Screenwriting : "You Forgot your Phone in the Car!?" by Maurice Vaughan

I wrote a horror script Wi Fi is down & then pre paid sim runs out of credit & protagonist sprayed in the eye so could not see 999 button. Good point @Maurice about so many gadgets these days to ensure communication. Recently I pitched a feature that was refreshing to write cos in 1980’s most people had land lines to talk or licked a stamp & an envelope seal to write a message to post.

I like those ideas, Debbie Croysdale. I haven't tried them yet. Thanks for the ideas. Yeah, if writers want to avoid smartphones, smartwatches, and so on, they should think about setting their stories in the 80s/etc.

In one of my rom-coms, the boyfriend drives off with the protagonist's purse (wallet, phone, keys, etc.) leaving her at the mercy of the kindness of strangers, but yeah, it's hard. HOME ALONE would never happen today.

That's messed up if the boyfriend drove off with her purse on purpose, Erin Leigh. A 2025 Home Alone kinda script. I might try it. :)

Maurice Vaughan (lol) No, it's not on purpose. It's tied up with a work emergency. He has to leave, but she needs him to stay. She gets out of the car, and he picks work, so he drives off not knowing it's in the floorboard. It's not a good look, but it has to happen or the rest of the movie can't. :)

Hey, James Fleming. I like those options. I've seen "no cell service" in movies, but I haven't seen it in scripts. A phone getting soaked reminds me of a phone getting dropped in water (the toilet, sink, pool, etc.).

Maurice, I did something similar to that in "Intervention!"

In that one, Navy vet-turned-business owner Gus and the four families that made up his next-door neighbors (folks tired of the racist slights they'd received in their lives) enticed the perpetrators of those slights into a weekend sensitivity-training session (DIY style!) in a recreation center.

The perps weren't too happy with that. (Never mind that they were told they were going on an expedition...and the perps thought they were heading for someplace exotic.)

Radio talk-show host Richard (a perp) broke out his cell phone to call the authorities...but animal trainer Kelly (a mentor) snatched the phone from him and told him he'd get the phone back at the end of the session.

Richard's nine fellow perps turned their phones in as well...and one of the rec-center workers (Hassan, an old teammate of ex-NFL star Rahsaan when both played on the Chargers when that club lived in the script's city, San Diego) got a box and collected the perps' cell phones.

Even the rec center's landline phone was off limits to the perps.

The perps got their phones back at the end of the training...or if they came clean during the weekend. And the mentors wouldn't share their phones with any perps...although indicted ex-US representative Baker (a perp) tried to borrow young mentor Javier's cell phone.

Someone taking a character's phone and characters turning in their phones are believable, Jim Boston. And they could work in a classroom scene or a scene where parents take their kids' phones/devices.

Also, apparently it's a thing with the "kids these days" to turn in phones before a party. I've seen scenes in movies where they pass a basket around to collect phones so no debauchery is recorded. I cannot attest to how realistic this is, but I've seen it on screen at least twice, so there's an option. :)

I like that idea, Erin Leigh. That's what they did at my high school graduation. And that could be a scene in a Comedy or Horror Comedy. The students freak out when something happens at the party, and they scramble to find the basket of phones and call for help.

I know this is a slight tangent on the question, but I find that one of the toughest things to write is when a character should act irrationally. An audience member engaging with a work will more than likely call out not using a cellphone or similar, but at the same time, in reality, human error is present in extreme situations. When evaluating a scenario - especially in a genre like horror - when should a character be written to make perfect choices (for example: go for the phone, call for help) vs imperfect choices because of believable stress, tension, or fear? It's one of the most difficult aspects of storytelling to not only get right, but sell to audience members.

It is one of the most difficult aspects of storytelling, John X. Ingram. I always write my characters making realistic choices in scripts. And you're right. Human error is present in extreme situations, so when a character does something that seems irrational, it's actually what people might do in real life. But some writers make their characters act irrationally because something in a story needs to happen, but in my opinion, that's lazy writing. It's harder to have characters make realistic choices WHILE setting up something that needs to happen in the story, but it's worth doing the extra work.

"An audience member engaging with a work will more than likely call out not using a cellphone or similar." You're right. That's why it's important to figure out ways to keep characters from calling for help, looking up something online, and so. Once the audience sees a character break his phone, lose his smartwatch, etc., the audience won't call out/be bothered by the character not using the device.

I agree fully, it's always better to cover actions with legitimate reasoning.

When I first read your post I thought about it in terms of characters in my current script. I have one lead that is so calculated and methodical, I know she'd evaluate any obstacle to get to the phone almost unnecessarily; if she believed in herself more, she could probably just actively stop the thread instead. Then there's the other lead that's so reckless and self destructive at the best of times, he'd probably subconsciously navigate himself further away from the phone to remain in danger.

Even in that thought process - which is all well and good on paper - does the narrative do enough to justify those actions? Can an audience member interpret that internal decision making and to what extent? Is it obvious or do people need to write up an analysis to come to those conclusions?

I suppose the overall question reflects the creator relationship with the audience really well. A phone is maybe going to be used for, let's say, 20 seconds if someone is calling for help. But just that action of getting that character to call/not call can have literal pages of questions and logical reasoning associated with it to ensure that it lines up with what viewers will register.

Maurice, this is a good one! No doubt, tech has made it more challenging for us writers. Nowadays, I try to pick concepts/storylines where the tech is irrelevant. Probably why I’m so into post apocalyptic worlds. No cell phones or computers. And if it’s a modern day story, I try to make it so that the characters have no one to call for help, including authorities. They’re essentially and totally on their own. All this is of course easier said than done, lol.

I think that's the best way to keep characters from using phones and devices, Christopher Mosley. Picking concepts/storylines where the tech is irrelevant. Thanks for the idea.

I don't think you can avoid using tech if it's set in the current day and you want to look realistic. Texting is a big part of how people communicate today - people of ALL ages. Writing around it could twist your story into knots. Read scripts that have it. There's a way to handle it.

Thanks for joining the discussion, Frank Fortin. I think writers can avoid using tech if it's set in the current day and make it look realistic. It just takes some work, like the ways we're discussing on this post. And writing around it could definitely twist a story into knots if it's not handled right or the story doesn't need it.

You may not be able to avoid using tech, but in some films and TV, the monster, supernatural entity, or whatever can have properties that can prevent its use.

I've seen where certain areas can't get cell service, cell services are down or blocked due to technical failure or supernatural means, electronics simply don't work or are drained of power when the big bad shows up or takes over the device itself.

The absolute funniest one I've seen is "Return of the Living Dead" (1985), a zombies uses the police radio to send a message, "Send more cops".

That scene in Return of the Living Dead was funny, Anthony Moore. I've seen those in movies too (certain areas can't get cell service, cell services are down, etc.). I've written them in scripts. I've also had a character use a cell phone jammer so the other characters couldn't call anyone.

I am a scientist, not a Telephone techincian, so ask somebody who knows more before you use any of the following :

Gasoline may catch fire if a cell phone is used in the area, so leave the cell phone elsewhere.

An electromagnetic pulse ensures that electronics stops working.

Fool a person to do something which drains the battery.

The walls are so thick that radio waves can't penetrate.

Cell phone services work poorly on trains.

There is a strong transmitter of radio Waves nearby.

Nearby there is a large number of people who use their cell phones, so the air is too crowded with radio Waves.

it is so Cold that the battery refuses to work.

At the bottom of the valley, the coverage for wireless services are poor.

Those are great, Göran Johansson! I didn't think about them. Thanks for the ideas.