Two weeks since my last post? Somebody smack me.
In my defense I was really sick with this damn flu that's been going around, and we're in the middle of delivery on one of our shows, so things have been hectic. Hectic and miserable.
Haven't been writing as much as I should either, which always makes me grumpy. Been banging my head against this spy show idea I had (yes the one that I didn't outline when I should have). It still has some serious problems, and I'm fresh out of inspirational new ways of tackling them. Going to set it on the back burner, come back to it with fresh eyes.
Which is actually for the best, cause another great idea fell into my lap, and it's going really well. Have a short synopsis and a couple of (very) light character sketches in the bag, planning on breaking the pilot over the next week, then we're off to the races (whee!).
Other cool things...
Kristen Bell (aka Veronica Mars) is going to be on Heroes! Thank God too, I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to get my Kristen Bell fix this year (I know she's attached to Gossip Girl, but from all the rumors that show sounds like it's in a spot of trouble).
Kevin Smith is going to direct an episode of BSG. Not really sure how I feel about this one. Big fan of Kevin's, but his strength lies more in the humor and raunch, not so much the space battles and hard Scifi. On the plus side he does have his comics background to draw on, so hopefully things will be alright.
It's the dog days of summer and the new fall TeeVee season's right around the corner (though as others have noted the concept of a "season" doesn't seem to fit that well anymore), and that means all of last years shows are going to be coming out on DVD soon. It's looking like I'm going to be quite a bit poorer after tomorrow.
On the shopping list so far: Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Dexter and BSG. Also going to snag latest season of The Wire when it comes out. Might also pick up FotC and Intelligence, but we'll see how the ole bank account holds up.
Anyone have other suggestions as to worthy purchases?
As to what shows I'm looking forward to this fall, in no particular order:
Reaper - Looks like a comedy version of The Collector. The pilot's been getting good buzz.
Pushing Daisies - Interesting concept and, again, getting good buzz.
Bionic Woman - If only for Starbuck
There are a bunch more I'll probably drop in on (K-Ville, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, the trainwreck known as Cavemen, but I probably won't stick around them too long...unless they're really good of course).
Should be an interesting year...though word is that most of the new shows suck pretty hard...
Showing posts with label Intelligence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intelligence. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Television vs Film: Round One
"So, what do you do?"
"I'm a screenwriter."
"Cool! You write movies then?"
"Actually no, I write for television."
"Oh...so how bout that local sports team?"
I've had a couple of conversations like that the past couple of days. Guess it's understandable that most people think of features when they think of screenwriting. Telewriting just doesn't have the same ring to it.
In reality people are usually pretty chuffed to hear about my ambitions. "It's cool that you want to write for TV, but wouldn't you prefer to make movies?" Somehow that "but" always creeps its way in. Stealthy bugger.
The answer is No. No, I don't much care for features, I'd rather work in television thanks, and let me tell you why (as if yall didn't see that one coming). Here are some reasons off the top of my head:
Format
I think it was Alex Epstein who wrote that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Movies are a fling, TV's a relationship." The fact that a TV show allows you to keep coming back to your audience week in week out lets you spin much more complex narratives and create deeper characters than in a film. As a storyteller that's incredibly appealing.
Development Cycles
Theoretically at least, TV development cycles are shorter than their film counterparts. This is more applicable to the States, but we'll let that slide for now. It usually takes years to bring a feature from script to screen. In the world of television people are expecting a bevy of new shows EVERY YEAR. This breakneck pace continues once you go into production, after all you need to write a new episode for the crew to shoot the following week. Once a film goes into production, more often than not, the writer's done.
Roles
Features are a directors medium. Television is a writers medium. Directors are the ones who helm a feature, exerting the most influence on what it will become. In television it's the showrunner (always(?) a writer) who exerts that level of control. I think that it's probably every (television)writers dream to be a showrunner.
Creativity
I think TV is where most (not all, but most) of the cutting edge storytelling is being done. Shows like Battlestar Galactica and Deadwood. The Wire and Friday Night Lights. Slings and Arrows and Intelligence. Life on Mars and Doctor Who. These are shows that confounded my expectations and blew my socks off. I'd be hard pressed to name as many recent films that managed to do the same. And I could go on!
Future Trends
I also think that TV, and the people who work in TV, will be the first to adapt and exploit the opportunities created by new media. Just look at things like Sanctuary (from the team behind Stargate), the BSG Resistance Webisodes or the award winning ReGenesis Extended Reality Game. This is the future of traditional media, and the fierce competition in the television world is going to force use to adapt or die.
That's an incomplete list of why I chose TV over film. I could go on and on (and on), but I don't want to excessively bore anyone.
I love both mediums, I just love TV a little bit more.
Does that make film the read headed stepchild?
"I'm a screenwriter."
"Cool! You write movies then?"
"Actually no, I write for television."
"Oh...so how bout that local sports team?"
I've had a couple of conversations like that the past couple of days. Guess it's understandable that most people think of features when they think of screenwriting. Telewriting just doesn't have the same ring to it.
In reality people are usually pretty chuffed to hear about my ambitions. "It's cool that you want to write for TV, but wouldn't you prefer to make movies?" Somehow that "but" always creeps its way in. Stealthy bugger.
The answer is No. No, I don't much care for features, I'd rather work in television thanks, and let me tell you why (as if yall didn't see that one coming). Here are some reasons off the top of my head:
Format
I think it was Alex Epstein who wrote that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Movies are a fling, TV's a relationship." The fact that a TV show allows you to keep coming back to your audience week in week out lets you spin much more complex narratives and create deeper characters than in a film. As a storyteller that's incredibly appealing.
Development Cycles
Theoretically at least, TV development cycles are shorter than their film counterparts. This is more applicable to the States, but we'll let that slide for now. It usually takes years to bring a feature from script to screen. In the world of television people are expecting a bevy of new shows EVERY YEAR. This breakneck pace continues once you go into production, after all you need to write a new episode for the crew to shoot the following week. Once a film goes into production, more often than not, the writer's done.
Roles
Features are a directors medium. Television is a writers medium. Directors are the ones who helm a feature, exerting the most influence on what it will become. In television it's the showrunner (always(?) a writer) who exerts that level of control. I think that it's probably every (television)writers dream to be a showrunner.
Creativity
I think TV is where most (not all, but most) of the cutting edge storytelling is being done. Shows like Battlestar Galactica and Deadwood. The Wire and Friday Night Lights. Slings and Arrows and Intelligence. Life on Mars and Doctor Who. These are shows that confounded my expectations and blew my socks off. I'd be hard pressed to name as many recent films that managed to do the same. And I could go on!
Future Trends
I also think that TV, and the people who work in TV, will be the first to adapt and exploit the opportunities created by new media. Just look at things like Sanctuary (from the team behind Stargate), the BSG Resistance Webisodes or the award winning ReGenesis Extended Reality Game. This is the future of traditional media, and the fierce competition in the television world is going to force use to adapt or die.
That's an incomplete list of why I chose TV over film. I could go on and on (and on), but I don't want to excessively bore anyone.
I love both mediums, I just love TV a little bit more.
Does that make film the read headed stepchild?
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