Resubmission Imminent

I received back the development notes last Monday and I really got a lot out of them. There were five pages worth of helpful criticism and great suggestions for improving the script overall. I think these notes were far better than those of HollywoodLitSales.

To just brush upon a few of the things they mentioned, I actually violated one of my own slasher movie rules without realizing it. Instead of getting to things within a half hour or forty five minutes, I actually waited a full hour. Whoops! I just got very carried away with introducing the characters and going into their complex relationships that I had them prattle along for a good length of time. So much in fact that the killing seemed kind of crammed into the last third of the movie.

Even so, the dialogue was compared to a Woody Allen film (my favorite writer/director) so I have that going for me. Unfortunately it's kind of out of place in a slasher film. They also said I needed an incident that would make the viewer (or reader) more aware that this was a horror film. So naturally I created a new character and killed them in a horrific manner, if only to help satisfy a few of their other critiques, such as "why are they in the woods?" and "exactly who out of these six strong characters is the true lead?"

It's funny that I added two scenes in and a new character but the script is now fourteen pages shorter than I had originally started. Regardless, it has a lot faster flow, better interactions, faster dialogue, and a more coherent ending. Mind you I had a coherent ending, but this has more of a set up/pay off feel to it. These characters have a lot on the line after all, they're fighting for their very lives!

Still, I'll be resubmitting for further critique (at half price) fairly soon. Money has been an issue lately as I've just paid to take the GMAT test ($250! ugh!) since I want to stop working in a lab environment and get paid more. Kind of hard when your degree is in the sciences so it's back to school I'll have to go. Still, soon as I get that straightened out and I get the go-ahead from a few people I know reading it, I'll resubmit and hope for the best.

If anyone is interested in reading the script, my e-mail is on the right.