TV Scriptwriting

Scene

A series of events that take place in a limited number of locations in which characters try to achieve goals that contribute to a greater goal in the overall story.

Scene Goal

What you want to accomplish with a scene

Conflict

Every scene needs this

Motive

Every character in a scene should have this

advance the story

every scene must….

Reversal

the scene should end the opposite of where it began

Checkov’s Gun

Anything established early should be used later

Stock Characters

Familiar characters and often involves stereotypes

Joseph Campbell

Who paved the way for the concept of The hero’s journey

Joseph Campbell

Wrote…several influential works on mythology and narrative structure, including "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." He explored the universal patterns in stories across cultures.

Sir arthur C. Clarke

was a British science fiction writer, futurist, and inventor, known for works such as "2001: A Space Odyssey." He contributed significantly to the genre and explored themes of space exploration and technology. FANTASY AND SCI FI GUY

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Genre where you write things that are not real but plausible

End of act 1, act 3

WHen does inciting incident happen?

courier 12

Typeface to use

3

Pages per scene

All genres are hard to write

Which genres are hard to write

1

AMount of adjectives per noun

lessens end confrontation

Don’t have protag and antag meet too often because

end of act 2

Lowest point of story for protag

scene

a series of events that take place in a limited number of locations in which characters try to achieve goals that contribute to a greater goal in the overall story. 

story falls apart

If any scene is removed

beginning of scene

establishes what is normal. The viewer knows what is natural based on what happened in previous scenes. If it is the first time we see characters, the setting should suggest what is normal. Normalcy ends when something drastic forces a change and creates a conflict.

middle of scene

shows the conflict associated with that change. Opposing parties in the scene struggle to achieve their respective goals. Conflict dominates

end of scene

shows some kind of resolution to the conflict. Something has to change. 

opposing goals

The conflict comes from characters having

Advance the story

Reveal character

If a scene doesn't do one of these two things, it serves no purpose and should be eliminated.

every scene should do these

reveal character

In the early parts of the script, most of your scenes will

advance plot

In the late parts of the script, most of your scenes will

choice

characters have a

anachronism

is the use of something from one period in a period in which it does not belong

continuity error

problem with consistency. For example, if a character is shown to be illiterate in an early scene, that character cannot read anything for the entire story.

factual error

Presenting events in a way that does not accurately represent how the event would play out in the real world

 geography error

 wrong location. In a normal world, it would not make sense for a character to be in London in one scene and Los Angeles five minutes later.

beat

a pause. Nothing happens.it doesn't tell what happens. The other events in the scene continue

4 lines description per block

Blocks that are more than that tend to be too difficult for the reader to process. They also tell too much of the story. 

If you need to describe a lot in a scene, consider having multiple blocks of description and

lowercase

Parentheticals always begin

active

You should write in ____ voice, not passive voice.

historical, specialized areas, fantasy

Difficult genres (because so many rules to explain)

Premise

_____=prison. It’s a committment

Story engine

Can run for 100 or more episiodes

Episodic

Random and can miss. These episodes stand alone

Serial

You can’t miss an episode. Storylines stretch across.

Logline

1-3 sentence description of show (pitch). “It’s about a ____ who ____”

-Needs protagonist, adjective to describe them, their goal, and obstacle. No theme

Pilot

 Episode that represents a typical episode

Title

Be brief, be unique, give idea of show, don’t include characters name.

-Location

-Quest

-Organization

-Ensemle cast

artistic license

Breaking rules for sake of story. DIdn’t happen but makes it easier or better to tell the story. Done in historical fiction

Key points

Don’t use artistic license with these.

Game changer

Characters breaking social norms for their time period is ___

Spec(ulative) script

A demonstration of script skills using prexisting characters or shows. Don’t send this to ppl though

movies

mostly about plot

TV

mostly about characters

Supporting

friend, romantic, etc. Protag and antag have this

MOTIVATION

Character has

Outer goal

difficult to achieve, obvious goal

inner motivation

why do they want overt goal. It’s personal

backstory

about the character b4 the story begins. Reveals of flaws. Leaving this out doesn’t bind you to making it canon.

proactive behavior

Things don’t just happen to characters. They cause things to happen.

naming characters

No names ending in s or rhymes or similiarity. Also be age/historically accurate

Act 2

When do things complicate

act 3

when does the hero become stronger

act 2

When does the protag experience a low point or false high

act 3

when does protag grow

act 4

when does final conflict happen

cold open

Most important scene of the story. This happens before intro (Think SNL)

Teaser

introduces the world

first scene

Doesn’t have to introduce main characters, but should introduce main characters’ situations/environment

Act 1

Introducing protag and antag, establish goals obstacles, failing consequences, and key rules for the universe. ends with inciting incident. nothing will be the same for protag.

show don’t tell

Rule where you must have charac

act 2

Goes from first inciting to next. different than what protag knows. From known to unknown and protag lacks control. Ends with crisis.

act 3

from midpoint to act 4 where protag gets stronger. Growth and differnt direction. End

act 4

antag and protag face each other. Confrontation. Main conflict resolved but protag doesn’t have to win.

solved

Versus movies, at the end of show episodes, not every conflict has to be ____

tag

scene after closing or credits

cliffhangers

acts end on ____

final draft

industry standard of software

54-55

lines per page

upper right

where are page #’s?

Space

Which locaiton does not need a time of day

continuous

same shot moving into different location

later

same scene after passage of time

secondary scene heading

used for different locations within same scene

intercutting

scene is in multiple locations. For example, a phone call.

name

You can withhold this for dramatic reasons

O.C

off camera, but still in scene

O.S

in different location, like phone calls, radio, recording

V.O

Characters don’t hear this, but we do.

wrylies

also known as parentheticals, but htese are between character names and dialogue. For reader, not actor. ALSO LOWERCASE.

aristotle

said that “all things have universal form, aka something in common. Also had a book called Poetics. Wanted stories to have plot. Look at notes because this shit is long.

KNOW HOW TO ANSWER THIS

How did my story satisfy the aristotle elements?

Aristotle story elements

Good vs evil, good characters to carry out plot, theme (message or lesson), dialogue (aristotle said this is hard to do), music for tempo or pacing, spectacle (losing yourself in the story)

spectacle

aristotle said this is least important

We’re all trapped by things higher than us:

-society trapped by spectacle of reality tv

-Charlotte trapped by bad decisions

-Nellie trapped by old potential

-Madina willfully trapped and doesn’t know it

-Kristen trapped with the weight of the truth

We’re all trapped and when we can’t do anything about it, or don’t know we are trapped, the best thing we can do is get to know ourselves and others better and form meaningful connections.

What is my story’s theme?

copyright

protects original works fixed in tangible expression

time

copyright expires after ___

lifetime + 70 years

individual copyright expires

95 years after publication or 120 years after creation

corporation copyright expires

copyright does not protect

idesas, general concepts, theme, facts, dates, basic plot concept