Haha! Nice!


In reading through the second groups answers & critiques, something occured to me... My challenge was to pitch an idea to Alfred Hitchcock, which I did (Cask of Amontillado). Casting the film I pitched wasn't part of my assignment but I made the extra effort and did it anyway, yet I can't help but believe from my D grade that my casting choice of Bela Lugosi weighed on some of the judges' scores (Even though, I did state my first choice would have been Boris Karloff for the role and Lugosi would have been my second.) What gives judges? That's like someone attempting extra credit on an exam and getting it wrong. Normally, the missed extra credit wouldn't have an adverse effect on your overall score, you just wouldn't get any bonus points for it. I ended up 2/3rds of a grade lower than Dude Guad who simply recast the exact same film and just 1/3rd higher than Freak who literally planned to stalk and assault Steven Spielberg. (No offense guys.) From what I gather based on the scores, I would have scored higher if my entire answer consisted of "I'd tell Alfred Hitchcock to make Psycho 2." Is that a fair assessment judges? Would I have scored higher if I had not mentioned anything about casting at all?

Go back and reread the judges comments on your pitch. You'll see there were plenty of other reasons for grading you low.

Oh, I know. There were some great points too, but the Lugosi thing seemed to be the one most ridiculed.

So... I would have scored higher if my entire answer consisted of "I'd tell Alfred Hitchcock to make Psycho 2."? Basically, I feel like that would have gotten me a C-.

I would have flunked you for that one.

So the people that didn't send the answers in...do they get disqualified from the whole thing or just this challenge?

This challenge is just one of the qualifying rounds, so to speak. So if you don't have time to get an answer in for something you can make up points later on I guess. The top 3 move on.

Ah, I think I get it.

Update


I have received the grades from all Judges but one. As soon as I get it, the grades for the Goblins will be posted.

Looks like our remaining Final Judge had to dash to Florida, after all.

Grades for the Goblins, and the next Test will be up when I am online next.

SCOREBOARD OF THE GOBLINS



Alkytrio666 - C-,

ChronoGrl - B+,

FerretChucker - B-,

The Flayed One - C+.


The rest have been tagged as "Absent".



The First Test for the Elves is up next...

THE THIRD TEST OF HDC IDOL 2008-09


I am here to address the Elves. Each one of you is given a task which you have to perform to the best of your ability, wit and innovation, based upon the knowledge you have of the genre.

For the second Test, the common theme chosen is - CELEBRITY SHOES.


Here are your tasks, Elves :-

- Dante's Inferno : You are Stephen King. Your recent novels and story ideas have met with a lot of critical and harsh reviews. You fear a bout of writer's block impending ahead, but dont want to disappoint your millions of fans. What would your next story idea be, which would prove to be a bestseller worldwide?


- Disease : You are dutch producer John De Mol. You have purchased Hammer House of Horror in 2007 under your firm, Cyrte Investments, and now plan to revive the studio which revolutionised horror through the 50s, 60s and 70s. An online serial was your first step to show today's world that Hammer Horror was back. Now you plan to make movies. Which flick would be your first, under the revived Hammer Horror banner today?


- Gorephobia : You are George A Romero. Diary of the Dead went with mixed reviews, and the newest "Dead" movie you are making doesn't have your heart in it. You feel deep inside that you are in need of a fresh idea which would make critics rave about your work and also burn the BO charts. Do you have it in you?


- Miss Macabre : You are Jamie Lee Curtis. You have become pretty fed up of movies and want to start your own horror show on TV. You watch several Masters of Horror episodes and have a brainstorm of adapting short stories/works into a TV series, which would have episodes of 1 hour each. Which short stories/literary works would you choose, and why?


- Novakru : You are Sigourney Weaver. You have noticed older stars return with a bang to the silver screen, and are desperate to give your alter-ego another go. Two problems - your age, and the two AvP flicks which have sucked the life out of the franchise you pretty much ruled. James Cameron and Ridley Scott promise to return with full funding and backup if you have a novel idea painted for the franchise. Are you game?


- Papillon Noir : You are Anne Rice. After enjoying tremendous success through the late 70s and 80s through your vampire and romance-themed novels, you have been dabbling in religious works in the past 5 years. But the inner writer in you desperately wants to churn out yet another typical Anne Rice work which would become an overnight sensation with teenagers the world over. Do you have such an idea brewing inside you?


- Posher778 : You are John Carpenter. After finishing L.A. Gothic with Sean Keller (aka our own Roderick Usher), you are raring to do another flick, which would be based on a script of your own idea. Given the recent trend of horror at the BO, what would your script be like?


All of you have 48 hours to do your researches, write down your ideas, and pitch them in front of the Judges. The Judges will be your peers in each scenario, and if you manage to win them over, you stand to score the maximum. When you are ready, send me a PM or post your entry in this thread (WITHOUT EDITING), and the Judges will read em and post their criticisms and praise, if any.

If any of you dont post your entry within the next 48 hours, you stand DQed off this Test, and dont gain any scores (or favors) from your Judges!

You have a hard task ahead of you, so all the best!!

Thanks judges for the kind marks, and well done to everyone else in y team, especially you Chronogrl!

I would kick my old ass in shape with the Navy Seals for 3 months prior to pitch day.. AND throw out the idea that fans have been wanting for years.
Make #3 a dream and the 4th will be completely ignored.
Go back to the original theme.

Burke succeeded getting a pod to Earth because he had planted a third pod inside one of the dead soldiers that had been bagged up to take home for burial.
The opening credits would show these scenes with the original score in the background...

HANG ON


I have housework to do and kids to pick up, will finish this LATER....

Early Anne Rice works had adult themes of vampires and sexuality (often bi-sexuality). The timelines are set in a combination of Ancient Egypt, Colonial America and Europe and modern-day America, with the central setting in New Orleans. Her later works deal mainly in a religious subject matter. If Anne Rice was to write another novel today, and gear it towards teenagers (no doubt from the recent Twilight craze), I think she would combine her past themes, but tone down her erotic scenes for the young adult group.

One of the easiest ways to appeal to the teenage audience is to have the story set in high school. Unfortunately, high school typically operates during the day, so the setting would have to be more the theatrical type as teenagers who perform musically or theatrically would typically have tutors. In Anne Rice’s previous works she had a rock star vampire and a theatre of vampires, performing as vampires. In this vein, a carnival side show of the 1930’s would allow of group of teenage vampires to blend in with society and also to move around (lest their feeding become suspicious). Also, the different side show acts would allude to the typical high school cliques and social standing within the group.


So begins our story: Le Carnivale Noir (The Black Carnival)

Le Carnivale Noir is a side show carnival operating in Louisiana in 1931. They are a rather unique carnival as they consist entirely of vampires masquerading as humans masquerading as vampires and other creatures of the night. Most of the vampires appear to be teenagers though many of them have been alive much longer. They have just arrived in New Orleans where they will be joined by a new and mysterious act.

Cecilia is a contortionist working for the Le Carnivale Noir and is romantically involved with Nathaniel, the strong-man. Cecilia’s on again/off again friend, Meredith is a stripper in the burlesque act.

The story flashbacks to when Cecilia and Meredith first met in then end of the 19th century. They became vampires together and have had a tumultuous relationship since as occasional lovers until they joined the carnival in the late 1920’s. Because of Cecilia’s unique flexibility, she was given a higher status and pay as a contortionist, while Meredith has resentfully worked as a stripper.

Soon after, Nathaniel joins the carnival and quickly associates himself with the trampy Meredith. Cecilia is more demure, but wins Nathaniel’s heart and the two begin seeing each other behind Meredith’s back. Meredith has fallen hard for Nathaniel and is crushed to find him in love with Cecilia.

The story flashes forward where this new carnival act is introduced. It is an Egyptian Mummy act. The headliner is Ptolemy, a mysterious brooding figure that takes an immediate interest in Cecilia, in which Nathaniel responds by attacking him.

It becomes apparent that Ptolemy and Nathaniel know each other and the story flashbacks to the 1770’s. Ptolemy (who was called Thomas then), was actually Nathaniel’s sire and occasional lover. The two had a falling out and vowed to kill each other if they ever saw each other again.

Ptolemy begins seducing Cecilia in secret, of which Meredith finds out about and encourages, hoping to win Nathaniel back for herself. Meredith plans to expose Ptolemy and Cecilia, but it backfires and Nathaniel rejects Meredith believing that Cecilia is still faithful to him.

Meredith, in a crazed rage attempts to burn the Ptolemy’s trailer with Ptolemy and Cecilia in it. Meredith ultimately exposes them and Cecilia gets trapped in the fire. Nathaniel, realizing that he’s been betrayed, still rushes in to save Cecilia, but becomes trapped himself. Both Nathaniel and Cecilia appear to perish in the blaze. The carnival quickly leaves town. The next night a hand comes out of the ground where the trailer burned, it is unclear whether it is Cecilia’s or Nathaniel’s.

A very interesting plot Noir... quite detailed and does seem to be rather Riceish.

I'm left with a few questions, however. Why 1931? Does the year have some specific bearing on the plot? If not, why not? Is this a stupid question- why doesn't a group of teenagers wandering the country in a carnival arouse any suspicions? Like, why aren't they in school?

I like the setting of the carnival though... was there a specific reason for setting it in 1931 instead of, say, a modern day sideshow/circus like Jim Rose's?

A very good entry overall.

For mine, are you guys looking for a whole seasons worth of episodes or just a few episodes to give you a feel for the type of stories I would choose?

Celebrity Shoes offered nice challenges to work on. But I have to admit Alternative Reality were the toughest among the 1st round of qualifying stage.

Either of em, which makes you more comfortable.

I think the Judges have the say here.

Thanks. :)

I picked 1931 because the 1930's were the height of the side show era and I wasn't sure when exactly it ended or started to die down. 1931 is just a year that I thought would definitely work. The movie Freaks came out in 1932 and I thought that the movie may have had some negative public reactions that may have caused low turnout for the side shows, so I wanted to have it set before then.

Also, carnies didn't typically attend regular school, but were taught by their parents as they moved around frequently. Also, because of the Great Depression and a manual labor work environment, a lot of kids didn't go into high school and dropped out beforehand.

In regards to having it set in the 1930's instead of today, is that today there is a paper trail for everything. You need ID, kids have to attend school up until 16. Back then, no one really had ID other than a driver's license, which didn't have your picture on it or anything. It was much easier to move around the country with whatever identity you wanted.

Go premise first. You don't have to write a complete series bible or anything.

Seeing as I am fed up with the current movies coming out, I would choose to have the episodes of my TV series use very little on screen gore. Doing away with theatrics, I would let the stories take precedence and present them in such a way that the majority of blood, gore and violence will be done off screen. I find this can have a much better effect than making a blood bath anyway.

Having starred in movies like Freaky Friday and Christmas with the Kranks; and given my choice of favourite movies (Spaceballs, This is Spinal Tap) and TV shows (Fawlty Towers, The Office and Extras)I clearly have quite a sense of humour and would like that to carry over to my television show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SNBO84YFWg

My pilot episode would be as follows:
Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat: http://www.1fiction.com/texts/poe_blackcat.txt A haunting story about a mysterious black cat. The story can be filmed as the confession tape of a young veterinarian, who is laid off during the current economic crisis. This can be intertwined with flash blacks from the goings on. Any violence (especially cruelty to animals) would be done off screen or through confession scenes to survive censors and let the story take the lead; with only a small amount of gore during the final reveal. I chose The Black Cat because the story can hold an audience’s attention and it is an eerie tale with a great ending that I feel will make the audience feel satisfied when the credits roll. The ending is also ironic and Jamie Lee Curtis has an excellent sense of humour and would understand that. It can also be easily modernized for a TV audience and it is short enough to fit the time constraints.

If this pilot episode went well I would choose to adapt stories like Murders in the Rue Morgue because a murderous Orang-utan is hilarious but wouldn't just be adapting Poe of course.

Haha I totally cited my works....

THE THIRD TEST OF HDC IDOL 2008-09


- Dante's Inferno : You are Stephen King. Your recent novels and story ideas have met with a lot of critical and harsh reviews. You fear a bout of writer's block impending ahead, but dont want to disappoint your millions of fans. What would your next story idea be, which would prove to be a bestseller worldwide?


- Disease : You are dutch producer John De Mol. You have purchased Hammer House of Horror in 2007 under your firm, Cyrte Investments, and now plan to revive the studio which revolutionised horror through the 50s, 60s and 70s. An online serial was your first step to show today's world that Hammer Horror was back. Now you plan to make movies. Which flick would be your first, under the revived Hammer Horror banner today?


- Miss Macabre : You are Jamie Lee Curtis. You have become pretty fed up of movies and want to start your own horror show on TV. You watch several Masters of Horror episodes and have a brainstorm of adapting short stories/works into a TV series, which would have episodes of 1 hour each. Which short stories/literary works would you choose, and why?


- Novakru : You are Sigourney Weaver. You have noticed older stars return with a bang to the silver screen, and are desperate to give your alter-ego another go. Two problems - your age, and the two AvP flicks which have sucked the life out of the franchise you pretty much ruled. James Cameron and Ridley Scott promise to return with full funding and backup if you have a novel idea painted for the franchise. Are you game?



(Contd.)

- Papillon Noir : You are Anne Rice. After enjoying tremendous success through the late 70s and 80s through your vampire and romance-themed novels, you have been dabbling in religious works in the past 5 years. But the inner writer in you desperately wants to churn out yet another typical Anne Rice work which would become an overnight sensation with teenagers the world over. Do you have such an idea brewing inside you?


- Posher778 : You are John Carpenter. After finishing L.A. Gothic with Sean Keller (aka our own Roderick Usher), you are raring to do another flick, which would be based on a script of your own idea. Given the recent trend of horror at the BO, what would your script be like?



3 entries by the Elves so far.

So is your concept comedic versions of Poe stories? I'm a bit unclear- you don't ever really come out and say what the series is. I also don't see the comedy in your synopsis of the pilot episode...

Adapting and modernizing horror stories that I found comedic. Not "haha" funny per say, but irony is a big part of comedy and hanging your pet from a tree and then being subjected to the gallows is pretty ironic.

And what is Jamie Lee's role in all this? Is she hostess? Does she appear in the series? Or is she producer?

So many questions left unanswered!

So the Elves 48 hours are up and they only had 3 people answer questions?

Yes. 48 hours are up...and it seems like the rest of the Elves didnt want to do the hard work.

Anyway, I request all Judges to send me their grade-sheets based on the entries above.

Then we move on to the Second Test for the Ogres.

I completely forgot about this:(

Dang...I thought you werent online from the last time you posted your half-reply.

I have grades from two Judges already. As soon as I get em all, we move to the Second Test.

WOOHOO! Thanks, judges!!

And good job rest of the Team... That was a tough challenge but I love seeing how brilliant and creative people are here.

Ferret - You are SO ridiculously creative. Do you do a lot of writing when you're not video-blogging?

Flayed - I have NO idea what I would have done if I had your challenge. That was a REALLY tough one. Good job.

Alky - Considering you're juggling school AND doing this challenge, that was a good essay. Can't wait to see more. Good luck with your finals! (I assume it's Finals time for you?)

I used to do a lot of writing. Not so much anymore, though my English essay which is 12 pages so long and less than half way through is on track to getting an A+

I read a lot though, and Darkness and Daggers got my creative juices flowing and I still have reserves left :p!

Papillon- There are a lot of vampire circus/theater stories, but the Browningesque atmosphere might make it more unique. I'm not sure I see much that distinctly would appeal to a YA group. I would consider buying it, though it would interfere with my righteous crusade against the woman. Fairly inspired, above average work and use of setting.
Miss Macabre:For the first time ever in this game, I'm going to be frank. (Am I kidding? Nobody knows). A Fish Called Lenore lacks legs as a premise. I don't see why Jamie Lee Curtis would be heading up this project and what it distinctly has to gain from her as a participant, as well as how softened Poe really benefits an audience. I'm not especially impressed.
Novakru: I suspect you did not finish answering the question.

I must bow out of judging.

Can't get into it.

I'll be away from the forum for a while... have to travel.

Sorry to all.

Travel? Is something going on? Everything in your life okay?

We are sorry to lose you, Rod. Have a good and safe journey.

Leaderboard of the Elves up next...

Grades of the Elves after the First Test


Miss Macabre - C-,

Novakru - D,

Papillon Noir - B.


All the rest have been tagged "Absent."


Announcement :- Since Gorephobia and pinkfloyd dropped out of the Elves group, Illdojo is drafted into Elves to make each group a 7-member one.


Second Test for the Ogres up next...

THE FOURTH TEST OF HDC IDOL 2008-09


I am here to address the Ogres. Each one of you is given a task which you have to perform to the best of your ability, wit and innovation, based upon the knowledge you have of the genre.

For your Second Test, the common theme chosen is - SHARP CRITICS.

All of you are strong critics, and particular haters of horror flicks. You cannot wait to bash a horror movie when you see one, even when it might be one of the best in the genre. For this particular Test, you have to point out the flaws of the movies you choose, and put forth reasons why you might hate the chosen one.

In other words, you have to give a very critical and bashing review of the movie of your choice.

Ready? Here we go...

Choose from - Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, Psycho, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (All movies mentioned are the originals)


Two contestants may pick the same movie, but their scathing reviews should not be too similar with each other, or both of them stand to lose points.

All of you have 48 hours to do your researches, write down your reviews, and pitch them in front of the Judges. The Judges will be your peers for each review, and if you manage to win them over, you stand to score the maximum. When you are ready, send me a PM or post your entry in this thread (WITHOUT EDITING), and the Judges will read em and post their criticisms and praise, if any.

If any of you dont post your entry within the next 48 hours, you stand DQed off this Test, and dont gain any scores (or favors) from your Judges!

You have a hard task ahead of you, so all the best!!

Awww, I want that task! It sounds fun! Good luck to all contestants.