Wait... aren't they the same thing just different screen sizes? You would think but... WRONG! Writing for film all you have to worry about is your three act structure. (If you're not sure what that is... we'll discuss that in another post and include pictures and whatnot.) Writing for TV means act breaks and three act structures within each of these separate little shorts... if you've already written a bunch of short films you're already on your way to writing for television. Crafty TV Writing by Alex Epstein. Good book. We had to have it for my MFA but I'd already read it for my undergrad honors project. Highly recommend it if you think you may want to write for TV. Writing for TV, once you're staffed on a show means a little more creative control (or so I am told) in camera angles. I'll get back to you on that when I get staffed on a show! So, what do I mean by act breaks? Take your favorite TV show (it could be 1/2 hour comedy or 1 hr drama). When the show goes to commercial... that's an act break. The scene preceding the act break is an "act out," "hook," or (my fav) "cliffhanger" to get the viewer to come back after they flip the channel to skip the commercials. Don't argue. I know that more and more shows are gearing toward streaming but you will always have ABC, CBS, & NBC. CW & FOX may eventually see the light, but that's another discussion all together! Netflix and the no-commercial version of Hulu may not have act breaks in their script and that's okay. If you know you're going to pitch and shop your script to a premium outlet (HBO, Showtime, Netflix, etc) don't worry about act breaks. "Homeland" doesn't have any. But if you want your show on the big networks, act breaks! When you're writing, don't forget... each scene has its own beginning, middle, and end. Complete with small story arcs. What does the protagonist want at the start? How are they going to get it? Do they get it by the end? This is really important to keep in mind when you're writing with act breaks! Writing for film is easier (for the most part)! You get your idea, you know where you want to go, hopefully you have the ending, and then all you have to do is let your characters take you there. You have significantly more pages to do it in. Features run anywhere from 90 - 120 pages. A lot depends on genre. Comedies are generally 90 pages, while meatier things like "The Bourne Supremacy" are longer (121 pages). I just finished an action script (Candace Glass) and I'll tell you, it was rough to fill in. It was the first time I had come at a script with the ending in place. I had to round out a relationship I'd hinted at and a meet the family kind of thing, setting it up to hopefully be franchise or lead in for a TV show. (Why is it we come back to TV? A lot of writers like TV because it offers a steady paycheck.) I've included 3 scripts... The "Castle" script landed me on the Emmy Foundations finalist list for an internship. I was also working on the full episode to have as a Spec sample when the show was cancelled. Didn't get the internship, but I wanted you guys to know that I'm really a screenwriter and not someone that says I'm a screenwriter. The AMC show "The Killing" is now on Netflix. I want you to take a look at a script with act breaks. And then there's the Chinatown script. Well, because it's "Chinatown" and what other reason do we need?!? Thanks for stopping by and write on!
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These posts were from the Writers Room in the Legion M Forum. "Screenwriting 101" is written by Nikki Ackerman. Don't know what Legion M is? It's the world's first fan-owned entertainment company. Want to know more? Visit Legion M at legionm.com Archives
January 2021
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