This is your chance to discuss the week’s amateur scripts, offered originally in the Scriptshadow newsletter. The primary goal for this discussion is to find out which script(s) is the best candidate for a future Amateur Friday review. The secondary goal is to keep things positive in the comments with constructive criticism.
Below are the scripts up for review, along with the download links. Want to receive the scripts early? Head over to the Contact page, e-mail us, and “Opt In” to the newsletter.
Happy reading!
TITLE: The Dark Parade
GENRE: Fantasy Action
LOGLINE: On the night of Dracula’s resurrection, a past-his-prime vampire hunter and his estranged son must protect the virgin marked for sacrifice by fending off a demonic horde until sunrise.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ: Like vampires and monsters? Great, come on in. Don’t like vampires and monsters? Don’t worry, this script isn’t really about them. It’s about fathers and the stupid things they do.
TITLE: Demise
GENRE: Supernatural Drama, Thriller, Mystery
LOGLINE: A depressed, yet vengeful detective investigates the recent murder of a teenage girl, and he soon realizes that his prime suspect is hiding more than just the truth.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ: I just completed the fifth revision of this script and feel I am too close to the content to see the big picture – the “can’t see the forest for the trees” adage comes to mind. Any and all forms of feedback and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
TITLE: Monty
GENRE: Action/Comedy
LOGLINE: After his dog is kidnapped by a ruthless criminal, a man suffering from depression is forced into a bizarre and dangerous underworld not only to save his dog but himself as well.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ: I have always been a huge fan of the British-style Hard-R-rated action/comedy movies like In Bruges and Snatch. This is my American-ized ode to them. In all honesty, I believe I’ve written something absurd, unpredictable, and frenetic with a great mix of humor and ass-kicking while intertwining brutal violence you might expect out of a horror movie. Also, there are 116 iterations of the word ‘fuck’. I plan on submitting to Nicholl so any ideas the SS community can give me to improve the piece would be amazing.
TITLE: Of Glass and Golden Clockwork
GENRE: Contained Sci-Fi Drama
LOGLINE: On the eve of the Third World War, a young soldier abandons his post to search out a robot claiming to have information regarding his father’s unsolved murder, only to discover these two are more connected than he ever could have imagined.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ: The previous draft of the script won Carson’s ‘Free Notes Giveaway’ back during Christmas of 2012. The intention was for him to use those notes as his permanent set of ‘sample notes’ from then on. But he never posted them. I’m not sure of the reason, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact that he called them one of the most challenging set of notes he had ever had to write. Why is that? I’ll let you find out for yourself…
After that, I put the script down for a good eight or so months and took a big step back from Scriptshadow and writing as a whole. But then, a few months ago, I picked it back up and rewrote the whole thing. The result is a script I’m personally very proud of, and it even managed to earn an [x] Impressive rating from a Scriptshadow regular. If that’s not incentive enough, I don’t know what is!
If you have ever been a fan of contained films, period dramas, complex characters, or just bold imagination, you will undoubtedly appreciate this script. It is a small, intimate fairy tale for the modern age, about love and life and loss. Hope you enjoy!
TITLE: Rapture
GENRE: Dark Comedy
LOGLINE: Two con men engineer a scheme to fleece religious zealots who are awaiting the rapture and find themselves to be the only decent people around when the apocalypse arrives.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ: I’m a 24 year old film student who started writing a little over a year ago and haven’t looked back since. Rapture is loosely based on a true story about a group of men who offered insurance against the rapture to religious fanatics. I wasn’t sure anyone would ever buy the premise until one day, while researching, I stumbled upon a Christian internet forum where the members were openly discussing buying rapture insurance. As absurd as it seemed to me, it nevertheless validated the premise in my eyes. A few months and a few dozen rewrites later, Rapture was born. I hope you enjoy it.
