Just wondered what fellow SSers felt about this one? Oh, and IMDb link.

This is low budget writing taken to the extreme; and a produced movie.

So, a guy wakes up in a coffin, and there's your movie - just two characters, and a punt worth taking it would seem. Anyone know much about this? Does it make you think, oh shit, I should've come up with this one? Seriously made me think about writing a one location, few character, low budget script. You?

Andrew

There's a pretty long discussion about this script somewhere on the boards, just don't remember where.

I would think the low budget, minimal locations/characters script is always a good way to go in terms of getting produced, especially at this level.

For a Hollywood flick, it's a toss up.  This movie can easily be done on the cheap, but with Ryan Reynolds cast in the lead, that's probably not the case.

Go for it Andrew!  Though a word of warning...It's not as easy as it sounds.

Haha, yeah, the chances of me writing a script that will get made in one location are...... 0.0000000000000000000000000001% :) Hell, the chances of me getting produced are... let's not go there!

I did search for another thread, but missed it.

Still, it's a great achievement, I guess.

Andrew

A very short script at 80 pages....

Plan on reading it though, since it sounds like the kind of stuff I like.  :)

Strictly speaking, while fairly rare in the cinema (though not unique), it is perfectly common in the theatre, and nobody would blink an eye at two characters and one set there.

Personally, I think this sort of thing (not necessarily in this case, as I have not read/seen it) can negate the very essence of what writing for film is about.

In the early sound days, Playwrights were lured to Hollywood by being told that a film was "just like a stage play - except when they walk outside, we can follow them!" which is a nice summing up of the difference between cinema and theatre.

In these economic times...the fewer the locations and characters the story has, the more attractive the script is. It has however be good too though.

12 Angry Men.  I watched that movie and was so amazed by what was achieved in a one room setting, that I tried for the next year to come up with something as simple yet so engrossing.  I just became 1 Sad Writer.  It's double tough.

Probably because you were trying to think of it in cinematic terms - "12 Angry Men" was originally a stage play, and with the exception of a couple of minor additions, was left unchanged.

If you tried writing a stage play with these limitations you could then adapt it as a screenplay more easily.

Having said that, I once wrote a stageplay with four characters and one set. I later adapted it as a screenplay - with 32 characters and multiple interior and exterior settings!

Quoted from Niles_Crane Probably because you were trying to think of it in cinematic terms - "12 Angry Men" was originally a stage play, and with the exception of a couple of minor additions, was left unchanged. If you tried writing a stage play with these limitations you could then adapt it as a screenplay more easily. Having said that, I once wrote a stageplay with four characters and one set. I later adapted it as a screenplay - with 32 characters and multiple interior and exterior settings!

You are undoubtedly right.  So, four characters and one set became 32 characters and multiple sets!?  Whoa.

For those unfamiliar with the script, as it's written you only see one character on screen the whole time, and he's trapped in a coffin.  All the other characters are only known through the phone conversations Paul has with them.

Quoted from Shelton There's a pretty long discussion about this script somewhere on the boards, just don't remember where. I would think the low budget, minimal locations/characters script is always a good way to go in terms of getting produced, especially at this level. For a Hollywood flick, it's a toss up.  This movie can easily be done on the cheap, but with Ryan Reynolds cast in the lead, that's probably not the case.

Yes, I don't know where it is either. I read the script and kind of felt that it was implausible at some levels, but it was good writing. I think if we even attempt such a write, nothing bad can be said of the attempt.

My question is always betwixt and between:

Are we writing for "Ourselves"? To kind of break through existing barriers in the craft and kind of forge a "New Way"?

Or:

Are we sincerely writing for "Our Audience"? To treat them as children, and bring them along with us on our journey to help them gain a wider perspective?

It's felt within me personally, that highly adept writers have the capacity to bring these two extremes together. If that's the case, people feel it at a deep level and they don't really know why except to say, "That movie rocked the planet!"

Sandra

Quoted from Shelton For those unfamiliar with the script, as it's written you only see one character on screen the whole time, and he's trapped in a coffin.  All the other characters are only known through the phone conversations Paul has with them.

Just finished reading it.  Great script, but I couldn't watch it.  I just couldn't.

Quoted from steven8 Just finished reading it.  Great script, but I couldn't watch it.  I just couldn't.

Potentially something in that. I mean, the script - for me - was a great read, but so much of it read unlike a screenplay, so it really depends on the director eeking out every inch of tension and 'what will happen next' that the script achieved.

'12 Angry Men' is a good example, and as Niles alluded to, it is from a different age and source, yet scripts like that can still work today, and it's my opinion that this one will do so. Excited to see the film.

Andrew

There's a good British film called the Hide that's similarily impressive on a small scale. Two actors, one location (a bird wtachers hide). Great little film.

That started life as a play as well.

Since we are naming out small cast/minimum location films, I'll go for the obvious "Dial M For Murder", which, like "12 Angry Men" was adapted (very succesfully) from a stage play. If I remember correctly, there are a couple of exterior shots but 90% of it takes place in one room.

It would provide great inspiration & ideas for anyone looking to write such a piece.