This week I was watching a new show on Fox called “On the Lot.” Basically it’s another reality TV show to test the talent, perseverance, creativity and what not of people (most like all reality TV shows - they just have different “themes”).
This particular show is a test of “potential movie directors” who want to make it big. I wasn’t sure how in the world they were going to judge this in order to eliminate contestants, but when I saw what they were doing I was actually impressed.
Under each contestant’s chair was a piece of paper with one of five different “loglines” (or situations for imaginary films). Their task was to take that logline & develope a “pitch” for a movie. They would then have to present their “pitch” for their movie that next morning in front of the judges. Most of the results weren’t as impressive as the concept itself.
Anyway, I got to thinking…wouldn’t that be fun?!?! So, I thought we could try it out on here and hopefully the response will go well…then again, maybe no one responds?! Here is what we will do:
- I will put out the five “loglines” from the show, for everyone to choose from (found below).
- We should each pick one and simply elaborate creatively on how to make it a story
- Don’t stress about over doing it or see it as a daunting task…just dream & write
- You are free to write as much or as little as you want.
- Try to have some fun while doing it (use it as a “creative break” in your day)
- You are free to add to or adjust other stories in order to create your own.
- You are free to create as many stories as you would like.
Sound fun yet? Anyone interested? Maybe when the day is done we will try to figure out a way to “declare a winner?” Here are the “loglines” (let’s have some fun & see what we can do):
Logline # 1
A slacker applies to the CIA as a joke and is accepted.Logline # 2
A man is watching TV and he sees his face as someone who is wanted or missing.Logline # 3
A mouse is abducted as a lab rat by a pharmaceutical company and has to plan his escape.Logline # 4
A priest meets the woman of his dreams just as he is about to be ordained.Logline # 5
A crate from a military base is delivered to a house in suburbia.
Side Note: I will be “submitting” my story today as well. So, for anyone that might need a little “completive motivation”….consider this a friendly challenge! Hopefully that will inspire some of you or at least make you laugh at me :)!?!
May 24th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Finally a show I might enjoy. Seriously I like this idea. I am going to run with this.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Most suburbia towns are normal. They have people who have jobs & families, live in houses, and go about life…normal. That’s how it was in the town of Ordinary until Tommy Jolly had something to do with it…
Young Tommy Jolly was like most boys…adventurous, fun, and wild, but in Ordinary those things don’t fit. So, Tommy needed more and he was constantly searching for it. Then one day it found him! As Tommy was walking down the south side of his street he noticed a box sized hole in the roof of a nearby house. Normally Tommy might see the danger and flee the scene, but not today…Tommy had an appointment with destiny!
Tommy adventurous side took over as he approached the house. He made his way inside and searched fervently for the room that held the secret to this hole in the roof. Finally Tommy made his way up to and inside the attic. Little did he know that what he was about to find in the next few moments would change his life forever!
There it was, sitting perfectly in the middle of this attic was a HUGE box with some sort of cloth attached to it with strings. Tommy assumed this to be one of those contraptions that helped items & people drop from planes slower, but that wasn’t his focus. What caught his attention was the small, old and dramatic looking letter attached to this large box which read:
“Help needed. Come quick. Without your help we will surely perish.
Note: Answering this plea could result in your own demise. Be warned. However, to accept this absurd plea for help simply enter the box through the top.”
That was it…no signature, no further insight…just “help.” After standing inamazement with his mouth wide open for what seemed like hours Tommy quickly jumped at the opportunity. He began to find a way to the top of the box. The warnings hadn’t swayed him one bit! This was his chance for adventure and he wouldn’t miss it for the candy in Dr. Pepper’s Store.
Finally, he reached the top and found a small hole. He lowered himself, feet first into the box and fell further than he thought he should. He couldn’t help but notice that when he landed things were different…the temperature changed, the hole he came in wasn’t there and he heard voices.
He now remembered the warning he had ignored and although he wasn’t sure if he was excited or terrified yet he did know he wasn’t bored anymore. He didn’t understand it, but he knew that somehow, someway he wasn’t in “Ordinary” any more and that everything was about to change…forever!
To be continued…
pudge
May 27th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Mine is almost ready….tonight maybe
May 28th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Tommy tried to look around him, but there was very little
light. He felt cold, yet hot at the same time. Tommy guessed
it was the excitement of facing the unknown adventure he’d
found
himself in.
Not really knowing what to do he moved toward the voices he
heard. In the near total darkness that surrounded him he began
to understand that he was not really in a box at all. Tommy’s
feet felt as if he were walking on something soft. Sand ? No
foam rubber. Yes that had to be it. He’d landed in a room or
in a field covered in foam rubber. Tommy continued toward the
sounds of the people. Yet as he drew closer the sounds began
to become cleared. They changed, they were not voices talking
as in a conversation, but voices droning on in a mono-tone way.
Something like the lady back home in Ordinary who gave the
time and temperature over the phone. Except here, there was
more
than one voice.
Tommy had paused to get his bearings and to think about what he
was hearing. When suddenly one voice boomed loudly out of the
darkness, covering over the sounds of the others. ” Last plane
to Area 49 leaving in five minutes….. All Aboard.”
Area 49? He wondered. Like most kids in Ordinary, Tommy had
heard and often repeated the stories and rumors of the Air
Force secret area 51. The TOP SECRET lab, for alien research.
Tommy had never truly believed the stories but had always been
interested in them. So what was Area 49? And why or how did
he get out of the box. Where was he anyway if not in the box
in the attic of the old empty house on the next street back
home?
May 28th, 2007 at 11:06 am
The comment above, which contains the rest of chapter one is too large it seems. With your permission I’ll post your intro and my reply as an entry in my blog.
Charles
May 29th, 2007 at 12:10 am
OK Chapter one is complete and posted on my blog
May 29th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Chapter two in this continuing saga is up
You can find it here
June 1st, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Well I know I’m a bit late on this, but I read the post and an idea popped into my head and I typed something out. It was fun. Here ya go:
The kids were downstairs and Ray was still watching Spongebob. How long had it been? He wasn’t sure.
He remembered desperately searching for another game after the Rockies loss, but Taylor and McKenzie were too quick for him. They caught that fleeting glimpse of giggling yellow animation as he cycled through the channels.
“Daaaaaad! Spongebob!”
“Let them watch their show, Ray” Gina chimed in before he could protest. “I’m going to Brady’s. Go mow the lawn or something.”
Somewhere between then and now the kids had moved on to something else, and Ray was still watching a talking sponge. He began searching the channels again.
“Daaaaaad! We’re watching that!” he heard a distant voice call from the basement. Apparently selective hearing had picked up on the fact that the channel had changed. Ray ignored it.
It took several more clicks of the up arrow to get past the block of kids channels. The satellite service Ray had switched to last summer lumped the various networks together by genre.
Kids channels.
Movie channels.
Sports channels.
Law and Order.
Law and Order.
Law and Order.
Heading in to the news block Ray already figured he’d have to take another look through the channels from the beginning. The news was all Hezbollah and Anna Nicole Smith these days, and that was not how he wanted to spend his Saturday.
His attention was just about snared by a Food Network show about a “Build a Better Hamburger” competition in Texas somewhere, when something told him to go back a few channels. Midway through the news channels he saw his own face staring back at him. It was his driver’s license photo, in fact. He turned up the volume.
“…any information contact authorities. Moving on, news today in the Anna Nicole Smith…”
Ray franticly began paging back and forth through the other news channels. Back and forth until finally there was his face again on another station.
“…Authorities in Denver are seeking this man who they describe as a person of interest in a string of local night club robberies. If you have seen this man do not approach him yourself. He may be armed and dangerous. Contact your local authorities if you have any information.”
Ray jumped up from the couch and raced to his wife’s computer, spilling some Fritos and stepping on a Spider-Man Happy Meal toy in the process. He remembered the website for one of the local news stations, DenverNews.com. Just beneath the ad for Dealin’ Dan’s Ford there was his photo again.
Ray was just about to click on the story when his eyes shifted focus from the computer screen and out the back patio door in the distance. There he saw part of a head peering above the fence. It was the neighbor from behind, who’s name he did not know, but who he’d often seen watering plants. His eyes scanned the yard back and forth like a security camera, across the lawn and finally up to the window. As Ray and his neighbor of 3 years met eye to eye for the first time there was a knock at the door.