Holy crap! A CAMP LYCANTHROPE update? I MADE FINALS!!!!!!!!!

[Midnight]

Two, I'd like the film to be something of a surprise to fans. It'll be no fun if they know every little detail about it.

I totally agree with that... it's one of the reasons I've never asked to look at your script.

[MattSullivan]

It's nice to hear there are still people out there who hate spoilers. I'm not a fan of the whole "spoiler culture" found on the net, where people scrape and claw and fight for the TINIEST tidbit of information about movies. Then these same people complain that the movie was "predictable"

WELL DUH! You knew 90% of the plot ahead of time! *losers* No wonder there are so many angry nerds out there. They've forgotten what a SURPRISE feels like.

[Xiroteus]

Put me down as another person that avoids spoilers, there have been times where I avoid trailers all together because I wanted to know nothing, and even going as far with some television shows not know what the episode is even about, I cannot see a reason why I would want to know the entire plot of a film in way of spoilers when I can see the film in a few weeks or days time.

I do watch some trailers now days, not multiple ones that are different parts of the film, nor do I view those eight minutes of the film before it is released.

And we know some trailers give away far too much, there are things I would have liked to avoided.

In the new Batman film, I was not aware Harvey Dent was in it until the trailer was shown, showing how much I avoid knowing too much about a film.

I like being surprised.

[MattSullivan]

there have been times where I avoid trailers all together because I wanted to know nothing

Y know, if by some miracle I get CL made, the ONE thing I will insist on putting in my contract...is total control over the trailer(s) I'll want to do something that doesn't give the plot away. That's my biggest pet peeve.

[IndianaJones]

Hollywood needs to be more original, soul, and creative. This generation now for the movies kind of suck, with the exception of Dark Knight, Ku Fu Panda, Hellboy II, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. But still the younger generation now sucks in my opinion, but in reality it does freaking suck! Some new movies lack the old Hollywood movie magic that was back in the old generations. They need imaginative, creative, and original stories, unlike now.

I demand Hollywood officially to help Matt make Camp Lycanthrope, if his script wins the contest. Then the producers, directors, and companies will be very interested in Camp Lycanthrope for its dark humor and originality.

[MattSullivan]

One would hope so my friend.

[Lunar]

I like to know something about the plot of the movie I'm watching otherwise it may be on a subject that doesn't interest me in the slightest. But I want knowledge that doesn't spoil or ruin the story.

[MattSullivan]

it's about werewolves

[cjkrythos]

It's nice to hear there are still people out there who hate spoilers. I'm not a fan of the whole "spoiler culture" found on the net, where people scrape and claw and fight for the TINIEST tidbit of information about movies. Then these same people complain that the movie was "predictable"

WELL DUH! You knew 90% of the plot ahead of time! *losers* No wonder there are so many angry nerds out there. They've forgotten what a SURPRISE feels like.

one of the reasons I loved WALL-E. The previews werent revealing at all. they didnt give you a premise for the story, just showed you a robot, wandering around, lots of cool graphics, and then the preview was over. They didnt even tell you why the robot was there. You had to figure it out by actually WATCHING the movie.

On a similar note to the people who were revealing major plot aspects of big stories like harry potter, I want to strangle a few of em the next time I get the chance. I know it was popular crap, but overall, the story was pretty good in comparison to most kids books on the market. it was interesting enough that an adult could read it and still learn to love it while still being overall appealing to kids, which is really whats important. Too many kids out there spend all their time avoiding books like the plague.

[nekocj]

Hey Matt that's awesome news! Lets have some new Camp Lycanthrope art to celebrate!

-Neko

[Kaebora]

Understanding that reading all of those scripts and scrutinizing all the details of them is time consuming work for judges, about how long does it take for the contest to conclude?

[MattSullivan]

Hey Matt that's awesome news! Lets have some new Camp Lycanthrope art to celebrate!

Would love to celebrate. But I''m holding my breath, waiting to see if it makes the semis. From there it has to make the finals, and then, it has to be judged as "best of" If I don't make semis there won'tbe much to celebrate, so we'll wait and see.

[alphanubilus]

Understanding that reading all of those scripts and scrutinizing all the details of them is time consuming work for judges, about how long does it take for the contest to conclude?

The ones that I've entered before, usually can take up to 3 months. The last one I entered, the "Screenwriting Expo 4" contest started in early August, and concluded sometime late October.

Usually the larger the contest, the longer it takes.

[Kaebora]

I suspected just as much. Cool. I've been thinking about going back to my storyboarded short film and fleshing it out into a feature length film, and putting it into such a contest just for kicks to see if I did anywhere near as good as the pros.

[alphanubilus]

I suspected just as much. Cool. I've been thinking about going back to my storyboarded short film and fleshing it out into a feature length film, and putting it into such a contest just for kicks to see if I did anywhere near as good as the pros.

Well something to think about is, that you aren't fighting against pros in such contests, as everybody else who has entered are just like you, newbies, who are trying to take a crack at the biz. That in itself is comforting as they themselves are in the same boat as you. The only real advantage you have is how much you know about story structure, screenwriting, and a natural sense of how to tell a great story.

The whole concept is to have your work stand out from the rest. Believe me these Screenwriting contest types recieve literally thousands of entries and most of those are disqualified due to nothing more than poor formatting, bad editing, and general lack of knowledge of the craft. In short submitting a 360 page script is a NO NO.

If you want to take a shot at it, more power to you, but I would advise learning (if you haven't already) the basics, script mechanics and verbage, and so on and so forth.

Of course you are going to find quirks and such. Matt and my style vary completely. He will interject camera angles and other film terminology, while I prefer to leave that stuff out. Neither of us are wrong, as it gets the job done. You'll find yourself making decisions like that of which better suites your needs. The ONLY time you need to be careful is when you start to over direct your script, as the director will be furious, or you waist too much space trying to describe a certain angle, where a simple direction could have saved time and space. It is finding the happy medium and sticking with it.

[Midnight]

remembers reading an anecdote about a stage play where the audience never got to hear the funniest line in the script because it was a stage direction...

[MattSullivan]

Actually, I don't put camera direction into a script unless it can give a GENERAL mental image of the scene in progress. But alpha's right, you leave specific angles in the hands of who whoever directs your film.

[MattSullivan]

Woo-Hoo! CL made it into the semi-finals! Here's a list at the scripts I'm competing against. ( Look in the action-adventure category )

http://www.internationalscreenwritingaw ... semi.shtml

[Silverclaw]

Whooo!
Congrats! Go for the gold!

[MattSullivan]

Thanks Silverclaw This means CL is among the top 25 action script submissions from all over the WORLD. I'm.....stunned. I never thought this silly little werewolf script would impress ANYONE, much less a huge contest like this.

Now comes the monumental task of making the finals. Oy mi cabeza!

[PariahPoet]

Sweet!!
What's your competition looking like?
Man, top 25....even this close you're likely to be drawing some major attention from studios.

I'm with Indiana Jones hoping that Dreamworks will pick it up. They seem open to more mature animated movies and hopefully wouldn't cute it up like Pixar might. (But then as long as it gets made and I can kick back and enjoy it in a theatre with a box of junior mints I won't complain too much. ;) They're very refreshing!)

[MattSullivan]

Sweet!!
What's your competition looking like?

Here's a list of all the finalists in all the categories, including me.
http://www.internationalscreenwritingaw ... semi.shtml
Oh and also, it's not in any ANIMATED category, as animation isn't a genre. It's in Action-adventure.

I'm with Indiana Jones hoping that Dreamworks will pick it up. They seem open to more mature animated movies and hopefully wouldn't cute it up like Pixar might.

I hear ya pariah, but let's not confuse cute with "insipid". Cute sells :} And considering Pixar's track record...well...if I worked there and they wanted to make CL I might just LET them cute it up. Thing is, they have their own in-house development teams and would never option a film like this ( to the best of my knowledge )

[Lycanthrope]

Regardless of what happens next, may this always remind you what you're capable of. Especially during the rainy days. Go Matt!!!

[MattSullivan]

Thanks Lycanthrope! ^-^

[Scott Gardener]

Wow! Even getting this far is pretty monumental, and surely it will get someone to take another look at the script. Hope you win this thing!