AHS Mini Screenplay Contest 2008
 

AHS Mini Screenplay Contest 2008

Carefully read the entire announcement before entering.

Description

• To script a stage play, movie, radio drama, TV program, CM, or PV on an Ayumi Hamasaki theme. The story MUST feature Ayu.

Submissions

• All entries must be no more than 1000 words. There is no limit on the length of the entries.
• All entries must be written in English.
• Entries must comply with the forum's posting rules.
• NO vulgar language or terms of a sexual nature. Try to keep this at a PG level.
• NO flaming of Ayu or anyone else.
• To enter PM your entry to AHS Staff. Do not send your entry to any other staff email or PM address.
• Only one entry per person.
• Entries must be as anonymous as possible. DO NOT post your entry on any sites or forums until after the contest is over.
• The deadline for submissions is 5:00PM EST 23 November 2008.

Formatting

Although formatting rules won't be strictly required for this contest, it is suggested that entrants try to make their style similar to the basic format followed by professional writers.
Formatting guidelines and examples can be found at these sites:

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• BBC
• COI TV Fillers

Judging

• The entries will be judged by the AHS initiates in a poll.
• Each AHS member is allowed to place one vote only.
• The voting will begin on or about 23 November 2008.
• In the event of a tie, another poll will be made between the tied entries to decide.
• These are the suggested criteria for judging:
  • Writing flair
  • Content
  • Story
  • Originality
  • Correct formatting, spelling, and grammar

Prize

• There will be only one winner.
• The winner will receive their choice of any Ayumi Hamasaki CD in stock at YesAsia.

Disclaimers and Rules

• The voting should be based on the merits of the writing only, and not on the person who made it. Entrants should NOT identify their work until after the voting is ended. If you try to influence another person's vote by disclosing the identity of any entry you will be ineligible to vote in this contest and if the rulebreaker is a participant their entry will be disqualified.
• The deadline for submissions is 5:00PM EST 23 November 2008.
• The prize shall not be exchangeable for money/cash.
• The winner will have to provide us with a valid shipping address and phone number when it is time to send the prize.
• AHS staff may enter but they are not eligible to win the prize.
• We regret that any late entries will not be accepted.
• DO NOT CHEAT. The AHS staff reserve the right to nullify any vote and/or entry that we consider suspicious for any reason.
• AHS's decision shall be final and appeals shall not be entertained.

this sounds interesting, i might join if i get some inspiration^^

Oooh! So kewl! Can't wait to read all the entries screenplay.

Oh dude i'm definitely entering this one.

i think she should be the character, what's the use of her song in a screenplay???

So, basically this is a script-writing contest, right? I'm a bit confused with the word screenplay XD I might join! Oh, should the other characters be real, or can they just be fictional?

And does the script have to include the whole movie? Or just a few scenes?

EDIT: Also, in what format do we need to use to send to AHS Staff? Would Microsoft Word do, or do we need to zip it?

This is really interesting... :3

EDIT

The deadline date is the day before my birthday (Nov. 24th)! ^^,

^happy birthday one month later then... :D:D

inspiration...inspiration...c'mon..:shakehead:shak ehead:shakehead

OH HELL YES.

sounds fun~ I might take part :D how long should the CM/Movie/stage play/PV be?

Now this is an easy, fun and a very good idea!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

oooh i think i'm gonna participate!!! come oonnnn inspirationnn XD

Nice. I might join too.

oh great idea^^ I have something spinning in my mind for ages now^^

Hmm, not due until November? I may actually join this contest. :P

Ayu should be a character.

Yes.

Either way is okay. You can do anything you want as long as it meets the rules in the first post.

We limited the size to 1000 words because chances are that the voters wouldn't read anything too long. 1000 words is about 3-5 pages in Word. So you probably can only do one or a few scenes, unless it's a very short film.


If you aren't using special formatting you can send it as a regular PM. If you want to use more advanced formatting styes you can send a Word file or a pdf.

This will be interesting. It'll be fun to read I hope!

i think its too hard for me to join this contest...

Hmmm, interesting. I'll definitely look into it.

!! : / When I read the title I was hoping this would be about a videoclip or whatever. Now a contest on THAT would be awesome. Basically anyone can open Windows Movie Maker and put some material together, it doesn't need to be all original. Maybe even add a short guide to the contest topic, etc.

Max 1000 words is really short, though... You can hardly write an actual story on that. : / Maybe a short short story.

The formatting is in actual movie scripts format right?
So not like a reading book, etc. If so that really limits the writing down to the point where it just describes actions and nothing more, which is rather boring to write -and- read. But OK.

I think this contest is a really bad idea... Hardly anyone will actually read the entries, I can tell now. The voting will probably come down to who has written the most love or my name's WOMEN scenes with Ayu. Also, writing in a movie script format is tedious work. And this will be harder for people without English as first language. Oh well. @_@; XD

QUESTION:

Is Ayu should be the main character?

This sounds SO interesting! I would enter but...nothing is coming to mind at the moment, but I do look forward to reading everyone's entries~ :yes

I don't like to be a Negative Nancy, but I agree with this. I really wish this contest had been an Ayu vignette or something so we can write her thoughts, descriptions, etc. Mere dialogue really doesn't say much. Also, it seems kind of pointless to write in a medium which is not intended to stand alone. Between reading the script and watching the movie, it is obvious which experience is richer.

Actually reading scripts can be more beneficial seeing how it doesnt show the mise-en-scene so you dont know about twists that shall happen in the film.

Plus whats wrong with reading a script format? I do it all the time for background whilst writing my own screenplays. Once you get used to them, there fine. Here's an example from Air Force One's script

http://www.isarapix.org/pix85/1225109048.png

Easy to read

We can never have a contest format that will please everyone. Lots of members here have imagined how they want to make an Ayu PV or CM, and those start out as scripts. This contest is for those people, but I'm sure we will have other kinds of writing contests in the future.

Anyway, there is more to script writing than just dialogue. Unspoken thoughts and detailed descriptions can be included. There are so many possibilities, it's really up to the creativity of the writer. If anyone isn't familiar with with script formats please check the links in the first post, or search online for other examples.

Do we need to have original dialogue or will her lyrics plus some direction do?

You can do anything you want as long as it is in script format and meets the other rules in post 1.

sounds fun :P i will definately join if i have time and inspiration, cause because inspiration i can't come up with any ideas :D

I found that 1000 words is FAR too limiting to develop any kind of plot in a screenplay. I was barely able to scrape two scenes together.
Do you think they'll be judged with that in mind? The difficulty of writing under such limits?

how many A4 pages can you make with the 1000 words limit?

3-5 depending on the formatting.

After considering it some more I have to agree, so we'll lift the limit on the number of words.

But please keep in mind that the title of this contest is "AHS Mini Screenplay Contest", so we aren't looking for a feature length film script. It's better to keep it short because the voters will probably be less likely to read something really long. You can focus on one scene and include a prologue and epilogue to describe the plot and put the scene in context.

mm...1000 words is actually very little for a small movie/play

I wrote something but I way pass the 1000 mark..need to redo

btw it has to be an actual story?? 'cuz the first post says it can be TV program or CM? those ain't necessary story? esp TV program? it's not a story? eg ayuready

After some more thought the 1000 word limit was rescinded. It's okay to send in longer entries.


You can do anything you want. It's okay to make a script for a show like Music Station or HEY!x3.

so is there a word limit now than? or it can be how ever long you want...of course not tooo long

Yes.

The deadline to enter is less than 24 hours away.