Recently I've had a fine old time pitching ideas for new TV shows to some of the major broadcasters. As part of that I made sure I took a long, hard look at some of the biggest shows from the last twenty years.
I've recently become aware of just how critical the opening ten minutes are, and so I scooted from show to show being quite strict about watching their opening ten minutes and not any more.
It very quickly became apparent that there were two obvious things that the very best shows did far more often than the ones that sank without trace.
It's basic story telling really, but it came as a very, very timely reminder for me, as I am plotting a pilot ep myself at the moment, and was allowing myself the whole of Act 1 to get to the actual world of the show. I thought I was pretty clear on how to write a screenplay, but this weekend taught me something very clearly.
So I'm putting this message out as a fantastic example of something valuable you can learn by just watching shows with an analytical mindset.
Rule 1: Get to the precinct of your show in the first ten minutes. If the show is going to be, at its heart, about a mafia boss having trouble with his family and going to a shrink, then show us all that in the first ten minutes.
On the other hand, if you want to write about troubled love and a marital affair between a set of hairdressers, then give us the salon, give us some hair cutting, show us why the marriage is in trouble and let us know who the tall dark mysterious lover is going to be.
If it's a kids' show about a lady next door who battles aliens, show us the kids, show us their reality, and show us the lady next door dealing with aliens.
Simple advice, I know, but we can all be tempted to get far too clever for our own good sometimes. I know I'm as guilty of this as anyone.
The Second Rule is also just as easy. We need to get to the main character (or the character who is the main focus of the episode if you are writing a multi-stranded show) very fast. We also need to experience one or two fascinating emotional contractions about them in the same period.
OK. So, if our point of view character, the guy who the show is about, happens to be a murdering gang boss, but he's also very likeable, we need to see both these sides to his life. Or, to take a police example - if you're writing about a set of police officers we might reasonably expect to be a little literal minded, show them at work, and then show them as civilised, articulate, and super bright.
Think like a market trader. Set out your stall!
I spent more than a few hours doing this, and it was very enjoyable, and I wasn't incredibly disciplined about it. Obviously if I'd sat there noting every nuance I would have noticed a shed load of even smarter rules, but these two I've given you are the most serious. And if you take the time to do this exercise too then I reckon you can't fail to see a mass of fascinating structural devices you didn't know existed up till then.
What's particularly fascinating was the way that TV shows you might not have heard of so much tended to muff this opening setup in some way, and how the shows that have become legends delivered on this with a great deal of clarity.
Food for thought, no doubt about it.
What should you do about it? Get yourself a notebook, a pen, and the timer on your phone. Get used to watching drama like this. Every time you notice something, like a villain being introduced, like the first love scene, like a plot twist, when lead characters are introduced to the audience, or meet each other, make a note of where it is in the story, how many minutes in. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what patterns will leap out at you.
And of course, if you then start matching up the beats you notice with the beats I discuss in my own Guide to How To Write a Screenplay, I guarantee it will then become even easier to see how to construct your own stories.
I've recently become aware of just how critical the opening ten minutes are, and so I scooted from show to show being quite strict about watching their opening ten minutes and not any more.
It very quickly became apparent that there were two obvious things that the very best shows did far more often than the ones that sank without trace.
It's basic story telling really, but it came as a very, very timely reminder for me, as I am plotting a pilot ep myself at the moment, and was allowing myself the whole of Act 1 to get to the actual world of the show. I thought I was pretty clear on how to write a screenplay, but this weekend taught me something very clearly.
So I'm putting this message out as a fantastic example of something valuable you can learn by just watching shows with an analytical mindset.
Rule 1: Get to the precinct of your show in the first ten minutes. If the show is going to be, at its heart, about a mafia boss having trouble with his family and going to a shrink, then show us all that in the first ten minutes.
On the other hand, if you want to write about troubled love and a marital affair between a set of hairdressers, then give us the salon, give us some hair cutting, show us why the marriage is in trouble and let us know who the tall dark mysterious lover is going to be.
If it's a kids' show about a lady next door who battles aliens, show us the kids, show us their reality, and show us the lady next door dealing with aliens.
Simple advice, I know, but we can all be tempted to get far too clever for our own good sometimes. I know I'm as guilty of this as anyone.
The Second Rule is also just as easy. We need to get to the main character (or the character who is the main focus of the episode if you are writing a multi-stranded show) very fast. We also need to experience one or two fascinating emotional contractions about them in the same period.
OK. So, if our point of view character, the guy who the show is about, happens to be a murdering gang boss, but he's also very likeable, we need to see both these sides to his life. Or, to take a police example - if you're writing about a set of police officers we might reasonably expect to be a little literal minded, show them at work, and then show them as civilised, articulate, and super bright.
Think like a market trader. Set out your stall!
I spent more than a few hours doing this, and it was very enjoyable, and I wasn't incredibly disciplined about it. Obviously if I'd sat there noting every nuance I would have noticed a shed load of even smarter rules, but these two I've given you are the most serious. And if you take the time to do this exercise too then I reckon you can't fail to see a mass of fascinating structural devices you didn't know existed up till then.
What's particularly fascinating was the way that TV shows you might not have heard of so much tended to muff this opening setup in some way, and how the shows that have become legends delivered on this with a great deal of clarity.
Food for thought, no doubt about it.
What should you do about it? Get yourself a notebook, a pen, and the timer on your phone. Get used to watching drama like this. Every time you notice something, like a villain being introduced, like the first love scene, like a plot twist, when lead characters are introduced to the audience, or meet each other, make a note of where it is in the story, how many minutes in. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what patterns will leap out at you.
And of course, if you then start matching up the beats you notice with the beats I discuss in my own Guide to How To Write a Screenplay, I guarantee it will then become even easier to see how to construct your own stories.
About the Author:
Philip Gladwin has worked as a professional editor and screenwriter since 1995, and created the friendly and informative Screenwriting Goldmine website. He has taken all his experience and packed it into an easy-to-follow guide on how to write a screenplay.
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