Task #2

[scripter1]

I wonder if Orlie really wants to do a serial killer film.

I'm working on one right now!

MAN, I sure hope none of the contestants gets close to my idea!
Better get cracking on that script.

[NikeeGoddess]

who knows. who cares. you can't start writing for an actor (unless it's a contracted assignment) or unless you're planning on dating them 5 - 10 years older than they are now b/c it'll take a newbie that long before they can get it in their hands.

and serial killer flicks - why? what can you (scripter) bring new to the genre? and are you writing it from the point of view of the killer, a victim, or one who pursues the killer?

and about that task 2 - it's quite obvious that not many see him in outerspace with or without aliens ;)

[Joe Calabrese]

The task is totaly a hypothetical.

I picked Orlando based on the fact that he is one of those stars who is currently trying to get away from the LOTR, POTC and other acronym epics. His latest film is quite a departure from his groove. Although strickly a hypothetical, many actors and actresses are looking for lead parts with a darker edge. Look at Vigo with HOV.

As for the genre, of all the requests I see from producers, thrillers with containment are hot right now and will be for a long time coming.

The director I hinted at was an actual job I had last year, I which I was asked to pitch to him based on him wanting to get away from his "norm."

Mostly, this task was an excersise to develop a synopsis quickly and to do so with some hands tied behind your back with specifics that many producers will give you and even change their minds midstream.

[dpaterso]

and serial killer flicks - why? what can you (scripter) bring new to the genre? and are you writing it from the point of view of the killer, a victim, or one who pursues the killer?

It's just as well you didn't speak to Andrew Kevin Walker before he wrote SE7EN -- your extreme pessimism would have put him off. Don't pre-judge. Have faith in the writer to come up with the unseen-before angle. If they don't -- judge away to your heart's content.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)

The Absolute Write Ultimate Screenwriting Challenge Contest
Rules & Prizes (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18151)
Read Task 2 Goals & Entries (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19404)
Read Task 1 Goals & Entries (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18170)

[scripter1]

Actually, I did read an interview with Orlando that said he was looking at a serial killer script. Something about Leo being considered for the role as well.
Don't know whats happened with it. That was last year.

Yes Nikee, I DO have a slight twist on the genre.
And you never know when you might end up next to the actor or producer you are aiming for. If you pitch well, and the story holds it's own, and the person is looking for that kind of story, maybe something could happen.
And then there is the point that while I would like to see certain actors in my films I don't write specifcally for them.

Joe, your thoughts behind the asignment work.
Bloom DOES need to do something vastly different from his heroic epic roles. And a nice serial killer would really turn his image on it's head.
I just found it funny that you created an asignment with such close similarities to a project I'm all ready working on.

[Joe Calabrese]

I just found it funny that you created an asignment with such close similarities to a project I'm all ready working on.Just goes to show that there are patterns in the universe, especially in Hollywood's. When and idea comes to the surface, it is usually many heads that come up with similar ideas at the same time and it becomes a race to see who jumps on it and makes it first. For instance, many people would think that Deep impact and Armageddon, as well as Dante's Peak and Volcano where jumping on the bandwagon films where one announced first and the other followed suit. The reality is that the concepts of those two types of films happened at the same time, independent of each other.

Great minds think alike, but in many cases, an idea, a news article, a novel or another form of inspiration, inspires many to do it.

Notice how when Nasa announced Mars missions with rovers and probes in the late 90's and news of water possible as well as ancient microorganisms, a slew of Mars films came out the following year(s) Red Planet, Ghosts of Mars, Mission to Mars, etc...

[Annabanana]

Thriller or not, assignment or spec, I wouldn't exactly mind being confined with Orlando Bloom :LilLove: :thankyou: :banana: :flag:

[StephieM]

When and idea comes to the surface, it is usually many heads that come up with similar ideas at the same time and it becomes a race to see who jumps on it and makes it first.

Joe, you nailed this on the nose.

My advice to anyone is if you think you have a great high concept idea, act on it, don't wait. Eventually someone else is going to come up with the same idea and beat you to it.

True story. I think I mentioned this before. I was thinking about writing a film based on a group of kids who get lost in the country and see some man walking through the woods with a bloody sheet, they investigate and in return the man terrorizes them. (That's all I had at the time.) Got the idea off an old Unsolved Mysteries episode. Never worked very hard on it. A year or so later, "Jeepers Creepers" came out. Not exactly the same, but similar enough where if I tried to write mine, I'd just get laughed at.

Then last night, my daughter comes running into the kitchen, saying "you're never going to believe this." I went into the living room and they had a preview for a new film out called "The Fog". It wasn't a year ago, I was working on a similar concept intitled The Fog. I got the idea while watching Stephen Kings "Storm of the Century". Again, I didn't spend too much time on it, and I'm sure it's much different then what I would of come up with, but the concept is the same.

You never know.

Scripter, if you have a great idea, go for it!

Steph

[StephieM]

Thriller or not, assignment or spec, I wouldn't exactly mind being confined with Orlando Bloom.

I'll second that! :)

Steph

[aspiringwriter]

Steph...actually THE FOG is a re-make...came out back in 1980 and was directed by John Carpenter :) Sorry, don't mean to be a killjoy or anything.

I do know what you're saying though--remember that movie called ROLLERCOASTER that came out in 1977? I've ALWAYS wanted to write a sequel to it as strange as it sounds but i'm not sure exactly how I could do that...(legal wise)...Oh well!!

[Joe Calabrese]

Rollercoaster is actually a landmark film.

It was one of the first films where the hero had an issue to work out. In this case, he was trying to quit smoking throughout the entire film and every time he tried to light up, something came up and stopped him. At the end, when he had a chance to light and enjoy that cig, he threw the pack away.

That was the start of many films thereafter where the hero had a personal sub-goal.

[aspiringwriter]

I remember it well :) mainly because it was filmed in an actual theme/amusement park--something that to my knowledge has never been done since...:)

How do I go about writing a sequel? Actually I started a rough draft a few years ago :)

[StephieM]

Steph...actually THE FOG is a re-make...came out back in 1980 and was directed by John Carpenter :) Sorry, don't mean to be a killjoy or anything.

I do know what you're saying though--remember that movie called ROLLERCOASTER that came out in 1977? I've ALWAYS wanted to write a sequel to it as strange as it sounds but i'm not sure exactly how I could do that...(legal wise)...Oh well!!

Really? Figures. I forgot all about my story anyway, until I seen the previews last night. I'll have to rent the original.

I don't remember ROLLERCOASTER, I was born in 1976. :)

Steph

[aspiringwriter]

THE FOG is a really good, creepy movie... :) I'm not sure how the re-make will be but then again THE AMITYVILLE HORROR re-make was truer to the book than the 1979 version. I happen to like both versions of that...

[jdkiggins]

Just to let you all know I placed a sticky thread in the Freelance Forum to remind everyone to vote.

Good luck, all!

[scripter1]

looks really good but I all ready have enough things to be afraid of.
I might go see it if I could confine myself to Bloom's lap.
Not likely to happen.
I'll settle for working on the script.

I vaguely remember Rollercoaster. I think I caught parts of it years ago on a movie channel.

A friend of mine just sent me a link to a new TV show called Wildfire.
There goes the title to my family drama.

None of the ideas posted in task 2 are remotely similar to my script.

[StephieM]

Just to let you all know I placed a sticky thread in the Freelance Forum to remind everyone to vote.

Good luck, all!

Thanks Joanne!

Steph

[NikeeGoddess]

dp - why was my questioning to scripter "pessimistic" and "pre-judging". those are the same questions you'll get from any producer in the business. one must be able to answer those kinds of questions with great enthusiasm...and she did answer but, it wasn't a "great" answer. i'm sure she doesn't want to be too revealing.

and i remember Rollercoaster as being a flick we saw in high school. i don't remember why we saw it. but, i do remember wondering which teacher chose that particular flick...as it was a horrifying ordeal for those peeps and didn't quite seem an appropriate flick for "high school" endorsed viewing.

but scripter - is wildfire a show about a horse? maybe it'll be short-lived just for your sake. ;)

[scripter1]

No way!!! I'm the original Miss. Modesty.

Actually my twist is - Audience superiour
The audience knows who the killer is and so I'm hoping through the whole film they would be twisting in thier seats and screaming at the screen that sweet, cute, innocent Orlando ( or insert any other adorable young actor) is really the murderer.

The hard part is writing it so that the audience knows but it's believable nobody else does. Currently I'm just working off the idea of the audience's instinct, some weird vibe that we all have, sensing that something isn't quite right.
We all have it but often tend to ignore it.

It's my first foray in to thrillers, so, we'll see how it goes.

Nikee,
The TV show Wildfire is about a girl who gets stuck out in this ranch, I think for troubled teens. My script is about the eternal nature of love as experianced between a crippled boy, a high society girl, and her crippled horse Wildfire, set during the Great Depression, with the end coming just after the invasion on the beaches of Normandy.

[NikeeGoddess]

Actually my twist is - Audience superiour
The audience knows who the killer is and so I'm hoping through the whole film they would be twisting in thier seats and screaming at the screen that sweet, cute, innocent Orlando ( or insert any other adorable young actor) is really the murderer.

actually, i don't think any of this is new to the genre.
but to explain what i mean -
i do have a real life example or variation of the cute, innocent looking murderer: about a year ago there was a sniper killing innocent people all over the washington, dc area. the fbi had strong profiles on snipers and serial killers... none of which suggested that the sniper would be a "black man and teenage boy". this relvalation was the true twist. ALSO Monster, with Charlize Theron, another real life story focused on the fact that she was one of the only "women" serial killers caught out there.

on twisting and screaming: it's extremely difficult to accomplish this feat. most people are numb from it b/c of all the slasher type flicks they've seen. i can only think of a few flicks that caused me to squirm....the latest was The Ring - there was this seen involving a freaked out horse on a ferry boat. a horse person like yourself would probably run out of the theater after that ;)

[scripter1]

seen the ring because I am so easily freaked out.

I've heard the horse scenes were intense and people who know me well have said I shouldn't watch it.

[Joe Calabrese]

I think misdirection has always been a good device with thrillers. Keep the audience wondering all the time with clues that go nowhere and other clues that give some info. Just when they think something will scare them, misdirect them with something innocent, let them calm down and then... BOOM.

Identity did this so well.

[scripter1]

I'm not talking about misdirection, though that is an excellent tool and gets me all the time.

I'm talking about the audience knowing as soon as the character shows up that this is going to be the killer. I don't show him actually killing someone right away, but there are just uncomfortable things that he says and does that clues the audience in.

The audience knows they are watching a serial killer flick and so they safely assume that this guy is it. And they are correct. I don't throw any red herrings to the audience. There are for the police, but the audience knows.
So, based on that knowledge they want to warn the target and every time the killer is with someone they should be screaming "That's the guy! That's him!! "
But they don't have any proof yet.

I'm trying to go against the standard gradually reveal and discover who the murderer is with the audience going through the same discoveries as the cops and detectives.

I want the audience to be shouting at the screen "Don't talk to him in the grocery store!!! He's a serial killer!!" "You, officer, don't just give him a ticket and walk away!!!! He's your killer!!" "AHHHH! Arrest him first THEN find the clues, he's a killer!! I know he's a killer, who cares that you DON'T!!"
I'm working on a scene where the killer and the detectives are actually playing cards together. So the audience should just be beside themselves knowing that the cat and mouse are sitting at the same table. But only one knows which is which.

Does that make sense?
Sorry I'm not being clear. I'm very tired.

I don't know if it will work or not. Depends on how I write it.
I'm studying the genre.
I'm okay with killer thrillers, just not supernatural flicks.




PS, no the killer isn't one of the cops.
It's the head detectives wife's ex-boyfriend's half sister's cousin's neighbor.
Oh, dear, now I've revealed too much.