Bluecat feedback?

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  • #31
    Re: Bluecat feedback?

    Sorry if anyone involved in Blue Cat is here reading this, but the Blue Cat feedback f***ing sucks. It's downright pathetic when you get the main character's name wrong. And it wasn't something like Jamie instead of James, it was COMPLETELY wrong.

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    • #32
      Re: Bluecat feedback?

      Hold up, Anagram.

      Isn't that what Wenoah's writer wrote? Double spacing.

      Looks like you both got the bad apple.

      The thing is there's a wealth of difference between bad notes and simply amateur advice.

      This is amateur advice. In fact that's putting it mildly. This is simply poor advice. I encourage, if you both don't mind, you and Wenoah comparing notes. There's no way that in a contest with a limited amount of judges, that there could be two who highlight something as insignificant as Double-spacing.

      AND TO HIGHLIGHT FRAGMENTED SENTENCES?!

      That's what screenwriting is. We use fragments of sentences to write action description dynamic and succinctly.

      Not sure why, but I'm pretty annoyed by what I read here. Because it seems to me that Bluecat's suspected policy of recruiting readers via Craigslist is actually getting worse.

      I will catagorically declare that your reader, Anagram, is a moron. And I suspect is gulity of template critique. He's already got a set idea of what to write and adapts around that.

      Get onto Hofman. Get him to look into it. He's a good guy. It's just his method of recruitment that betrays his otherwise well run contest.

      Get the name of the reader. Cause this guy needs the name and shame treatment.

      Oh and to the original question, I have absolutely no idea what he means about capitalisation of names in dialogue. IF you've only capitalized names to denote speaker and first introduction, then you've got it right.

      What frightens me is he might mean above the dialogue! In which case I suspect his food was fed to him via a drip between visits from "the bearded men" to prevent him once again filing down his square peg and stuffing it into his round hole.

      No doubt the same one he speaks out of

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Bluecat feedback?

        Here are the first three sentences of my Bluecat feedback:
        "The story did a nice job of following a group of people
        through a long period of time, what turned out to be the
        majority of most of their lives. I enjoyed the usage of life
        and death bringing in all kinds of relatable aspects because
        of both. This aloud (sic) us to see aspects of the characters that you would not normally see or read in a movie that only
        spans over a short amount of time."

        I am glad to have this forum in which to express my surprise and consternation allowed.

        I should credit the reader with some interesting observations and suggestions which, though clumsily written, make clear that he or she did actually read the full thing. Much of the comments however seem akin to boilerplate, indiscriminately applied.

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        • #34
          Re: Bluecat feedback?

          I had rather a good experience with them. I'd sent them a script that placed at Nicholl and did very well at Page and AAA. Here's what Bluecat wrote:

          I think your script idea was very creative and original. The war drama/conspiracy theory idea has been visited a few times before, but I think your script was so distinctive and unique that it has some serious potential to become a great movie.

          Also, the "End of the World- twist was different and added a new dimension to your script.

          I really liked the intensity your script had. Your script had my attention from the first page. The sheer power in it reached out to me, which is a great indication that it will become great if it grabs the rest of your readers, such as actors or directors, as it did me.

          The pace of your script was kept steady throughout the entirety of it, and it had enough drama and intrigue that it kept your audience entertained throughout the script.

          Your characters were developed very well. They were three-dimensional and came alive to your audience. Such aliveness is necessary if you want your screenplay to be attractive to audiences.

          The Mercenary, Johannsen, and Carlyle were all believable villains. They were driven, whether by greed, fear, or both, and allowed the audience to connect with them. I really liked the way you revealed Carlyle to be the traitor in the final scenes. It was brought about leisurely enough so that the audience could believe it, and yet was such a surprise that the audience got excited when they learned exactly what he was. Kudos to you on that detail.

          I also liked Eddie and Fatima. So different, yet so alike, each searching, in their own way, for justice. They were as likable and appealing to the audience as the villains were evil. While they're both heroes/heroines of the screenplay, they're so individual, Eddie with his daydreams/talks with himself and Fatima with her dancing, among other things, that the audience connects with them as separate characters instead of a linked team.

          Lisa's and Gracie's characters are very good, also. Their disillusionment with and, in spite of everything, love for Eddie is believable to your audience and gives a wonderful "second chance- feeling of hope to your script.

          Your dialogue, for the most part, was very good. It was vivid and individualistic to each respective character; none of them sounded the same. Good job.

          Your descriptions were good. They were well-placed and vivid; they allowed the readers to visualize everything as if it was happening up on screen, instead of paper, which is necessary if you want to show them the maximum potential of your screenplay.

          You did a great job in keeping your script looking tidy, correct, and professional, with no typos, grammatical errors, etc. Many screenwriters don't understand how important professionalism is in regards to the appearance of their scripts. I'm glad you've learned that important piece of information.

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: Bluecat feedback?

            I entered BlueCat last year and found them frustrating. I entered early enough that I got my first round of notes, and then for an additional reduced fee resubmitted and got a second round.

            The script I submitted was untraditionally structured, uncommercial, subversive, and satirical (even though I know some people think of satire as comedy that isn't funny). In other words, a bigass longshot. Even so, the first notes were surprisingly encouraging. The reader clearly understood the story and got the satire and humor I was going for, but thought a few things could be improved to better achieve my goal and laid out a few constructive suggestions. I diligently rewrote with said suggestions in mind, and resubmitted for final critique. I had an option to be reread by the same reader or by a different reader. I chose a different reader. Big mistake.

            The first sign of trouble was when the reader said he or she didn't understand how one character "could unlock a car door using only a Slim Jim." Uh oh. Implication: the only kind of slim jim this reader knows is a processed beef stick, and has never heard of the lock pick used by thieves and tow truck drivers the world over. Inference: reader hasn't been around much. The rest of the analysis was similarly myopic. The reader failed in spectacular fashion to grasp story and character points that the first reader clearly DID understand. Reader also showed zero capacity for irony or subtlety, and believes there are only two types of comedies: "typical" and slapstick. That's it. Two kinds. Be one or the other.

            I'm not going to sit here and claim my script was brilliant and I was wronged. It did well in some contests, and not so well in others. I was just taken aback by the contrast in the two readers, and I felt gypped out of the time and money I spent on the revisions and second analysis. Sure, readers are hit and miss all over the place, but usually assessing their competence is an act of fantasy or paranoia, so when I have evidence in front of me that BlueCat employs at least one moron who impacts a writer's future, I know not to enter again.

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: Bluecat feedback?

              Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
              Sorry if anyone involved in Blue Cat is here reading this, but the Blue Cat feedback f***ing sucks. It's downright pathetic when you get the main character's name wrong. And it wasn't something like Jamie instead of James, it was COMPLETELY wrong.
              lol, that sucks.

              Yeah, I wasn't really thrilled with their feedback. I mean, they said good things, and bad things, but it was like they called down to central casting and and said, "I need some notes on an indie film, stat! Just tweak the usual notes a bit by dropping some names! Hurry!"

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Bluecat feedback?

                What if I'm reading a script and I notice someone uses "further" when they should use "farther"? Most people probably won't know the difference. They probably won't care. It's insignificant, but I might as well tell the writer. I've also given people notes like "page 49, that should be its, not it's".

                So the double-space issue. That's a standard thing for courier font. Sure most people probably won't notice one way or the other. But if I did, I might as well point it out. Does that mean your script automatically goes into the pass pile? No. Does that mean I've completely written you off as a writer? No.

                If, on the other hand, they're saying that's the only reason it didn't make the cut to the next round, that might be a little much.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Bluecat feedback?

                  The one-or-two space debate is given detailed treatment at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_spacing. Be warned: it is one of those "more than you would ever possibly want to know" Wikipedia entries.

                  I know from one of my other lives that, though for whatever reasons at different points in history, double-spacing between sentences may have become the convention in print, UI style guides for text to be read on the screen suggest single space.

                  There is so much history to this ambiguity that the only rule should probably be this: do it one way, or the other, but do it consistently.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: Bluecat feedback?

                    Originally posted by Porkaccino View Post

                    The script I submitted was untraditionally structured, uncommercial, subversive, and satirical (even though I know some people think of satire as comedy that isn't funny). In other words, a bigass longshot.
                    Too funny. I think I love you...

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Bluecat feedback?

                      Originally posted by wenonah View Post
                      I got called on for not having double spaces after each sentence! (spacebar twice they said, it's "industry standard") Seriously? I use FD and it looks like there's plenty of room for me not to have to double space like I did learning on the typewriter in 8th grade. Does anyone have an opinion about this? I seriously don't think I can change the way I type now @ 85wpm. This was script #9 for me and I've NEVER double space bar-ed and nobody has ever said anything about it until now.

                      Other than that it was just a couple lines of OTN dialog and the fact that I didn't write "The End" after FADE OUT.

                      wenonah


                      I'm wondering if the reader can't find anything to criticize, they have to say something anyway. Then you'd be shelling out another $30 or $40 bucks or whatever it is...
                      If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. - J.C.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Bluecat feedback?

                        Originally posted by joeld42 View Post
                        Screenwriter has an option to double space automatically for you after each period. Perhaps there is a similar feature in Final Draft.
                        Just curious, does FD have this feature?

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                        • #42
                          Re: Bluecat feedback?

                          Originally posted by Telly View Post
                          Just curious, does FD have this feature?
                          Don't know about FD, but Movie Magic has it as default. And if you want to change it from double space to single go to "editing script format", and you can anything from there. I assume FD should have the same option. I like single space and if any reader makes an issue out of it, he/she has nothing else to say.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Bluecat feedback?

                            I just emailed Final Draft. They do not do it automatically and there's no function to make it automatic.

                            spacebar
                            spacebar

                            old school ... or not.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: Bluecat feedback?

                              Seriously??? They mentioned the fact you didn't put "the end" after fade out???

                              Wow, well obviously that COMPLETELY diminishes your ENTIRE script!!!

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: Bluecat feedback?

                                Lol Erehwon! I think Wenonah's script is at the top of the pile. When she wins Bluecat we'll all be laughing about the DS thing !!

                                Jake, WOW...what exciting feedback YOU got from Bluecat. I'd print that out in really big letters and frame it! But...that's just me...

                                Congrats on doing so well with that script. What's the latest with it?

                                HL
                                HL

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