Comedies - Relying on the True and the Tested

Comedy is a hard thing to pull off, not least because you need to be funny, but because you need to be funny in so many ways and with such assuredness, while moving the plot... somewhere. Here, I've given four episode 1s a brief analysis of what the what and what the how, so pay attention.

Firstly, Good old Chrono posted a great article recently on his blog (Journey of the Scribe): Things I Learned from Improv. And, made this points (that are as important for Comedy as they are for Drama):

1. Every scene needs conflict.
2. Once you have conflict, escalate it!
3. When telling a story, avoid thought words such as 'decided', 'pondered', 'considered', etc.
4. Avoid 'talking heads' scenes. Characters should at least be doing something while they talk.
5. Fart jokes and scenes about gynecologists make most people groan or cringe, unless your audience is 5-year olds or horny teenagers.
6. In each scene, try to ask yourself, 'What is my character trying to accomplish this scene?'
7. Characters all have unique mannerisms and ways of speaking. Try to avoid defaulting to your own voice.
8. If you're not enjoying a scene, chances are no one else is either.
9. Subtext is amazing when you can pull it off.
10. Make every scene and every character larger than life, but still believable.

Black Books - Season 1 Episode 1

There are three plots - one main, and two sub-plots:

1. Bernard can't do his own accounting or fill in his tax forms and is desperate for assistance
2. Manny is overly stressed by his accounting job, but having mistakenly swallowed the Little Book of Calm, could die.
3. Fran's trying to solve the riddle of the latest purchase for her shop - what could it be, and will her trying to work out the answer keep her from being with her friend during labour

And the following is a list of the comedic elements in use:

1. Blagging / Lack of Knowledge/ Trying to Impress
2. Character - general funny act
3. Character - Idiosyncrasy
   
4. Character - Out of Character Response / Take on Persona of Another
5. Character - Over the Top
6. Character - Specific Saying / Way of Speaking
7. Contrasting / Reversal (Happy <-> Sad / Idyllic <-> Hell)
8. Escalate Situation / Responses
9. Forgetfulness
   
10. Getting Caught Out / Saving Face
11. Harming Oneself / Putting Self in Harms Way
12. Inability to cope with inanimate objects
13. Irony
14. Lack of Self-Awareness
15. Lack of Social Skills
16. Malapropism / misuse of Word, Phrase / Off-Cuff Wrong Saying
17. Obstructing another character (verbally / physically)
18. Offensive / Blunt / Rude
19. Reaction to Incident
20. Reminder of Something Character is Trying to Avoid
21. Repeat Something (Twist it on the repeat)
22. Sarcasm
23. Song / Poetry that doesn't Rhyme
24. Stating the Obvious
25. Stereotyping
26. Surprise Response (abnormal in situation)
27. Taking Anger Out on Others
28. Unexpected / Unexplained Act whose Outcome Leads to Explanation
29. Unexpected Observation / Link

Scrubs - Season 1 Episode 1

Scrubs is more gangshow that Black Books, and the plots resolve around a mural of life in the hospital, introducing us to the characters and following themes of fitting in (place in the hierarchy) / committing to the work / overcoming fears of inadequacy / making friends and rivals.

Here are the comedic elements in use:

1. Adopting a Funny Voice
2. Being Anal
3. Belittling Others
4. Blagging / Lack of Knowledge/ Trying to Impress
5. Character - Idiosyncrasy
   
6. Comedic Dreams / Words Put in the Mouths of Others
7. Contrasting / Reversal (Happy <-> Sad / Idyllic <-> Hell)
8. Fish out of Water
9. Gesturing / While Others are Talking
10. Giving Names (Derogatory) to Others
11. Going off on One
12. Humorous Observation
13. Hypocrite
    
14. Making Enemies
15. misleading People
16. Oneupmanship
17. Pop-Culture References
18. Sarcasm
19. Slapstick
20. Stitching Someone Up - Personal Gain / Avoidance
21. Talking Behind Someone's Back
22. Trying to be One of the Gang
23. Worrying the Wider Public with offhand Comment

Red Dwarf - Season 1 Episode 1

Red Dwarf, like Scrubs, opens with a lot of characters, but manages to shirk them pretty quickly with a heavy dose of Cadmium. There isn't a unifying theme, but the plot lines set up the main situation for the show along with Rimmer's perpetual subplot:

1. Lister is put in stasis because he won't reveal his cat, leading to Rimmer not fixing a drive plate that kills everyone with Cadmium, making Lister the last human alive
2. Rimmer fails his exam
3. Cat is the last surviving member of the cat race

Here's that all important list:

1. 1 of the 7 Deadly Sins
2. Barefaced Lying
3. Bending Rules for personal gain and claiming its not
4. Character - Idiosyncrasy
   
5. Choice of Clothing / Tools
6. Conflict / Winding Each Other Up
7. Crossing Objects / Animals (Woolly-Jumper)
8. Delusions of Grandeur
   
9. Dissing / Ignoring Authority
10. Escalating a Wind Up
11. Fish Out of Water
12. Going the Wrong Way
13. Hamming - Grand Literary Acting
14. Inappropriate Music to a Scene
15. Inappropriateness
16. Indirect Double Entendres
17. Jade comments - Lack of Knowledge (history, geography, science) / Incorrect Terminology
18. Losing Mind
19. Making a Fool of Another / Getting them to Make a Fool of Themselves
20. Me-First Ideology
21. Misunderstanding / Not Bothering to Understand
22. Nerdy
23. Offensive / Blunt / Rude
24. Punchline Interruption (of someone else's dialogue - funny or otherwise)
25. React to Incident / Situation but leave it for Someone Else
26. Repetition and Ignorance (They're all Dead Dave… Everyone's Dead)
27. Saving Face
28. Slapstick
29. Superiority
30. Trying to be Careful and Making it Worse
31. Twisting Meaning of Someone's Statement

IT Crowd - Season 1 Episode 1

And finally we have the IT Crowd, the newest of the four, and not necessarily the funniest (some of the character idiosyncrasies are vaguely annoying), but it's still a masterclass. Here we have the introduction of all the characters meshed in with two plots:

1. Power play within the team
2. Raising the profile of the team

And the list:

1. Anticlimax - from the big build up (McGuyver / A-Team sequence)
2. Blagging / Lack of Knowledge/ Trying to Impress
3. Caught Out
4. Character - Idiosyncrasy
   
5. Conflict against 3rd person bring 1st and 2nd together (then in-fighting)
6. Contrasting / Reversal (Happy <-> Sad / Idyllic <-> Hell)
7. Determination (To Do / Not Do Something)
8. Diffusing Situations
9. Failure to Listen / Lack of Interest
10. Hiding / Avoidance
11. Increasing an Alert Status
12. Jade comments - Lack of Knowledge (history, geography, science) / Incorrect Terminology
13. Job Specific Cliché
14. Mania
15. Matching Banter (Down a Blind Alley)
16. Mirroring Someone / Object
17. Missing the Obvious - Stated / Visible
18. Mistaking the Secret Nod / Talk / Handshake
19. Not Picking up the Vibe
20. Odd / Incorrect Analogy
21. Playing on a stereotyped lack of knowledge
22. Private Joke / Job Specific Joke - not got by others
23. Proving them Wrong
24. puerile Humour - Self Aware
25. Repetition (normal)
26. Self Loathing
27. Slapstick
28. Slow Response / Reaction (Purposeful)
29. Stress Induced by Others
30. Sudden Outburst
31. Telling the Wrong Story
32. The "What did they say?" or "I'm not talking to them, tell them this…" 3 way
33. The Kitten -> Tiger Unexpected Unleashing
34. The Only One Who Knows - Being Ignored
35. Toilet Humour
36. Used / Abused - Bemoaning Treatment at the Hands of Others
37. Wordplay

Having knowledge of these terms however doesn't make for great comedy. It's all in the choice of topic delivered in the form of one of these listed items, and of course the delivery itself. So, finally, altogether... the full list (just to show you what you can call on):

1. 1 of the 7 Deadly Sins
2. Adopting a Funny Voice
3. Anticlimax - from the big build up (McGuyver / A-Team sequence)
4. Barefaced Lying
5. Being Anal
6. Belittling Others
7. Bending Rules for personal gain and claiming its not
8. Blagging / Lack of Knowledge/ Trying to Impress
9. Caught Out
10. Character - general funny act
11. Character - Idiosyncrasy
12. Character - Out of Character Response / Take on Persona of Another
13. Character - Over the Top
14. Character - Specific Saying / Way of Speaking
15. Choice of Clothing / Tools
16. Comedic Dreams / Words Put in the Mouths of Others
17. Conflict / Winding Each Other Up
18. Conflict against 3rd person bring 1st and 2nd together (then in-fighting)
19. Contrasting / Reversal (Happy <-> Sad / Idyllic <-> Hell)
20. Crossing Objects / Animals (Woolly-Jumper)
21. Delusions of Grandeur
22. Determination (To Do / Not Do Something)
23. Diffusing Situations
24. Dissing / Ignoring Authority
25. Escalate Situation / Responses
26. Escalating a Wind Up
27. Failure to Listen / Lack of Interest
28. Fish Out of Water
29. Forgetfullness
30. Gesturing / While Others are Talking
31. Getting Caught Out / Saving Face
32. Giving Names (Derogatory) to Others
33. Going off on One
34. Going the Wrong Way
35. Hamming - Grand Literary Acting
36. Harming Oneself / Putting Self in Harms Way
37. Hiding / Avoidance
38. Humorous Observation
39. Hypocrite
40. Inability to cope with inanimate objects
41. Inappropriate Music to a Scene
42. Inappropriateness
43. Increasing an Alert Status
44. Indirect Double Entendres
45. Irony
46. Jade comments - Lack of Knowledge (history, geography, science) / Incorrect Terminology
47. Job Specific Cliché
48. Lack of Self-Awareness
49. Lack of Social Skills
50. Losing Mind
51. Making a Fool of Another / Getting them to Make a Fool of Themselves
52. Making Enemies
53. Malapropism / misuse of Word, Phrase / Off-Cuff Wrong Saying
54. Mania
55. Matching Banter (Down a Blind Alley)
56. Me-First Ideology
57. Mirroring Someone / Object
58. Misleading People
59. Missing the Obvious - Stated / Visible
60. Mistaking the Secret Nod / Talk / Handshake
61. Misunderstanding / Not Bothering to Understand
62. Nerdy
63. Not Picking up the Vibe
64. Obstructing another character (verbally / physically)
65. Odd / Incorrect Analogy
66. Offensive / Blunt / Rude
67. Oneupmanship
68. Playing on a stereotyped lack of knowledge
69. Pop-Culture References
70. Private Joke / Job Specific Joke - not got by others
71. Proving them Wrong
72. Puerile Humour - Self Aware
73. Punchline Interruption (of someone else's dialogue - funny or otherwise)
74. React to Incident / Situation but leave it for Someone Else
75. Reaction to Incident
76. Reminder of Something Character is Trying to Avoid
77. Repeat Something (Twist it on the repeat)
78. Repetition (normal)
79. Repetition and Ignorance (They're all Dead Dave… Everyone's Dead)
80. Sarcasm
81. Saving Face
82. Self Loathing
83. Slapstick
84. Slow Response / Reaction (Purposeful)
85. Song / Poetry that doesn't Rhyme
86. Stating the Obvious
87. Stereotyping
88. Stitching Someone Up - Personal Gain / Avoidance
89. Stress Induced by Others
90. Sudden Outburst
91. Superiority
92. Surprise Response (abnormal in situation)
93. Taking Anger Out on Others
94. Talking Behind Someone's Back
95. Telling the Wrong Story
96. The "What did they say?" or "I'm not talking to them, tell them this…" 3 way
97. The Kitten -> Tiger Unexpected Unleashing
98. The Only One Who Knows - Being Ignored
99. Toilet Humour
100. Trying to be Careful and Making it Worse
101. Trying to be One of the Gang
102. Twisting Meaning of Someone's Statement
103. Unexpected / Unexplained Act whose Outcome Leads to Explanation
104. Unexpected Observation / Link
105. Used / Abused - Bemoaning Treatment at the Hands of Others
106. Wordplay
107. Worrying the Wider Public with offhand Comment

LOST - Season 3 Spoilers

Well, a bit late compared to everyone else but I've just finished watching the 2 hour season ending, and what an ending it was - phew!

So, Laura and I have become split over this. Lost lost it there throughout the beginning of Season 3, with the writers choosing to draw out the plot elements with more and more inane moments and dissections into more and more characters' histories. What did we really learn from them? Not a lot when you consider the "relentless narrative" (Osci would appreciate me bringing that in) of Season's 1 and 2. Because of that it lost viewers and good faith. Laura's fallen into that camp... she's now one of the Others, and therefore... I can't trust her any more.

She made the season finale difficult to enjoy, because she kept going 'Uh, I don't really care!' Either I'm easily pleased or I just love investing myself in story - which, incidentally is quite the opposite to the discussion we had with a head guy from Waterstones and Ken Follett t'other day in a back room of Birmingham's New Street store of Waterstones: 80% of book buyers are women apparantly. Why is that?

Well, discussing with my wife (we're talking again, just for this bit), she reads books for the following reasons:

1. To escape her life
2. To read a "happy" book and know that there will be a happy ending, and all will end as it should (something that takes me back to Adele Parks. She said she sells very well in Slovakia and the Balkan States simply because they've suffered enough and want happy (or as I'd term "flaky") books to read. They've had enough death, and can't stomach any more) - there must be some good in the world.
3. To find someone who shares her concerns or worries, ie: a protagonist who has to deal with parents splitting up, etc. She wants to know how to feel in a given situation, or to just identify with someone and know that she's not crazy... to share in those emotions.

Number 3 incidentally, incidentally takes me back to Ken Follet again (it's okay, I'll be doing a write up on his masterclass soon). Ken Follet's masterclass regarded the creation and development of the suspense novel, now known as the thriller. Cutting to the chase he pointed out that his parents' generation were the first where all the males in Britain would have no choice about whether they'd be conscripted into active military service. This, obviously created great anxiety - it wasn't just a career. Ken said that the suspense novel, especially war related ones rose in sales along with war - because the boys and men wanted to know what they could end up going to. They had concerns about who they'd be on the battlefield. Would they stand and fight or would they cower in fear for their lives? Books provide a purpose to the zeitgeist, which, I guess backs up the ability for a topic to rise to the fore at any given time. The Da Vinci Code did just that. Suddenly everyone was "worried" about what the church had really down to Christ's heritage... well, at least in a "pseudo-we-care" sort of way.

Anyhoo, I've digressed far beyond the pail... Back to Lost.

One of Laura's biggest gripes was the cutscenes of Jack, bearded, returns from a flight home and tries to commit suicide. He's drinking and on drugs, a real nadir of his life, and we quite rightly assumed that this was part of his past, something from which he has run. This grated for Laura because we've had far too much backstory on Jack for them now to twist who he is into some failed doctor. Now, we're led towards thoughts that before heading out to Australia to bring home his father's body, he's going to lose his medical license. How would that look on his character arc? The failed hero?

I bought it for the simple fact that Jack's been through hell and I think he deserves that serious breakdown. Laura doesn't. He's had his chance and he's picked himself up every time. So, what do the screenwriters do?

The cutscenes aren't the past. They're the future. Jack calls Kate - and they never knew each other before the plane crash - he wants to get back on the island. They made a terrible mistake by choosing to escape. His life is meaningless!

Holy crikey! Everything occurring on the island is leading to their rescue and it's not the right choice?

This leaves even me in a quandary over whether I want to continue... knowing the future means that we can see the end, and it's all up the swanny. Regardless of the journey to be made, how can we relate to a protagonist (Jack) who is ultimately going to make the wrong choice? It's tragedy, but does that work if you can see the ending coming?

Potentially not. We knew that in Heroes there was going to be a huge explosion. We knew, because of the repeated statement to that effect that the season showdown would end there. It then becomes a chore to get there. Get a move on buddy! Perhaps that's why Tim Kring (Heroes creator) has opted now for a Chapter schema. Season 2 of Heroes will include Chapters 2 and 3 of the story. Therefore a big climax midseason.

Laura says that in Greek Tragedy, even in Shakespeare, the audience know the outcome. They know Ajax will die, that Oedipus will kill his father, Hamlet will have to resolve to kill his Uncle and die himself, etc, etc. But, the point of Greek and Shakespearian Tragedy IS in the journey, the wonderful prose, the characterisations. The outcome is just there to wrap up what everybody already knows.

So, how does this relate to Lost?

Jack is the elected leader. A doctor in the real world, he's been stripped of his wife, his father, his life is pretty crap, and yet he faces the island, as they all do, and takes the mantle of protector, leader - and most of the other characters hand that to him - they need him to lead.

Echeat has this to say:

For a tragedy to occur there are five conditions. The protagonist, Othello in this case, must experience a death or a total loss of ranking in society. The audience must also be captured by the actors and feel some sort of connection to them. This is known as catharsis. In Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist always has a character defect or a tragic flaw. This tragic flaw along with pride will cause the protagonist to make an error in judgement leading him to his downfall and eventual death. These two elements are called hubris and hamartia. The unities of time, space, and action must also be followed. This means that the play must take place in a very short period of time, occur in one general area, and follow one main character throughout the play. Shakespeare orates for us a tragic occurrence in the life of a man who once had it all, throws it all away in a fit of jealous rage .

The downfall of the central character is the main concept of the tragedy. Without the main character’s downfall there is no reason for the reader to feel pity, therefore, no tragedy. The downfall of the protagonist in Shakespearean tragedies always originates from their tragic flaw.

Jack has hubris certainly. On the island, he is relied upon to save lives day-by-day. This gives him grandstanding, and pride in who he is. For Jack that all comes to a crashing end as soon as they're off the island. He has no one to rely upon him - admitting that he literally just flies, hoping that the plane will crash. Despite having been forced into the position of leader on the island, the detrimental effect on to his psyche is that what he is fighting for - the idea of escape - is based upon a life he already lost. Jack is our Hamlet, but as Aristotle says: "Tragedy must cover a short time period". We're not going to get that in Lost... we've got 3 more years. So, can we invest our time in 3 years of Jack consistently making the wrong decision?

I'm not sure we can.

But, looking to the future we can surmise the following spoilers:

1. Jack, Kate and Sawyer (at least) survive and escape the island.
2. Jack thinks the decision to communicate with off-islanders was wrong (just like Ben and Locke told him)
3. It isn't Penny's ship - yet Naomi had Desmond's book and a piccy of Penny (Penny's father is too big a character to let go. He has to have some hand in the Other Other's)
4. Season 4 will develop these Other Other's, the ones Ben didn't want to find the island, hence how it's possible for the show to continue for 3 more seasons.
5. Who's in the coffin in the future? It's either Juliet or Ben. Laura thinks Ben because no one went to the funeral and it links in with how upset and wrong Jack was over leaving the island... I think it's Juliet. Who else would Jack get so upset about, with Kate being with Sawyer (note: the screenwriters were clever enough not to refer to any off screen characters by name. Essentially they've left themselves an open envelope to make it up depending on their whim - pah! Though this relates to crime writers, who just write, without a clue (often) as to who the murderer really is.
6. Jack references his father in the hospital. So, either the island brings him back to life, or this is actually an alternate reality.
7. Locke is probably going to just wander in and out killing people at whim - a shame, his character arc has lost the audience's empathy for him.

We still don't know why the stewardess from Oceanic appeared in the past, looking no younger (along with Richard's character).

Lots to mull over... I've got until Feb next year! Aw hell!

Blink

This week's Doctor Who sure was scary, and actually, really, bloody good! I was surprised by that. I love Doctor Who because it's sci-fi, quirky, people die, the Doctor is an interesting character and often they come up with good ideas for the show (sometimes not, but that's life), and most importantly, the Doctor Who theme rocks.

Anyhoo, this weeks episode Blink was truly a speciality, funny, scary, well written, convoluted plot that really makes use of the time-travel mythos, and puts the Doctor into a minor role, kind of as mentor.


Usually the narrative for Doctor Who is straight forward, the tension meek and the dramatics overly, er... dramatic, but not here, not this one. And no wonder, writer Steve Moffat has done some great writing in the past. You're only as good as your script. And with that in mind, I'm back off to look at how I can bolster mine.

Check out some of the plot for Blink.

The X Files

It spanned a millenia, gave us all the willies and raised lots of questions about alien abduction, but lasted too long, was stretched beyond anybodies ability to stick with it, and lost the edge, and the answers with it... But I, almost 15 years after it first began, have found the answers to the mythology - yay!

How sad am I? How long do I have to wait till I get all 9 series for £50?

Check out the truth (it's always been out there): http://www.themareks.com/xf/finale.shtml

Screenwriting 106 - Masterclass

So, back up to Birminham for a 3 hour discussion with Casualty script writer Linda Thompson (winner of the Bridport Short Story prize back in 2000, and then also, of the BBC's Talent competition - to write an episode of Doctors). She says that going from being a literary fiction writer to Casualty is not a sell out. It's a career.

Scripts, she says, are the same as short stories. There is no overloading viewerd with too much information/exposition. A character arrives, does their bit and leaves. Of writing for an established program, she says, that writing something new (a new series, one off, etc) is fraught with uncertainties, but writing for an established program is a certainty that you will get made. So many new series are filmed but never shown.

Casualty is aimed at a mixed viewership for mainstream Saturday nights. As such it can't be too dark, too edgy, and yet the producers are always asking for edgy stuff, messed up story structures (ala Memento) and yet never accept anything that doesn't fit the formula (typical company types - eh?)

The quality visibly varies on an episode by episode basis. Whereas writers in the US are locked up together in an office day-by-day, UK writers do their episodes at home, on their own. This leads to freedom but also inconsistency.

Linda gave us four separate documents - part of the episode development.

Serial Document
This is written by the Story Producer and details 3 main stories - the A story, B story and C story. This focus upon the main characters, and in the case of Casualty - the medical staff. These set up the character/story arcs that link through the entire series based upon pre-series discussions about what's going to happen (which characters come to the fore, who'll be killed off, what's important in the real world, etc), and pretty much looks as if the story is already there.

These set up the themes that will play in the episode (in the case of that provided to the class: Freedom, Unrequited love and Life's too short). Since Casualty follows the 5 act principle, each Story (A, B and C) are written in five separate paragraphs (I'm sure you can work out why), each ends with a cliff hanger of sorts. (None of this is entirely set in stone).

Remember, that all stories are character led - says Linda.

From this serial document, the writer, ie: Linda, is allowed to go away and construct a script incorporating these elements around a medical drama of the day - in Linda's case, she chose a wedding that led to lots of little medical emergencies. She is allowed up to 10 guest actors to play these roles.

Linda made two important points:

1. The themes of the three main stories must be enhanced/backed up by what's going on in the medical incident/drama parts. The guest stories must magnify the serial elements by mirroring them as this adds to the character pressures.

2. Whilst the dialogue is going on the characters/actors must be moving, working, giving a sense of perpetual movement. Nobody just sits there doing nothing whilst they talk.

At the beginning of each new series (each year) – there have been 20 seasons of Casualty, spanning the 20 years since it began in 1986, with 48 episodes per season (crikey) – each of the writers is given a Writers’ Bible which covers everything the need to know – info on advisors to sets, direction and directors, to the main characters. We were shown Charley’s page, detailing him, as Linda said of a previous Bible as Animal – Sheepdog. A previous Series Producer hadn’t liked Charley’s character much… though the latest Bible states Animal – Silver backed Gorilla.

Linda briefly mentioned that if you’re in the UK wanting to break into BBC script writing, write for Doctors. It’s such a long running stream of episodes that generates some of the highest mid-day viewing figures that they’re always looking for writers. This is the way Linda got into it (remember, she one the BBC Talent competition(?) and she did so by impressing upon the Series Producer her knowledge of the characters, issues and the types of stories run – she did her research).

It’s difficult, she says, to play stories through the paramedics! She makes this point because the B story in the serial document focuses on Nina (Paramedic). Doing so means that the paramedic needs to spend a lot of time in the hospital hanging around (when they should be off saving lives). Linda moved the B story from Nina to Abs. These stories need to focus on the main character as the point of view character, and it made sense to make Abs the point of view – his character had the greatest arc/journey in this instance.

Diplomacy is the key! Linda says. In the C story, Guppy lost a patient, leading to his character arc. Linda felt this was off key with the feel of the rest of the episode that she argued a point of using something else to spark Guppy’s character change, and had it agreed. (Diplomacy is something she returned to later… but more on that… later)

The three stories generated in the serial document occur thusly (on average):
A story runs through the whole of the episode (this is 1 in level of importance)
B story runs from about Act 2 to 4 (this is 2 in level of importance)
C story runs from about Act 2/3 to 5 (this is 3 in level of importance)

The script editor will take the first draft of the script from the writer (or their ideas/questions) and give it to the Producer to relay/ask questions.

Vignettes
Vignettes, says Linda, are great little moments. There was one that a medical advisor came up with about an old man who’d been taking his pain killers whilst changing his batteries on his hearing aids. He couldn’t hear anything and no one could work out why – he’d changed the batteries after all, it couldn’t have been the hot toddies the old couple had been drinking! It turns out that the old man had swallowed the batteries and popped the pills into his hearing aids instead.

Linda says you can quite often fit 2 or 3 small vignettes like this into an episode.

Initial version of Guest Story
Linda next showed us the accepted initial version of her guest stories, managed by the 5 Act structure. This specifically Beats out the acts, and in Linda’s case, was one big A story (for the guests).

Better drawn characters (those with more layers) will garner better actors for the episode. Characters are perceived visually, and she suggests that in creating them, they are developed from the outside in.

Having got the initial idea, the writer can then rely upon the researchers to go and find details about any aspect from the story (for example: a blacksmith, or the procedure for Police or social services, etc). The researchers will go out and interview or find out the relevant information.

Treatment
After the first set of drafts are done, a treatment must be created – this is a tedious process that generates the scene-by-scene beats. Linda calls this “writing cold”. This document is literally the “Tell” of what is going to happen (kind of like a synopsis, but in real depth). Unfortunately it is really important.

There exists a committee who then review all this stuff, consisting of:
The series producer, story producer, series editor (commissions the writers), episode producer and the script editor.

With these people, it takes the writer 12 weeks to complete an episode. 2 weeks for the first treatment, 1 week for the 2nd, 3 for the script. A meeting is held regarding justification of the first script draft. Then a mass of notes is handed back by the script editor on the 2nd draft. A third version goes to the executive version, and sent to a woman called Belinda, who seems to be top of the hierarchy… and her word is God… so, everyone agrees with whatever she says. The production draft is created and given to the director and then the shooting script is finalised, with the inclusion of pink pages (which we won’t worry about, since the writer’s journey ends here) – they just relate to the fact that sometimes what works on paper doesn’t work (timewise) in the flesh.

Casualty is a 50 minute program, with roughly 50-60 scenes. 3 minutes is the longest for any scene length (most being no longer than 1 minute) and everyone must keep moving, doing things, throttling one another, etc. Each episode generally covers one day or shift, flashbacks are rare and jump cuts are necessary for timing.

So, finally, back to diplomacy! Linda says that criticism is hard to take, but as a script writer you must have the skin of a rhino. It’s a very difficult process, and people who don’t write (but wish they were) are telling the writer how to write. Never lose your temper, she says, swear/tell them they’re crap… because you’ll never work in this town again!

Screenwriting 104 - TV Drama

TV Drama has changed, and is still in the process of changing. The six types of television drama or converging and swapping places in an effort to cater for greater viewing audiences. Take Entourage, for example, it is a drama but has lots of comedy moments and is slotted into a sitcom style 30 minutes. Desperate Housewives is a drama but has lots of comedic elements. Currently there are 6 types of fictional television:

• Single - This is a 1 or 2 hour, one off drama (not very profitable for the channel because it doesn't get repeat audiences).
• Sitcom - The standard 30 minutes situational comedy, or the new strain of off the wall vignettes slotted into a 30 minute time frame.
• Series - Your standard television dramas (Lost, 24, Battlestar, Heroes, Life on Mars, Doctor Who). In the UK a series is roughly 8 to 13 episodes in length. In the US a series is roughly 20 to 24 episodes in length.
• Mini-series - UK series' are classed as mini-series in the US. In the UK, a mini-series would be classed as Prime Suspect, or Cracker (which runs for 6-8 weeks, but has separate storylines which run for 2 to 3 weeks and are self contained).
• Serial - Serial means spread over a number of episodes. A series has serial elements (character of plot arcs). Programs such as Doctors, Casualty, Holby City and the suchlike (not to just name the medical ones) cover one off events (patients) during a program which are wrapped up by the end of the show, but the serial elements come in with characters' relationships with one another.
• Soap - Long running stories with little resolutions.

In a TV series, each episode is a single story or issue that is resolved by the end of that episode (broadcasters want to allow as many people as possible to pick the program up, preventing viewer drop offs if any episode is missed or viewers don't start watching from the beginning).

There is a main story (A story) and other arcs can take place (B story, C story, etc). There are also serial arcs, or 'serial elements'.

Single Episode

Each episode is roughly 40 to 60 minutes in length (usually 42 minutes). The US has generated a basic structure of a Teaser and 4 Acts:

• Teaser [6 Mins]
  TITLE SEQUENCE
• Act 1 [9 Mins]
• Act 2 [9 Mins]
• Act 3 [9 Mins]
• Act 4 [9 Mins]

Dramatically, plot points must fall at the end of an act to hold the audience over the advert break. Act 1 is usually a bit longer than the other acts to help develop the chracters and threads of the story, whilst Act 4 sets up the serial elements for the rest of the series or sows the seeds for the next episode.

A move to 5 Acts was made in the last few years - an increase in stakes, pace, and the number of adverts.

House: Season 3. Episode 1

[Section] [Teaser] [Act 1] [Act 2] [Act 3] [Act 4] [Act 5]
[Cumul.] [ 7 ] [ 13 ] [ 23 ] [ 29 ] [ 36 ] [ 43 ]
[Mins. ] [ 7 ] [ 6 ] [ 10 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 7 ]

Heroes: Season 1. Episode 18

[Section] [Teaser] [Act 1] [Act 2] [Act 3] [Act 4] [Act 5]
[Cumul.] [ 7 ] [ 15 ] [ 25 ] [ 30 ] [ 35 ] [ 42 ]
[Mins. ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 10 ] [ 5 ] [ 5 ] [ 7 ]

Now, broadcasters are looking for the Teaser and 6 Act stories, to fit in ever more advert breaks and climaxes to hold the audience in place. It is for this very purpose that new writers of TV Dramas should put in their Acts into their screenplays to show that they are aware of the structure.

The Teaser

We looked at two teasers to two very different TV Dramas, to see what was presented to the audience.

1. Life on Mars
The episode opened with a Starsky and Hutch chase through the back streets (sans boxes), ending up on a football pitch, interupting a match. The cops got the badguy and setup the banter between the protagonist and his boss, comedic elements in the use of language and a bit of slapstick. A call comes in over the radio - a body has been found. Then we flick into the title sequence, where the protagonist sets up the premise for us in a few sentences whilst the music plays - after an accident, our hero finds himself back in 1973 on the Police force... or is he in a coma? (a kind of Buck Rogers in reverse if you will).

The episode is all about Football violence, and in the teaser we specifically end up on the football pitch as an element of foreshadowing. The audience are now into the frame of mind required to follow the episode. It's the football episode, everybody!

2. Battlestar Gallactica
Battlestar opens completely differently, setting up dual timezones: A) Starbuck in a freefall spin, her Viper is burning up as it enters the atmosphere of a planet and she is unable to get to the controls to pull out of it. B) A pilot has survived 1000 flights and is being congratulated, whilst a small set of festivities are being planned.

A) occurs for only seconds, and is a reoccuring element throughout the rest of the episode. It reappears at the beginning of every act as a reminder of what is to come, as well as setting the second set of events into a flashback in the minds of the audience. B) Is the flashback element, but comprises of the majority of the story. Whilst everyone sets up for the festivities, the 1000 flight pilot is being paraded around the flight deck. Unbeknownst to anyone but the audience, the camera zooms into a missile in a rack that is being moved. We cut to Starbuck and Apollo painting 1000 onto a helmet, when Admiral Odama comes in. Someone tips over the red paint, which spills, like blood, across the floor (foreshadowing), and then the three of them head out toward the flight deck, developing the lines of the characters and backstory - getting the audience involved with them.

Whilst the pilots play, the missile becomes loose - DRAMATIC IRONY. Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows more than the characters, and is the most effective manner for building suspense and keeping the audience's interest. This goes back to Hitchcock's notion of suspense, when he places two people in a room, and has them discuss trivial matters. A bomb blows up at the end of the conversation that neither characters nor audience knew about - surprise but no dramatic suspense. The same scene, with two characters discussing trivial things, and the audience is shown the ticking bomb under the desk, then there is suspense, and the audience begins to ask desperate questions - when will it go off? Will they get out? Will someone tell them where it is?

As with Life on Mars having a football episode, this Battlestar episode regards funerals - the missile falls of the rack, ignites and kills several pilots. The episode focuses upon loss and blame. Simple really!

Episodes must have a clear goal with obstacles and finally a resolution.

Characters in TV Drama work slightly differently from characters in Film. They are allowed to talk about other characters and their feelings - something termed 'on the nose' and often crap and cringy in a film. Also, characters can talk about themselves and their feelings.

The end of an episode sets up conflict for the next episode (serial elements) to get the audience to come back, and as with the pilot episode of This Life, we have 8 serial elements by the end of the program set up for the other episodes, as well as it covering A and B stories during the program.

The Pilot Episode
A Pilot episode's teaser element must clearly set up more than things than a usual episode teaser. There are two types of Pilot - the Premise (where characters are set up, location, theme and goal. Characters come together. But, this doesn't give the people in their normal situation, as the audience will find them throughout the other episodes and come to associate with them) - the Midcut (where everything plays on as a normal episode, and everything is already set up and in place).

Ideally, a Pilot should exist in two halfs, where the first half is the Premise, and the second half is the Midcut.

TV Drama Concept
In order to sell a screenplay, 10 elements must be contemplated and answered by the writer - certainly these would be questions raised by a production company:

1. Does it have integrity?
2. Who is the audience?
3. Is it relevant?
4. Where does it fit in the schedule?
5. Is it 'Event TV'?
6. Does it have 'Returnability'?
7. What is the Universe?
8. Who are the Main Characters?
9. What is the Central Conflict?
10. What is the Genre?