“In the Summer of 1936, within the forests of rural Kentucky, a determined teenage journalist uncovers a UFO mystery that threatens an entire town with unspeakable evil.” What are the roadblocks to a feature screenplay such as this?
Screenwriting : Challenge: Combine 1930s rural Kentucky with witches/UFOs/occult and the Bible by Kit Wilson
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4 people like this
Your headline suggests witches/occult as well as UFOs/Aliens. That would be the challenge.
Usually you want one fantastical element to kick off your story. Aliens OR the occult. Doing both might be hard for the audience to swallow.
I’m not saying it can’t be done. (In fact, I’m trying to do an occult/robot story now. Tricky.)
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It's certainly open to a lot of twists and turns. The hard part is going to be keeping the mystery going and deciding which one is actually the biggest threat.
5 people like this
Have them FIGHT each other-there you go!
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He caught my attention. He defined the space and time and defined his main character. It is wonderful and good. The events and conflict remain. I think it is the script of a wonderful film.
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I feel like a teenage journalist(who plays chess or likes puzzles) and is from the big city is the only character in rural Kentucky that could dredge through all of subjectivism(s) to find truth.
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May i suggest broadening the threat the World, once the threat is established in KY, as the news of the incidents would surely travel beyond a “Town”.
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Thanks for all the feedback-it's appreciated. I've addressed all the elemental topics in my second draft and feel very comfortable with my teenage sleuth and her journey of discovery how UFOs and the occult cross dimensions in and out of history.
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I like this. As a scifi writer it resonates. I would consider changing "determined teen" to big city troubled teen sent to stay with relatives after getting into trouble with the law. This will give you a protagonist that's an outsider, not trusted because of her past and would also put her at odds with the local church and law enforcement. Lots of opportunities there for conflict. You could still keep the journalist aspect of the character because maybe she got into trouble while sleuthing.
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Colorful characters. High potential. Maybe mention a motive for this occurring power move.
In 1936 a teenage journalist crashes an occult gathering, where society betrayed witches stir the Bible and aliens, to choke inhabitants’ destinies with unspeakable evil.
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like it a lot!
you asked what the roadblocks might be, and the only one i can see (and it's one i would ignore) is it's historical setting – it adds to the cost and, some producers claim, reduces its marketability – which i think is BS
particularly as it’s set in 1936, when Nazi groups were enjoying some popularity in the US – thank goodness those days are over ;•)
as to the suggestions that you make the protagonist an out-of-towner, i can understand the rationale, but the protagonist doesn’t need to be from somewhere else to be an outsider (e.g. Belle in Beauty and the Beast)
also, i wonder if it lessens the emotional stakes – if the protagonist has a few deep connections with people in the town, they will probably find themselves in a position where their actions will place these relationships at risk, or even putting those they care about in danger
i’m not saying these conflicts can’t happen with an outsider, but you’ll probably need to burn more pages creating and building these relationships, than you would with a local
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I like it. I also like determined as an adjective.I used "obsessive" for mine but my character is, so not sure what you would use to portray the truth of her. Loglines are so difficult... I guess as selling potential it would be the period, though they also sell. So, go with your gut? I cant tell you how many people were at literal odds this last year about my storylines, my loglines, my plots. Completely about what people resonate with. As long as you like it... I think you can get behind it and that's more infectious.
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Thank you again for the positive remarks!
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Sounds great. You'll need to differentiate it from 'Stranger Things', in part by putting more definition on the "unspeakable evil" (you will need to speak it). I know your story is forty years earlier than that series, but such has been its success it exerts a huge gravitational force.
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How encouraging, but not surprising, to see such thoughtful and imaginative suggestions from all. A factor would also be the lack of modern communication tools: they'd be relying on word-of-mouth, radio, telegraph, and some telephone...unless there is a radio station nearby. Also, take a look at some of the "X-FILES" episodes which often did mix occult and aliens. Good luck with your story and please do keep us posted on your progress.
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Did X-files ever mix occult and UFOs in the same episode? Can’t think of any specific stories.
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At a certain point, a logline just shows that you can craft a good sentence. A short synopsis will let us know if your story has legs.