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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  Short Scripts  /  The White Room
Posted by: Don, May 10th, 2015, 8:13am
The White Room by Mariano Amézaga - Short, Thriller - When man with recurrent dreams of being alone and trapped in an empty room decides to discover why he is having that dream, his world will go upside down.  12 pages - pdf, format 8)
Posted by: DanC, May 11th, 2015, 1:10am; Reply: 1
Hi Mariano,
    I'm gonna read your script.  I'll make notes as I see them, but, will only list certain errors (like tense) once as I don't want to pile on.

Good luck.

1.  It all goes in circles and is blurry.  How can a white room be in circles and blurry?

2.  No description for Susan.

3.  Wait, the first time we see Luke, he has no voice in the room, why does he have a voice now?

SPOILERS

Okay, so, he's doing an experiment.  You don't tell us how much longer he has left in the room.  I get his anxiety, but, it looks as if he does have some contact with the outside world.

I think we need to know why anyone would do this, besides the cash.  No mention of his children at all in the story up till the flashback kinda irks me.

I think we need to know what the experiment is about.  Why is it a year?  What is gained from this?  No one funds something, certainly not the CIA without having a reason.  We don't know any of this.

I do like it and I think you have an interesting idea, but, it needs to be fleshed out a bit more.

Good luck
I'd read any rewrite you do.

Dan
Posted by: RichardR, May 12th, 2015, 11:20am; Reply: 2
Mariano,

Innocent comments are always white.  Keep those.

Opening scene.  The room is white and scary and closing.  He wakes, and you tell us this isn't first time and repeat that info in the dialogue.  No need for repeats.  And shorten the dialogue.  
HER:  same dream?
HIM:  Every fucking night.

Same info, less space and sounds more authentic to my ear.  Same problem with next exchange.  Too many complete sentences.  Married couples use shorthand all the time.  

The therapist scene works, but I think you can make the therapist much more wonky.  Toss in some psycho-babble and make us believe he's really a therapist.

The next scene with wife does what?  We know already he didn't get far with the therapist.  We can presume he told her already.

And back to the room but now a voice...progress.  I don't see where the tea scene with wife adds anything.  Better to show him on the couch, kicked out of the bedroom to show their discord.

And a hypnotist.  I like her, she has some character.  Luke, on the other hand, seems to get sillier as we go along.

And we get the flashback to when Luke was in the CIA.

and it turns out it's all a government experiment of some kind.  

And I think it's the home life that is hallucinated, the white room is real.  Works for me in a fashion.

We need more info on the experiment woven into the fabric of the hallucinations.  The hypnotist shows up constantly, as the therapist, as some other character.  Frank should be included too because Luke has to use them in his breaking mind.  

Keep working on this, working on how to fool the audience and entice them to keep going along.

Best
Richard
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