and unsettling atmosphere. It's not exactly clear what is going on story wise but I absolutely love the uneasy and disturbing visuals.
I mean this in the absolutely nicest way possible, it's a novelty piece. Although the story may be personal to your mind, an audience and reader definitely takes away from this a horrific nightmare. It's like a fevered dream of visuals, which I adore.
Well done. It you intend to make it, just remember to hire a damn good cinematographer and get excellent locations.
It definitely evokes a certain mood and unsettling atmosphere. It's not exactly clear what is going on story-wise but I absolutely love the uneasy and disturbing visuals.
I mean this in the absolute nicest way possible, it's a novelty piece. Although the story may be personal to your mind, an audience and reader definitely takes away from this a horrific nightmare. It's like a fevered dream of visuals, which I adore.
Glad that you liked it. I always prefer a short( very short in that case) and sweet script so that might be the reason that the story is not that clear.
Alright, I had to re-read this a few times. And, honestly, I still don't get it.
An old man takes a young girl to a rundown house, where the old man (willingly?) sacrifices his life so that the girl can then eat him? Is that what's happening here? It's not very clear, and the old man's actions contradict themselves. He seems to know what happens at this house... Yet he doesn't seem like he's being forced to go to this house. Then when he gets there, he's dragged away, as if he doesn't want to be there.
The writing itself isn't bad. A few awkward descriptions and phrases, but I'll just chalk that up to English not being your first language. For the most part, I believe I saw what you wanted me to see... Unfortunately what I was seeing didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me, story-wise.
And what's with the dogs? Are you implying that these stray dogs might go after the little girl?
I don't know, Dude. This just didn't do it for me.
Sorry to sound so negative. You clearly know how to write a screenplay. And you seem to have a passion for the horror genre, so that earns ya' some brownie points with me. Do you have anything else you'd like me to check out for ya?
Thanks for reading my short - returning the favour (and thanks for reading and posting on lots of people's scripts, too).
I won't touch on some of the sentence structure stuff because everyone else has, but I think while you get more confident with language it might be good if you stuck to the simplest adjectives and shorter setences as much as possible (helps with tension, too).
This is really creepy an atmospheric but I think setting the scene a little would work heaps. What kind of EXT. STREET is it? Is it dark? Are there other houses on the street and what do they look like? I imagine a sort of gothic setting but you might not have intended that.
Other things - it's sometimes super unclear what you want on screen. Blood trickles down the girl's foot - where is the blood coming from? Where is her injury? I'm aware now that in the first scene she steps on a rock, but it's easy to miss and the choice of words make it confusing (as an example).
Anyway, I certainly didn't dislike this and it was easy to read. Thanks for sharing.
Alright, I had to re-read this a few times. And, honestly, I still don't get it.
From reading your scripts, I get to see that in the horror genre, your favorite sub-genre tends to be gore and monsters/demons. That may be the reason you couldn't grasp the story. I don't usually go for straight-up gore but instead like to dwell on the real-life fears that loom around us. The fear of been starved, killed, kept alone, or as a matter of butchered. The fact that anyone can take advantage of your innocence(I mean severely). Anticipating the return of your loved ones and only to find out that it's never going to happen. That's what keeps me intrigued and I try to incorporate them in my stories.
An old man takes a young girl to a rundown house, where the old man (willingly?) sacrifices his life so that the girl can then eat him? Is that what's happening here? It's not very clear, and the old man's actions contradict themselves. He seems to know what happens at this house... Yet he doesn't seem like he's being forced to go to this house. Then when he gets there, he's dragged away, as if he doesn't want to be there.
Everything makes sense. The Old Man is portrayed as a symbol of defeat. A man who has nothing to lose but wants to do something. Something so that, at least his death serves a meaningful purpose. A purpose he achieves by sacrificing himself so that the Little Girl can eat(maybe after many days). An advantage that the Rough Man seeks so that he can compensate for the lack of meat he wants for his lot. And ultimately the Rough Man feeds the little girl for her right timing to come at his doorsteps. But remember, it is coz of her(indirectly) that the Old Man died. So her faith is left upon the dogs.
As for contradicting the Old Man's actions. Come on man. He knows he gonna die. He is nervous. Scared. Even if you volunteered for your death for a good cause(which is likely the case), you will be somewhat scared. Hell, you gonna be dreaded. It is understandable.
Sorry to sound so negative. You clearly know how to write a screenplay. And you seem to have a passion for the horror genre, so that earns ya' some brownie points with me. Do you have anything else you'd like me to check out for ya?
Again, no problem. You can check The Box(linked below). Maybe you'll like this one. Maybe.
Thanks for reading my short - returning the favour (and thanks for reading and posting on lots of people's scripts, too).
I won't touch on some of the sentence structure stuff because everyone else has, but I think while you get more confident with language it might be good if you stuck to the simplest adjectives and shorter setences as much as possible (helps with tension, too).
This is really creepy an atmospheric but I think setting the scene a little would work heaps. What kind of EXT. STREET is it? Is it dark? Are there other houses on the street and what do they look like? I imagine a sort of gothic setting but you might not have intended that.
Other things - it's sometimes super unclear what you want on screen. Blood trickles down the girl's foot - where is the blood coming from? Where is her injury? I'm aware now that in the first scene she steps on a rock, but it's easy to miss and the choice of words make it confusing (as an example).
Anyway, I certainly didn't dislike this and it was easy to read. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate your feedback. If you want, you can look at my reply above(for Zack). Maybe it will clear up some things for you.
Sorry, Dude. But the reason I couldn't grasp this story has nothing to do with my personal taste in horror. You're story just isn't very logical and doesn't make a lick of sense to me.
Why does the old man need to sacrifice himself? To feed the little girl? Why not just kill and eat the dogs???
Just read through the comments and I see that I'm not the only one who's having trouble understanding what is supposed to be happening. Maybe your story isn't as clear on the page as it is in your head?
I don't know, Dude. These are just my honest thoughts. Good luck with this.
Sorry, Dude. But the reason I couldn't grasp this story has nothing to do with my taste in horror. You're story just isn't very logical and doesn't make a lick of sense to me.
Why does the old man need to sacrifice himself? To feed the little girl? Why not just kill and eat the dogs???
Just read through the comments and I see that I'm not the only one who's having trouble understanding what is supposed to be happening. Maybe your story isn't as clear on the page as it is in your head?
I don't know, Dude. These are just my honest thoughts. Good luck with this.
No problem, Zack. I understand.
But I strongly believe that the story's not illogical. It's just that you aren't able to grasp the emotions in it. And yes, sometimes it has to do with one's personal taste in the genres( believe it or not). Anyways, everyone has their personal opinion. This is just one of them.