What do you guys do if you get sides in an email for a project like a student film and the sides are really, really terrible?

I've had a lot of bad experiences lately (especially from NYFA), mostly with scripts that are clearly written by someone who doesn't speak english very well. The worst are where you go in and you try to correct their poorly written words and they want you to read the dialogue as is.

I'm tempted to just not go to the audition... but I don't know part of me feels like I wouldn't want to walk away on the off chance it's a good project.

What do you do when you get sides and they're very poorly written?

If the sides are very poorly written, do you really think that the rest of the project is going to be magically better written?

quote:

Originally posted by Yonie:
If the sides are very poorly written, do you really think that the rest of the project is going to be magically better written?

I have the whole script, and it's not. I guess I'm trying to talk myself into going because I haven't gone on an audition in a week. But if it's crap, it's crap I suppose.

Has anyone shot a project with NYFA before? Are the finished products any good? Maybe I'll just bite the bullet on this one and go if the footage will be usable.

I've seen worse... but no, they're not that good.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoobings:
What do you guys do if you get sides in an email for a project like a student film and the sides are really, really terrible?

I've had a lot of bad experiences lately (especially from NYFA), mostly with scripts that are clearly written by someone who doesn't speak english very well. The worst are where you go in and you try to correct their poorly written words and they want you to read the dialogue as is.

I'm tempted to just not go to the audition... but I don't know part of me feels like I wouldn't want to walk away on the off chance it's a good project.

What do you do when you get sides and they're very poorly written?

I almost ALWAYS request the sides.

I even lie and say that I'm coming from Orange County and don't want to waste my time. Usually, they give in and send me the sides.

If they're crap, I don't go.

My going to an audition is based on how good the sides are and if that particular scene would benefit my clip library.

I was lucky! I did a grad film with NYFA and it went quite well. It was well written and the shoot was run as professionally as it could be.

I'm with you on the poorly written breakdowns, though. If the students don't take the time to proofread and post breakdowns as professionally as possible, it makes me wonder about how serious they are about their craft and the overall quality of the project. Usually, grad or thesis films have their act together by then, so I try to stick with those.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoobings:
Has anyone shot a project with NYFA before? Are the finished products any good? Maybe I'll just bite the bullet on this one and go if the footage will be usable.

I normally tell people to avoid NYFA. I've done some stuff with them and the footage was all unusable. I've gotten some of the worst direction from the students as well. They'd go something stupid like "touch your face" when I'm in a closeup and NOT motivated to do that. Or one director said "hold this pen" when it didn't feed me or serve a purpose. I HATE unnecessary props and got so pissed that I threw it across the room and it got lodged into a wall. I paid to re-plaster it.

quote:

Originally posted by Mominbiz:
I was lucky! I did a grad film with NYFA and it went quite well. It was well written and the shoot was run as professionally as it could be.

I'm with you on the poorly written breakdowns, though. If the students don't take the time to proofread and post breakdowns as professionally as possible, it makes me wonder about how serious they are about their craft and the overall quality of the project. Usually, grad or thesis films have their act together by then, so I try to stick with those.

Lucky you. Almost all of the NYFA garbage I've done were grad level.

Mominbiz, but what about the end result? Was it good enough to put in a reel? That would be great to know.

quote:

Originally posted by Mominbiz:
I was lucky! I did a grad film with NYFA and it went quite well. It was well written and the shoot was run as professionally as it could be.

I'm with you on the poorly written breakdowns, though. If the students don't take the time to proofread and post breakdowns as professionally as possible, it makes me wonder about how serious they are about their craft and the overall quality of the project. Usually, grad or thesis films have their act together by then, so I try to stick with those.

quote:

Originally posted by Trillian:
Mominbiz, but what about the end result? Was it good enough to put in a reel? That would be great to know.

Actually, some of of the scenes were good quality and usable for adding to a reel. Really cute film with a precious little girl, witches and a wizard.

Good to know, Mominbiz. I guess it's hit or miss.

As far as student films go, target grad level at:
-USC
-AFI
-Chapman
-Pasadena Center for Design

NO to:
-NYFA
-LA Film school
-Pretty much every CSU school and UC

I also don't even submit for a project if the grammar in the breakdown is terrible. First impressions are everything.

I actually have had some pretty good experiences with poorly written sides and/or scripts.

One of the first movies I ever did, the script was TERRIBLE. The dialogue was idiotic, the story made no sense, and above all, it had very poor spelling and grammar.

But the director was very clever visually and very good with special effetcs. His creature ideas were great, which he made himself. The acting was way over the top, making it very much like a cartoon. The bad writing seemed to work somehow...

I was on the crew of that movie as well, so I got to know the director pretty well. I could kind of tell what he lacked in the writting department he more than made up for in inventiveness of the more practitcal matters of the movie (props, effects, creature suits, puppets, etc...) It was a MONSTER movie, and he delivered some pretty cool MONSTERS with a ridiculous but fun story.

There has been at least 3 times where it has been similar for me. An incomprehensable mess of a script has resulted in a decent movie. Useually a wacky movie...but wacky is always fun.

BUT, even though I said that, I am kind of like Amo37 these days. If I see a break down with really poor spelling or grammar I don't apply...unless something really catches my interest in the discriptions (which happens sometimes).