Today for a video assignment, my group was given 8.5/20
Yes, I know.
That's a failing mark.
You know how I feel about those.
But!
We have been given a gift(tm). We have until Thursday morning to come up with a new submission.
Of course, this means that we have to shoot everything early tomorrow morning, so that one of us might stand a chance of going to his job, so that I can go to my job (and finishing off another group assignment, this one for five people, but I suspect I'm the only one doing anything at all on it), and so that the third member of our strange little posse can have his dormroom back (guess where we're filming!).
But to redo the script, I'm going to need your help (the other two are currently either asleep or working, so yes, it is just me).
Seriously, I've got how many writers on this shiny, wonderful Flist of mine? How many creative geniuses?
Okay, the setup is:
There are two buddies playing a PS 2 game (which allows you to kill other players, so if anybody knows any such game like that, please let me know and we can try to work it in there).
W has been feeling really depressed and out of things. His girlfriend dumped him last week, all of his assignments are due soon (and yet, he's sitting here playing video games, WTF- I know, I know, just suspend disbelief here), exams are in two weeks, and his Dad is constantly yelling at him to get a job before the end of exams. In short, he's about to lose it - and not in the fun, pretty way that somebody like Callum Keith Rennie could lose it, I mean in the seriously awful way that Sam Tyler or Dan Jarvis could lose it.
W is considering something called 'suicide by cop' to get out of everything, and to go out with a bang.
His buddy J wants to help W avert this crisis of his.
Rules:
Overall script needs to go for 6-8 minutes - so the more ideas get flung at me here the better!
No snogging! (Huggings okay.) Aside from anything else, neither of them would go for it, and one of them would wind up sleeping on the couch if he did.
J must have in there at some point:
Open ended questions. Lotsathem.
At least one 'I statement' (which means something like "I'm really worried about you.").
J needs to paraphrase something that W just said, but not sound like a parrot (or a prat).
J needs to reflect on everything that W has said so far (which yes, sounds just like paraphrasing to me. IDEK)
When W says "I've been kinda thinking about killing myself" (or whatever other shiny line that amounts to the same thing), J needs to ask "Do you have a plan?" immediately afterwards. Is cool if J prompts W into the first statement.
Call it a challenge.