The Friday Challenge
UPDATE 1/9/08: Holy Moley! No wonder AJW308 asked if I had a preferred format for entries. He sent a script treatment! Rather than embed his entry in the Haloscan comments, I decided the only way to do it justice was to convert it to a PDF file and post it right here.
Read and enjoy, folks.
Original Post: 1/4/08
Picking a winner for last week's Friday Challenge turned out to be much tougher than I thought. Ben-El, your entry was nicely written but too much of an inside joke; Claymore, you have good ideas, but it needs more development. Giraffe, "a little morbid" doesn't begin to describe it, although you do have your fans, or maybe there are just more people out there than I thought who long to see Demi Moore die horribly.
In the end it came down to Carl, who wrote a really strong entry with a very effective ghastly twist, or Rigel Kent, who wrote an equally strong entry that turned in the other direction and salvaged some hope from the ruins. I thought Carl's ending would work better for a short story and Rigel's for a novel, but "K" disagreed with me, and in the end, she wound up decreeing a new rule. Given that "K" is the one who actually pays for these prizes, she pronounced it a tie, with awards to be given to both Carl and Rigel.
So there you have it: Carl and Rigel Kent, click here to claim your prizes.
As for this week's Friday Challenge: I've been thinking about the new Alien vs Predator movie, and mostly thinking about how this whole thing seems to be developing along the lines already established in the fine tradition of the kaiju eiga. (Japanese for, "monster movie.") Specifically I'm thinking of how you can get more mileage out of your movie monsters by combining them in myriad combinations: e.g., King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla and Mothra vs King Ghidora, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan vs Gigan, Hedorah, and Mecha-Bambi, Tag-Team Cage Match, Two Out of Three Falls, etc., etc., etc...
I know that off in ComicbookLand they've already done Aliens vs Superman and Batman vs Predator. I've no doubt they've done others; I'm kind of afraid to look. But you know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that there is just one combination of contemporary movie monsters I would truly like to see on the big silver screen.
And that's this week's Friday Challenge. As of this moment, imagine you're part of the screenwriting team working on the script for (drum roll, please), Predators and Aliens vs Terminators. Now, don't bother thinking about the whole script; it's just a series of excuses to get from one stunt or effects shot to the next anyway and doesn't need to make sense. Your job is simply to write a description of the one key scene that will have 14-year-old boys going, "Wow! Cool!" for years to come.
One scene. That's all we ask.
As always, the contest will be judged by the somewhat relaxed rules for the Friday Challenge, with prizes to be awarded next Friday according to the principles enshrined behind Door #2. Think it over; scribble something if you can; post your entry in the Comments for this blog item. Even if you're not writing an entry, you're encouraged to read, comment on, and vote for your favorites among the other entries.
Relax, let your imagination off the leash, and remember that the Prime Directive here is to have fun.
P.S. And just one more little reminder here. The January 11 Friday Challenge will be for your best rant about life in the 21st century. I'm announcing this now so that you have an extra week to think about it and start working on it. Beginning Friday, 1/11/08, you can begin posting your rants or commenting on and voting for other's posts, with judgement to be rendered on Friday, 1/18/08.
Again, thanks to everyone who participates in these little experiments, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with given a bit more time to prepare.
Ciao,
~brb
Read and enjoy, folks.
Original Post: 1/4/08
Picking a winner for last week's Friday Challenge turned out to be much tougher than I thought. Ben-El, your entry was nicely written but too much of an inside joke; Claymore, you have good ideas, but it needs more development. Giraffe, "a little morbid" doesn't begin to describe it, although you do have your fans, or maybe there are just more people out there than I thought who long to see Demi Moore die horribly.
In the end it came down to Carl, who wrote a really strong entry with a very effective ghastly twist, or Rigel Kent, who wrote an equally strong entry that turned in the other direction and salvaged some hope from the ruins. I thought Carl's ending would work better for a short story and Rigel's for a novel, but "K" disagreed with me, and in the end, she wound up decreeing a new rule. Given that "K" is the one who actually pays for these prizes, she pronounced it a tie, with awards to be given to both Carl and Rigel.
So there you have it: Carl and Rigel Kent, click here to claim your prizes.
As for this week's Friday Challenge: I've been thinking about the new Alien vs Predator movie, and mostly thinking about how this whole thing seems to be developing along the lines already established in the fine tradition of the kaiju eiga. (Japanese for, "monster movie.") Specifically I'm thinking of how you can get more mileage out of your movie monsters by combining them in myriad combinations: e.g., King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla and Mothra vs King Ghidora, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan vs Gigan, Hedorah, and Mecha-Bambi, Tag-Team Cage Match, Two Out of Three Falls, etc., etc., etc...
I know that off in ComicbookLand they've already done Aliens vs Superman and Batman vs Predator. I've no doubt they've done others; I'm kind of afraid to look. But you know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that there is just one combination of contemporary movie monsters I would truly like to see on the big silver screen.
And that's this week's Friday Challenge. As of this moment, imagine you're part of the screenwriting team working on the script for (drum roll, please), Predators and Aliens vs Terminators. Now, don't bother thinking about the whole script; it's just a series of excuses to get from one stunt or effects shot to the next anyway and doesn't need to make sense. Your job is simply to write a description of the one key scene that will have 14-year-old boys going, "Wow! Cool!" for years to come.
One scene. That's all we ask.
As always, the contest will be judged by the somewhat relaxed rules for the Friday Challenge, with prizes to be awarded next Friday according to the principles enshrined behind Door #2. Think it over; scribble something if you can; post your entry in the Comments for this blog item. Even if you're not writing an entry, you're encouraged to read, comment on, and vote for your favorites among the other entries.
Relax, let your imagination off the leash, and remember that the Prime Directive here is to have fun.
P.S. And just one more little reminder here. The January 11 Friday Challenge will be for your best rant about life in the 21st century. I'm announcing this now so that you have an extra week to think about it and start working on it. Beginning Friday, 1/11/08, you can begin posting your rants or commenting on and voting for other's posts, with judgement to be rendered on Friday, 1/18/08.
Again, thanks to everyone who participates in these little experiments, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with given a bit more time to prepare.
Ciao,
~brb
posted by ~brb at 9:11 PM
