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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  October 2013 One Week Challenge  /  Good Girl - OWC
Posted by: Don, October 19th, 2013, 9:48am
Good Girl by Thirty-Two - Horror - When a teenage girl uses her powers as a witch for good, she must deal with the bad response from her parents. (reader cautioned) - pdf, format 8)
Posted by: RegularJohn, October 19th, 2013, 12:13pm; Reply: 1
Overall, well written.  My biggest gripe however was that this didn't read at all like a horror piece.  For me this had black comedy written all over it.  The tone with the family, the boldly represented "Academy of Lucifer", even the animal sacrifice part just seemed a bit humorous (I must be messed up in the head).

I almost got a weird Harry Potter from hell kind of vibe from it but towards the end, it did darken up.  It still was a good read but as far as hitting the horror parameter, it didn't do it for me.  Great job either way.

Johnny
Posted by: Dreamscale (Guest), October 19th, 2013, 3:06pm; Reply: 2
I agree with John, this isn't horror...it's more comedy.

Writing-wise, lots of mistakes, sorry to say.  Passive writing, "we hear" or the like, typos, awkward writing, etc.  There's also some good writing on display, so I wonder if this was a rush job and no editing was done?

Slugs aren't good, and some even change - "ALL AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL" becomes "LUCY'S SCHOOL", but in reality we find out later the school is named " THE LUCIFER ACADEMY FOR YOUNG WITCHES & WARLOCKS".  All Slugs need attention, and "SAME" isn't a correct time element to use.

As much as the lack of true horror upsets me, there's something here that shows a great imagination and creativity, with the back and forth between several different settings/scenes.  It's also just goofy enough to be enjoyable.

Good job.
Posted by: crookedowl (Guest), October 19th, 2013, 3:18pm; Reply: 3
The writing was okay. Some of this is so over-the-top it seems more like a dark comedy than horror. But I enjoyed it.

Not much to criticize. Keep sluglines consistent, like previously mentioned. Good job completing the OWC...

Will
Posted by: Pale Yellow, October 19th, 2013, 3:29pm; Reply: 4
This was very well written. Cute idea....it's horror enough for me I guess with the first two kills...You got some good comedy in there too :) Through the middle it had a Harry Potter feel to it IMO. :)

There's no FADE OUT. I did not like the cat killing at the end...

Very nicely done...
Posted by: rendevous, October 19th, 2013, 9:33pm; Reply: 5
There's a lot of good work and ideas here. It struck me as a fairly original idea, albeit a kind of reverse of some other horror films. I won't name them, lest I spoil it for others. Nevertheless, it's rare to read something that feels as original as this.

"More tattoos than teeth" thoroughly amused me. A very strong image.

Some bits I didn't like. I frown as "we" as in "we hear".
I'm all for a bit of telling now and again. But it has to be sparse.
I found "Now she tries the “nice parent” routine" a bit much. Her dialogue just after this said as much.

Overall, I enjoyed this script. Some good writing here.

I found the end was the only thing that didn't sit well with me. Perhaps I was expecting something else but I think this could have had a much better ending in line with what went before.
Nevertheless, a damn good script.

R
Posted by: Forgive, October 20th, 2013, 2:35pm; Reply: 6
Hi - good entry, got straight into the action. Early on, I felt a little dialogue from Lucy was needed. I'm guessing with the names, Stan was S(a)tan, and Lucy-fer, and evil Opal (historically)?

I like the stuff with the kitten in the classroom - worked well with the feel - it all has a light comedic touch to it.

My only problem was that it didn't really seem to have an ending?

That aside, a good entry.
Posted by: Last Fountain, October 20th, 2013, 10:22pm; Reply: 7
Mystery and horror on the 1st page. 1st scene I'm already thinking what the hell? The dialogue - "You're not bad" after all dad has done for school. What? That was different and i loved how that unfolded and developed.

A lot of violence early with a gleeful maniac. Creepy. Peverse torture. But it's all done in that black comedy kinda way. The villain you love to hate type. Stan's dialogue for the most part was delightful. Funny. Evil. A good satan. The dark religious aspects were unsettling but appropriate considering historical context.

I loved the idea of setting this in a sort of dark Hogwarts,  like TRUE BLOOD  bit Harry Potter.

By the end this entry was more focused on the comedy. I think with the challenge parameters the humour should compliment not take over the horror. The end was a let-down because I enjoyed the way there so much. I loved Stan, he was a really good villain.  Maybe change the climax to carnage or force daughter to kill parish? Or she challenges her father? To the death. Just so much promise it needed that equal ending to balance it out.

Really good. Uneven ending. Great villain. Good dialogue.  Daughter was interesting contrast. I just wished it was pushed further.
Posted by: LC, October 21st, 2013, 5:42am; Reply: 8
Ah, the Devil has wit. :)

I'm not long into this one and lines like the following: 'One one thousand...'  put a smile on my face. It's a clever characterisation trick to do this when diametrically opposed to what's happening in the visual so, well done on that.

For the most part this flows well - couple of hiccups in a couple of the longer stretches of dialogue but that's jmho. Easy to see a seasoned writer is behind this and a well done from me for a nice inventive take on the challenge.

It's been said before and I'm sure you will groan hearing it again, but...
yep sorry, it's the ending that is a bit of an anticlimax for me.

Great job with the rest of it, though.
Posted by: nawazm11, October 22nd, 2013, 2:59am; Reply: 9
The logline reads like an 90s comedy aimed at kids.

"You can almost smell the stench." ;D I remember I used this line once in one of my scripts, definitely annoyed a few peeps, understandable why.

I can see what you're aiming at with the dialogue but it doesn't come across the way you think it does. It reads very forced.

The school scene is too similar to Harry Potter, it almost feels derivative.

So many orphans, they probably take up a lot more extra space than needed.

I liked the switch of stereotypes but it was taken to such an extreme that it lost all meaning in the end. It almost became laughable. The story was predictable but it was okay. Writing had a few hiccups but was also okay. Not a bad effort but everything needs to be toned down a little bit, this is as cliche as it can be in terms of plotting.

Grade: C
Posted by: SAC, October 22nd, 2013, 2:16pm; Reply: 10
Writer,

Pretty good writing here. The dialogue was snappy and fun, and the premise was cute.

Wait. Cute? Damn, this was supposed to be a horror challenge!  Oh well. I still liked it, though. It won't get my vote because it didnt fit the challenge parameter, but it was still a fun little story. The ending fell kinda flat though.

Congrats on getting this done!

Steve
Posted by: ReneC, October 23rd, 2013, 11:19am; Reply: 11
Though it doesn't fulfill the horror requirement of the challenge, I do like this one. It's a cute play on the familiar, the old good versus evil argument delivered in charicature fashion. The writing is good enough to be engaging despite the unfilmables, the mistakes, and talking directly to the reader.

The ending fell flat. Perhaps because I'd already clued in by page 3 that Stan was Satan and Lucy was named after her father. Even without that, you already told us the school was Lucifer's and Stan says outright that he bought that building, so that final button is a nothing moment. Killing the kitten was just as meaningless and frankly awkward, I can't imagine how that would look given the size of a kitten's chest and heart. Just trying to imagine it brought me out of the story.

I really liked the snakes, that's a great scene and you did a good job intercutting with the school. A very strong middle, great job there, but the weak ending robs any good impressions.
Posted by: Neighbour, October 23rd, 2013, 12:09pm; Reply: 12
So far the writing in this is good. Although I don't like that SAME was used in the slug. Seems very awkward and off putting. If it's the same time I would say just don't say anything at all about the time.

It caught my interest right away though with the "I heard you refused to be bad today" line, so that was cool.

I'm going to take a stab at Stan being her father. I like this so far. The priest refusing to give up his faith. Seems very cinema-world-like aha.

I think the line would have been better written like: "Opal drives and uses one hand to turn Lucy's face toward her."

The scene with Stan ripping the man's heart out and offering the woman a bite is sick, but also a bit amusing.

For some reason my mind is being dragged to the fact that the snake is black but it is also very poisonous. I'm not sure, but aren't snakes more poisonous the more colourful they are?

The dialogue in this was really well done in my opinion. I personally didn't think it came off as too much of a comedy, but then again my generation has had Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow comedies shoved down our throats.

I also didn't see any horror as well, except the kitten being killed maybe.

But this was still very good and I liked that Stan revealed he was the devil in the end of it. I can picture this idea making a good novel, or CHILDREN's movie (if toned down a little of course)
Posted by: khamanna, October 23rd, 2013, 1:13pm; Reply: 13
The idea of it is very good but both dialog and action are on the nose for me.
From the very beginning Lucy says she wants to be good, not bad. I'd change that to something concrete. Let Lucy say "I don't want to harm my kitty, I can't" And mother should reply something concrete too, I think. This would help with exposition and overall give it subtlety. I also think we should figure out the kind of institution they are running there on our own.
Also, the way you show her Dad - he's a Lucifer, destroying people - on the nose too.
I think you could go through and change all "being good" "being bad" to something more subtle.
Also, it gets kind of repetitive for me.
Otherwise it's a good idea and I'd say, don't dispose of the script - many do with OWC scripts (at least I do)
Posted by: PrussianMosby, October 24th, 2013, 6:49am; Reply: 14
No comments read before.
Non-native speaker – take it or leave it.


Good girl

Hello.

I don't like the script at all. I think some people will do, it's very subjective here, I think.

It was easy to follow what happens, fast readable. The quality of storytelling is not coming out in defiance to all that technical/structure decisions I felt here.

Everything seems constructed to me like in a screenwriting how-to-book. Then you insert just some ideas. Which ended up in snakes coming out of trunks. Christians are captured etc… It's just not enough. It's not storytelling. The cuts seems like you wanted to give us a middle of every characters and places. School-back to camp-school-house table (kitchen)again.

You got problems to get the thing onto page which are elementary.
The ending disappoints me. In my sight it was heartless to take the kitten. For what? To say I'm the devil. You have to be like me? As weak as whole story.

I think you can make it better. Relax a little and don' cut your screenplay into average  pieces and doing technically structure decisions. You're strong in structure. You go too far with it. Because you are strong in structure you didn’t have to care anymore. It's there. Would love to read a screenplay of you when you break every rule you ever learned…
Posted by: LizzAyn, October 24th, 2013, 3:06pm; Reply: 15
It's a very good premise, and a nice way to flip the usual expectations.  Unfortunately, the dialogue was very on-the-nose and weakened what could have been a very strong, scary story.  If you were going for humor, you did get the tone right and it was fairly consistant throughout (until the kitten part).  

I agree with above critiques about the slug lines, especially using "SAME".  However, the remainer of the writing, especially the action is very well done.  It was an easy read which also points to good writing.  If the dialogue were a bit more subtle it would be a very strong piece.
Posted by: Grandma Bear, October 27th, 2013, 10:30am; Reply: 16
Other than the killing of the animals, this was not horror in my opinion. I did like it though. I liked the idea of Lucy going against evil and standing by what she believes is right. Great work playing the school scene of animal sacrifices side by side with the Pentecostal snake handlers.

I didn't have a problem with the writing nor the story. I think you did a great job for a week's work. My only gripe, I hated Opal.  :)
Posted by: oJOHNNYoNUTSo, October 27th, 2013, 5:36pm; Reply: 17
Haha!  This was a fun script.  I thought surely at the end Stan would make Lucy eat that heart, kind of like your parent making you smoke a whole pack of cigarettes after you got caught.

What a nice flip of society.  But is it?  I smell a satire.  This was humorous because of the surreal plot, sprinkled with horror.  Modern witches didn't feel like the main ingredient here.

The MAN and WOMAN intro choice confused me.  I think labeling them The Reverend and his wife would have worked better in the visual department.

I enjoyed the tent revival scene.  Kinda reminds me of Billy St. Cyr in Justified.

Good job!

Johnny
Posted by: RJ, October 28th, 2013, 6:22am; Reply: 18
Beside all the (beats) throughout the dialogue, this was a clean, fun read. I didn't however like the ending. I was hoping for more of a 'Lucy uprising' ending, but then the kitten died and Stan won and well that was just sad. :(

Good entry none the less:)

Renee


As an after thought: I guess that's another reason this one was good, because I actually cared for Lucy and what happened to her - I wanted her to win!
Posted by: EWall433, October 29th, 2013, 12:41pm; Reply: 19
A lot of passive writing, but I’m enjoying the set-up (almost seems like as many comedies came in this challenge as horror).

Pg.3 I almost prefer Stan’s line to be, “What’s this I hear about you not having trouble at school?”

The tone is mixed. Like Monsters Inc. but with people getting their hearts ripped out (then again I never saw Monsters Inc. Maybe that happened there too   :))

Ultimately the ending fell short for me. I love the concept though and believe it could work really well as a cute, PG-rated, Despicable Me type comedy. But for that to work you’ll have to kill less kittens.

Good work for a week. Congrats!
Posted by: RayW, October 29th, 2013, 4:35pm; Reply: 20
Weighted Matrix: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdGJValQtbHU1LUNPVWQzY0gzajRTTUE&usp=sharing

Producer's Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NNGaVlrrpkjIfp-BRGjpTE03W1e5lZuRceJ3wQECYaI/edit?usp=sharing

43. Good Girl by Thirty-Two - Horror - When a teenage girl uses her powers as a witch for good, she must deal with the bad response from her parents.
Brief - Teen witch student being scolded by parents to "be bad"

Location(s)  - High school interior & exterior, car, dungeon, kitchen
Cast -
Protagonist(s)  -
LUCY, teen, sweet faced
Antagonist(s)  -
Genre & Marketability - I didn't finish the story, but it smacks of Judeo-Christian demonized witchcraft rather than modern witchcraft = not good for the market I'm looking to serve.
Comments  -  Turn off your screenwriting program's mores and continued's feature. Don't underline your title on your title page. That dungeon scene is lookin' like a comedy. Pg2 "Stan makes his hand into a wedge and drives it through the man's chest like an axe splitting a log -- and pulls out his HEART." Have any idea how much that effect is going to cost? X2?! Eh... Don't worry about it. I'll figure some work-around. "THE LUCIFER ACADEMY FOR YOUNG WITCHES & WARLOCKS" Groaaaan... As producer I'm deducting the cost of that sign from your pay as writer. Alright, I'm outta here at the classroom scene. Too many actors to pay. Ciao. This is exactly how you begin to understand the difference between writing pie-in-the-sky stories and stories that are budget minded = likely to be produced.
Script format - fair.
Final word - Can't afford to produce

     Lo/Hi Estimated Budget Range
/      Screenplay Pages
= $      Estimated Cost Per Screen Minute

Adherence to Given Criteria:
Modern Witches and/or Warlocks -
Horror -
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