Here's an article from Variety about what makes sitcoms Emmy-worthy -- and more importantly, what can make your sitcom shine amid thousands of pilots and canceled shows.
It's all about character.
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4 months ago
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Evaluating a Critique
The Bitter Script Reader has a great post about assessing your writing group.
Everyone critiques scripts a little differently, and it's important to know how your readers read.
Some may be "blatantly honest" which more often than not translates into "nitpicky and harsh." My pet peeve -- saying you're an honest reader but not ever acknowledging the strengths of the script. Honesty includes positivity.
Some may be afraid to hurt your feelings. They are good for your ego, and if it's a true compliment, can help you determine what not to cut. But this reader won't point out flaws, so get a second opinion.
Others have a wide knowledge of movies and will be quick to compare your script to a zillion movies out there. With that kind of critique, I suggest renting a couple of the comparable movies -- first, to see if the reader is correct, second because you may realize how to make your story work. A comparison isn't always a negative or a positive review - movies that are "like" other movies tend to draw audiences. Movies that are too like other movies are boring.
Listen to how the members of your group (or class) critique others' work. Do they find similar problems to the ones you find? Are they always nitpicky or always nice? If you pay attention to the nuances in their critiques of others -- when it isn't your precious work on the line -- then you'll know what they really mean when it is your work.
Oh, and one final word, because it is so important --
Honesty includes positivity.
Everyone critiques scripts a little differently, and it's important to know how your readers read.
Some may be "blatantly honest" which more often than not translates into "nitpicky and harsh." My pet peeve -- saying you're an honest reader but not ever acknowledging the strengths of the script. Honesty includes positivity.
Some may be afraid to hurt your feelings. They are good for your ego, and if it's a true compliment, can help you determine what not to cut. But this reader won't point out flaws, so get a second opinion.
Others have a wide knowledge of movies and will be quick to compare your script to a zillion movies out there. With that kind of critique, I suggest renting a couple of the comparable movies -- first, to see if the reader is correct, second because you may realize how to make your story work. A comparison isn't always a negative or a positive review - movies that are "like" other movies tend to draw audiences. Movies that are too like other movies are boring.
Listen to how the members of your group (or class) critique others' work. Do they find similar problems to the ones you find? Are they always nitpicky or always nice? If you pay attention to the nuances in their critiques of others -- when it isn't your precious work on the line -- then you'll know what they really mean when it is your work.
Oh, and one final word, because it is so important --
Honesty includes positivity.
Monday, June 8, 2009
What The OC Taught Me About Pilots
I've been an avid fan of The OC for a while now, and have probably seen the series in its whole 4 or so times (thanks, Soapnet). And in my developing my own pilot for a young-people serial drama, I've read the pilot script and have been catching up on old episodes. And in rewatching the first three, I discovered something extremely important about pilot writing and establishing a series.
For those who didn't watch the show, rent the DVDs or catch up online or on Soapnet. Okay, that wasn't my point. If you didn't watch the show, the first three episodes take place when Ryan, a smart 16 year old from bad neighborhood Chino is kicked out of his house after he and his brother steal a car. His public defender, Sandy Cohen, takes him in for a few days to his amazing mansion in the ritzy Newport Beach. Sandy's wife Kirsten isn't so approving of this plan, she wants Ryan gone, so Ryan goes back home to find that his mother walked out on him. Seth, the Cohen's lovable misfit son, stashes Ryan in one of Kirsten's development homes, it burns down, Ryan's back in Juvi, Seth convinces Kirsten to accompany him to visit Ryan in Juvi, and she bails him out when she sees how awful it is. She's determined to find his mother so she can release him into her care. Sandy finds the mother, who seems at first to have pieced her life together, but winds up reverting to her alcoholic self and leaving Ryan with the Cohens.
When I remember watching the show for the first time, it seemed like ages before Ryan and his mother were reunited. I remember Ryan as already living with the Cohens, as already establishing himself in Newport. I remember Ryan's mother coming being a huge deal, that they were finally going to deal with everything that had happened. Except, in reality, it was only three episodes. And I watched them for the first time on DVD, so it's not even like three weeks went by.
Rewatching these episodes again, I realized something. The pilot did such a good job of hooking the audience to the characters, of introducing them and making them come alive. The world seemed so real and the characters so natural in it, that even in the first three episodes The OC felt familiar and like home.
A good pilot should do that. It should make the audience wonder how they ever lived without these characters before. It should make the audience feel like they've known the characters forever, that they've been anticipating the drama for a long time. That allows them to just soak it all in, tune in week after week after week -- and if you're lucky, keep watching even after your series ended just because they couldn't get enough of the show.
I highly reccomend reading the pilot script. It's available here, along with many other pilot and other TV scripts. Even having seen the episode multiple times, I couldn't put it down. Notice how even though it's still a somewhat early draft, the characters are all compelling, the setting is vivid, and the drama is engaging. There's no hesitation, and even the set-up is intensely dramatic. It's all aboiut subtely introducing your characters so that the audience gets to know them but feels like they already do.
If anyone has another "favorite pilot," please share. Pilots are one of the, if not the hardest scripts to write, and when they're done well, it's not only exhilirating to read/watch, but so useful in learning how to craft your own.
For those who didn't watch the show, rent the DVDs or catch up online or on Soapnet. Okay, that wasn't my point. If you didn't watch the show, the first three episodes take place when Ryan, a smart 16 year old from bad neighborhood Chino is kicked out of his house after he and his brother steal a car. His public defender, Sandy Cohen, takes him in for a few days to his amazing mansion in the ritzy Newport Beach. Sandy's wife Kirsten isn't so approving of this plan, she wants Ryan gone, so Ryan goes back home to find that his mother walked out on him. Seth, the Cohen's lovable misfit son, stashes Ryan in one of Kirsten's development homes, it burns down, Ryan's back in Juvi, Seth convinces Kirsten to accompany him to visit Ryan in Juvi, and she bails him out when she sees how awful it is. She's determined to find his mother so she can release him into her care. Sandy finds the mother, who seems at first to have pieced her life together, but winds up reverting to her alcoholic self and leaving Ryan with the Cohens.
When I remember watching the show for the first time, it seemed like ages before Ryan and his mother were reunited. I remember Ryan as already living with the Cohens, as already establishing himself in Newport. I remember Ryan's mother coming being a huge deal, that they were finally going to deal with everything that had happened. Except, in reality, it was only three episodes. And I watched them for the first time on DVD, so it's not even like three weeks went by.
Rewatching these episodes again, I realized something. The pilot did such a good job of hooking the audience to the characters, of introducing them and making them come alive. The world seemed so real and the characters so natural in it, that even in the first three episodes The OC felt familiar and like home.
A good pilot should do that. It should make the audience wonder how they ever lived without these characters before. It should make the audience feel like they've known the characters forever, that they've been anticipating the drama for a long time. That allows them to just soak it all in, tune in week after week after week -- and if you're lucky, keep watching even after your series ended just because they couldn't get enough of the show.
I highly reccomend reading the pilot script. It's available here, along with many other pilot and other TV scripts. Even having seen the episode multiple times, I couldn't put it down. Notice how even though it's still a somewhat early draft, the characters are all compelling, the setting is vivid, and the drama is engaging. There's no hesitation, and even the set-up is intensely dramatic. It's all aboiut subtely introducing your characters so that the audience gets to know them but feels like they already do.
If anyone has another "favorite pilot," please share. Pilots are one of the, if not the hardest scripts to write, and when they're done well, it's not only exhilirating to read/watch, but so useful in learning how to craft your own.
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