Please Note: This is taken from the news article: Scriptwriting Month Week 4: The Future of Scriptwriting?. I have posted the information of the contest here to raise more interest.


Contest 3: One Act Play

Write a One-Act Play. You have 6 weeks to spend working on your piece. This gives you 6 weeks to write your play, get critique, revise, revise again and polish before submission. We’re looking for quality, we’re looking for effort.


Objectives: This time it is entirely up to you what you write and who you write for. Try to consider all the elements that have been discussed, especially the communication of text to actor to audience.


Rules:

The play must be no longer then 30 minutes long.
Must be written for performance.
Please ensure your pieces are written in English only
Only one entry per person
All Submissions must be received by Monday 4th August, Midnight GMT.


How to Submit

We have been fortunate enough to have a special category set up for this contest. This can be found by when you submit your deviation you chose the following category path:

Contests & Projects> Contests> 2008> One-Act Contest

Please note…

If you do not submit your work to this category, it may be missed out.
If there are any problems involving the submission of your work, please note me and let me know.
Submissions can be made either as text of in PDF Format.


These Scenes will be judged by…



^lovetodeviate is not only an excellent writer, but a fair and unique person. I have worked with her on several projects, including *Writers-Workshop and I trust her judgement entirely.



^Nico1 is our representative from the film GDs. Although your play may be written as if for stage, ^Nico1 will be able to see the potential in your piece in a visual stance.



`Beccalicious is me. My own experience in scriptwriting and from hosting this month means I will really be looking out for those elements of scriptwriting that have been discussed over the recent weeks.


Prizes:


The Winner of this contest will receive the following:

A Fella Plushie from $Moonbeam13
3 Month Sub, devwear keychain and journal feature from `Beccalicious
3 Month Sub and journal feature from *ninja-librarian
3 Month sub and journal feature from `conorschild
3 month sub and Journal feature from *Memnalar
A 5x7 or 5x5 print from the gallery of ^Kaotika
Shoutboard feature form ^Helewidis
Journal feature from =Squarix
Journal feature from ~itzjusdrama
Journal feature from ~chugglepuff
Journal feature from *poprocksandcharlotte


Second place:

3 Month Sub, Devwear Keychain and journal feature from `Beccalicious
3 month sub from *GaioumonBatou
Journal feature from *ninja-librarian
Journal feature from ^Helewidis
Journal feature from *poprocksandcharlotte


Third place:

Devwear Keychain and journal feature from `Beccalicious
3 month sub from *GaioumonBatou
Journal feature from *ninja-librarian
Journal feature from ^Helewidis
Journal feature from *poprocksandcharlotte


Honourable Mentions:

In depth critique on your script from `Beccalicious
Journal feature from `Beccalicious
Journal feature from *ninja-librarian
Journal feature from ^Helewidis
Journal feature from *poprocksandcharlotte

NB: Any other prize donations are a welcome addition, would be nice to see more critiques offered.


The Grand Prize!

Now this is the bit I have been getting very excited about. Over the past few weeks, ^GeneratingHype and I have been liaising with the lovely film GDs to bring an exclusive and unique prize which will bring two galleries together in a way we haven’t seen before.

The top two One-Acts (First and Second) will be the featured scripts in the ‘a dA Film Community Contest’. Using the winning scripts, the film community will be invited to turn your One-Act into a short film that realises the creativity and vision behind your words. Better yet, YOU will be one of the judges deciding which film best represents YOUR vision. This is a unique opportunity for a collaboration between galleries and artists and an excellent experience for any budding scriptwriter or playwright. Don't miss out on this chance!



Some helpful hints


You do not have to write your play for film. Therefore try not to worry yourself with things such as camera angles, as this will be part of the film contest side of things. If you want to write for stage instead then do so, the later contest will be judges on their adaptation of your work.

Do some research. These articles have contained oodles of resources for you to have a read up on. You don’t have to read everything, but there may be one or two links which may really help you in your writing.

Organise yourself. You have 6 weeks to writer your script, and therefore plenty of time to plan and write your play. Don’t leave it to the last minute though, get it written, then start redrafting!

Get critique on your piece. Join #getLIT, the officiall DA literature chatroom and ask people to read your script. Try the literature workshop forum, or asking deviants you think will help you. Don’t ignore the critique you are given either, another pair of eyes can really encourage you to rework those bits that just aren’t working.

read your play aloud, preferably with another person or two to help you. Reading aloud can help you work out those lines where intonation and pace need reworking and whether or not it reads clear. Scriptwriting differs from prose writing, and reading aloud may help you understand it. Even better, why not record it too, so you can listen back and make notes?

Remember to do final checks before final submission. You can submit your piece before the deadline and continue to edit throughout. However as soon as the deadline closes, no more editing please. Therefore on that last day, spend some time going over your piece and making sure any minor errors are caught and ironed out.