I'm a script writer in search of some info

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Postby Tom Gilleland » Nov 29, 2005 11:55 pm

There are a series of sea caves along Point Loma in San Diego that are fairly extensive. Back in the 1930's? there were tunnels carved from cave to cave. These cave are all formed in sandstone along joints. During prohibition there was a tunnel made from a cave up into a big house that is still there. The story is they used to smuggle in booze from Mexico. You can still see the wall in the back of the cave and cave Larry O'Brian said he saw the bricked up wall in the house many years ago. One of the carved tunnels currently has sconces carved in the wall as well as a pretty cool looking carved skull. I've heard stories of current day satinists using this tunnel for their nefarious purposes. :twisted: Probably just some local kids having fun, we also joked that we needed to bring a virgin lamb with our caving gear of wetsuit, fins, and caving helmet. Also, one of the caves seals up at high tide. We used to swim into this cave as the tide was changing and the waves would reach the ceiling as they came into the cave. Quite sporting! You could feel it in your ears as the pressure increased. In fact there was a sand dig in the back of that cave that we dug on each time we went. Unfortunately, it would fill in between tides, we never did find the end to that passage. One story I heard was that a local monk used to swim into the cave and meditate through a full high tide. Anyway, the area is very colorful, and I thought you would like some those stories.

Tom
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Postby knollee » Jan 19, 2006 4:25 pm

Can it be a river instead of a coastal region.
There are many such types caves (although fairly small) that fit your description along the Ozark Scenic riverways in Missouri.

There are also such types of places in other countries - so does it have to be in US?
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Postby Plot Device » Apr 1, 2006 10:37 am

Plot Device wrote:
cob wrote:Are you writing for cavers? If so you won't make very much money (*not enuf of us) and if you are writing for the general public... THEY WON'T KNOW! or care or that matter. A good story will carry itself. I wouldn't sweat it.


Well, I'm trying to write something that won't trigger too many eye-rolls from those members of the audience who could possibly know a thing or two about indigenous rock strata in the New England area. And I suspect that not just cavers would know: geologists, archeologists, miners, contruction professionals--all of them would know these things.

When you write a glaring error in a story, it distracts the reader from your novel, or else distract the audience member from your film. That one little rolling of the eyes :roll: takes their gaze and their concentration off the page/screen and away from your tale. And when concenetration is broken, so is the ability to suspend disbelief.

A good story covers all its bases. So I want to cover mine. 8)


Hi John,

Long time no post from my end of things.

Thanks for all these great replies. And, John, it's especially great to hear from another writer on this subject.

I just wanted to let everyone know I finished Act 1 of my script. It's available online if anyone wants to read it. Just be warned: it's VERY LONG!!!!!! (It's almost 400 pages, and that is JUST Act 1.)

I also wanted to let you guys know that I decided to keep the story in Maine afterall. But I included the existence of old abandoned silver mines in my tale. I found out there was a silver rush in Maine about 130 years ago. And so it was easy for me to incorporate man-made mine shafts into the story and thus have an excuse for them to be elaborate, rather than pretending that a naturally occuring cave was going to be as huge as I needed it to be. AND ..... the usage of trace amounts of silver embedded in the rocks was also important to the story because I discovered that silver is actually a BETTER conductor of electricity than copper. And there is a scene where a current of electricity is jolted through the rocks, and the presense of silver in the rocks enhances the flow of electrical charge. So including old silver mines was just perfect for these plot elements.

And again, John, thaks for all your help. And I wanted to ask: are any of your works available online for viewing?

--PD
In the field of fantasy literature, there is one story element which is cited by most scholars as being downright necessary to a worthwhile adventure plot: the main protagonist MUST journey into an underground lair of some kind.
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Postby bigalpha » Apr 1, 2006 12:19 pm

Plot Device, where is your script located at? :D
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Postby Plot Device » Apr 2, 2006 12:42 pm

bigalpha wrote:Plot Device, where is your script located at? :D


Hi--here's a link to a storage web site where I have it. It's in Adobe format.

http://www.ourmedia.org/node/167444


--PD


(PS--this is a FREE storage web site. And I do mean FREE. So if you wanna store stuff forever, AND for free, this is the place.)
In the field of fantasy literature, there is one story element which is cited by most scholars as being downright necessary to a worthwhile adventure plot: the main protagonist MUST journey into an underground lair of some kind.
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