majfoalbkeopaza's profile

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Wednesday, November 16th, 2022

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Which plot outline is superior?

This is in regards to the 2022 horror film "Pearl".

Plot Outline Version 1:

In 1918, a young woman on the brink of madness pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery, isolation and lovelessness of life on her parents' farm.

Plot Outline Version 2:

Trapped on her family's farm, Pearl is called upon to care for her ailing father, under her mother's bitter supervision. Hoping to change, Pearl's repressions and ambitions erupt in horrific fashion.

Oldest First
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3 years ago

I like both versions, and I have seen the film so I can vouch for their accuracy.

I did find one flaw in each version (language that could be smoothed out for readability). 

In the first version, the phrase "lovelessness of life" is awkward. I would recommend just removing that part, making it read like this:

In 1918, a young woman on the brink of madness pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery and isolation of life on her parents' farm.

And in the second version, the phrase "hoping to change" is too vague. I would change that to something like "dreaming of stardom" or something similar.

Trapped on her family's farm, Pearl is called upon to care for her ailing father, under her mother's bitter supervision. Dreaming of stardom, Pearl's repressions and ambitions erupt in horrific fashion.

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@keyword_expert​ Thanks for the input. Your suggestions are valid for both versions. However, there can only be one plot outline per title on IMDb, so I'm left wondering which of these you think should be chosen.

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@timothy_gray_el34lojg1aih1​ 

I still like them both; I don't prefer one or the other. You are a good writer. 

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@keyword_expert​ Thanks, but I actually only wrote the first one. The second one is a Google translate version of the current Spanish language plot outline, which I discovered after submitting my own. It was then that I began second-guessing as to which outline was superior.

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69.2K Points

3 years ago

There’s already only one ”Plot Outline”. The other (longer) is ”Plot Summary”.

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@eboy​ I know this. This is why I'm asking which of the above plot outlines deserves to be the only plot outline.

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@timothy_gray_el34lojg1aih1​ Does IMDb not allow more than one plot outline?

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@keyword_expert​ No, it does not. The plot outline is the brief one- or two-sentence summary that appears first under the title on the main page and in lists/search results; there can be only one summary in that spot, so there's no point allowing two.

(edited)

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I've seen IMDb title pages that have more than one plot outline item, I think, but it may go against guidelines to purposely attach two of the same language on the same title entry, especially if from a single plot author. Certainly the system will only display one of these items on the base page.

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@jeorj_euler​ 

I looked it up, and here is the guideline:

A maximum of one outline is allowed per title and locale - rather than deleting the live one and/or adding a new one, please modify the existing item instead.