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Feedback Useless As Ever

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DBA Lehane View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 Jan 2019 at 10:35am
Ok, this isn’t a case of sour grapes - as I have managed to make it through to the next round of the Short Screenplay Challenge.

However, it’s not the first time I’ve experienced it here, but the feedback I got for my 5 pointer first round script was far more flattering and positive than the feedback for my second heat 13 pointer. I do genuinely wonder sometimes if the points are randomly attributed here and bear no relevance to the actual feedback.

How I could score 13 points with feedback like “not a lot of story here” (ok it’s a 5 page horror!) or “it’s not about anything” (seriously?) baffles me.

I never got round to posting the script here, but here is that screenplay with “no story” and “not about anything” that still managed to score 13 points https://www.dropbox.com/s/7m5x2uhasgytgds/Nacterror.pdf?dl=0

Oh well, onto the next round...




Edited by DBA Lehane - 10 Jan 2019 at 10:44am
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JeffreyHowe View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JeffreyHowe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2019 at 12:19pm
1) Scoring rubrics don't always align with judge's notes. Trust me on this.
2) All of these are graded on the curve.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Scarlet Screenwriter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jan 2019 at 3:52pm

Tell me about it, Darren ... I got what I thought was the best and most complementary feedback EVER ... and scored 3 points. 

I was the only poster in Group 10, so I have no benchmark.  It's frustrating ... when they don't get the nuance or timing... 



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DBA Lehane View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DBA Lehane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2019 at 7:04am
I've read a number in my group all of who had decent plots about something, but scored lower than mine.

That said, it does seem to be one judge who was having a bad day, he/she actually also said "there's no real context here (something I'm writing a lot this round)". Not sure that was a constructive comment.

Still, if they're happy to give me 13pts - who am I to argue?

Edited by DBA Lehane - 11 Jan 2019 at 7:05am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote hwoodwritr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2019 at 5:23pm
Here's my take on this: you are only judged against the other members of your group. Groups are supposedly selected at random. If you get stuck in a group that has several experienced writers, and you are a newbie, you could be screwed at the get-go. If a group consists of newbies, including you (well not "you," but some writer we'll use for an example) then you may do very well, point wise, because you're being judged against other newbies. In that case, anyone who has a glimmer of how to write will do well--the points have to be awarded, even if they are given to top 15 writers in a group of so-so scripts.
A good score does not necessarily mean it was given to a good script.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JeffreyHowe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2019 at 5:54pm
And conversely, if you do find yourself in a top-heavy group, a mediocre score doesn't necessarily mean a mediocre script. That one second-round group last year comes to mind...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NATEnnn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 6:25pm
I scored 15 points first round, 5 points second round.

Feedback on first screenplay was all fine, even though it focused on the negative more than the positive (which I was fine with).

For the second, however, which I originally thought was the stronger of the two, had some strange comments. They accused me of being 'slightly racist' for having a white professor out-shoot some black militiamen with nothing but his 'Caucasian wits'. 

What actually happened is one of the militia murdered his work partner, so the professor took his gun and used him as a human shield to exchange gunfire with the others. The professor killed them all, but took a few bullets himself and ended up dead.

Unfeasible? Yes, it's meant to be a movie. Racist? I think not.

There was also lots of good, valid criticisms that I took on board, and if I rewrote it now I would change a good number of things, but even so... it just felt a little off. Was meant to be a fun action/adventure with tyrannical baddy and typical everyman hero that achieves the impossible - kinda going with Indiana Jones sort of feel, but judge obviously saw something racially charged in it when that was certainly not the intention.

Anyway, rest of the criticism has been useful so far. Rant over.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eIUuvBWLH42XSQ_nGx7FX0ZyYapmavdQ
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheezopath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 8:40pm
what does caucasian wits mean
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NATEnnn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 9:44pm
caucasian = white
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eIUuvBWLH42XSQ_nGx7FX0ZyYapmavdQ
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JeffreyHowe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 11:54am
I suspect cheezopath knew that part. 

If I may be so bold as to rephrase the question on his behalf--what is it about the character's wits that makes them inherently Caucasian? Why would Caucasian wits be notably different in this (or any) context from any other wits? The phrase is...curious. Problematic, even.
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