What happens to my entry when I send it in?
When you enter the competition your entry is received by Dan. He allocates each entry a number and they are then posted in a special judge's forum which only the competition organisers and the judges can see (i.e. Dan, Frankie, Skykat and the judges) None of the Moderators or other Staff Members can see this forum, and none of the personal details you put on your entry are posted in this forum, only your entry with a number attached is visible. So don't worry Dan, Frankie and the judges won't be stalking you.
Who are the judges?
The head judge is Coral Drouyn, who was Script Producer for Home And Away from 2002 - 2004, Coral is forum member under the name of Dramaqueen. Coral's writing credits read like a directory of Australian TV and include Prisoner, Neighbours, Blue Heelers, Pacific Drive, Wild Kat and Streetsmartz. (There is an interview with Coral on the main site which you can read here) She is joined in the task of judging by three of our forum members, johnau003, Dean, and last years '17 & Over' competition winner Eduardo Bearo.
How is the judging undertaken?
Coral and the other judges take a lot of time to read through the entries and to discuss the merits of each one. When they have discussed them all they make a shortlist of approx. five from the entries. When they have done this they discuss these entries in more detail. They then vote, secretly, by sending votes to Dan, placing the short listed entries in their own preferred order. So if judge A places scripts 2,4,6,8,9 in positions 1,2,3,4,5, they will receive 5,4,3,2,1 points, and if judge B places them in position 2,4,1,5,4, they will receive 4,3,5,1,2 points accordingly, Dan then tots up the points. Last year the winners were unanimous so he did not have much adding up to do! In the unlikely event of a tie, Coral has the casting vote.
What are the Judges looking for?
The judges are looking for a variety of things. Firstly they are looking for an original idea for Sally's departure. Would this storyline fit in Home and Away as we know and love it?
They are looking for naturalistic dialogue, that is dialogue which flows, and is true to the character who is speaking. They are looking for an understanding of drama and how to construct a scene to make the most impact at the end (see Coral's guide on how to write a stand alone scene).
They are looking for an advance in both storytelling and character so that we don't end the scene right back where we started.
One of the other things they look for is subtext. In other words, are there deeper things going on beyond what is just being said?
They also want to see that you have "GOT" the characters nailed.
Equally there are some things they don't want to see. They don't want to be seeing any "Exposition" which is the dreaded spouting of information just for the sake of the audience hearing it. They wont be wanting sensationalism, some huge event coming out of nowhere and really progressing nowhere. They wont be wanting to see stilted dialogue where people are talking as if they do not know each other, or all talking as if they could be the same character.
If you read the winning entries from last year you will be able to see some of the things we have described here. One of things which was said several times about the winning entry by our judges was that they when they read it they could "see it and hear it", they could imagine the characters saying the words and doing the things as written in the scene.
What happens then?
The winners are then notified when we post the results on the site. The short listed entries are all posted on the main site and all the other entries this year will also be posted in the fic section (as a condition of entry it is accepted that this will occur). Dan will then send the winners their prizes. Last years prizes included signed scripts, books on script writing donated by Coral, some Home And Away goodies from Dan's vast collections, and videos from the early years.
This year each winners will receive the following:
1 x Home and Away script
1 x Summer Bay Surf Rescue T-Shirt
1 x Summer Bay Surf Rescue cap
1 x Screenplay Workbook: The Writing Before The Writing
1 x Summer Bay Surf Club keyring
1 x Summer Bay 'Somewhere on the Australian Coast' bumper sticker
A selection of Home and Away cast pictures
All of the entrants will receive some feedback from the judges. Frankie and Skykat will summarise the judge's deliberations and the judges will approve this before it is sent to the entrant. The short listed entrants will also receive some one to one feedback from Coral if they wish.
What if my scene is longer than 100 seconds?
Well that's OK, but don't make it 10 minutes please. 120 seconds is OK, but we are aiming for what is the average scene length on Home And Away. If you are not sure get a stopwatch, and then read your scene out with a mate. You will be surprised at how much you can get in to 90 seconds.
What if I want more than two characters in my scene with Sally?
No. We have said a maximum of two characters to be involved in the scene with Sally. You can have another character or characters standing watching or part of the wider scene, but we need to see that you understand the people you are writing about and for, if you have too many we won't be able to see that. So no more than two please.
I am not sure how to format the scene. Does it have to be in a standard script layout?
Using a script layout is not compulsory, but it it does look better, and it looks more like a script if you use the proper layout. If you use Microsoft Word you should ideally use the Courier font. Last years winning entries were transferred into the 'Home and Away' format and added to the site as a downloadable PDF file, which you can take a look at to get a general idea. The 'BBC Writers Room' has a free downloadable package for Microsoft Word which allows you to format a script, which is probably worth a look. But we will accept entries in a plain format provided they are readable and easy to follow.
My idea for Sally leaving is quite detailed, I need more than 200 words.
We don't want a complicated detailed plot break down, we want a summary. It does not have to be 200 words, you can summarize it in 50 or 100 words if you want to, but it must not be more than 200 words. The summary is to outline your idea and to give us the context in which you are writing your scene.
If you have any more questions please PM either Frankie or Skykat who will do their best to answer them.