The first ten pages and some other stuff...

Well, here's another day in my life. I'm currently doing the re-write to my script, They Come From Darkness, and it's going smoothly. I made changes to the first 10 minutes, which start with more action and hopefully it has the hook neededfor the first 10 pages of the script. I decided that the story needed to start with the menace and then introduce my hero in page 8.

Keep in mind, in the theory of screenwriting the first 10 minutes of your script are the most critical, since you have to be able to gain the interest of not just your audience, but also of your possible buyer/producer or agent. Something has to happen by page 10.

Take for example Dawn of the Dead 2004. The first 10 minutes of the movie before the title sequence happens to be a very effective way to use this rule. The movie starts in a hospital, where it seems to be a normal day in a nurse's life. There are some the latest talk is about some bite victims in a fight. Ana, the nurse, goes home, talk to het neighbor's kid on the skates, turn off the radio when there is a news report coming in. She makes love with her husband on the shower while the tv runs a national emergency news report. They're sleeping and it's 6 in the morning. The neighbor's kid happens to be inside the house. She rips the husband's throat! Ana pushes zombie kid out of the room, closes the door and tries to save the hubby. She was not a good nurse, husband croaks and comes back as a flesh eating zombie. Ana escape the house, the whole neighborhood... nay, the whole world is in chaos! She takes the car, drives out the suburb amid the violence and ends up going off the road. Once the nurses' car hits the tree and the title starts you're hooked to the story. That is an efective first ten pages!

In other things, I'm looking forward to Dissension, the third set in the Magic The Gathering Ravnica's block. It looks very sweet! Talking about Magic, I created this card. Being a huge fan of Joe Madureira I was inspired to do this... Enjoy!


For last, but not least, it's 2 days till my wife is back home. Looking forward to have her with me!