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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  The 2019 Writers' Tournament  /  Cindy Tucker, Sewage Queen - WT2
Posted by: Don, June 10th, 2019, 10:16pm
Cindy Tucker, Sewage Queen by Anonymouse7 - On her first work day in the sewer system, legend of the streets, Cindy Tucker, has to prove herself when the mighty fatberg calls for her. - Short, Comed
Posted by: Scar Tissue Films, June 11th, 2019, 3:11am; Reply: 1
I enjoyed the banter when she first turned up to meet Bob and Carlos.

I think there's comedy potential in the Fatberg idea, but I don't think it quite got there.
Posted by: Warren, June 11th, 2019, 5:04am; Reply: 2
Hi writer,


Quoted Text
the enthusiasm
of her rosy cheeks, the confident smile, her sparkling eyes
actually express - I am today's Cyndi Lauper.


I'm sorry but there is just no way to translate this to screen. It barely works in the script.


Quoted Text
CINDY (V.O.)
As I told you, women can be
anything they want in this world.


When did she tell us?

Early on I'm thinking English may not be a first language.


Quoted Text
CINDY
Oh, well, thank you not.


I don't understand the "not".

The dialogue is not great by any means.

I'm getting a bit of a Tommy Wiseau vibe.


Quoted Text
Cindy runs for her live.


Life.

Not my kind of humour at all.

This needs a lot of work all round. I'm not sure too much of it is actually salvageable. I don't imagine it would be one you'd hang onto or revisit after the tournament.

Congrats on getting an entry in.

All the best.
Posted by: Matthew Taylor, June 11th, 2019, 10:46am; Reply: 3
Hello writer

This is too overwritten for my taste - I guess that's your style - It is really hindering my enjoyment and taking me out of the story, most of page 1 I had my "WTF?" face on.

Ok, I am not a fan of your writing at all - It's overwritten and I just can't follow it properly.

I'm not sure what the story it - what is the story? There were a few strands left dangling and nothing really tied together at all.

I applaud the effort but this is a swing and a miss for me - With more time you could really focus this, but I don't think it works as is.

The image of her floating under the manhole cover still blowing the whistle made me laugh though.


Posted by: JEStaats, June 11th, 2019, 2:55pm; Reply: 4
So, I get it. This is one that if you don't visualize a mental picture, it's totally lost. Though there wasn't much to lose. Croc? Really? And then to misspell them as crocks later on.

The whistle and camera just appeared. Not sure where they came from and for what purpose. Did you need to condense this to meet the five page limit?

You developed the characters, so good on you for that. The story, ever so ridiculous, is okay because it's comedy and supposed to be ridiculous. Yeah, it was out there.

The dialog had some potential but missed the mark for me. Some decent banter but nonsensical, which again is almost acceptable for the genre.

Overall, good attempt and valiant effort.
Posted by: PKCardinal, June 11th, 2019, 4:01pm; Reply: 5
I like the characterization of Cindy. Bold. Confident. Worked for me.

Not a fan of the VO. And, I don't understand the need for the line "As I told you..."

Story worked fine, I thought. Cindy hears of job. Gets job. Does job. Messes up on job. It's  5 pager... can't do too much more.

Yes, this is very much a visual humor script. So, you've got to read it that way.

All in all, a good effort. Not the best of the bunch, but stronger than many.
Posted by: Dreamscale (Guest), June 11th, 2019, 4:19pm; Reply: 6
Opening Slug - SHOPPING STREET - HUH?  WTF is that supposed to mean?

2nd passage is a mess and so overwritten and irritating.  I'm very worried on what's going to follow...

Why is there a VO here?  Oh man...

"make some pictures" - Huh?

Love the CUT TO: - Thanks for that.

No clue what this is supposed to be about. Not for me at all.

Story - None

Characters - so over the top and irritating

Dialogue - so over the top, racist, sexist, and irritating

Prose - Really?

Criteria - Well, I see attempts at comedy, we're in a sewer, and yeah, she blows a whistle, but I hate giving out 5 points for this very weak attempt.
Posted by: Kevin_L, June 12th, 2019, 12:07am; Reply: 7
I liked your female lead. How she speaks with the “not.”  Some women add words like that to the end of their sentence. Kind of like some girls say...”as if”  I’m not a structure guru. But maybe put in    
        Character
Yada yada yada
         (Then)
       Not!
I think that would help illustrate her speech pattern.  

Most women of her mindset wouldn’t ever do that job. Reminded me of the character in Legally Blonde just a few more pounds .

Liked the Fatberg. I think there is plenty of extra meat, left over on the comedy bone ,to do some more stuff with the Fatberg.

You’ll get there ,just keep riding the Fatberg wave.


Posted by: LC, June 12th, 2019, 1:53am; Reply: 8
And,when I heard, they search for more
female workers in the wastewater

Awkward sentence. Try something like: When I heard jobs were opening up for gals in waste management...

BOB
I never said this before but can we just go (get) down there
- Made me chuckle.

take some pictures of it (not make some)
Don't worry, hon ( Hon should be capped - in place of a person's actual name).
NASA should be in all caps.

It's been three to one
last time, wasn't it?

Mixing past with present tense. Should be: It was three to one
Is the writer NESB, perhaps?
Rolls the dice, not dices. Dice is both singular and plural.

Light on humour. Potentially good characters that need developing. I liked the slack-arse workers playing boardgames etc. It just needs a bit more story.

Is Cindy obese because this adds to the sight gags e.g. a large woman in a tunnel?

Overall, as is it didn't quite work for me.
Oh, and the French Fry - yuk!





Posted by: Gary in Houston, June 12th, 2019, 2:24pm; Reply: 9
Dice is the plural, not dices. Die is the singular.

This was just odd to me, almost uncomfortable. I didn’t like the banter between Carlos and Cindy. I think this was trying to be a very visual script, and I was able to pick up on a lot of what you were trying to do, however, as a story it fell short for me. The characters weren’t necessarily likable and the conversations between them were awkward and sexist.  

All the criteria were met, so good job on entering.

Gary
Posted by: leitskev, June 13th, 2019, 3:33pm; Reply: 10
Sometimes the problem is simply in the concept. And that's going to happen a lot in these challenges with comedy. Where the story lost me was when she wanted to work in wastewater for no discernable reason. I had a hard time wanting to follow anything after that.

I liked that the two male characters had such completely different reactions to her. But that's really not going to earn character points. One was a guy disgusted by a fat woman, the other was a Hispanic attracted to it.

I don't know, man. I don't know.
Posted by: khamanna, June 13th, 2019, 5:03pm; Reply: 11
I liked the ending a lot. At first I couldn't understand what it was about. And because of that my attention would meander off and I had hard time concentrating on the story. It seemed being about nothing.
But the ending shows it's a romcom. And I really liked the vibe, the last line, good job I say.
Posted by: AnthonyCawood, June 13th, 2019, 5:14pm; Reply: 12
There are a few errors in here, missed words and the like... not sure if its a rush thing or English not first language thing... anyway I'm sure a re-draft will fix these up.

In terms of story, there were some amusing elements and I really liked Cindy's odd mix of confidence and naivete, that did make me smile.

But ultimately I think the narrative got a little muddled and this lessened the comedy.
Posted by: Spqr, June 13th, 2019, 8:28pm; Reply: 13
Kinda disgusting, but fun. Good mix of characters. Cindy has a major eating problem. Bob is a lazy idiot. And Carlos has no taste in women. I have one nit-picky concern about the backgammon game: I don’t know anything about it and I imagine a lot of other people don’t either, so how are we to know it’s being played wrong? Like I said, nit-picky.
Posted by: jayrex, June 14th, 2019, 2:10am; Reply: 14
It started off well and then fizzled out.

There were moments of comedy.  The french fry was on the gross side.  Not sure I’d laugh at that sort of thing.

The backgammon idea seemed odd.  I wouldn’t think there’s enough light to play.  Can rely on light from above.

If you rework it to have the guys come along with Cindy.  You could develop it further.
Posted by: Zack, June 14th, 2019, 10:11am; Reply: 15
Solid writing. Wasn't really enjoying this until the Titanic reference at the end, which made me laugh. Funny shit. ;D

Dialog is honestly pretty bad for the most part. There are a few funny lines though.

I thought it was funny how Carlos was attracted to Cindy. I don't know why. Guess I'm immature. :P

The ending saved this one for me. Nice work.
Posted by: Philostrate, June 14th, 2019, 3:54pm; Reply: 16
Hi Writer,

The script ticked all the boxes for this round - comedy, sewer, whistle - that's 5 points.

I like that you tried your hand at a more visual humor, well done.

I also liked Cindy's characterization but the other characters are a little flat imho, need a little more development.

It took me a little to get into the story but the ending tied things nicely, kudos for that.

There are some mistakes, but they are easy to fix.

A good effort overall. Not the best script of the bunch, but it shows some potential.

Good job,
David
Posted by: MarkItZero, June 16th, 2019, 3:15pm; Reply: 17
Bit of a mixed bag for me. The fish out of water stuff didn't quite hit perfectly with the character you have. You set her up as kind of clueless and naive like in Legally Blonde. I guess that could work as a concept... spoiled, rich girl has a fall from grace and ends up working on a sewage crew. But you gotta set it up a bit more, maybe she's a huge germophobe too. This could work, but you've gotta establish a clearer premise.

Decent effort, has potential.
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