The Calling Card Script: A Writer's Toolbox for Screen, Stage and Radio PDF
Preview The Calling Card Script: A Writer's Toolbox for Screen, Stage and Radio
the calling card script A WRITER’S TOOLBOX FOR STAGE, SCREEN AND RADIO This page intentionally left blank the calling card script A WRITER’S TOOLBOX FOR STAGE, SCREEN AND RADIO PAUL ASHTON A & C Black • London A & C Black Publishers Ltd 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 First published in 2011 A & C Black Publishers Limited 36 Soho Square London W1D 3QY www.acblack.com Copyright © Paul Ashton 2011 Paul Ashton has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 408 11017 1 Available in the USA from Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 175 Fifth Avenue/3rd Floor, New York, NY 10010 www.BloomsburyAcademicUSA.com Typeset by Country Setting, Kingsdown, Kent CT14 8ES Printed and bound in Great Britain by Martins The Printers, Berwick-upon-Tweed This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade orotherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed onthe subsequent purchaser. FOR SUSIE, NIAMH, EMRYS AND THE LITTLEST ONE TO COME . . . This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 An act of faith • The ‘toolbox’ • The form of this book • What this book does not do • An industry perspective • Points of reference • The ‘calling card’ script • A basic definition • The writer’s ego versus the writer’s journey 1 THE MEDIUM 9 THE WRITER AS MEDIUM 11 ‘Medium’ • One man and every man • What writers do • Instinct and craft • Is the writer a medium? • Using medium THE THEATRICAL SPACE 13 What is theatre? • Magic, ritual and spectacle • Spectator and audience • Auditoria • Complexity of space • Complexity of form • The empty space • The technological space • Clarity of space • Money, monsterism and miniaturism • The director • The actor • Directing the action • Theatre and metaphor RADIO AND THE ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT 21 ‘Theatre of the airwaves’ • Cinema of the airwaves • The contrad iction • Auditorium • The purest form • The audience • Only for radio • Acoustic environment • Scope • Voice • Music • Sound FILM AND THE CINEMATIC CANVAS 26 The big picture • Theatrical release • Cinema scope • Knowing your place • ‘Show don’t tell’ • Sign language • Up close • Montage • The whole story • The complex singularity • The kind of story • Universal TELEVISION AND THE RELENTLESS FORMAT 32 Distractions • The morning after • The cold light of day • Theschedule • Audience is god • The phenomenon • Jumping theshark • The single exception • Format not formula • Basic distinctions • Serial • Continuing series • Precinct • Returning series • Relentless meets format viii THE CALLING CARD SCRIPT 2 THE BEGINNING 45 WHAT ARE PRODUCERS LOOKING FOR? 47 The meat market • The market • So what are people looking for? WHERE TO BEGIN? 49 The blank page • Knowledge is power • News of the world • Devil in the detail • A head for ideas • You • Your feelings • Your voice • The X Factor • What is a voice? • Can you hear your own voice? KINDS OF STORIES 55 Archetypes • Linear • Epic • Full circle • Fractured • Repetitive • Reversed • The impact of shape • Genre • Theatre and genre • Radio and genre • Television and genre • Tone • The right form WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA? 64 ‘Droit moral’ • Theme • Universal • Concept and world • Premise • Premise and character • Premise and emotion • The big idea • Idea and medium • Theatre • Radio • Film • Television WHAT’S THE STORY? 71 Beginnings and endings • Knowing where you are going • Direction and purpose • Focus • Point of view • Movie ensembles • Hook • POV turned upside-down GETTING INTO CHARACTER 77 Test of character • Dramatic versus comic • Spending time • Empathy • Definition • Archetypes • Features • Eccentricity • Qualities • Capabilities and flaws • Estimation • Attitude • POV • History and backstory • Moral compass • Morality and conflict • The ‘agon’ • Hero and villain • Desire and need • Desire versus need • Action • Vulnerability • Character and medium • Theatrical character • Radio character • Film character • TV character HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING 94 Page one • Know your story • Hook the attention • The midst of amoment • A focused way in • ‘Getting to know’ the characters • Exposition • The captive audience STRUCTURE AND THE BEGINNING 100 ‘Act one’ • Structural diagrams • The universal formula • Three is the magic number • But three is not a simple number • The beginning • Disorientation versus confusion • Establish the world • Delayed establishment • Desire, need, problem • Call to change/ action • The complex call • The uncertainty • Point of no return • Tension • Episode and series beginnings CONTENTS ix THE PLAN OF ACTION 112 When to start writing? • Treatments • Clarity • Coherence • Building a blueprint 3 THE MIDDLE 117 THE MUDDLE IN THE MIDDLE 119 Managing the muddle • Muddled metaphors • Fail better • Dig deeper • Stretch the line • Dominoes DEEPER INTO CHARACTER 122 The ‘arc’ • Change • State of becoming • Muddied wants and needs• Muddled consequences • Beyond the comfort zone • Developing the ‘agon’ • Developing the complexity • New world, newcharact eristics • Qualities • Capabilities and flaws • POV, morality, attitude • Vulnerabilities • Developing relationships • Journey towards awareness • Contradiction • Surprising themselves • Character and action • Character and structure • The ‘middle’ in series and serials • Returning series • Serials • Abstract alternatives SURPRISE 139 Revelation • Deus ex machina • Shock tactics • Secrets • Dramatic irony • Unexpected outcomes • Predictability • Tedium • Cliché STRUCTURE AND THE MIDDLE 146 The dividing lines • Momentum • Dominoes • Peaks and troughs • The road ahead • Sharp bends and chicanes • Cul-de-sacs • A clear view of the distance • Quicksands and high tides • The cave • Chasms and rockfaces • A second point of no return • The (not so) natural order CAUSING A SCENE 156 What is a scene? • The basics • Picture and montage • Dramatic action • Conflict • Goals • Conflicts that matter • What’s at stake? • Three dramatic levels • Subtext • Surprise • Beats • What to show • Juxtaposition • Less is more • Kinds of scenes • The theatrical scene • The radio scene • The screen scene FROM PLAN TO ACTION 170 Ready to write • Refer to the blueprint • Develop the blueprint • Step outline • Wild drafts • Write the beginning
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