Week 8: Production Overview

Today we watched all the new primetime shows and the top failed pilot for this month on Channel 102 (now called Channel 101 NY), as well as Fenecia's short-format soap opera, which she produced for the Mobile Medium class last semester.

We also had a visit from Jule Selbo, a professional screenwriter and coordinator of the screenwriting track in the Summer Arts Program. This is a fantastic program — check it out online!

I've been consulting with Jen Vaughn about the scripts for her production class, and gave a lot of info today; if you missed today, please get in touch with a few people from class to get filled in (there's more than I can summarize here).

Please note a few changes to the homework listed on the Class Schedule Update:

1. Today everyone turned in the Episode 2 treatment, script, and Reader Feedback sheets. We did not have a workshop today, so if you were absent, you don't need to make one up.
2. Everyone will e-mail me a .pdf file of whichever script will be submitted to Jen's class for production (choose your most producible script). I need these by Monday 3/24 so I can put them online and Jen and her class can "sneak preview". This needs to be a complete script, but not a final draft; the final handoff date will be Tuesday 4/8.
3. Nothing due April 1! Just keep polishing those scripts for Jen's class — let's make it a really hard decision for her teams. : )

Have a great break; you've all earned it! Remember to watch lots of new-media stuff (and post interesting links to the Class Wiki). See you in April --

Marie

Week 7: Episode 2 Treatment Workshop

Today we did two rounds of workshopping on the Episode 2 treatments, focusing on:

• how hero and crisis are designed to generate a strong dramatic need
• rising action and increasing obstacles
• resolution (whether it "feels" like a self-contained episode)
  

If you missed today, you need to arrange to get Reader Feedback #4 and #5 from a classmate (must be someone from this class) and turn them in next week.

I noticed, while reading the scripts this week, that most of you are writing shows that could never in a million years be produced in Studio 2 by Jen Vaughn's production class. What's up with that, people? Your assignment is to write a script — to be turned in April 8 or 15, which isn't too far off — that her class can produce. If you plan to produce your script yourself, that's fine, but for this class, your assignment is to turn in a producible script. I'll have specific details next week (and hopefully we'll get a visit from Jen or an authorized representative to answer questions).

HOMEWORK:

1. Write the script for Ep. 2 (see Class Schedule Update for full instructions).
2. If you missed today, please come get your work back from me — it has feedback, including format and mechanics corrections.

Week 6: More Pilot Workshopping

Today I gave out a new Class Schedule, which is available for download in the sidebar. Please look at it carefully, as the homework is different from what is on the original syllabus.

I also cancelled the Syllabus policy of requiring late work by Thursday. You can turn in late work at the next class meeting, for one grade down. No work will be accepted more than one week late. If you are able to get late work to my BECA Office mailbox by 4 p.m. Thursday (instead of waiting until the next class), I can grade it and give it back to you along with everyone else's, but it will still be counted late.

We did two rounds of workshopping, with a focus on dialogue: identifying wordy or repetetive passages, using dialogue to express individual personalities, making lines do "double duty" of moving plot and revealing character. If you missed today, please read the following very carefully:

• Any time you miss a workshop, YOU MUST make it up outside of class. Please use your Class Contact Sheet to arrange meetings (most days we'll do two rounds, so you need two different readers). Please make sure that the feedback includes discussion of the day's topics (consult with people from class to get thoroughly filled in).
  
• Each reader should write feedback on a sheet of paper clearly labeled with their name (not yours), the date, and Reader Feedback #____ . Today we did #2 and #3.
  
• If you can get your script (and the workshop feedback from last week) to my BECA Office mailbox by 4 p.m. Thursday, I can still grade it and give it back to you next time. Otherwise, bring it to class next week.
  

In class, we watched three failed pilots from Channel 101 videos: Vamped, Drop Dead Bruce, and Trainer Trainer. We talked about reasons why these pilots didn't do as well with audiences: weak hero/character definition, unclear or unconvincing dramatic need, lack of specific motivations for action. We also talked about things these shows did well: preventing "running gag" syndrome by mixing genres and providing a strong episode storyline; making full ironic, humorous use of pop-cultural material; playing with genre-mixing and conventions.

HOMEWORK:

1. Write a treatment for another episode of your series — could be Episode 2, or the Final Episode, or somewhere in between. Aim for a 5-minute episode, described in a 2-page, double-spaced treatment focusing on the story that unfolds in this episode only.
   
2. Attach a separate, brief (paragraph/half-page) description of your series (this can be the same one you turned in before, or you can rewrite it if you wish). This is for workshopping next week; I will collect it along with the scripts on 3/20.
3. Elise, Jesse and Nicole will present videos (approximately 5-minute episodes) that facilitate discussion of character individuation and using dialogue to both move story and reveal character. (Please post links on the Class Wiki.)