“beautifully written … unusual and unique … terrifying, gruesome and disgusting … well-rounded, complex characters”
[Faeries is a feature length horror screenplay, and is available for option or purchase.]
We’ve received a third round of notes from another Bluecat Screenplay Competition judge. We received our first feedback from Bluecat (see it here) a few weeks ago, and took the opportunity to make some adjustments based on those notes, and resubmit (Bluecat is great about that… your first submission gets notes from two readers, and writers can resubmit their screenplays for a third opinion after making modifications if they choose).
This third set of notes confirmed the success of the adjustments we’d made, and echoed the positive comments of those first readers. We’re proud of the terrific reception the screenplay is getting, and wanted to share the notes here. Emphasis mine.
“One of the best things about this script is the descriptions. The writers really know how to paint a picture. The reader really gets a sense of the surroundings and tone of the scenes through the descriptions. They provide a clear picture of the environment and action so it’s easy for the reader to enter the world the writers have created. The first page of the script immediately grabs the reader’s attention and provides a taste of things to come in terms of the descriptions. The description of a young girl and her father walking in a field initially seems idyllic and peaceful, but then immediately turns scary and the reader is curious what is going to happen next. On page 62, the page begins with:
“Morning light in shafts through the trees, birds twittering over the blackened, smoldering wreckage of the cabin, burned to the ground.”
The descriptions effectively create the atmosphere of the piece and are beautifully written.
The characters are well-crafted and each has their own distinct personality. The reader really gets a clear idea of their relationship with each other and they are likeable, even Nick to a certain degree. It would have been very easy for the writers to sacrifice character development and focus on the action and creatures, but the writers have created well-rounded, complex characters. Nick and Reese’s relationship is complicated and we understand where their misunderstandings and frustrations come from.
Reese is an intriguing character, in general. Initially she seems to be a wilting flower who is sad and channeling her grief over the accident and losing a child through her dogs. By the end of the script, she is a badass who has taken the lead in getting them to safety. Because the characters are so well-developed, her change in character doesn’t seem unusual or unbelievable. We know a lot about the characters but there is still the sense that we don’t know everything about them. The characters are the highlight of piece.
This is definitely an unusual and unique piece. It’s not your typical scary movie as the creatures are very unique and something that people have never really seen before. When one pictures faeries, the image that comes to mind is small, human-like creatures with wings and a sunny disposition a la Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. These faeries are definitely more horrifying and freaky-looking. They are very unusual monsters to encounter and are also terrifying as their method for killing is gruesome and disgusting. They are very frightening creatures and successfully terrify the reader.”