HDC Idol II 2011-2012

[roshiq]

As some of the judges & contestants are quite busy lately, so I propose how about to take a break for a month? We can start all this later just right from here when we all have some decent amount of time to 'waste' for this contest.

[neverending]

I'm sorry Roshiq... been working a lot this week. I'll have your verdict by Thursday.

[roshiq]

Oh, no! I'm sorry:o

I'm just curious about the final verdicts, as the days goes by now it kinda seems the whole thing was bit insanely funny:D

[_____V_____]

THE THIRD TEST OF HDC IDOL II - THE OGRES

Think of a suitable and unique outline for a script, to be turned into a movie adaptation by any of these 5 renowned directors :-

Terence Fisher, James Whale, Brian De Palma, Tod Browning, William Castle.


Roshiq's entry -

From the great selection of directors in this challenge I like to choose Tod Browning and presenting here an idea for a film that I think he could suitably make back in 30's.



The reasoning to choose Tod Browning: Though I have seen only 5 of his films (The Unknown, Dracula, Freaks, Mark of the Vampire & The Devil-Doll) but I think he was one of the quite underrated but greatest horror film makers of his era. As he traveled extensively with sideshows, carnivals, and circuses in his early years of life, we can see those experiences had left a great impact on his films like The Unknown, The Unholy Three and Freaks. As I read about him I came to know that Browning wrote original stories and collaborated on the scripts for many of his films. After 1927 he also functioned as his own producer, giving him an autonomy enjoyed by few directors within the studio system of the period. Browning's films were popular with audiences, but it was a long time before his work created the controversy. In his own time he was accused of being ridiculous, exploitative, and even downright sick. With their bizarre plots and grotesque characters, brooding atmosphere, and emphasis on physical and spiritual deformity, Browning's films reveal a profound obsession with the dark side of human nature.
Particularly the film that amazed me most is Freaks (1932). A ghastly tale of lust, greed, and vengeance set in a traveling European sideshow, it challenge our fears of the abnormal by offering as its heroes a real-life mixture of midgets, dwarfs, armless and legless beings, pinheads, mongoloids, bearded ladies and Siamese twins, all presented with sympathy and compassion. By contrast, the villains are a pair of acrobats, depraved creatures beneath their perfect physiques. Surely Browning is one of those great film makers who are ahead of their time. His compassion for the characters that suffered a great deal in life and neglected by the society or humiliated by other people touches me most as a viewer. And in this regard I tried to develop a story & frame an outline of a screenplay that could comfortably fit with the works of this great film maker. It's my bad that I haven't read any books/stories of Tod Robbins as 2 of Tod Browning films (The Unholy Three and Freaks) based on the works of this great author. Otherwise instead of developing an original plot, a good story from Tod Robbins can be a safer choice for me.

LITTLE LILY

Lead Cast & Characters:

Dr. Donovan....played by Lionel Barrymore
Marcel the Magician...played by Bela Lugosi

Opening sequence: A young girl is walking alone on a country side road at night. There's a coach on the other side of the road as if waiting for someone. Suddenly two tall, vicious looking gigantic men come out from the dark of the woods beside the road and forcefully take that girl into the coach. The girl tried to scream but couldn’t able to do that as one of them grabs her mouth with a big hairy hand. Then the carriage runs away.

The next scene opens with a close up shot on a poster/banner: "Marcel-The Great Magician!" There is also a drawing of Marcel's image on that poster/banner where he's wearing a black robe & tipping his long black hat with a black stick, smiling.
The sound of a typical carnival/circus crowd coming from behind...people are laughing, yelling, kids are playing or running for a show, sound of trumpets & drums etc. etc. The camera moves towards the entrance of Marcel's show next to the poster/banner where a group of satisfied audience are just coming out like after an end of a show. After everyone leaves, from the left side of the camera a gentleman (wearing a long black coat & hat) moves towards the entrance & enters.

Inside the Marcel's Tent:
The gentleman walks towards to the stage which is now covered with a curtain. As he comes close to the stage a kid pops out from a corner of the curtain and says "Excuse me, Sir. The show is over. But there will be one last show tomorrow."

The Gentleman: "Where is the magician? I need to talk to him."
The kid pops out and in the next scene he enters into the Marcel's booth or green room where he's seating on a desk & feeding a rabbit. He sees the kid & says "Hi, Master Monty! How was my show tonight?"
Monty: "It was fantastic, Marcel. I think it’s the best so far."
Marcel: "No-No! There's still one more show left tomorrow. I'm going to show some new ones and will try my best to make it something utterly fascinating & memorable for my crowd."
Monty: "Oh, that's sound really exciting! I'm sure you'll do that Marcel. You are the best in this business after all. Oh, by the way there's an old gentleman wants to meet you. He's waiting in front of the stage. Do you want me to bring him here?"
Marcel: "Old gentleman? Okay, yes...please let him in."
In the followed scene as the gentleman enters Marcel stands & greets him in a polite manner.
Marcel: "Hello, sir"
Gentleman: "Hello Mr. Marcel. At first I should introduce myself. My name is Charles Donovan but you can call me Dr. Donovan. I live at the end of this town, down the valley in our family mansion. I used to work in Cambridge as a Professor of medicine but now I'm retired & practicing privately. Anyway, I just came to you with a very personal request and I sincerely hope you are not going to refuse me."
Marcel: "Oh, really? What can I then do for you sir?"
Dr. Donovan:"I want you to perform a little show for my daughter in my house tonight."

Marcel: "In your house..?? Why don't you bring her here tomorrow? There's still one final show left & that's tomorrow night. You & your daughter are most welcome, sir."
Dr. Donovan: "No, Mr. Marcel, you don't understand. I can't bring her here. She has been sick in a rare kind of disease from the day she was born. Her mother, my beloved wife, Martha died on that very same day. Since then she is under my great supervision of medical treatment. The thing is she is my only child and today is her birthday. I'm just trying my best to make her feel as the happiest girl in the whole world, at least for tonight. Though I've already bought lots of gifts for her but the thing is she's always been very much fond of magic shows and I'm sure your presence & some magic in my house tonight will make this day very special for my little girl, Lily. I'm assuring you, you'll be highly paid."
Marcel: "Then as it's for your little girl, I can't refuse you, sir. And you know; now days this kind of extra earnings is always good for a poor magician like me."
Thus simple minded Marcel accept Dr. Donovan's offer and then as the doctor tells him there's his coach is waiting outside the show premise, Marcel starts to pack his things (props for the magic) up.
Next scene: As Marcel & Dr. Donovan coming out from the premise, Marcel sees a crowd around a little boy, the boy is weeping. He goes towards the crowd & asks "Hey, what happened to our Toby? Why he's crying?"
Some guy in the crowd: "His sister Megan went to the town this afternoon but still hasn't come back yet. Though we have already send some boys to look for her but we're worrying whether she is gone missing too. And if she is, then you know this will be the third night in a row that a girl gone missing this year from our shows Oh, Jesus..what a god damn place we came this time!"
Marcel: "Oh, come on, Brad...how could you say this things? I'm sure there's nothing happened to Megan. She's fine. We'll soon find her out."
Then from the back Dr. Donovan grabs a shoulder of Marcel & whispers to his ear: "Please Magician, we are already late. You can join the search party later, even I think within an hour at best, as soon as you finish off your business in my house. My little girl is eagerly waiting for his daddy's last big surprise of the day."
Marcel hesitates for a while but eventually agrees with Dr. Donovan and they leave the premise.

Next there will be three shots consecutively.

1st: Dr. Donovan & Marcel ridding in the coach.
2nd: The coach is running through a country side road. There's full moon in the sky & fogs in the air. (Long distance shot with tensed & dramatic music in background)
3rd: The coach is entering into the large dark mansion of Dr. Donovan. There's a heavy fog in the ground. As soon as the coach goes through the large gate someone closes it. (Long distance shot)

Next scene: The coach stops. And as Dr. Donovan & Marcel comes out from the coach they see a strange man quite frantically laughing & dancing before them and repeating in a loud voice: “Master brings the Magician! Master brings the Magician!"
Dr. Donovan: "Oh, Paolo! Stop it! You'll ruin the surprise for Lily. She can hear you from her room."

Paolo calms down. Dr. Donovan then tells Marcel by keeping his voice down: “Don’t mind, Magician. Paolo is kind of eccentric & childish sometimes but he has been a very royal servant to me for the last ten years.”
They start walking towards the main door. Paolo is behind them.

(To Be Continued...)

[_____V_____]

Continued...

Dr. Donovan: "Magician, I think I need to tell you something more about Lilly...my little Lily. The thing is she's a very sensitive child and as a child it sometimes gets quite difficult for her to follow & adopt with her constant required treatments & medications. And for that she sometimes gets bit upset with me. Moreover, she doesn't like to talk that much like any other child of her age. Even she hasn't been talk to me since last Friday. It doesn't bother me now as I'm giving my full concentration to get her well soon. So in case if you find your main audience tonight kind of less responsive then please I like to humbly request you to take it naturally. Just go in there & show some of your best magic. I believe that will at least make her happy inside."
Marcel: "Don’t worry, sir. It'll be all fine. I'm sure soon or later she will realize you are the best father in the whole world."
And as they are about to enter inside the house Dr. Donovan stops for a moment & says: "Thank you, Mr. Marcel. Thanks a lot, for coming to my house tonight."
Next scene:
Location: Inside Dr. Donovan’s mansion. A big & beautifully decorated seating/drawing room. In the center of the room Marcel is ready to start the show with his regular props, wearing the black robe & the hat, now waiting for his main viewer to appear in the room. There's Paolo standing in a corner, looking pretty excited. Some moments later Dr. Donovan enters into the room through the large door with a wheel chair where a pretty little girl is seating on it. There's a pale, sad look on her face.
As they enter into the room Palo starts clapping bit hysterically with a big grin on his face. Dr. Donovan raises a hand and signals Paolo to stop the clapping. Then he kneels down, seats beside the wheel chair & holds a hand of her daughter and allows Marcel to start the show.
After an exciting & fun introduction Marcel showed every caricature & played all of his interesting magic tricks that he always used to show to his younger audience to amuse them where most of the time he gets a very positive response but this time he only able to see something like a blink of a smile in Lily's face. Except for Paolo, he enjoyed it thoroughly and Dr. Donovan joins him particularly in the clapping part at the end of the show.
Dr. Donovan: "Thank you, Magician! That's truly fantastic. I'm sure Lily enjoyed your show very much."
Both of them look at Lily and see a little smile on her face.
Dr. Donovan: "Oh, it’s almost bed time for Lily. Please wait for me, Magician."
Dr. Donovan holds the wheel chair & leaves the room with Lily. Paolo follows them.
Marcel begins to pack his things up. But just after a while he hears a voice, almost like coming from the void. It's Lily's voice.
Lily: "Magician! Magician! It's me...Lily!"
Marcel quickly takes a look around him but sees no one in the room.
Lily: "Please help my papa...please save those girls...save me!"
Marcel suddenly realizes Lily is actually talking inside his mind.
Lily: "After some recent experiments papa conducted on me I can now do this thing...talking inside anyone's head. But you have to help us, Magician. Papa is going crazy...she brought those girls and lock them up in the secret dungeon under this house. And then...and then...Noooo!"
Lily screams. Marcel kneels down on the floor, holding his head with both hands. He feels a headache for a while and then stands up. There's no Lily's voice now.
Marcel sees Dr. Donovan is standing on the door.
Dr. Donovan: "That’s an extraordinary side effect resulted from my experimentation on her lately. I suppose she told you everything. Oh, the girl is suffering me from the day she was born."
Marcel: "What's going on here, Doctor? Tell me what you have done?...You kidnapped those girls from our shows?!"
Dr. Donovan: "Oh, those are few little sacrifices for a greater cause."
Marcel: "What cause? Why are you doing this? What's actually wrong with your girl?"
"Wrong! What's wrong with her?!" Dr. Donovan just burst into great anger. "Haven’t you notice? She is a dwarf, Magician! She is like one of those little people in your shows. My only little child in this whole damn world is a midget, Magician! Yes...She is a midget!" Dr. Donovan now weeps a little, "And I just can't accept this anymore. At the age of 20, she just looks like a 6 to 7 years old girl."
Marcel: "But why don’t you accept her like the way she is? It's the way God made her. What can we do?"
Dr. Donovan (back to the angry mood): "Go and tell this rubbish to the world outside and ask them why they don't treat her like a normal child? You know well...they will never do that. She & her kind always have been a laughing matter for them...a circus material...a freak of nature! I just want to see her grow up like any other normal child and that's why I have devoted all my knowledge to make a cure for this your God's twisted little curse. I won't stop until the day I succeed."

Marcel: "But how the hell those innocent young girls come between you & your daughter? Why you need them? For God's sake please tell me what have you done with them?"
Dr. Donovan: "Oh, you won't understand that, Magician. Just know that for my new ongoing research every day I need some very fresh human tissues & body samples. They are just fulfilling my research requirements."
Marcel: "Oh my God! Yes...I can understand now, your daughter was right, you are really going insane, doctor!"
Dr. Donovan: "I don't like to waste anymore time on you. There's a crucial experiment I need to conduct tonight. Anyway, I think unfortunately you have already known too much about my family matters and that's a great threat for my research. So I can't let you go, Magician. You will join with those 'missing girls' soon...very soon!”
Marcel: "What do you mean...?"
Dr. Donovan then just yelled two names..."Marco! Polo!"
As Marcel make an attempt to run away but he just meets with two tall, vicious looking gigantic guys at the doorway.
Dr. Donovan: "Take him into the dungeon and lock him up in a cell. I'll later decide about his fate after my experiment."
The giants grab his hands from both sides and force Marcel to walk with them.
Marcel looks back at the doctor & says "You know doctor...I always liked to believe scientists like you are the greatest magicians in the world. But you proved me wrong tonight. You are a disappointment of your kind. You are a mad!"
Dr. Donovan gives no reply this time, just smiles. And the screen fades off on his face.
In the following sequence the camera follows Paolo & the giants as they are now taking Marcel into the underground dungeon of Dr. Donovan's mansion. It's a long corridor where in the both sides there's heavy iron door cells. The screaming of the captive girls is coming out from some of the cells. They put Marcel in one of the empty cells and lock the door. Paolo keeps the key and tells the giants to go to the doctor as he may need them soon for his work. The giant duo doesn't argue or say anything, just leaves the dungeon area.
Few moments later Paolo takes a peek into Marcel's cell through the little iron rod window.
Frustrate Marcel is seating inside.
Marcel suddenly stands up, goes to the window & calls Paolo.
Marcel: "Hey Paolo, do you like to see some more magic?"
Paolo responds positively. Then Marcel pulled a locket out from his pocket & swings the locket and tries to hypnotize him. He succeeds and commands Paolo to open all the cell doors one by one. As Marcel & the captive girls get free they first get the information from Paolo about the way out from the mansion. Then Marcel asked about Lily & where he can find her now. Hypnotized Paolo tells him to go to the laboratory upstairs where the doctor is about to beginning a new experiment on her. Then Marcel tells the girls to run away from the mansion, seek for help & call the police, he'll join them later after rescuing Little Lily from the mad doctor. Marcel locks up Paolo in a cell and goes & finds out the doctor's lab.
As he enters into the big lab he sees senseless Lily and another girl is lying down on two surgical beds in the center of the room. It seems Dr. Donovan is about to beginning an operation. There are shelves filled with jars & equipments, different big electrical machinery around the room.

"How the hell he gets free? Where’s Paolo?" naturally Dr. Donovan is very much shocked to see Marcel in the lab.
Then Marcel sees the giant duo are coming towards him from both of his sides.
Marcel: "There are still some tricks left to show you, doctor!" Marcel drops some marble like balls from his pocket in the floor. They explode & create a lot of smokes around the whole room quickly. Marcel swiftly vanishes into the smokes. The giant duo & the doctor can't able to see him or anything in the smoke. Then there are sounds of jars breaking down on the floor and instantly the giants' starts to screaming as if Marcel threw some acid on them. Then it starts to become visible that Marcel is fighting with the doctor now. As their fights results some shelves, machinery & equipments falling down on the floor and that leads to a heavy fire quickly spreading around the room. After a while the doctor gets stuck under a heavy machine as it falls over him. Marcel tries to pull him up but fails. Moreover, as they both see the fire is now heading towards him, Dr. Donovan then tells Marcel to save his daughter & the other girl from the fire instead of him and leave the mansion as quickly as possible. Marcel accepts his final request & save the girls from the fire.

[_____V_____]

Continued...

Next scene: Marcel is coming out from the mansion with the two girls who are still senseless. Meanwhile fire spreads the whole mansion.
Last scene: The other girl wakes up but Marcel is still trying to recover Lily's conscious. In last shot Lily opens her eyes & sees Marcel and now she gives him a big smile.

THE END

Supporting cast & Characters:

Lily...played by Tiny (from the doll family)

Paolo...played by Dwight Frye

Directed by Tod Browning

Judge #1's verdict -

There is a certain amount of cliche here, but plenty of novelty as well. There are enough elements that you can definitely see in a Todd Browning movie and the perversity you see in 30s horror. I feel it is enough of the 30's and there was enough work exhibited here that I feel you didn't do one of my favorite directors a disservice.

A hardearned B+.

I think this ups the game and shows your knowledge of and appreciation of vintage horror. You've done your homework for a long time and it shows.

Judge #2's verdict -

I give roshiq a C.

I struggled to finish reading it. I didn't care about the characters at all. Not a movie I would spend money on.

Judge #3's verdict -

This is a very good proposal. It would make a good, if somewhat tame, film by Browning. The subject matter is appropriate for the director, and Lugosi's role is similar to his turn as Chandu the Magician. You have a tendency to describe or tell things which could be shown. I may sound like a broken record, saying this in almost every piece of feedback I give, but film is a visual medium. You need to show things as much as possible, to keep the audience interested.

For instance, we meet Lugosi's character first sitting down backstage after his show. Why not show us a bit of his act, so we can see what a great magician he is? You may say it wasn't that way in the story, but that's why it's called an ADAPTATION.

GRADE: B

OVERALL GRADE - B-

[ferretchucker]

Wow...now I'm scared! When the judges aren't won over by length (feel free to make dirty jokes) there isn't much else I have! :eek:

[ferretchucker]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

The Ugly. ;)



Well that's kinda awesome and random... What?! Where?!

Going to Shanghai with my Sixth Form. Going to visit a school out there to see how they teach literacy and numeracy, since they've got the highest attaining system in the world there for those two. Got to then report back to some high ups in the education system what we see. :D But the other 5 days will be touristy stuff.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by ferretchucker

Going to Shanghai with my Sixth Form. Going to visit a school out there to see how they teach literacy and numeracy, since they've got the highest attaining system in the world there for those two. Got to then report back to some high ups in the education system what we see. :D But the other 5 days will be touristy stuff.

What's a Sixth Form? DAMN YOU AND YOUR CRAZY FOREIGN LANGUAGE

[_____V_____]

THE THIRD TEST OF HDC IDOL II - THE GOBLINS

I am here to address the Goblins. Each one of you will be given a task which you have to perform to the best of your ability, wit and intellect, based upon the knowledge you have of the genre.

I will take this chance and request the absent Goblins - The Return, Nightmare of Death & Ferretchucker - to give an effort in this Test.

For this task, the common theme I have chosen is - CONTEMPORARY INNOVATORS.

Here is your task, Goblins -

Choose a horror film from the 2000s and turn it into a universal (in both senses of the word) horror classic of the 1940s, complete with casting and a selected director. BUT, bear in mind that it should NOT be a Dracula, Frankenstein or Wolf man film.

Goblins - Ferretchucker, Nightmare of Death, The Return, The Villain and Chronogrl - put your thinking caps on and get to work.

You may do some research on your chosen film, and on the films of the 40s to inject that fine vintage feel into your entry. But remember, you cannot copy an entire script/storyline from a 40s horror film.

Once you are finished, please PM your entry to me, or send it via email to [email protected]. Do NOT post your entry directly in this thread.

You all have 96 hours, starting from NOW! All the best!