John August, the screenwriter behind some great films, is an active blogger. I was turned onto his blog by Eli James at Novelr when John marketed a short story via Kindle and PDF, and shared his sales data with the world so they could see how the experiment worked out.
Occasionally, John does a "screenwriting challenge" where he gives his readers a few key points about a scene and then lets them loose to create their own versions. His latest is a challenge to create an action scene for a superhero movie, the "Superheroic scene challenge". There's no real prize other than a sense of satisfaction and bragging rights, but when I read the challenge, I immediately started getting ideas for the scene and couldn't resist.
Don't know if it will win. I didn't read the competing entries so I wouldn't unconsciously plagiarize or be intimidated. So far I've won three dialogue/caption contests in a row for comics. I figured I might as well try my luck here. Here are the instructions John August provided. My entry is below them.
The only required element is the villain: BRICKHOUSE. He’s big and he’s strong. It’s up to you to decide whether that means he can throw cars or entire skyscrapers.As the scene opens, Brickhouse has just grabbed an ancient staff from The City Museum of Ubiquities. You can decide whether the staff is merely valuable or has some other attribute. It’s also your choice whether the action takes place in the museum, outside, or some other locale.
Your hero can be superpowered, gadget-enhanced or merely quick-witted. Your choice.
And here's the scene I entered. Wish me luck!
UPDATE: Winner has been announced and it wasn't me. I didn't even warrant a mention. Seems the problem is that I went too straightforward and didn't incorporate enough absurdity or gimmicry.
EXT. CITY MUSEUM OF UBIQUITIES -- NIGHT
The museum is at the top of a long set of steps. BRICKHOUSE stands near the entrance, holding an ancient staff. He’s built like a middle-linebacker, wide and bulky.
Police cars create a semi-circle on the street below, blocking off the steps as a police helicopter circles overhead, spotlighting BRICKHOUSE. LT. HAMLIN, standing behind the cars, raises a megaphone.
LT. HAMLIN
All right, Brickhouse. Put down the staff and put your hands behind your head.
BRICKHOUSE
(shouting) I don’t want to hurt nobody! Just let me go! I don’t want to hurt nobody!
LT. HAMLIN
Then surrender peacefully.
BRICKHOUSE winces in pain and shakes his head.
BRICKHOUSE
(frustrated) I don’t want to hurt nobody!
BRICKHOUSE puts his left hand to the back of his head, behind his ear, grimacing in pain, his head tilting forward, his knees bending slightly. With a grunt, he begins moving down the steps, slowly, ploddingly, cradling the staff with his right arm.
LT. HAMLIN
Prepare to open fire!
STEEL EAGLE swoops down, carrying PROFESSOR STANFORD ALGUIN, landing next to LT. HAMLIN. STEEL EAGLE is a black woman in her early 30s, close to six feet tall, and extremely fit. STANFORD is the stereotypical geeky-yet-handsome professor type.
STEEL EAGLE
Hold your fire.
LT. HAMLIN
What the...
STANFORD
That staff may contain a microfusion power source. If a bullet hits it in the wrong place, we could be standing at ground zero of an H-bomb explosion.
LT. HAMLIN
Is this guy for real?
STEEL EAGLE
Start shooting and we’ll find out.
LT. HAMLIN raises the megaphone.
LT HAMLIN
Hold your fire! Hold your fire!
STEEL EAGLE takes off and lands on the museum steps in BRICKHOUSE’s path. He pauses.
STEEL EAGLE
Can’t let you take that, Harry.
BRICKHOUSE
Please don’t make me hurt you.
STEEL EAGLE
I thought you went straight, Harry. What’s Debbie going to think?
BRICKHOUSE grimaces in pain, lowering his head. When he raises it, his left hand shoots out, connecting with STEEL EAGLE’S lower ribcage, sending her flying down the stairs and into the line of police cars. She hits a car and sends it skidding out of the blockade. BRICKHOUSE takes off running, barrelling down the stairs and through the gap. The police jump in their cars and follow him. BRICKHOUSE hops up onto the sidewalk and slaps parked cars out into the paths of the police cars as he runs by.
Shaking off the hit, STEEL EAGLE flies after BRICKHOUSE, catching him under the arms and lifting him up into the sky. As she rises, a shadowy character on a nearby rooftop fires a stinger missile, hitting STEEL EAGLE in the back and knocking her for a loop. She drops BRICKHOUSE but he only falls about 20 feet, seeming to come to a stop in mid-air. Next to him a portal opens in what appears to be a cloaked ship. HENCHMAN 1 grabs the staff from the dazed BRICKHOUSE and then shoves him over the edge of the craft, sending him plummeting to the street below. The portal closes.
Regaining her balance, STEEL EAGLE, flies as fast as she can, catching BRICKHOUSE a few feet before he would hit the street.
INT. CLOAKED SHIP
HENCHMAN 1 pilots the ship while speaking into a radio.
HENCHMAN 1
The artefact has been secured.
DR. REPTISS (V.O.)
Good. Make sure you tidy up the loose ends.
HENCHMAN 1 punches a code into a keypad.
EXT. STREET -- NIGHT
BRICKHOUSE sits in the middle of the street, STEEL EAGLE standing in front of him.
STEEL EAGLE
What the hell is going on, Harry?
BRICKHOUSE cries out in pain and falls over onto his side, curling up in agony. Under the skin, behind his left ear, a light is flashing and a beeping noise accompanies it. The flashing and beeping become quicker.
STEEL EAGLE
Oh guano.
STEEL EAGLE grabs BRICKHOUSE and flies upward. The sound of beeping gets faster and faster. BRICKHOUSE looks sadly at STEEL EAGLE. She throws his body upward just before the beeping becomes a solid tone and BRICKHOUSE explodes in a burst of light.
Entries (RSS)