I don't really know how to make polls or nothin' but I guess we can make due.
My initial idea is to play it pretty basic.
Way I see it, most of the best B-movies have fallen under one of these genre's if not more.
Horror
Sci-Fi
and Westerns
Personally I like to do a mix of all'uv'em.
For now, lets just try to stick with the basic genre and not all get into sub-genres. We can figure that out later.
Ok I'll post it here... :smile:
How about an odd story about a "Body Farm" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm] but an actual goul is discovered and eating the corpse and the night watchman must kill it (kind of like Bill Murray's character in Caddyshack meet Evil Dead 2).
have this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_from_the_Haunted_Sea) be combined with this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Ugly) and with this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Outer_Space) I'll see that!
I posted a suggestion on the other thread. Just disregard it. They way I see it it all has to be done on a budget. I think it may be fairly safe to say that leaves out sci-fi, but with digital imagery, who knows? Here's an alternate idea that I would like thoughts on.
How about people that have script ideas post a pitch in the standard 25 words or less. People should try to refrain from posting a pitch unless they have a fairly fleshed out idea. Then, after some pitches have been posted, I can start a poll with the various pitches and we can vote on them. We can give the poll a week. This way we're going with the ideas rather than genres.
Any thoughts?
Sounds like a good idea.
Well, berko, you're say is valuable, especially since you brought this notion back to life, so I personally will defer to your judgement. I can put together a poll easily enough, we would just need the pitches. If I get enough positive responses to the idea, I'll start a new thread tomorrow for the purpose of people posting their pitches. If not, oh well, my feelings won't be too hurt.
I would really appreciate it if you did that.
I think we can do just about anything as long as the script respects the budget.
I do agree about pitching ideas over genres... :)
I do have a 7 page script I made 2 years ago called "zombie run." The story takes place 94 days after the zombie invasion and the focus is on some looters. (Not like your typical zombie story) This is quite simple:
The leader discovers his friend and his woman are sleeping together and makes the loverboy run into the zombie infested woods with handcuffs; the chase leads to an abandon tool shed.
Semi-Based on L. Ron Hubbard...
A Cult leader on a ship with hippy slaves searching for alien lifeforms. He finds one in the Bermuda Triangle.
We should avoid any 'based on' or 'inspired by' - plots, cus we don't want to have a lawsuit later down the road...
Quote from: Berko on March 17, 2010, 04:41:05 PM
We should avoid any 'based on' or 'inspired by' - plots, cus we don't want to have a lawsuit later down the road...
lol... (I did say semi-based)
The character's name could always change. As for lawsuits, the only thing you need to worrie is stealing copyrighted material... although, I do like inspired by... :)
Inspired by a true story ~ A cult leader on a cruise ship with hippy slaves searching for alien lifeforms, and finds one in the Bermuda Triangle.
Sounds much better... :)
Cool. Keep your pitches sharpened for tomorrow. I'm going to start the thread in the a.m. Remember, 25 words or less, broadstrokes, basic premise. That kind of thing. Try to include a genre tag or at least a suggestion of one.
I'm having trouble with the 25 words or less thing. Could we maybe make it like 50 words or just make a 100 word limit?
Quote from: Berko on March 17, 2010, 09:51:40 PM
I'm having trouble with the 25 words or less thing. Could we maybe make it like 50 words or just make a 100 word limit?
Typically a pitch is 1 or 2 sentence long, the longer the pitch the more disconnected it becomes. Many Hollywood agents are "lazy" and would toss pitches that are longer then 2 sentence or longer then 25 words... Just as well the same people will toss your script (without reading) if the format is off or the script is over 120 pages.
I have 2 sentences now, but it's about 50 words.
Quote from: Berko on March 17, 2010, 10:27:38 PM
I have 2 sentences now, but it's about 50 words.
Cool... now shorten it (think TV guide... really, check out your TV guide, on demand, or whatever and look how they discribe the movie) You dont need to put all the details in the pitch all you need it the line (the idea) and the hook (the situation). :)
Can't we just keep them short? You can't really see the cleverness in 25 words, and we want people to get a good idea of what these plots are about. As long as people aren't posting novels I don't see why we can't just let people say what they want?
I'm just not sure why we're making it harder than it has to be.
Quote from: Berko on March 17, 2010, 10:52:53 PM
Can't we just keep them short? You can't really see the cleverness in 25 words, and we want people to get a good idea of what these plots are about. As long as people aren't posting novels I don't see why we can't just let people say what they want?
I'm just not sure why we're making it harder than it has to be.
I dont see a problem (we are not professionals) although somebody can help you shorten your idea as well :)
post it!!! :)
Well, 25 words or less is a fairly common restriction for movie pitches. It's also not like people don't go over it on a regular basis. There's a running joke in the film "The Player" where the central character, who is a Hollywood guy who spends his entire day listening to pitches and giving the green light, says on more than one occasion, "That's more than 25 words." The implication here is that those doing the pitching often go over the requested 25 words. Just try to keep it within that is you can. If it goes over, big woop.
I'll post the thread shortly.