[Vince Parenti]

What I learned doing this assignment is? How difficult it was to choose a horror film. And maybe a little about horror story details. We’ll see if it sticks before I claimed to have learned it.

“Smile” Horror Conventions:

Title / Concept: Smile. A psychiatrist is tortured by visions of an evil entity after being infected by a patient’s smile.

Terrorize The Characters: Visions of an evil entity makes the psychiatrist appear to everyone she’s going insane. Especially since her mother was. She knows she’s not, but she’s also trapped in a world where the help she feels she needs to survive is beyond any known treatment. Unless she murders someone.

Isolation: Trapped within her own mind, the psychiatrist is forced to fight the evil entity alone, while facing society and trying to find a “cure”.

Death: After the entity selects a candidate: Suicide.

Monster/Villain: An evil entity that lurks which no one, but the infected, can see.

High Tension: Desperate to find a solution, the psychiatrist visits an inmate who is reported to have survived the infection. He did it by murdering someone. She must face becoming a murderer in order to be free.

Departure from Reality: Ghosts and evil entities aren’t real. However, psychotic breaks are.

Moral Statement: Don’t get therapy? Or maybe it’s that some people are put in difficult situations to either kill or be killed. What would you do?

Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film? Something as mundane and ubiquitous as a smile is twisted into a creepy, possibly, terrifying ordeal. But more than that, the possibility of a psychosis being contagious is horrifying to think about.

My concept Conventions: “Scary Good Drug”

Concept: A misguided chemist creates an aphrodisiac.

Terrorize The Characters:

Isolation:

Death:

Monster/Villain: The drug’s users who kill at random.

High Tension:

Departure from Reality: The drug doesn’t exist.

Moral Statement: Murder is bad.

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by  Vince Parenti.

[Vince Parenti]

I, Vince Parenti, agree to the terms of this release form.

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:
1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.
2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.
I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.
3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.
4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.
5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.
6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.
This completes the Group Release Form for the class.

[Vince Parenti]

Hi, my name is Vince Parenti.

I began writing in the 90s, so yeah, I’ve written many screenplays and TV pilots.

My hope for this class is to begin to understand how to write good horror. I’ve tried it. Haven’t had success. My bar is to, at least, place in a horror script festival (as a writer).

I guess the unique thing about me (in this class) is: I began my career in Entertainment as an actor. Now, I write, produce and direct.

I’ve taken other classes from Hal and Cheryl and I’m excited for this one as well!

[Vince Parenti]

Thank you so much!

Funny thing… I almost posted The Menu as my review, but decided to find something else at the last minute.