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#tv writing
writergeekrhw · 9 months
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I made another thing.
With apologies to Neil Gaiman.
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friendshiptothemax · 11 months
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A misunderstanding about the (possible) upcoming writer’s strike I’ve seen that I’d like to correct is that I’ve seen a lot of people saying it’ll make TV bad again (they always reference Heroes lol). Usually it’s in the context of, “I support the writers but not looking forward to another Heroes season 2.”
There are two big differences between this strike and the previous one:
1) The biggest, timing. The previous strike started in November, when most network shows are right smack in the middle of writing their season. This one would be starting in May, when most network shows’ writer’s rooms are on hiatus. I know for The Blacklist, we finished writing the season weeks ago. The strike won’t affect The Blacklist at all, and the same is true for basically all network shows — it might mean they’re late coming back, if the strike is still happening when it’d be time to come back from hiatus (not The Blacklist, specifically, as we’re done, but for returning network shows), but there is no sense of “Oh god wrap all this stuff we started up!!”there was in 2007.
2) The rise of streaming, which does not adhere to the usual July-April writers’ room schedule, but DOES usually write all the episodes before filming, and then film all the episodes before airing. Those rooms might get shut down in the middle of writing (and hopefully it’s just a pause that will resume when the strike is over), but it’s not like there’s part of a season already on the air they need to write a quick conclusion to.
Hope this helps! Union strong
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fluffycakesistainted · 2 months
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X
(**the point i'm making is not about characters being killed, use your sense)
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coolmaycroft · 2 months
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danshive · 1 month
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“Why is there so much exposition these days?”
1 - People learn from what came before. This can include bad lessons, and copying without actual understanding.
If exposition has been trending upwards over time, then new creators were effectively being taught to do it.
2 - Outside of novels, there is usually very finite space / time for telling a story.
Natural demonstration / showing of some information can be too inefficient, and other things might be given priority (such as cool action scenes, emotional moments, etc.).
3 - We live in an age in which feedback is instant, and any confusion from the audience is loudly passed on.
It’s natural that creators will feel pressure to get ahead of such confusion.
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fans4wga · 10 months
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"The painful truth is that TV isn’t about to get worse. It’s already worse—and the quality might slip even further."
You've probably seen some people saying that the 2007 writers strike led to worse TV and are worried it'll happen right now. (The idea that shows got bad in '07 is debunked here, by the way.) But what if TV is... already kind of bad, and getting worse, due to the exact problems that caused writers to strike?
edit to add, if the Atlantic is paywalled, try opening it in a new browser, in Private mode, or by using Firefox with addons Duckduckgo Privacy Basics and AdBlocker Ultimate. While we encourage paying journalists via subscriptions, we understand that it's not financially viable for everyone.
follow @fans4wga for reliable strike news, from an organization of fans working in solidarity with WGA members.
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While they’re at it, television writers should refuse to work unless they have the certainty that the show will not be canceled out of the blue, but either a) they are given a minimum x number of seasons, no matter what, b) if the show gets canceled, they still get a number of episodes (a short extra season) to wrap up the story, c) both.
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fuckyeahtwilightzone · 5 months
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A scan of a sketch gifted to me by a good friend.
This was done by the artist Rachel Morgan Kitti. You can check out her other fantastic work at rachelmorgankitti.com or visit her Instagram.
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visualsandvoices · 4 months
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I think we're in the midst of a new genre of 4th wall breaks, for lack of a better term, where the character isn't actually speaking to the audience, but the writer is.
Marvel, disney shows and remakes...it feels as though the writers are so hyper-aware of the audience, so hyper-cautious of coming across as pleasing and so crystal-clear to the viewer, that it feels disingenuous.
I don't want to watch something that feels like a training video HR told corporate to show in the boardroom -- here's how women prefer to be spoken to, here's how parents can nurture their children, here's how women can learn to be leaders. You're lonely? Here's an example of a dialogue about how to discuss your emotions with a friend -- All to be performed for you in a hastily written skit that illustrates the point only vaguely more engagingly than a basic power point would have.
Listen. my guy. People so rarely say exactly what they are thinking or feeling. Usually we layer our speech with subtext.
Think of Andor, which uses environmental story telling (set design, colour palettes, costume design, lighting) as well as camera work/editing, music, and physical performance to say so much without a word spoken.
Or Wall-E. Literally Wall-E. Very little dialogue, so much story.
And then you watch the new Thor movies and it's just...I'm so sorry to be a party pooper but it's frustrating the way we are hand-held through every emotional beat.
Good dialogue is not on-the-nose all the time.
Same with the second season of Good Omens. Season 1 was riddled with feelings not verbalized but understood, both by characters and the viewers, and season 2 bulldozed that and put it all into dialogue...which was not only pointless bc like we just did all this in season 1 (I don't care if it's a "bridging season" that's such a weird excuse), but it's the perfect example of feeling the angst along side characters vs. being told by the dialogue--the characters themselves telling us--that they are angsty. You know the writing advice "show don't tell"? yeah, this is that. "Say it" without actually saying it.
I just...I don't know how to wrap this up except to say that i'm tired of being excited to watch stuff only to be disappointed by feeling like i'm being introduced to a new Emotional Experience and they wanna make sure I've wrapped my lil noggin around it. You can hit all those same beats, explore all those themes and emotions, but write a good story. That means stop leaning on dialogue so heavily, and if you must use dialogue it can be indirect. Let Michael Sheen do all the facial acting if that's what it takes. Just stop piling every thought you have while writing into dialogue because my god it's so wooden.
Maybe this is to do with the writer's strikes that has gone on, in all fairness. I understand writers are badly paid and are under stupid deadlines, so you gotta spit out what work you can under those conditions. I do get that. But...yeah. Just had to shout this into the void before going to sleep.
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homely-lunatic · 10 months
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ok so I have a question for y’all and this is gonna sound snarky but I’m genuinely asking — what are some shows that have aired in the past 15-ish years where the two lead characters, after a long time of being friends, got together as a romantic couple and it was generally seen as a bad thing/out of character/poor writing by the majority of the show’s viewers?
bc I feel like all I ever hear is writers parroting this idea that “there’s too much romance! we’re subverting the norm by making these two leads platonic :)” and was this true at one point in time? sure! but now it feels like every show is doing this, to the point where it’s no longer subverting the norm to have your leads not end up together, it’s just,,,, the norm now to build up a perfectly good romantic relationship and then slap a platonic label on it at the last minute so as to avoid being called cliche. 
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writergeekrhw · 9 months
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So, the studios never intended to negotiate in good faith. They want to crush the WGA to head off a larger labor movement. They're spooked by how we split the agencies and are freaked out by the idea of a SAG-AFRRA strike and want to degrade our morale. No surprise.
Hollywood Studios Anticipate Writers Strike Lasting Until October – Deadline
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spnscripthunt · 7 months
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3.13 Ghostfacers
- Script (Production Draft) 🚨NEW🚨
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Read Now ⤵️
Our collection ⤵️
Our signed script fundraiser for World Central Kitchen (raffle closes Sat. Aug 26 @ 11:59pm Eastern) ⤵️
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fluffycakesistainted · 2 months
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If a slow burn is built solely on the angst of why the characters "can't" be together but there's been no effort to show why they're supposedly into/what they like/love about each other in the first place...that's not great 😐
Sure, it can successfully trick viewers (at least for a while) into thinking the characters have some kinda deep love. But if more discerning eyes look past ~the angst~ and start questioning what a relationship would do for each character, and they can't come up with anything...then that ship is all surface (even if there's genuine chemistry) and no substance. 🤷🏾‍♀️
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maris-medley · 2 months
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One of the very few things the original atla did wrong was telling us about the hundred year war before aang had it revealed to him; it could’ve been a whole lot more impactful if we were finding this out along with him and THEN following him as he/we discovered the effect it had on the world.
not to say this necessarily ruined anything ofc but the potential this had as a reveal for the first episode… it really could’ve elevated the angst (a much better word for it is on the tip of my tongue but i don’t remember 😔) the series already had going for it.
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danshive · 7 months
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A lot of TV show stories feel rushed 🏃‍♀️
That’s because they are, and it’s by necessity.
Like, yes, that all happened quickly, but shows these days are being given 8-12 episodes with no 100% guarantee of additional seasons. They don’t have time to take their time ⏱️
I’m not saying that’s good, bad, or neutral. It’s mostly just a thing people still seem to be surprised by, and people are still giving “they should’ve given this more time” notes.
I’m sure the writers would have liked that, too! 🙃
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x-files-scripts · 8 months
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The X-Files - “Home”
Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
July 26, 1996 (BLUE)
Mulder’s original line was never going to make it past Standards & Practices...
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