screenplay EXERCISE

[spaceham]

okay, how about we all just start with an end? a guy wakes up in a dark box (crate, coffin, etc.), something like that. how did he get there? we'll have as many freedoms as we like, and explore any genre at all, we just have to end it with a guy in a box. as for time, i'd go with a fortnight. a week may be a little short. do you think?

[GREATwarEAGLE]

Guy wakes up in a box? Okay. I guess I can live with that. It's kinda vague. I figured the more specific the scenario is, the better. But just to get things going, it's doable.

Unless everyone else objects to it. If that's the case, recommend something else. Don't just say it's a dumb idea without suggesting an alternative.

[deanl]

Hey there.

Thats a dumb idea.

Despin out.

[spaceham]

well yeah it's a dumb idea. i blew it out my *** but at least it's a suggestion. i dunno, i'm up for anything i guess, somebody just agree on a topic.

[ickle_jim]

ive been looking for a reason to use my newly "aquired" Hollywood Screenplay program... count me in. Have never written anything before so mine will likely **** ...

As for what to do about i see two ways to approach it, either a theme like boyfriend cheats, man dies... or to do a narrative event like girl walks into a haunted wood what happens next....

[GREATwarEAGLE]

I think the subject should be as specific as possible so that it's less an exercise of coming up with an interesting story and more of how to tell a story in the context of a screenplay.

COMING UP WITH AN INTERESTING story can be done in a book, comics, poem, etc.

TELLING A STORY IN THE CONTEXT OF A SCREENPLAY should be the focus. This is why so many screenplays suffer. The story may be great but the execution is poor.

So, a guy waking up in a box, haunted house is too vague. We really should all have the same story, just told differently.
It's as if we were all adapting the same novel into a movie. That's what I had in mind when I first posted the idea. So we should agree on the basic structure.

Like:
boy cheats on girl
boy gets caught
boy tries to explain to girl

[spaceham]

good point. i agree the 'boy and girl' is probably the best way to go. again, it's universal and can have many different aspects.

[Generic Skinhead]

I, in my not so infinite reason, disagree.

Boy cheats, girl cries, boy explains. I don't write for Hollyoaks.

Thats not a plot. It's a conversation. If we go with this idea this project will degenerate into a "quirkiest line" competition.

I'm nicking this premise from a master scriptwriter but hey-it illustrates my thinking best.

Cafe Rio. A well dressed man in his 40's sits down by the window with his breifcase on the opposite chair. He sips his coffee.

Suddenly the door of the cafe bursts open. A young girl breezes in. She looks awful, very dirty, in tatty chloths, with coldsores. She looks sick yet somehow gives the impression she may be pretty.

She walks past the gawping customers to the man by the window, confidently removes his briefcase from the seat and...

states a sereis of neccessity clauses that shut down the options for both charachters.

The scripts to be written should be a short or even just the beginning of a short, max 5 pages.

Its pretty simple but has enough rules layed down as a basic structure and it keeps the human relationship angle that everyone seems to be so fond of.

If you're unsure about anything just ask. If you think I **** and you hate my ideas, just say so and I'll leave you to your own devices.

Your good friend and most humble narrator,
Generic

[GREATwarEAGLE]

Okay. At this point, I don't care what the material is. Girl friend/boyfriend, a girl with cold sores, man in a box, whatever. It's a challenge either way you slice it.

I will agree on whatever anyone else agrees on. It's just 10 pages. I'm confident in tackling anything.

So I leave it to the rest of you to decide. It's probably a better exercise if it's something I'd rather not do anyway. More of a challenge.

[andyblaa]

Count me in too.

I dont really like the cafe idea, it seems at bit too structured, there isnt much scope for original thought. How about somethng like a car crash or something then the aftermath and impacts it had on the occupants of the car. It's just an idea [img]confused.gif[/img]

Andy