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, Eduardo Bearo 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, Eduardo and the judges won't be stalking you.
Can I enter more than one scene?
Yes you can. However, each entry must comprise ONE scene, and you can enter up to a maximum of TWO separate scenes. Each of them must be submitted separately, with a separate entry form, have a separate title and have a different story to tell.
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: https://backtothebay.net/interviews/coraldrouyn.shtml) She is joined in the task of judging by three of our forum members, johnau003, Dean, and last years winner of the competition, Drew.
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. In the last two years 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 developing from the opening line. 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 2007 for both senior and junior categories, 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 entries by our judges was that they read them 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. In previous years prizes have 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 the winner in each category will receive the following:
1 x Home and Away script, signed and donated by Bevan Lee.
1 x The Screenplay Workbook signed & donated by Tom Mungovan - the Author
1 x Home and Away Collectors Edition magazine
1 x Summer Bay Surf Club cap
1 x Summer Bay Bumper Sticker
A selection of Home and Away pictures
Depending on the number of entrants we will attempt to provide all of the entrants with some feedback from the judges. Eduardo Bearo and Skykat will do their best to summarize 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 direct 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 three characters in my scene?
No! We have said a maximum of three characters to be involved in the scene. 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 three 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. You can have a look at last years winning entries which are in script format on the main site. 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.
What if I make a mistake and want to change things after I have sent in my script?
The best thing to do is to check things thoroughly and to make sure you are happy with it BEFORE you send it in. Once it has been submitted we won't be accepting changes or sending it back to you for alterations and re writes etc... So check it and check it and check it again.
My idea is quite detailed, I need more than 100 words.
We don't want a complicated detailed plot break down, we want a summary or a lead in to your scene. It does not have to be 100 words, you can summarize it in 50 or even 20 words if you want to, but it must not be more than 100 words. The summary or the lead in is to give us the context in which you are writing your scene. The scene itself should tell us the story. If you look at the example in Coral's guide, the lead in was less than 50 words. Sometimes less is more.
I want to use a different opening line for my scene to make it sound better.
Sorry, but you have to use the opening line. All the other lines in the scene will be yours. Professional writers, writing for soaps, will often have to write things to accommodate the whims of the script producer or the producer. Think of the judges as the SP's or the producers who are giving you a job to do. Moan about them as much as you like, its all part of the process.
Why is this called 'The Frankie Monroe Scriptwriting Competition'?
Good question. Frankie was a very popular moderator on this forum and she was the instigator and organiser of the first two very successful script writing competitions in 2007 and 2008. Sadly Frankie died in 2008, but she wanted the competition to go on, and we have therefore decided to name the competition after her.
If you have any more questions please PM either Eduardo Bearo , Dan F or SkyKat and we will do our best to answer them.