Loneliest Man on Earth by 0 - Short, Sci Fi - 0

The Painter by Someone Obviously - Short, Horror - A painter is tortured by his art.

Iron Egg: Origins by 0 - Short, Action, Superhero - An egg rises.

Mugged by 0 - Short, Comedy - Writing can be burdensome

The Tenacious Willie O'Ree by Gordie Howe Hat-Trick - Short, Drama, Sports - The first black NHL player fights for acceptance.

Love Me Tinder by 0 - Short, Drama - Be careful who you reject.  

She by 0 - Short, Horror, Thriller - A majestic creature falls into the ambush of Man.

To The Flame by 0 - Short, Sci Fi  - A young starship captain must save his ship from an alien attack.

Rover One by 0 - Short, Sci Fi, Comedy - An explorer on the dwarf planet Ceres obeys orders perfectly -- up to a point.

Leave Them Hanging by 0 - Short, Western - Sometimes no last words can last forever

A Samurai's Tale by 0 - Short, Action, Drama - An Emperor threatens the peaceful existence of a former Samurai.  

Road Trip by Major Tom - Short, Sci Fi, Comedy - Everybody loves a good road trip.

Tweakers by 0 - Short, Crime - Meth-head grave robbers wind up nowhere near the eightball.

Margaret and Charles by 0 - Short, Drama - Two hitchhikers find they must be made for each other.

Motion Sensor by 123 - Short, Horror - A security light makes this homeowner feel less secure.

The Tooth Fairy by 0 - Short, Horror - 0

Frecklebug by 123 - Short, Fantasy - A father reassures his daughter about her freckles.

A Generous Donation by Indian Giver - Short, Drama - A homeless man receives a beautiful gift.

Yer' In Over Yer' Head by Marion Robert Morrison - Short, Comedy, Western - Two angry rail-workers try to wash away the day.

Satnav by 123 - Short, Drama, Thriller - A woman's infidelity takes her on an unexpected journey.

Stroke by 0 - Short, Drama - A mother is reunited with her dead son.




I request that writers refrain from outing him/her self until the concluding of the voting.

The voting will be done by using the five star Thread Rating found at the bottom of each script thread.  Look at the picture and then scroll to the bottom of the thread and test it.  Give this thread a score.





Don

Informative but boring thread. Sorry Don, 1 star from me.

1 star!!  You're too generous

I guess smiles don't work here.

Dasn

In the background, can you Don see the actual rating given, the fours or fives?

If a script receives nine 5 and one 4 totaling 49 averaging at 4.9 and another receives nine 5 and one 3 totaling 48 averaging 4.8.  The star rating might be hard to tell which has got it.  

This might all be very unlikely, the rating icon might be very easy to determine in the end.  But right now, the nine votes looks like approximately 4.1 - 4.3.

Very clever: Easy peasy.

Questions:

Do we continue to vote for our own or not?

Is it okay to indicate the score you gave on the applicable script's thread?

Just keep in mind everyone that it's hard-and-fast whole numbers of stars only. None of this 4-and-a-half, or pi, or i.

Fully expecting notes in the threads like "I would have given it a 4-and-a-half stars, but it was definitely imperfect so I went with 4."

I'm pretty new around here, but this seems like something that could be useful in the regular scripts threads, too. (If it's being used, I haven't noticed it.)

Bet we see it spreading into other areas of the site very quickly.

Frecklberg goes to the Samurai link from this thread. Something's amiss!

Quoted from JEStaats Frecklberg goes to the Samurai link from this thread. Something's amiss!

Yep - just emailed Don

Several others mixed up.

Quoted from jayrex In the background, can you Don see the actual rating given, the fours or fives?

Yes, I see numbers like 4.3 and 4.8

Quoted from eldave1 Do we continue to vote for our own or not? Is it okay to indicate the score you gave on the applicable script's thread?

Yes, vote for your own.  I can't see who votes for which.

And, yes. If you wish to indicate the score you gave in the applicable thread, that is ok.

Quoted from PKCardinal I'm pretty new around here, but this seems like something that could be useful in the regular scripts threads, too. (If it's being used, I haven't noticed it.)

At one time, we did. However I stopped that because many folks got hung up on the star rating and there were a lot of angry people, "Who gave me one star rating!"

Quoted from JEStaats Frecklberg goes to the Samurai link from this thread. Something's amiss!

This has been fixed.

Frecklebug is still down

Dan

PS

So is Satnav

I'm six reads in and there is definitely some talent participating in this round. It's going to be a tough bracket if they're all this caliber.

Great work (so far)!

Quoted from JEStaats I'm six reads in and there is definitely some talent participating in this round. It's going to be a tough bracket if they're all this caliber. Great work (so far)!

Agreed! I haven't given anything under a 3. Some 4's and 5's. Really impressed.

Quoted from JEStaats I'm six reads in and there is definitely some talent participating in this round. It's going to be a tough bracket if they're all this caliber. Great work (so far)!

Concur!

For one-pagers, these are pretty great! Definitely staying entertained while at work............

I count 21. Shouldn't it be 24?

@Don, @Sean, the Love Me Tender is Love Me Tinder.

Quoted from PrussianMosby I count 21. Shouldn't it be 24?

Not exactly. One writer asked to be removed.

Some good scripts in here, but I'm guessing the genre requirements are already checked?

Quoted from AnthonyCawood Some good scripts in here, but I'm guessing the genre requirements are already checked?

The genre was checked with respect that each writer submitted three scripts of three different genres, yes.  I did not read them and come to a determination if the script met the genre stated.  

I am assuming that the reader would 'down vote' a script if he/she felt it didn't meet the genre stated.  

- Don

Am having a lot of fun reading these -- especially without commenting or voting. Will come back and do that before Thursday after giving all at least a second read.

The quality is much better than previous rounds because writers have to make every word count for something.

P.S. to my last post:

On at least two scripts, I missed something important because I was not paying close enough attention (I thought I was). But, thanks to others' comments, I went back for another look. I'm so glad I had not voted!

Quoted from Stumpzian The quality is much better than previous rounds because writers have to make every word count for something.

Yeah, this is my short shorts theory in summary. You have or you have not. And most do have I think.

Okay, one page is extreme and difficult but I 100% prefer it to the 12-15 page full road thing in only few days…

Same here - I'm not voting yet, just reading and commenting. I read all but commented on less than a half.

Who bowed out of this round? Kind of unexpected. And why?

You guys have been busy!

Time to get into it.

Who pulled out? I imagine it’s not a secret as we will find out eventually.

I hate to say it, but I think some voters are artificially depressing the scores. There are some great great scripts on here that seemingly do not deserve the scores they’re getting. At least the scores are not representative of the comments shown for those scripts. So I’m having a hard time figuring out what the hell is happening. I don’t even have a dog in the fight, but I’m still hoping it’s a fair fight.

Quoted from Gary in Houston I hate to say it, but I think some voters are artificially depressing the scores. There are some great great scripts on here that seemingly do not deserve the scores they’re getting. At least the scores are not representative of the comments shown for those scripts. So I’m having a hard time figuring out what the hell is happening. I don’t even have a dog in the fight, but I’m still hoping it’s a fair fight.

Too bad we see the scores. I keep reminding myself that right now the impact of a single score is pretty big, a four star script will got to two stars if given a score of 1. But it's going to even out when the scripts gather 20 or more votes. One star then won't have such an impact.
I have an urge to give to five stars to some that in my opinion deserve four in order to artificially boost up the grades but I'm fighting that urge.
I'll wait a bit more before scoring.

Quoted from Warren Who pulled out? I imagine it’s not a secret as we will find out eventually.

RJP is still in?

Quoted from Gary in Houston I hate to say it, but I think some voters are artificially depressing the scores. There are some great great scripts on here that seemingly do not deserve the scores they’re getting. At least the scores are not representative of the comments shown for those scripts. So I’m having a hard time figuring out what the hell is happening. I don’t even have a dog in the fight, but I’m still hoping it’s a fair fight.

I noticed this, too.

I guess the point I’m making is that there are several very good scripts getting voted a 1 (defined as “poor”), and having multiple votes in the 1 or 2 range.  I consider a “poor” script to be one that is sloppily written, numerous typos, lack of story, and little or no thought put into (pretty much the definition of any of my scripts). But these are quality scripts in this round. To me, they certainly aren’t all 4’s and 5’s, but not a single one of them (and I’ve read them all) is deserving of a 1, and very very few of a 2.  While our reviews are certainly subjective, I just think some voters are going beyond the bounds of reasonableness, and it makes me sad.

Gary

Quoted from Gary in Houston I guess the point I’m making is that there are several very good scripts getting voted a 1 (defined as “poor”), and having multiple votes in the 1 or 2 range.  I consider a “poor” script to be one that is sloppily written, numerous typos, lack of story, and little or no thought put into (pretty much the definition of any of my scripts). But these are quality scripts in this round. To me, they certainly aren’t all 4’s and 5’s, but not a single one of them (and I’ve read them all) is deserving of a 1, and very very few of a 2.  While our reviews are certainly subjective, I just think some voters are going beyond the bounds of reasonableness, and it makes me sad. Gary

I did like the voting system in the first round where you voted for one script or the other. I felt it was more of a fair fight.

I'm with you, Gary. I still have a couple more to read but, so far, not a single entry has deserved a 1. My memory's a bit vague but I think I may have only rated one entry a two (and that may have been harsh).

Quoted from khamanna RJP is still in?

Yeah. Doesn’t look like I’ll make it through to next round, but you never know. Seems like everybody is getting 1s dropped on their script.

I don't think any of the entries are a "1" or "2." And "3" is defined as being only "Average." Choosing the appropriate score is going to be hard.
I'm doing this in three stages: (a) read all, (b) read again and comment, (c) go back and score.  Not sure how I'll approach the scoring.

I assumed we'd be paired as per previous rounds and our 3 one pagers judged as a collection, then readers would easily be able to see if we'd 'cheated' on the three different genre requirement, with voting then done as previous rounds.

As it is I've no idea what writer wrote which three scripts (apart from my own very distinct entries), so no idea if they met or fudged the genre element at all.

This feels much more like a normal OWC unfortunately.

Ho hum, if I don't progress then c'est la vie and ten new scripts to show or the exercise.

Don said he checked that three entries from each person were flagged with different genres when they were uploaded.

So you'd see fudging by scripts that fail to match their descriptions.

You'd only see if one script in isolation didn't meet the stated genre, you wouldn't know if it then clashed with the other two the same writer wrote.

So you could not agree with the stated genre based on the upload categories, but that wasn't one of the requirements, so  it could still not be an issue because it could be distinct from the other two genres chosen for the other scripts.

I'm not worried about it, just had expected it to be something that was factored into voting in some way.

Quoted from RJP Yeah. Doesn’t look like I’ll make it through to next round, but you never know. Seems like everybody is getting 1s dropped on their script.

Yeah, seems like it's a lot of 1s on every script. People probably compare the scripts otherwise there are no 1-star scripts in a bunch. The writers simply are too good this time.

Quoted from Gary in Houston I hate to say it, but I think some voters are artificially depressing the scores. There are some great great scripts on here that seemingly do not deserve the scores they’re getting. At least the scores are not representative of the comments shown for those scripts. So I’m having a hard time figuring out what the hell is happening. I don’t even have a dog in the fight, but I’m still hoping it’s a fair fight.

I had the exact same reaction

If someone withdrew after they won, someone else should have been granted a spot in that slot.  In no way am I saying it should have been me, or even anyone from the last round of cuts, but you could have chosen the loser with the most votes, or the loser from the person who withdrew, or let someone like Mark or Jell in.

I need to read a lot more.  So far, I've read 2 and both got a 4.  

Dan

Regarding the one withdrawal.  

We all have a lot of stuff going on in our lives and sometimes it catches up to us.

In the giant scheme of things, our families are more important than what is going on here.

Obviously, once the writers are revealed you will know who withdrew.  Let's all respect the decision.

There was not enough time to sub in another writer by the time we got the notification.

Thanks,

Don

Just double-checked if I voted each entry and it seems I'm through.

There's an all in all good quality from my sight on things. Some great titles around too.

A great third round anyway, having such tricky discipline that probably no one would have expected. I also got no problem with the voting system; rather find it super fair that you have three shots that build an overall average.

'Good Job' to the Hosts!

See you in the semi-finals.

Having read through all of these, my initial impressions are:

1. This is a great batch of scripts.
2. The early rounds made the correct decision weeding me out before now

Those little stars don’t remain stationary for long. Up down, up down. Why won’t they just stay up haha.

I think this is anyone’s game at this point.

Quoted from Warren Those little stars don’t remain stationary for long. Up down, up down. Why won’t they just stay up haha. I think this is anyone’s game at this point.

Reminds me of a local film critic where I grew up, Bill Wine. He used his own rating system, which I gathered was along the lines of:

4 stars: Excellent film.
3 stars: Entertaining film.
2 stars: Flawed or predictable film.
1 star: A wooden or just plain bad film.
0 stars: A film made specifically to irritate Bill Wine.

Quoted from Warren Those little stars don’t remain stationary for long. Up down, up down. Why won’t they just stay up haha. I think this is anyone’s game at this point.

I thought it was just me. One day a script would be a 1.1 then the next day 3.3 then then two hours later 2.5. I stopped paying attention.

Just read them all. I will say this. I was a little disheartened I didn't make it to round 3 but when I saw the challenge this time around I got over it quickly. Writing a complete 1 page story is TOUGH! Kudos to the writers here for all the great ideas and execution. For the most part, all the scripts were fairly strong, I didn't give out a single 1 star review in the lot.

That said, my two clear favs were Mugged and Leave Em Hanging. Whoever wrote Mugged is gonna get a lot of points for going meta but it works AND the story is complete. It was really funny and I'm sure would fit the bill for any of the OWCs around here. Really great job.

Leave Em Hanging gets a lot of points for being a western from me. But it was an excellent mini story that actually works best within the 1 page limit. A 2nd page would have killed it by dragging on what would just be unnecessary, and for that it's my overall winner this round. Super strong entry. The title is perfect as well. Excellent job.

I've just read them all.

Didn't give a single 1 star review.

To me, lots of good efforts.  I enjoyed this round.

When it comes to the person withdrawing, I think that spot should have been given to the lucky loser or the next best contender.  I think that was khamanna?  I may be wrong.  Although time would be against you.  To keep it all equal for the next round.

Quoted from jayrex When it comes to the person withdrawing, I think that spot should have been given to the lucky loser or the next best contender.  I think that was khamanna?

Dan or TheUsual.

I don't think he withdrew right away, so they wouldn't have time to write anyway.
But who'd miss this round - I surely don't!)

Quoted from jayrex When it comes to the person withdrawing, I think that spot should have been given to the lucky loser or the next best contender.

I disagree with this. I believe part of the challenge is meeting the deadlines and being able to be in it for the long haul. If you can’t do that for whatever reason, personal or otherwise, it’s unfortunate but it’s just the game.

Whoever withdrew won his/her spot in round 3, the runner up didn’t. I think that sounds harsher than it’s meant to, but the people that are left are meant to be here. They met the requirements; they produced the required scripts and won their way through either by votes or by the other writer not getting a script up or disqualifying themselves like in Kham’s instance.

Really don't understand how the scores are bouncing around like they do. I seen scripts go from 4 and 1/2 to 2 in a Flash

Isn't it a simple case of someone gives it a 4, then another person gives it a 2? I'm crap at Maths but I do know I'm scoring high only on Shorts that I think would make a great film.

Reading something and appreciating and enjoying it is totally different imho to something that's going to be a film audience winner.

It's all subjective as we know too, unless it's a cracker of a script everyone loves.

Quoted from LC Isn't it a simple case of someone gives it a 4, then another person gives it a 2? I'm crap at Maths but I do know I'm scoring high only on Shorts that I think would make a great film. Reading something and appreciating and enjoying it is totally different imho to something that's going to be a film audience winner. It's all subjective as we know too, unless it's a cracker of a script everyone loves.

It would make sense if there are only two or three votes, I'm just noticing significance swings on Scripts where there are 20 votes. Struck me as odd is all

Quoted from eldave1 It would make sense if there are only two or three votes, I'm just noticing significance swings on Scripts where there are 20 votes. Struck me as odd is all

I agree. I'm glad the smart guys in charge are able to split the hairs, atoms, quantum whatevers to determine who moves on.

Quoted from Stumpzian I agree. I'm glad the smart guys in charge are able to split the hairs, atoms, quantum whatevers to determine who moves on.

And rebuild after an apocalyptic disaster.  
Oh yeah, me too!

I’m really looking forward to seeing who wrote which three scripts this round.

I love Cam's one word reviews.

Quoted from LC I love Cam's one word reviews.

Agreed, they are pretty damn funny.

Decided to read through all the comments of each thread to see how closely they match up with what the rating, for some it seems completely reasonable, for others quite confusing.

I will say one thing though; I seem to be called out a fair bit for my comments. I'm not sure when my opinion became less valuable than any one else’s.

Leave me alone, you’re starting to hurt my feelings!  

Quoted from LC I love Cam's one word reviews.

Nope.

Quoted from Warren Decided to read through all the comments of each thread to see how closely they match up with what the rating, for some it seems completely reasonable, for others quite confusing. I will say one thing though; I seem to be called out a fair bit for my comments. I'm not sure when my opinion became less valuable than any one else’s. Leave me alone, you’re starting to hurt my feelings!

I’m giving this comment one star.

Feelings? There're no feelings in writing!

As we near the end - at least per my eye:

Average score for all scripts is right around 3 - maybe less (can't tell exactly because don't know the value of partially shaded stars)

1 - script has a rating above 4

10 - scripts have a rating above 3 - less than 4

10 scripts have an average rating of above 2, less than 3

Basically half of the scripts are rated less then average. Half rated average - one rated good.  

Quoted from eldave1 As we near the end - at least per my eye: Average score for all scripts is right around 3 - maybe less (can't tell exactly because don't know the value of partially shaded stars) 1 - script has a rating above 4 10 - scripts have a rating above 3 - less than 4 10 scripts have an average rating of above 2, less than 3 Basically half of the scripts are rated less then average. Half rated average - one rated good.

If average is 3.

And there's 21 in total.

11 = 3 and above
10 = below

Doesn't that mean more than half are above average?

Quoted from jayrex If average is 3. And there's 21 in total. 11 = 3 and above 10 = below Doesn't that mean more than half are above average?

For Christ's sake -  I'm rounding here.  Okay 52.38% have an average rating of 3 or better.  47.62% have a rating of less than average. Better??

Right now I see three scored above 4.

It's much better scores than regular OWC. They usually give us the ratings for the selectee and runner-ups - runner-ups are usually all below 4. Selectee may or may not be above, but most often just a tad.

Quoted from khamanna Right now I see three scored above 4. It's much better scores than regular OWC. They usually give us the ratings for the selectee and runner-ups - runner-ups are usually all below 4. Selectee may or may not be above, but most often just a tad.

There are now three above 4 - a change from when I first wrote the post - good to see

Maybe we'll end up with a seven-way tie. To break it, everyone has to write three more scripts.

Quoted from Stumpzian Maybe we'll end up with a seven-way tie. To break it, everyone has to write three more scripts.

By the gods I beg thee noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Dan

Quoted from eldave1 Average score for all scripts is right around 3 - maybe less (can't tell exactly because don't know the value of partially shaded stars)

The stars displayed to us are either full or half (doesn't look like a half to me, but the name on the image file is for a half), but Don and Sean see the actual numeric average of all the ratings.

A person's score for the round is the sum of their three scripts. If there is a real underlying writer-level quality difference, then adding three scores will tend to spread out the totals (good writers tend to have three high scores, etc.). I'm worried that even a good writer is going to do well on two genres and okay on the third, in which case summing them is going to bunch all the totals together.

If we were picking one or two or three to advance, I'd say this is the perfect system to identify talented polymaths. For brackets, I think it brings in some randomness, not that randomness was absent from the previous rounds.

I can't imaging what round 4 will look like.

"I assume you have a camera in your cellphone. Produce your entry from Round 1 and upload it by midnight on Sunday."

I'm done.  All but one were rated 3 or above.  None got a 1.  

Good quality.  Can't wait for next round.

Dan

Well, this was a delightful experience.

Reading one-pagers is so much fun. Funny, my eye was trained to keep looking for more.

So many inventive entries too. I don't think I scored anything below a three.

Thanks to the current contenders. You all did well.

Looking forward to what's up next.

Quoted from LC Well, this was a delightful experience. Reading one-pagers is so much fun. Funny, my eye was trained to keep looking for more. So many inventive entries too. I don't think I scored anything below a three. Thanks to the current contenders. You all did well. Looking forward to what's up next.

Thanks for contributing. Much appreciated

Think I've read them all. Overall, some fine quality writing for one pagers! Only rated one or two a four (no fives), and none below a two. Great work!

Quoted from eldave1 Thanks for contributing. Much appreciated

What, am I chopped liver left to spoil on  a countertop then mixed into a pie that gave everyone food poisoning??  That totally didn't happen in real life.

Dan

Thanks for your contribution Dan!  

Quoted from DanC What, am I chopped liver left to spoil on  a countertop then mixed into a pie that gave everyone food poisoning??  That totally didn't happen in real life. Dan

I was going to send a card.

Folks,

To set expectations.  It will take a while to tally the votes and send to Sean.  I will do that as quickly as possible.  Tomorrow.

stand by

Don

Thanks both of you.  You guys are all great.

Dan

I know that by locking the threads, it doesn't lock the voting.  However, I've downloaded the files, so any votes after now won't count.

Also, thus far, all the votes are in increments of .5 which means I think the software rounds to the nearest .5  which means that there will be ties.  

Stand by.

- Don

Only guess I've got is Dave for:

Frecklebug
Motion Sensor
SatNav