Script Pitch IV Final 3 Chat

Lee: The Lobster one is the easiest setting, but it can also be stupid. I think we're going for most plausible setting first, and then most fitting material. My top 3 are Lobster, Finish Line, and Goodnight Dad.

Jason: I'm ok with Lobster and Goodnight Dad. I don't know about Finish Line. I think it will be tasteless and insulting especially with the Terri Schiavo mess.

Lee: Goodnight Dad is fairly cliche but I can see it being watchable with the right directing approach.

Jason: Most of the pitches have some elements that are cliche.

Lee: The Lobster one would prove how much you can make of one static situation, if you succeeded.

Jason: I wouldn't have picked that one, but I think you might be right. If done properly, that's probably the film with the greatest chance of winning.

Lee: It's in the realm of stupid things people like to watch.

Jason: I can imagine it being a movie people email to each other because they find it amusing. I'm tempted to push 33 Cents but the lottery aspect might be a hard sell in a short film.

Lee: There was a short movie that circled the internet a few months ago of this guy dancing in front of his computer to really bad music. I didn't catch it, but it was apparently funny. I could see the Lobster being like that if it works.

Jason: I watched 3 seconds of it. I have no idea why people found it amusing. Ok, so I think the Lobster is definite at this point.

Lee: There's a bit of stuff to shoot with 33 Cents and you'd probably have to edit it down to meet the time restriction. It might be trying to accomplish too much.

Jason: What are the cons of the Zombie one?

Lee: I'm not a fan of zombie flicks and it could be too much to deal with. It sounded more geared for feature length when I first read it.

Jason: Without good make-up and acting, you think it would fall flat? If we're going for easy to shoot but with a good chance of winning, I'd have to go with the chicken one then.

Lee: I think with the given time span, a plot like that could be too forced, shoving too much in too little time and it could fall flat. The Lobster could fall flat too, but the setting intrigues me.

Jason: I have to agree, the less ambitious the film sounds, the easier it will be to concentrate on and really improve the production quality.

Lee: I'm not sure there's an actual joke in the chicken one, besides a sort of cute layer. It sounds more like a screensaver.

Jason: We'd have to improve the story, but I can imagine a lot of neat camera angles and shots if we can get a chicken to walk around in the city. It's another film that could appeal to the masses.

Lee: I think most people are going to be more drawn to the material than the technical side, whatever we do.

Jason: The story has to be better. The pitch didn't do a great job at selling itself.

Lee: I fear the chicken falling flat in 60 seconds or less.

Jason: But I like the premise, it sounds like something that is different, but appealing enough to the general audience to win.

Lee: There's the upside of camera angle possibilities, but there's also the possibility of facing a disaster with a chicken that won't do anything you want.

Jason: I hadn't thought about the training part.

Lee: You're basically praying for spontaneity to work in your favor.

Jason: I really don't like Finish Line, though. I don't think we'll be able to do the dark comedy effectively.

Lee: I'm fine with Finish Line being out of the loop.

Jason: Ok, what would take its place?

Lee: Life or Death is do-able, but has the setting been done to death already?

Jason: There's no way would that win. There's not enough time to make people care about the situation.

Lee: $2,000 Expedition is a nice story, but I doubt it can fit into seven minutes. The other feasible setting is Bitterwoman, but I don't care for the story. I just think it could be too tame. You're ultimately looking for something that could be downloaded by others off word of mouth, and that's usually comedy.

Jason: That's why I think the chicken one has a shot. I wouldn't pick it otherwise. The last thing I want to do is try to find a chicken, but if we can come up with a half decent story and the chicken at least walks in one direction, it could have a shot.

Lee: But the more story you have, the more the chicken's going to need to act. If the chicken doesn't steal the show, it could really suck.

Jason: There are a lot of negative comments for Goodbye Dad: "M. Night Shyamalan called, he wants his script back." Do you think it's impossible to get over The Sixth Sense? The story of someone dying isn't just The Sixth Sense. I don't know why there's some prohibition against doing it. I really like Goodnight dad, I can see how it would be filmed, but I can tell there's going to be a lot of "knew that was coming" backlash.

Lee: Reflection is too basic. It's like trying to shove Closer into 5 minutes.

Jason: There's no way we could find actors good enough to make that work. I'd be fine with Goodnight Dad, Confessions, 33 Cents, or Chicken.

Lee: Zombie movies are popular, so that might have an edge over 33 Cents.

Jason: Zombie would be difficult to shoot.

Lee: I think it has a better chance of working on a quality level than 33 Cents because there are more joke setups.

Jason: Have to find someone who wouldn't mind having zombie make-up on for hours...

Lee: I'm not sure what's funny about 33 Cents.

Jason: What would you go with at this point?

Lee: Lobster, Chicken, and Zombie. 33 Cents seems more like a story experiment than a directing experiment, even though Zombie is more complicated.

Jason: No dramas?

Lee: Goodnight Dad would be over Zombie for me, then. The negative comments made me go otherwise briefly. It's short and film-able, and doesn't require a whole lot.

Jason: Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I gave it an A-. It was the only drama that fit into seven minutes.

Lee: So we're happy with those 3?

Jason: Goodnight Dad, Lobster and Chicken?

Lee: Yes.

Jason: Yes...didn't expect those to be the top 3 when I first read the pitches.