screenplay club?

Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse · Jan 2, 2006

ahoy there fellow AW members, just wondered if there was ever a kind of screenplay reading club on this forum. say, read one every three weeks (gives everyone a bit of time) and an ongoing discussion on the forums about that screenplay. then, whenever someone wants to do another, we could try that one. has this been tried before on here? its done on many sites, and usually leads to good discussion and furthering our understandings of what works and doesn't on scripts from mulitple-perspectives. anyways, just an idea... what do you think?

Gina_Ritter · Jan 2, 2006

Sounds like a good idea IF we can get our hands on freebie scripts. I won't be purchasing any scripts anytime soon.

Also, getting our hands on SPEC scripts is TOUGH. Shooting scripts are abundant, but they will be confusing. If we can find spec scripts that would be ideal.

pstudios · Jan 8, 2006

Sounds like a good idea. It's something everyone could benefit from. They do this in classes too.

Jennifer

Mac H. · Jan 8, 2006

Sounds like a good idea. Pick a script that's available on the web for free as a PDF - and point me to the link.

Mac.

StephieM · Jan 9, 2006

It's a great idea. Count me in! What's the first script?

Wait. First we have to have some kind of plan. Take some kind of vote on what script to read, then give ourselves one to two weeks to read it.

My suggestion would be...
12 monkeys- everyone says that's a great script, but I can't get myself to read more than a few pages. Maybe if I had a reason.

Any other suggestions?

Steph

Royale With Cheese · Jan 9, 2006

Sounds like a good idea. I'm all for it!

Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse · Jan 9, 2006

great idea steph! glad to see some people are interested in this.

if people have any other ideas for what scripts to look at, put them in here and we'll draw up a poll (if needed) later on to decide which script to look at.

i hope we get to do this.

nz

Sarai · Jan 9, 2006

i vote Fight Club.

pstudios · Jan 9, 2006

Alrighty! Let's go 4 it!

cmeasel · Jan 9, 2006

I vote for Adaptation or maybe Pulp Fiction

Mac H. · Jan 9, 2006

Can people put a link to the script they are suggesting?

For example, I've got two versions of 'Fight Club':

http://www.lachambre.it/gallery/screenplay/scren_pdf/_FIGHT%20CLUB_%20--%20by%20Jim%20Uhls.pdf

and

http://www.wordsurge.com/Fight_Club.pdf

It'd be a bit confusing if people ended up reading different versions !

We could always do an abridged script, for those who don't have much time.

How about the abridged version of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"?
See: http://ter.air0day.com/?script=harrypottergoblet

Mac.

aruna · Jan 10, 2006

I suggest Shawshank Redemption. Great script, great story!

availble here: http://www.angelfire.com/movies/moviefreak/shawshank.html

Royale With Cheese · Jan 10, 2006

Pulp Fiction is a good one. Or Stolen Summer. That might be good because it was a Project Greenlight winner.

scripter1 · Jan 10, 2006

Naw, let's do something with real substance.

I've read Fight Club so I vote for either 12 Monkeys or Pulp Fiction.

dpaterso · Jan 10, 2006

I'm just asking, might there be more value in examining a screenplay that didn't have the advantage of big-name directors, authors, or actors attached -- that didn't originate from the pen of a bestselling author with a legion of fans, or succeeded in large part due to the extra commercial appeal that Tarantino, Gilliam, Pitt, Norton, Willis, Freeman, etc. bring to the arena? First-time spec sales, as opposed to mega-projects mounted from within the industry, since most of us are unsold spec writers with no inside contacts.

Just a thought. I may have missed the target completely. Feel free to ignore.

-Derek
-> * <- Click on this magic star to be transported to my website. Ruby slippers optional.
________________________________________________
The practice of art isn't to make a living. It's to make your soul grow. ~The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (Kurt Vonnegut)

scripter1 · Jan 10, 2006

Well D,

see if you can dig up Finding Forester and we'll do that one.

It's just that "real" specs are really hard to find.
Few and far between.
I can't ever seem to find them anyway.

We could do Stolen Summer, I guess. I just didn't find the movie very interesting because the story is so straight forward.
I'm not sure how much we would actually learn from the script but...
it may be a place to start. Some good discussions could pop up.

I'm in either way. I'm not all that concerned what script gets chosen.

StephieM · Jan 10, 2006

Good thought Dp, but I'm going to have to agree with scripter. I tried running a title search for first time specs and could only find one. ARTIC BLUE. It's available at www.script-o-rama.com.

Just curious...at Drew's they specify what kind of script it is, like first draft, second draft, revised draft, shooting script, and script.....Does "script" indicate spec?

Maybe we can just stick to specs, rather than first time specs.

Steph

Rainy Night · Jan 10, 2006

I'm reading Syriana right now. It's up on Script-O-Rama - it'a a good read, but I keep having to remind myself that it's not a spec script - it's an adaptation written by the director, Stephen Gaghan.

Royale With Cheese · Jan 10, 2006

Are we going to keep talking about this or are we going to read a script? lol

If nobody decides by the morning I'm going to pick something from what has been mentioned already.

pstudios · Jan 10, 2006

Good Idea Derek. If U have one in mind, post the link so we can go to it. I think the most important thing here, is not what the script is, so much as the benefit the group can gain from the exercise of working with it.

Jennifer

Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse · Jan 11, 2006

i think the exercise is important, but people won't be looking to benefit that much from a script they didn't actually want to read in the first place, so the selection is kind of important.

so far, fight club (2 choices), stolen summer (2) and pulp fiction (3) have been the most suggested.
we need to remember that, if we are reading and talking about one every three weeks or so (to give people plenty of time) then we'll be able to do whatever missed out this time around.

so, it seems pulp fiction for this time.
well, lets give people a day to look for the most sutiable version we can find on net and to see if they want in before we start.

how do we all feel about that?

all the best, nz.

StephieM · Jan 11, 2006

Pulp Fiction is not your ordinary script. Sure, there's a three act structure in there somewhere, but for the beginner, it would be hard to focus on I think. When I read a script I like to pick out a clear structure, dissect it. I think we would benefit more from starting out with a simpler script and then maybe working our way up to the Pulp Fiction script.

Steph

Royale With Cheese · Jan 11, 2006

Regardless, here's the script. Pulp Fiction was the first script we ever read in Film Class my Junior year in college. It wasn't that complicated. It was this script that inspired me to become a screenwriter. What ever you guys decide is fine. But let's decide, ok?

http://rapidshare.de/files/10842871/Pulp_Fiction.pdf.html

This is the final 1993 draft. Trust me when I say you can't find the first draft anywhere.

Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse · Jan 11, 2006

obviously we want to make a decision, but its only fair to give people time to see how they feel about PF. afterall, its in the interest of the conversation about the screenplay to have as many different POVs on it (and thus as many different people as we can get on it), so its in the club's best interests to see how the people feel about doing PF first, before we rush in there.

Ragnarok · Jan 11, 2006

My vote on Fight Club.

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