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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  The May 2021 Challenge  /  Final Run - May
Posted by: Don, May 11th, 2021, 5:42pm
Final Run by Written by - A quiet day in the park turns into a run for your life.  Short, Horror, Thriller
Posted by: JEStaats, May 11th, 2021, 7:18pm; Reply: 1
This could be very comedic with the right actors! As I read it, it didn't come off as funny but thinking back on it, could be hilarious! Seeing him fumble with the remote and being chased to his van, only to reveal that he's in on it and extremely frustrated with continued failure. Yeah, turn this into a horror/comedy sketch. Good stuff.
Posted by: irish eyes, May 11th, 2021, 8:17pm; Reply: 2
This was entertaining.

Nice twist with Arthur in control and his sadness that the Robot keeps screwing up and killing the joggers.

Cute story well written
Posted by: spesh2k, May 11th, 2021, 8:24pm; Reply: 3
I liked this, it was well written. And I liked the twist... an old loner with his remote control friend... though I'm not sure if this is exactly low-budget. It had enough elements of horror to get me on board, though.

-- Michael
Posted by: Warren, May 11th, 2021, 8:51pm; Reply: 4
Hi writer,


Quoted Text
ARTHUR
Sorry squirrely


Sorry, squirrely


Quoted Text
button on the fop


Either I don't know what a fop is or that's meant to be "top"? Okay, must look into fop.

What does he need them alive for? Did I miss something or is that left to our imagination?

Very well written but this one didn't really land for me. I just don't know why any of it is happening.

All the best.
Posted by: Matthew Taylor, May 12th, 2021, 5:55am; Reply: 5
Fop - did you mean fob?

It seems that when the twist is revealed, what comes before it doesn't make sense and is only there to throw us off. Why would he flee from his own robot? he can open the van from a distance using his fob (fop) so the robot can hide the body in the van, he doesn't need to run and jump in.
He also has his phone on him the whole time so it's not like he is running back for that to switch the robot off.

This does also not scream low-budget.

The squirrel bears no relevance to the story and will only require a producer to source a well trained squirrel for the shoot lol

Best of luck
Posted by: MarkRenshaw, May 12th, 2021, 8:52am; Reply: 6
Nicely written but not low budget at all. There is certainly a twist but he only runs away from the robot to set us up for the twist and if this was his experiment (and it had gone wrong several times before) he would be more prepared and safe, so it doesn't make sense.

I did enjoy the read though.
Posted by: Gum, May 12th, 2021, 9:29am; Reply: 7
Fop? I’ve been saying ‘Fob’ all these years… probably ‘Fop’, cause I don’t hear shit right anymore. Anyway, a mechanical monster scenario where its creator has lost control of the creation, kind of like Frankenstein’s Monster… “I want to liiiiive!”, in this case; “I want to kiiiiill!”. Bit of a twist and shock value here cause I initially thought the monster was after Arthur, so the theme is definitely present. Best of luck.
Posted by: Don, May 12th, 2021, 10:07am; Reply: 8
I liked this, good twist, tho I think it is fob, not fop (unless it is a kiwi/lime/oz thing). This is both horrifying and funny at the same time.

- Don
Posted by: eldave1, May 12th, 2021, 12:21pm; Reply: 9
Nice twist. Good job.  
Posted by: Cacutshaw, May 12th, 2021, 12:30pm; Reply: 10
I expected the nerd was doing it, but then it didn't make sense that he would be full on sprinting to his van and dangerously diving in. That whole section feels like a cheat that's only there to trick the viewer and doesn't actually make sense to the story.

If that section could be reworked, possibly while still fooling the audience (the robot was on the fritz or something) it wouldn't make the reader feel like they've been tricked instead of cheated.
Posted by: Geezis, May 12th, 2021, 2:44pm; Reply: 11
A sexist killer robot that only preys on female joggers. Nicely written, good twist.
Well done.
Posted by: AnthonyCawood, May 12th, 2021, 5:36pm; Reply: 12
Not sure I understand why he has a robot accidentally killing joggers...

But was fun!
Posted by: stevemiles, May 12th, 2021, 5:42pm; Reply: 13
A little choppy in places.  The pedant in me wants to know why he’d make a robot with sharp metal teeth if he wants them alive.  Maybe it’s not Arthur’s robot so he doesn’t know how to program it?  Feels like it would stray into unintentional comedy as the robot carries the dead jogger. Like most here, it raises more questions than answers but by no means bad.
Posted by: Gary in Houston, May 12th, 2021, 8:47pm; Reply: 14
Nice twist there with the reveal.  Fun story and really had me guessing on what was going. Nicely written.  Good job.
Posted by: Spqr, May 12th, 2021, 10:06pm; Reply: 15
Arthur, mad scientist type, is "stunned" when the Female Jogger screams behind the bush. This isn't misdirection, it's cheating, because there wasn't anyone around to witness what was happening. And his fearful rush to get to his van seemed overdone, too.

Using a robot to procure a woman is a novel way of getting a date, but shouldn't he be practicing at night on a lonely street, instead of in a park in broad daylight?
Posted by: LC, May 12th, 2021, 10:40pm; Reply: 16

Quoted from Don
I liked this, good twist, tho I think it is fob, not fop (unless it is a kiwi/lime/oz thing). This is both horrifying and funny at the same time.

- Don

Lime? Oh, Llimey. ;D Yep, a fop is Queen's English for a Dandy aka a smartly dressed Gent.

Whatever... we know what you mean, Writer.
I loved this. A unique entry.
Silly robot not keeping them alive.

Loved Arthur's description:
He’s a forever nerd complete with black rimmed
glasses and pencils in his shirt pocket.


Macabre, but with some lovely dark humour throughout.

Posted by: ReneC, May 13th, 2021, 12:04pm; Reply: 17
Good twist. The squirrel is a nice touch to keep things engaging while we're waiting for the action moment.

I didn't like him being "stunned." It's a cheat, it's only there to trick the reader and has nothing to do with his real reactions in that moment. Just omitting that word is more effective.

I don't need to know why he's doing it, his frustration is enough to make this work. Well done.
Posted by: MarkItZero, May 13th, 2021, 12:13pm; Reply: 18
Pretty good. Fun ending. I wish there was more comedy mixed in before the final reveal. Maybe something to do with this creepy guy in a park weirdly observing joggers? Fighting the squirrel for seeds on the ground? I dunno, something that sets the tone as more comedic early on.
Posted by: FrankM, May 13th, 2021, 1:47pm; Reply: 19
I like the visuals here, and nice head-fake on describing the pursuit. But it's a fob, not a fop.

Good job!
Posted by: PKCardinal, May 13th, 2021, 2:00pm; Reply: 20
I enjoyed the idea/story here.

Good luck casting the squirrel. :)

The twist was fun. With a bit more space to work with, you could really build out this world in a wild way.

Even though there's very little dialogue here, it could still be tightened further. If you drop "Killed another one." nothing changes.
Posted by: Claudio, May 13th, 2021, 8:05pm; Reply: 21
I liked this a lot, well written.

The story was unique and the twist was genuinely surprising.

Great stuff~
Posted by: Rob, May 13th, 2021, 8:10pm; Reply: 22
A good script. Probably a little on the high end to produce. Why would Arthur dash like mad to his van to get away from a machine he created? Maybe he doesn't want people to see the dead jogger. But he pushes the dead jogger out of the van regardless. I wonder what function the robot monster was actually supposed to fulfill.
Posted by: SAC, May 13th, 2021, 8:37pm; Reply: 23
Writer,

Good story! I liked it. But in the end, it didn't feel complete -- meaning, why was the old man using a robot to kill people? I'd like to know.

Steve
Posted by: Bort, May 13th, 2021, 9:07pm; Reply: 24
I liked this one. This twist worked for me and the action lines were clean, kept up the pacing. Good job, writer.
Posted by: mmmarnie, May 14th, 2021, 10:35am; Reply: 25
FOB

I even looked it up first and still wrote FOP. LOLOL.

I wrote this in a seriously mad rush cus I had to work both days. Less than an hour.

My original idea was that it was a Frankenstein type monster that Arthur created and controlled, but that proved too difficult to show in just 2 pages. So I opted for the KILLER ROBOT!! (January project people will appreciate that!!)

And I also didn't have enough room to show that he had been sitting there all day waiting for this to actually work (which is why he was "stunned"). And he wasn't running "from" the robot, he was running because they had taken the jogger and had to haul ass so they didn't get caught...but of course it was supposed to look like he was running from the monster.

Just didn't have time to work out the wrinkles. Grabbing a female to make a female monster. But this monster keeps killing them by accident. Was a funny idea, I just didn't have time to execute it well enough.  

Thanks for the reviews!!
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