Summer of Decay

About this Episode

In this episode, we pay homage to slasher movies, specifically Friday the 13th. At least that’s where we start. This being improv comedy, things take on a direction of their own and we end up with something that’s a horror movie more along the lines of Jeepers Creepers, or something more supernatural and monster based.

Still, we have a lake, and a cabin, and final girl, so that’s all good. And at some point someone stumbles...

Links

Friday the 13th on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_(franchise)

Jeepers Creepers on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_(2001_film)

Time codes

Segment 1 - Discussion the Genre Tropes: 03:30

Segment 2 - Creating the Movie Outline: 08:56

Segment 3 - Picking the Improv Comedy Games: 15:54

Start of show: 22:25

Improv Game - Ding: 23:42

Improv Game - What Happens Next: 25:50

Improv Game - Spoon River: 33:26

Improv Game - Timed Styles: 40:27

Improv Game - Cutting Room: 47:00 

End of show, into announcements: 58:13

More Information About the Show, Mike, and Avish

Subscribe to the podcast: 

Our Website: www.AvishAndMike.com

Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/143183833647812

Avish’s site: www.AvishParashar.com 

Mike’s site: www.MikeWorthMusic.com/

Transcription of the “Discussing the Genre Tropes” Segment (Unedited and Un-Cleaned up)

Avish: Alright So yes, here's what we're going to talk about in general, we may or may not use any of these tropes we're talking about the tropes of the slasher genre yes so Mike, what do you think of when you think of slasher movies.

Mike: Alright So the first thing I think of is is that the protagonists are going to be usually teenagers yeah so we're going to be dealing with that now there's some ways, you can play around that but, by and large, even like the remakes like screaming final destination it's like teenagers and stuff like that.

Avish: And there's always a group and they always.  Other than one maybe to get picked off over the course the movie.

Mike: Right so right so there's basically a war of attrition there's usually a single bad guy. Although you don't have to mean you could have like a cult or something like that, but.

Avish: yeah but usually, when you're talking slasher movie it's it's it's. One bad guy unless you're turning us on his head like screen, but one bad guy usually well my you think. They always have some kind of aspects.  Whether it's a mask.

Mike: unique weapon yeah yeah right a weapon or a mask or. yeah Now the question is, do the This is one trip that happens, usually the kids disturb something that unleashes the villain you know, like if we're going for like supernatural day like disturbed Indian burial ground or if it's just normal they like I don't know.

Avish: I think along those lines, what I was thinking is that almost every slasher movie is based around some kind of event or anniversary so like Halloween Halloween Friday 13th around summer camp prominence around the prom like there's always something and usually that ties into the you know Halloween Michael myers first killed on Halloween Friday 13th at the camp where he died prom night someone got something happen to the prom.

Mike: dude this is this Memorial Day weekend this art we're gonna send this Roman morial day it's good.

Avish: Right well consider that I feel like  memorial day's already all about like soldiers dying so that's it all right yeah there'll be around some anniversaries some holiday some event and then the killer ties into that.

Mike: yeah yeah. Alright cool so there's.

Avish: The final girl it's almost 99% of time, the females, the main character will survive to the end.

Mike: She in the early slasher flicks there's not a lot about her except of two things she's always she's usually virginal but in the later slasher flicks there's usually something special about her that ties her directly to the killer you know.

Avish: yeah so we can add that in yeah a lot of slasher movies, are just random killings, but then they started making it more personal even Halloween the first Halloween was totally random, but then, and how into the right content so it's a sister.

Mike: Right right so there's usually relationship there now speaking of deaths, the deaths are flamboyant and over the top. Right and and and silly glory you don't mean like.

Avish: Really gory dad's a variety of deaths.

Mike: variety of deaths now are we playing the trope where they're usually contrived to be trapped somewhere where the cut off from civilization in a cabin in the woods underneath under in a cave.

Mike: That kind of stuff.

Avish: yeah I feel like they need to be, well, I guess, they don't need to be, but I feel like yeah there's always that thing about why don't these people just get the police  which you know somebody in the later Friday 13th they did, and then the police would die but yeah yeah they're usually someplace a little bit remote so it's can just get help or run away.

Mike: yeah yeah exactly and  there's obviously a lot of,  everyone's trying to get in bed with everyone else.

Avish: there's lots of like yeah there's like six capades and yeah yeah and.

Mike: there's also a note in terms of the teenagers or their trips for the teenagers do we have the bullying jock do we have the.

Avish: Center usually stereotyped yeah there's like the handsome jock the the slot the Virgin. Yeah friend the best friend nerdy wants to be the boyfriend you know that's.

Mike: Stereotypes galore also a the villain, even though he may have an effect oftentimes uses interesting found weapons and objects to to kill that kind of ties in with the extravagant types of death, like,  yeah he's afraid you very, very silly things in you know and i'm doing Freddie.

Avish: kind of use the environment yeah yeah revise their improvise they're murderers and also, number one they're sort of well three whether they're supernatural or not, they all a um are relatively impervious to harm until they die. Yyeah number two they all have kind of magical speed slash teleportation abilities.

Mike: that's true right there was a suddenly appear and and usually and i'm only going for this unnaturally strong.

Avish: Like naturally strong,  yeah and they also i'm almost always a false death almost always die ones may not actually be dead and come back.

Mike: that's true false death all right, and then. Natural speed and natural strength.

Avish: Alright cool alright, so our five minutes I feel like we.

Mike: yeah we got we have we have a good list of trumps there.

Transcription of the “Creating the Outline” Segment (Unedited and Un-Cleaned up)

Avish: step to creating the outline all right now that we're talking about our troops we're gonna spend about five minutes talking about our outline from a high level now just full disclaimer because it's improvisation  Our actual story may end up deviating from the outline but we spend five minutes coming up with a rough outline and we usually use a for an instructor, which is something it's like a three act structure just divides Act two into two parts. To this call story engineering.

Mike: And I think it worked well for our show as.

Avish: Okay, so five minutes, our first thing is. We always start with either a movie trailer or a prologue. What do you think for this one?

Mike: If we do a promo we can do a setup of the tragedy that happened that that drafted the villain you know.

Avish: yeah I feel the probably one of two ways, it could be the tragedy that created the villain or it could be like a random kill the kind of sets the stage, but we can do a profile, we know a fast prologue that kind of well I guess it'll come out of the improv will do a prologue.

Mike: yeah it's gonna be one of two ways either yeah I look at it either random killing the cold open or it's it's the killer up with the with the settings and then.

Avish: A lot of times it is like in the past and then it's like you know.  27 years ago and then it's like present day. Okay, so then act one act one is usually we meet the cat obviously we meet the characters they all arrive.

Mike: yeah right well the teams location introduce the characters.

Avish: We started getting there may be a death or two in here but it's more general general sense of creepiness and you're being watched.  You know, and sometimes like. One of the non core people die here like in the early it's like the guy who owns a gas station gets killed or. You know, someone or the group main group of teens gets killed.

Mike: Secondary car, not with main group yeah also a events conspire.  To strand them at this location, the car runs at a gas or you know. There yeah there's a there's a hailstorm or something right a.

Avish: concert bar and, Often up if it is about like if there's an event going on this is usually like the prep for the event right it's like. yeah people can dial prom night they're like getting ready during the day to go to the prom and if it's like Halloween at the daytime and they're like at school and getting their costumes and so.

Mike: yeah yeah.

Avish: gotten to the the Big shebang yet.

Mike: Right right uh yeah.

Avish: I will have a death or two yet in there.

Mike: Alright cool.

Okay.

Avish: So at to I gotta get a slasher movie actor is often where people are dying, but like the main characters the main character doesn't know it yet. So it's like you know, like in the in the in the camp, like the main characters doing their thing.  And then around the camp, like the other kids are dying, but the people who are still in the cabin don't realize it so you're.  Getting the deaths in the stocking in the terror, but it's not to like the middle of the second act that people realize that oh crap there's something going on here.

Mike: yeah i'm right right so so actors, when that when the first suite of deaths occur.  But it doesn't. Get get back to the main party.

Avish: yeah the main don't know yet really they kind of like they're wondering like they think everything's kind of okay or someone's goofing around they're like oh where's Johnny oh.

Mike: yeah. Oh it's cars gone, you must have must have gone into town to like.

Avish: yeah you're all those who prides went off to have sex, you know, then blah blah blah.

Mike: yeah yeah right right first few deaths occur Okay, so that actually might just be Act two is just like a couple of really good.

Avish: Well, the thing about the slasher movie they're not very complex in their.

Mike: plot it's like oh my God takes the kids off one, at a time until it's just him and the final girl and then. yep uh so act so, then what I would say at three or four Block three is they discover the bodies.

Avish: yeah they discover the bodies. They try to get away or get help, but they can't, for whatever reason.

Mike: yep oftentimes this point in time is someone will uncover.  The history of this place uncover critical cultural lore. That explains who the person is.

Avish: yeah they're like find the room, or the book or the.

Mike: Or the news article right what.

Avish: The person that all local who like stumbles and.

Mike: yeah yeah yeah i'm.

Avish: A lucky position.

Mike: And at this point now let me ask this question there's one or two ways it goes either they go predator, and they start like trying to like build traps for the for the bad guy or they're just trying to get away and it just took him picking them him or her picking them off.

Avish: I think we're talking like at slasher movie yeah they're just trying to get away and getting killed.

Mike: yeah yeah so uh.

Avish: there's very little proactive missing from.

Mike: yeah the business is hard to know what does he have to plan the two. Work on escaping. You know and yeah maybe it's something like like getting gasoline for the car so i'm like that, but like real primitive stuff they're not like oh yeah, we would like.

Avish: To the guy yeah if there are if they are being proactive it's to get away, not to like. Try to fight Jason.

Mike: yeah now, then.

Avish: We got to get across the lake where the fuel tank is and.

Mike: um yeah.

Avish: And, by the end of act three I think everyone is dead, except the last the final girl.

Mike: I was going to push them into act for were like at four is going to be where like the the bad and goes back and just like kills off the last chunk of the characters in the.

Avish: movie to me act for the final bid is almost always like the extended chase and but.

Mike: Definitely, I said we're gonna skip it, but you, you and I are in agreement that either nap foolish and after what you said, which is a bad guy comes back. And one by one quickly rips through. yeah everyone except main car and maybe one other.

Avish: Maybe one of the.

Mike: That one other if they if they live to throughout three they're dying and X for their diet. Really they're dying in okay we're gonna do this ready act for let's let's assume one other Okay, because here's what happens two cars extended chase fleeing monster.  come up with a an environmentally cool way to kill the monster false death they think they're out of it, typically gruesome death for that second character and then the final.

Avish: The final final death.

Mike: Okay, that makes sense. yeah just like, just like in aliens right where they claim they blow up it's just Bishop. And and ripley ambitious like. Oh we're all saving Brian right.  All right.

Avish: All right, perfect alright, so we got our basic act structure, so we have five sets with prologue X one X two X three x four.