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This was pretty scary and reminiscent of ‘The Thing’. The monsters are very cool and unique. One thing I would change is the two doctors entering the tent without protective gear.
Pretty good job of describing the manner in which the victims deteriorates due to the disease, and also a clever way of getting Jimmy torched. Some of the writing was a bit over the top and the dialogue was a bit sparse and clunky, but overall I think you did a fairly good job here of meeting the challenge.
Some of my scripts:
Bounty (TV Pilot) -- Top 1% of discoverable screenplays on Coverfly I'll Be Seeing You (short) - OWC winner The Gambler (short) - OWC winner Skip (short) - filmed Country Road 12 (short) - filmed The Family Man (short) - filmed The Journeyers (feature) - optioned
In the first scene when you say the twin jets warming up . I had to go back and make sure two jets wasn’t on the runway. Common knowledge jets have 2 engines except for a very few. It might work better saying the engines spool up or twin turbines begin to start . It may be how you refer to engines and I’m over complicating lol.
The EXT. PRIMITIVE RUNWAY - CONTINUOUS .... why did you chose continuous ? Since it’s a single event of the jet taking off wouldn’t it just be later or moments later? You may be right I just wanna know for my information . When I think of continuous, I think of INT.HOUSE-CONTINOUS IN THE KITCHEN Yada yada yada LIVING ROOM Yada yada yada In other words we follow something doing multiple things . Better yet a car chase scene.
A few bits of the dialogue didn't feel authentic or maybe it was overreaching per say. Specifically the Captain saying Roger Dodger . Other than that it was fine. I liked how you used a fancy medical term and then the other character used civilian terminology. It was a good way to educate me while moving the story forward .
You did good turning Jimmy into a cellular mutant. Descriptions were on point.
The best part is when you turned the tent into a huge vacuum seal bag to trap Jimmy. How’s Jimmy doing btw? Hope he has no hard feelings for melting plastic to his flesh lol. If you asked me 100 times how we gonna trap Jimmy. I’d never thought of that lol.
You are a good story teller. I couldn’t relate your logline with the story.
title not in courier 12 cap your characters, even the extras
the set-up was a little long for my taste
The action lacked precision for me. Imo, you could have taken some more time for the later imagery and possibly choose much less of that whole morphing body parts images while describing each action you choose 100% precise and clear. Take your time there.
Well, it looks like you did some research. The trick is in not making it look like a medical fact-sheet cause what we end up reading is quite a bit of exposition.
The pilot is a little goofy but I expect you were going for some characterisation there to differentiate from the white-coats.
Some lines verging on comical and I'm not sure that was your intention.
This line:
HELEN Come and get me, fucker!
Seemed very unprofessional/jarring of Helen, and out of kilter.
I bet they wish they'd sedated Jimmy before they all got on that plane.
Once again the scenario of Sanitizer thrown on someone's body, it inevitably stings, coupled with a flammable object (a Zippo lighter in this case) to ignite and then the victim burned alive is a route a lot of writers went with this challenge, and yes, it does seem the obvious route to go with horror. I just think, whether it's feasible or not, on screen it could look a little daft and definitely B-grade.
Some good atmosphere injected and some nice humorous touches between Helen and Richard.
P.S. Reading other's comments Kevin S is correct re your logline. It doesn't really tally with the story told. Should be something like: Members of an air-medical transportation unit fight for their lives when all hell breaks loose mid-flight. Something like that...
Have to say... when she goes to light him up, I was thinking: oxygen rich environment... if there's not a large explosion, I ain't buying it. And, you tried to explain it away. I'll give you that. But, still... no sale for me.
But, you know what? That's fine. This read as a bit of a horror comedy, so I'll give you some leeway. Some.
I agree that the logline doesn't quite fit, and with LC's contention that Helen's line of dialogue didn't match the rest of her actions.
In the end, this was a little over the top for me in several areas. The action (club hands) and the pilot. It's a script caught somewhat in the middle. More horror or more comedy, either way, and I think it'd work better.
PaulKWrites.com
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This was decent. Monsters were imaginative and so the process of turning into monster. Tone and treatment wise it felt like Sam Raimi's Ash vs Evil Dead.
If this particular information is important to the story I'd put it in a SUPER. EDIT: My bad, it is a super. It reads like a slug.
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A gurney, laden with patient, is rushed to an open cabin door by two people in full protective clothing.
I don’t think laden is the best word here. How big is this patient? I also feel you should be capping intros.
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The team leader is RICHARD (50), a CDC doctor. The others are: HELEN (40), a physicians assistant; and RUMUN (30), a Nigerian aide.
So we obviously wouldn’t know any of these character's jobs/titles unless it come through in action or dialogue. Let’s see...
Not sure why you didn’t just intro Jimmy when we first saw him.
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a CDC medical school intern.
Also impossible to know unless you make this clear in another way.
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RICHARD You don't have to tell me twice.
A bit of a cheesy and over-used line.
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RUMUN --and, pardon my English, with unbridled strength and fury.
If there is something wrong with his English, I would make that clear with a wrylie, maybe (heavily accented), (in broken English), or (with a Nigerian accent).
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UMUN It was unlike anything I'd seen before. They'd grit so hard their teeth would shatter. Then they would arch and contort their bodies into something unrecognizable. Their hands would clench so severe that the fingers would break and turned into...well, meat-mallets!
Hopefully we get to see some of this later and it’s not just delivered to us through dialogue.
Page 3 is laden with exposition through dialogue.
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They're cocked and ready to fire.
I'm not sure what I'm meant to be seeing here.
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Jimmy fires another round and hits Helen in the chest,
Fires another round of what? Punches? This could definitely be written better.
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Jimmy tries to stand but his legs cannot support weight. His legs, now free of normal joint motion, extend behind him like a bullfrog.
Some of your action writing isn’t clear to me.
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genitals and anus flow freely.
Damn.
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HELEN Come and get me, fucker!
The last few lines are messing with the tone.
Is this meant to be a horror/comedy? Not a problem if it is, I think it's a bit of a problem that I can't actually tell.
The writing could be more visual and clear. Lots of OTN dialogue. The criteria was met but I don’t think the story quite got there for me.
If this particular information is important to the story I'd put it in a SUPER.
It is in a SUPER
Hello writer
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The plane is fitted with an Aeromedical Biological Containment System: A negative pressure, oxygenated, isolation tent designed for highly contagious patients.
How am I suppose to know all this if I am watching it? warning signs up maybe?
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Two loud POPS mute Helen's comment. Jimmy's wrists, arms and shoulders contort. They're cocked and ready to fire. As Richard and Rumun go to restrain Jimmy's arms, his club-like fists fire like two pistons into their jaws and they drop to their knees.
Hold the phone - did he just fire his fists from his body like a Nerf gun? that's weird lol
Quoted Text
Jimmy fires another round and hits Helen in the chest, knocking her out of the tent.
What is he firing now? he has already fired both his hands off - I'm so confused... EDIT: is he firing them, and they are returning back to him, a bit like Dhalsim from Street Fighter?
Are cracking ribs that loud that they fill the plane? I dunno, never cracked a rib but it does seem odd to me.
Legs like a frog is a good image - and a creepy one.
"genitals and anus flow freely" - that's so gross lol
going for the flammable again, but this had the added plastic tent shrinking on him - that was a nice touch.
This had a strange back an forth between gore and comedy - it was a little jarring - the comedy end line from the captain - although funny - felt like too much of a shift from what had just happened.
Overall, not too shabby - You got some story telling and writing skills. I got a little confused about what Helen was doing/where she was after she pulled Rumun away.
This didn't do it for me, but it could work better after cleaning things up. It takes practice to be able to do that in a few days. I suspect the writer has not had as much experience as some others here.
The burning sanitizer/melting tent did not seem likely to neutralize a monster to me...and jimmy had become a monster. I think in the limited space the writer was desperate to find a way to, well, wrap things up.
I liked the ending with the pilot. That was my favorite part.
No I wouldn't have thought so - my correction was more for the writer who was probably eager to comment "but it is in a super!" - I was just being his/her voice lol