FIRST POST: Wants to write a JtR Short Film Screenplay...

[DarkTaleProductions]

This is my first post here ever, hopefully I'm not criticized for my lack of knowledge in the Ripper case.

I've been wanting to write a Jack the Ripper short film screenplay (20 minutes to be exact) and have been using this site AND every documentary out right now as my source material, since the only book of the Ripper case I have is the Graphic Novel "From Hell". Now, I don't really believe in the "Royal Conspiracy" so I don't want to be writing about that.

I've been wanting to buy the books Crimes, Detection, and Death of Jack the Ripper AND The Complete History of Jack the Ripper but can only find them in Amazon and eBay. And every time I'm close to getting it I'm either outbid or there are known left in stock.

The theory I find most plausible is Martin Fido's theory about the whole Aaron Kosminski/David Cohen deal. But I still don't know much about it. And would love to hear a little more about this particular theory seeing as I probably won't be getting Fido's book for who knows how long now.

Thank you for reading and looking forward to reading what you guys have to offer.

[RJM]

Martin's book is not difficult or expensive to find.

http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=216996492&aid=bkfndr&t=1

The search feature on this site will also give you plenty of information on this site about his theory.

[Mike Covell]

Hi DTP, where abouts are you based?
I have seen numerous cheap copies of Martin Fido's book on Amazon and all quite cheaply, I have several editions and they are well worth it.

The things to remember when writing a script on JTR is,
Never mention the Royals
Never mention the Freemasons
Never have Abberline has a Drunk or Junkie

Remember those three simple rules, and you will have made something different!

[Sam Flynn]

The things to remember when writing a script on JTR is,
Never mention the Royals
Never mention the Freemasons
Never have Abberline has a Drunk or Junkie

And, importantly:

Never portray the victims as colourful young "hookers". Most of them weren't any of those things, and even the youngest was a twenty-something alcoholic scrubber.

[Bob Hinton]

Idea

I don’t think that 20 minutes is enough time to make a normal film about JTR. You need something like Roald Dahls Tales of the Unexpected, something with a sting in it’s tale.

How about this. We are in the room of JTR as he is about to go out again to murder. As he packs his knives and other things into his bag he flashes back to the previous victims, ending with the murder of MJK. He talks to himself about the terror he has struck into the heart of the most powerful Empire on earth. He rejoices in the power that he wields.

He gathers up his bag and steps outside to find his next victim and further his path into immortality. A lumbering wagon knocks him down and kills him.

Final scene at the graveside of an obvious paupers funeral. One gravedigger turns to the other and says.

“So who was he?”
“Nobody famous” the other replies as they carry on shovelling dirt onto the cheap coffin. The camera pulls back way up into the sky and the universe. Cut!
My rates are very cheap as a screenwriter/technical advisor!

[sdreid]

What we need is a film that doesn't "solve" the case.

[lynn cates]

alternatives

Hello. It is sometimes the vogue to present alternative endings to a story.

Consequently, to reflect the cases of the 2 leading suspects, one might wish to append these lines:

1. "Nobody. Just some bloke they fished out of the Thames."

or

2. "Nobody. Just some bloke with a curious growth of tiny red hairs in the palms of his hands and a bad case of acne."

LC

[Suzi]

Hmmmmmm

If you're feeling in the short story mode (MAX 3,000 words) enter the WS1888 competition and maybe think about the screenplay later!....Just a thought!!!....

[Mike Covell]

Use Robert D'Onston Stephenson as your suspect, he was invisible during this period, so at least that will keep your costs down!

[Robert]

Ah Bob, you could be right : JTR stopped killing because he was feeling a bit run down.

[DarkTaleProductions]

Thank you everyone, and as to Mike Covell and Sam Flynn, don't worry I will NOT have any of the Royals or Freemasons. Abberline will also be absent in the screenplay.

As for the hookers I will only focus on Mary Kelly. And the movie will be more about Kosminski's stay in the madhouse and his schizophrenia.

Most of my screenplays are usually about the mind. So yeah.

And yeah I live in Miami, FL. and have tried Amazon, but every time I try to get the book, I get a refund a week later with an email saying that they're out of stock. Also in Miami we don't usually get the good things anyway haha.

[Normy]

Hi DarkTaleProductions
I agree with sdreid, don't disclose the killer.
Maybe like the video to 'smack my bitch up' by the Prodigy (except for the ending, where we see we've been following a woman). Have a camera's eye view of it all but end up with him meet MJK and coming back to murder her when he knows she's alone only to find, someone's already murdered her and far more brutally than he's ever done!

Cheers

Normy

[The Grave Maurice]

I'd like to know how DTP thinks he/she is capable of writing a screenplay on JtR without, apparently, having read anything of significance about the subject. What is this, a script by wishful thinking?

[DarkTaleProductions]

I've read a lot of what this site has to offer that's how. Victims, Suspects, Ripper Letters, so forth. I've also seen all the Ripper documentaries out there. Just cause this is my first thread doesn't mean I haven't been exploring the site for awhile.

And yeah, I hear what you're saying Normy, and I'll give it some real thought. Thank you.

[The Grave Maurice]

Reading this website is fine, and quite commendable. But, believe me, there is a heck of a lot more out there to master.