UPDATE: NYC Midnight Contest Update
Back in September we entered the 2009 NYC Midnight Screenwriting Championships. Here’s how we’ve done so far:
9/09 – NYC Midnight Screenwriting Championships 2009 (Challenge #1)
- The Assignment: 48 hours, 5 pages, fantasy / rainforest / shampoo
- First Thoughts: Julie initially wanted to include an image of a long-haired but fictional rainforest creature washing its own hair in an animated short.
- The Process: We agreed early on to do a story about a little girl alone in a rainforest who is helped by animals. Ultimately we decided to isolate her by having the rest of her family swallowed by man-eating flowers. While looking for help, the girl runs into glowing slugs, scary snakes, spooky spiders, and an especially motherly three-toed sloth.
- Final Entry: “Two Moons: When man-eating flowers interrupt a nature walk, a little girl must find the courage to save her family.”
- Results: We placed 4th in our heat.
- What we learned: Although we usually we rely heavily on comedic banter, we found out that we can also write largely visual, action- / description-oriented screenplays. Overall, we were happy with the outcome.
10/09 – NYC Midnight Screenwriting Championships 2009 (Challenge #2)
- The Assignment: 48 hours, 5 pages, horror / sushi restaurant / spare tire
- First Thoughts: Julie was excited about getting horror again but had trouble combining sushi restaurant and the spare tire. She really wanted have a sushi restautant set in a rural setting in which lost / stranded travellers ended upon the menu, but then she thought cannibalism might be too obvious.
- The Process: We had some trouble on the assignment that weekend, partly because we had other projects going on at the same time. We ended up writing about a mean restaurant reviewer and the bad things that happen to him after he behaves badly. Jessica had the genius idea of incorporating those happy waving cat dolls you see in some Asian restaurants and markets. They provided comic relief as well as a sense of creepy foreboding. If you see one knocking on your window, run!
- Final Entry: “Lucky Cats: A nasty food critic and his crew of sycophants disrespect a restaurant owner with supernatural connections.”
- Results: Again, we placed 4th in our heat. High enough to qualify for the next round, which was nice. AND our friend Mike from Logopolis was in our heat, and he kicked our butts (placed 1st). Hats off to him!
- What we learned: Lesson #1: Waving lucky cats are funny. And scary. Lesson #2: We probably should have gone for the cannibalistic gold. Go big, or go home!
11/09 – NYC Midnight Screenwriting Championships 2009 (Challenge #3)
- The Assignment: 48 hours, 5 pages, comedy / pawn shop / bulletproof vest
- First Thoughts: Even though comedy is something we feel very comfortable with, we were thrown WAY off by the rest of the assignment. Julie was put off, because she associates pawn shops with flea markets, which make her think of dusty books, antique guns, and wheezing. (Blame her rural upbringing.)
- The Process: Again, we had as little difficulty pinning down our main theme. Eventually Jessica suggested an I Love Lucy-esque story where a husband with limited funds decides to sell household items in order to buy a present for his wife. Stakes get higher, he makes some bad decisions, yadda, yadda, yadda, he ends up selling something special to his wife, and hilarity ensues. Not feeling it? We weren’t either. In the last leg of the competition, Julie decided to add a baby or a dog so that the main character could have someone to talk to throughout the screenplay. She picked a baby.
- Final Entry: “U-Turn: A desparate husband dips to new lows to fund a night out with his wife.”
- Results: Enormous surprise: we won our heat, which allowed us to advance to the final round (scheduled to begin at 12am EST 12/11/09). Crazy.
- What we learned: Our formatting and pacing are strong enough to carry us even if our story isn’t as solid as it could be. Now, we just need to bring everything together to win this thing.
The final round is this weekend. Check back for an update on the final assignment and results!
For information about our previous contests, click here.