Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I meant to write about Across the River to Motor City much closer to its release, however a little rally and something suspiciously like paying work got in the way. So please forgive the lack of timeliness of this post.
I was particularly interested in breaking down the first episode of this six-pack because Denis […]
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
We don’t know but we’ve been told,
The Internet is paved with gold
Now they say that they won’t pay
It’s colder here than in L.A.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
I watched the second episodes of both Reaper (written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas) and Chuck (written by Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz) last night. I thought they both suffered from the same problem. Both have solid franchises and lots of charm. Both have the funny down pat. But I […]
The episode entitled Chapter 2: Lizards was written by Michael Green.
There was a teaser plus five acts. That was no tag at the end. The fifth was a real act.
Teaser
A. Peter lost his shirt and his memory
B. HRG (Claire’s dad) isn’t laying as low as he wants Claire to
C. Matt is investigating Nakamura’s death
D. […]
Monday, September 10, 2007
This post is dedicated to my agent, Glenn, who love The Shield and always points to it as an example of a great television pilot. And I agree.
I’m all about first acts these days, so most of my comments will be about the first act structure and scene construction. (Which leads to a fair […]
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Blood Ties aired in Canada at long last: mystery, monsters and one very hot vampire who appears shirtless a lot of the time. Excellent.
Blood Price, the pilot episode written by series creator Peter Mohan, is actually two one-hour episodes even though they aired together on Monday night. I know it’s two one-hours because […]
Here are three more techniques to keep in mind:
Sub-plot Free First Acts
A teaser or first act of a pilot can follow a single story line without introducing a single subplot. The teaser of the CSI pilot is almost all about one of the mysteries of the week. The seven minute teaser for Burn Notice, on […]
These are the structural trends emerging from the pilots I’ve read and watched:
Open long.A lot of teases are running very long. Or scripts are eschewing teases altogether and leading off with titles followed by a long act one. Once you get the viewer tuned in, why give them a commercial and let them […]
I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and am now back to tv. I have decided to wait for the final episode of Jekyll before watching ep 5. I’m looking forward to the mini-binge and dreading saying good-bye to the show.
Meanwhile, so much is building up that I may have to […]
Filed in act breaks, curtains, Steven Moffat, tension, Jekyll, Teasers, structure, tv writing, pilot script, pilot scripts, pilots
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Perhaps I have sufficiently conveyed to you my admiration of Jekyll. Now down to business:
The pilot episode, written by Steven Moffat, is laid out in a teaser and four acts and as Anonymous pointed out, it’s the pilot for a short-lived miniseries and not for an ongoing series. For that reason it’s quite […]
Filed in television writing, screenwriting, act breaks, Steven Moffat, Canadian television, screenwriter, tv writing, pilot script, pilot scripts, Jekyll, structure
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