Winner, Script Frenzy 2012
Me. And that?s official.
As of April 25, when final page validation took place, at ScriptFrenzy.org
You may remember that Script Frenzy is the global challenge where contestants have 30 days (the month of April) to complete a full-length movie screenplay of 100 pages.
I didn?t want to tell you until the official tally was in ? and I had my nifty Winner?s Badge to show you.
(My nifty Winner?s Certificate is hanging up on my wall).
Truth be told, I actually hit the magic 100, on April 19th.
Wasn?t easy.
Mind you, it wasn?t that hard, either.
Because I didn?t lose my head ? as sometimes happened, in previous years.
Script Frenzy, yes.
But I wasn?t frenzied, while doing it.
In fact, I was having fun.
And I think that fun is the key to success, in this endeavour.
Let?s face it. The script you end up with at the 30-day point isn?t going to win any Oscars. But. A couple of years down the line; bit of work? Who knows.
So, it?s important to at least finish the damn thing.
And in order to do that, you have to leave self-doubt, over-analyzing, and dithering behind.
And get a little wacky.
That thigh-slapper joke the guy from Human Resources told at the pub, last night?
Have one of your main characters paraphrase it.
The stunt you saw on DVD, that would look awesome, with your own unique twist?
Twist that puppy, and put it in there.
Heck. Throw the kitchen sink at it, if you have to.
Just finish.
And have fun.
During the Frenzy, it was not uncommon for the neighbors to see me pacing my yard, muttering to myself with a goofy grin.
The fact that clowns play a major role in my script didn?t help.
(Get over it, people; that?s the way I work).
The point is, I finished.
In (for me; so far) record time.
Getting that fact recognized? That was a different matter.
For reasons too complex and numerous to go into, I had to do my entire Frenzy using handwritten notes and cloudware (online software).
In a month when my Internet connection was dodgy, at best.
And in a process which went something like this:
1. Type up daily notes and email them to self, as backup archive.
2. Add daily text to project, at online screenplay editor.
3. Try to save project file. Fail, dismally.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Yell, ?Sod this!? (Paraphrasing).
6. Continue, till end of screenplay.
That was just the writing part.
Assembling the screenplay file itself, was a little more challenging:
1. Download and organize text files, from daily notes.
2. Laboriously stitch notes together
(Copy, Paste, Copy, Paste, Copy, Zzzzz?..)
3. Wake up, with jolt.
4. Save the patched together, Frankenstein monster file.
5. Upload the file to online service that converts MS Word files to Portable Document Format (PDF).
(I used www.pdfonline.com. You upload your file, give them your email address, and they send the PDF to you, in minutes. 10 minutes, in my case).
6. Upload the PDF screenplay to the validation engine at www.ScriptFrenzy.org.
7. Get validated.
8. Punch sky, in triumph.
9. Yell. ?I rule!?, ?Yes!! I am The Man!?, etc.
10. Drink glass of something bubbly.
Which is what I?m going to do, after I sign off, here.
But first?
The logline for ?SOS: State Of Siege? now reads like this:
?When teenage super-soldiers take possession of a crowded cafeteria, an elite police unit must safely negotiate the release of their hostages ? among them, the sister and girlfriend of one of its key members.?
I know; still needs work. As does the screenplay, itself.
And the logo:
Clowns. Remember; there are clowns, involved. Dangerous ones.
I?m off, for that bubbly stuff, now. And maybe some fried chicken.
I?ll see you, when I do.
Peace.
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