how would you respond to being called the worst ever....

S

Stefanovic

I decided to open a new topic on this.
In general my writing is a bit non-realistic but one of my scripts is really over the top.
It's about a team of doctors starting a private hospital and making as many people as possible believe they're seriously mentally ill. In the final act for instance a patient stood up for all the victims, put the doctor in a washing machine and he came out shrunk. Of course I know this won't happen if I put a doctor in a washing machine but some people always want scripts to be realistic. Only when it's realistic, it's good.
Look at movies like Home Alone, could an 8 year old really do what the main character did?

This is a comment I got:

Sorry but no one will ever be able to do something with this script. There's nothing realistic about it. I give you one advice: throw it away or else any producer will do it for you. Deleting or adding scenes won't save anything. This is officially the worst script I've ever read.


My first reaction was: Man, I must be bad. My second reaction was: it's probably not his style and he prefers movies like "the queen". Then I thought: some others have read it as well and they had a good laugh.
Maybe it's getting interesting when you get called "the worst". It only proves there's some controversy.

The question is: should I get back in touch with this guy? He probably cannot add anything to help it further.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Stefanovic said:
The question is: should I get back in touch with this guy?
Click to expand...

To what end? Are you going to tell him he is wrong? Then what?
Do you hope he apologizes for having that opinion? Do you want
him to change his opinion? If he did agree to help and he changed
everything YOU like to everything HE likes would that make you
more proud of your script?

It's a serious question: By getting back in touch with this guy what
would like to happen? What would wish would happen?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I could eventually throw away my personality and write his script. The question ( to help others as well) is rather: is there anything you can do with this kind of critique.

If I get to read a script I don't like ( when it's a genre I don't like) I would never say it's the worst thing I've ever read. Using words like that and throw it away tells more about him I suppose.
I think keeping in touch would only make me feel more miserable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Stefanovic said:
The question is: should I get back in touch with this guy? He probably cannot add anything to help it further.
Click to expand...
Stefanovic said:
I think keeping in touch would only make me feel more miserable.
Click to expand...
So... what is your question?

This person clearly doesn't like how you write. If you're a chef and someone says "I don't like seafood", would you keep feeding him shrimp?

Either you change your style, or you find another critic.

In either case, you don't take it personally. Not everyone likes seafood.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I would laugh my ass off and continue living my life and making things.

If somebody wants a script to be realistic, their opinion is immediately worthless. They know nothing about art, film, screenwriting, or even critiquing.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
As always, it depends upon the person giving you the critique. When I was a very young working musician I had the profound honor of an interview with John Hammond after he had heard a studio recording on which I had worked and seen a concert performance. It was a brutally honest critique, that both crushed me and uplifted me. But I knew that his was an opinion to carefully heed. I learned which FOH mixers and which of my peers had constructive criticism, and I gave plenty myself - you need those objective off-stage ears, because things don't always translate as you think that they do. And I learned who the morons and "haters" were.

There are plenty of experienced folks here and on other forums who will politely rip your work to shreds. It's up to you how and if you take their criticisms. It's tough to put ego aside and put on your "professional" hat - and at the same time sorting out those who seriously want to help you from the little people who tear you down for the fun of it to gratify their own egos. The next step is even harder - switching from your "artist" hat to your "technician" hat to your "audience" hat on a moment to moment basis.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Look at movies like Home Alone, could an 8 year old really do what the main character did?
Click to expand...

Aren't you doing a documentary? If so, what's this example have to do with it?

Only when it's realistic
Click to expand...

Believable is where it counts. No one (in my opinion) cares for realistic in entertainment. They do care if it's believable. There is a very large difference between the two.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I actually like the basic premise of your story, has lots of potential for it to be incredibly weird, surreal and funny. I guess it boils down to preference which has sub-factors like age, taste, etc. So doesn't matter, approach other people. You'll definitely click with someone willing to make it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ditto what grimoire said - the premise is sound - with people's own paranoias and some slick marketing and social engineering you could set up a hospital/clinic for people who *think* they're mentally ill. The predatory, con-artist doctors coupled with patients that for various reasons want to seclude themselves from society could make for a great dark comedy. Even the worst ideas can have some merit to them and this is by no means the worst idea I've heard :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
At my hospital nurses were flyering to spot patients. They approached people getting angry, being skinny and made them believe they're seriously ill. Overall the characters are rather flat but once those patients realize they were only used and abused they decide to contact an organisation that helps them eliminate the shrink.

Of course your idea sounds great for a dark comedy as well.

You can learn from any critique but what can you learn from: throw it away or else any producer will?

I don't want to talk about good or bad but once I had finished the draft, I thought I have never seen anything like this so it must be controversial. When I watch movies like: what happens in Vegas I think: okay, it's just a duplicate of a duplicate but that doesn't mean I should call it bad.

I attended drama school and I had some screenwriting lessons, my teacher was into realistic documentary. When you wrote a script on the evolution of seafood backed up with facts, you had a great movie. A parody on scream was a no-go for him. But when I graduated he recommended to keep writing, he couldn't do anything for me but he was sure I'd end up meeting someone. A few years later I met a Belgian director-actor. He launched the carreer of many current directors, writers, actors,....the problem is: he's still alive but he's seriously ill. He complimented me in a way: this is great, I want to work with you but then he got ill, he doesn't even recognize me anymore. It gave me some confidence but on the other hand I kept looking for people acknowledging what he said and most traditional movie makers ( just like the one recommending me to throw everything away) don't want to lose their reputation on dark indie comedy.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top