And I'm finished with my reviews. Boy, that was exhausting...

So half of me says why have parameters if so many writers are going to flagrantly flout them... and then the other half  says that the end justifies the means, which is to say that the ultimate objective is to create art, and the contest only lasts a few days, and then these scripts are free from the parameters....

Then another part of me - wait, there's 3 halves of me? Oh, it's only the first half answering the second half back - says that you should fit the parameters as given, and then rewrite your script afterwards once you are free of the constraints.

I think in a writing challenge like this, and OWC, part of the point is the parameters... It's not much of a challenge otherwise. Imho of course

There's an entry everyone loves that is still going down so--

Here's an idea - there could be an entry in the third round selected out of those that sank. They call it something in those games. I think in American Idol or some singing competitions they do that, the judges have one come back.

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I think in a writing challenge like this, and OWC, part of the point is the parameters... It's not much of a challenge otherwise. Imho of course

I think people see the parameters differently.

For example, some think killing should occur during the celebration.  I don't see it as a parameter, so I didn't penalize for it.

Quoted from khamanna I think people see the parameters differently. For example, some think killing should occur during the celebration.  I don't see it as a parameter, so I didn't penalize for it.

Yes, you could conceivably kill off your allotted characters in the beginning and then play Weekend at Bernie's through the celebration taking up 90% of the script.

I thought the zombie story was brave since it provokes a fight over whether anyone died, though I had other issues with that particular script.

Was half expecting a 3-body-count script in horror format where they have to kill the same character three times. Alas, was not to be.

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I think in a writing challenge like this, and OWC, part of the point is the parameters... It's not much of a challenge otherwise. Imho of course

concur 100 %

Quoted from khamanna There's an entry everyone loves that is still going down so-- Here's an idea - there could be an entry in the third round selected out of those that sank. They call it something in those games. I think in American Idol or some singing competitions they do that, the judges have one come back.

They call it "A Save"

Quoted from FrankM Was half expecting a 3-body-count script in horror format where they have to kill the same character three times. Alas, was not to be.

This is a fun idea! You write it!

Actually, I'm toying with the idea which I would have if I was in another pairing. Want to write a short in another category. Thank God I don't have to do it 48 hours. Although it was fun trying.

Quoted from eldave1 They call it "A Save"

Just an idea, surely.

Quoted from khamanna This is a fun idea! You write it!

It would have been a fun play on the parameters, but as a freestyle short it'd just look cliched. That, and I don't really "get" the horror genre.

(And I literally avoided bringing my sons to certain subway stops when they were running ads for It. Who vets these ads, anyway?)

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I think in a writing challenge like this, and OWC, part of the point is the parameters... It's not much of a challenge otherwise. Imho of course

Writers should not be penalized this round for having scripts that are not 100% on location.

When I got my PM with instructions and parameters, I was amped for it and wrote my script that night. I was instructed that I have a “celebration” and that X amount of people must die. Thats it. Nothing about location. The instructions page said that writers would not be DQ’d for going a little over 8 pages.

The NEXT DAY there is some discussion on the forum and the organizer says that he would prefer that everything happen on location. After my script is already written! Those instructions are tacked on to the info page (wasn’t  there when the round started).

Does that seem fair? Change the rule a day after the round starts in a 48hr writing contest? Now let me just say that the organizers have done a great job with this contest. But people are being really stupid about this. I wasn’t going to write a second script.

RJP,

Once I got my topic, I asked the moderator if everyone had to die at the event, and he said yes. So that's what I wrote. No big deal, it might have changed my script a little bit, but it would not have affected the outcome. I had trouble reaching the voters for other reasons.

So let's apply logic to the parameters at hand - all or the vast majority of your script must take place at the event. If it's an 8 page limit, I'm guessing 7 pages is a vast majority?

So logic would dictate that unless your people dying on the one page that you're not at the event for is intrinsic to your story, you should do all you can to have them die during the 'vast majority.' That's how I saw it, and that's how I scored it.

Quoted from ajr RJP, Once I got my topic, I asked the moderator if everyone had to die at the event, and he said yes. So that's what I wrote. No big deal, it might have changed my script a little bit, but it would not have affected the outcome. I had trouble reaching the voters for other reasons. So let's apply logic to the parameters at hand - all or the vast majority of your script must take place at the event. If it's an 8 page limit, I'm guessing 7 pages is a vast majority? So logic would dictate that unless your people dying on the one page that you're not at the event for is intrinsic to your story, you should do all you can to have them die during the 'vast majority.' That's how I saw it, and that's how I scored it.

Yeah, and I wasn't going to make a big deal about anything. The only reason I'm bringing it up is because people are still talking about it. I lost dozens of votes because of it and it's not fair.

What writing contest on this planet would change the rules after starting the round? People are defending it because they didn't get screwed like I did. I'm probably the only one that started my script when the initial instructions were given.

I followed the instructions perfectly. I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't handled very well.

Quoted from RJP Yeah, and I wasn't going to make a big deal about anything. The only reason I'm bringing it up is because people are still talking about it. I lost dozens of votes because of it and it's not fair. What writing contest on this planet would change the rules after starting the round? People are defending it because they didn't get screwed like I did. I'm probably the only one that started my script when the initial instructions were given. I followed the instructions perfectly. I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't handled very well.

It's okay dude. I'm not moving on either. People vote how they vote.

Quoted from RJP Yeah, and I wasn't going to make a big deal about anything. The only reason I'm bringing it up is because people are still talking about it. I lost dozens of votes because of it and it's not fair. What writing contest on this planet would change the rules after starting the round? People are defending it because they didn't get screwed like I did. I'm probably the only one that started my script when the initial instructions were given. I followed the instructions perfectly. I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't handled very well.

Dozens of votes??

There was one script that I did not think met the parameters.

It was not close in quality to the other script.

Feel badly if you lost because (a) you had a superior script and (b) the reason it lost was confusion re: the rules.  Just saying that from my perspective there wasn't a single script that was A and B.