Media Techniques- Final4 /14 • Golden rule of work (GROW): "Someone hires you to make their life easier."• It all begins with writers; until there are words on the page, nothing happens • Original writer will always get credit • If script gets produced, the writer did their job o Doesn't matter if its good or bado It got people hired; doesn't matter if made money or lost it, people worked • & = Team of two people that worked together • And = Means these other writers were brought in later• Film: Director has most creative control o Studio is buying the pages that are already writteno Will almost always be rewriteso May not be produced, just being "bought out"• TV: Buying the writer and the pages they may write in the future o Prospectiveo Writers room- Group written• Showrunner: Writer with most power. Usually the creator. May still have final decision making on series they no longer run day to day o In US, the shows will usually go on if show creator decides to leave, but in Britain, it will end• Whoever writes the check has the final say4 /19 • Writing is rewriting o If you're not rewriting, you won't last long as a professional• Notes will identify a problem but not solve it o They might seem to conflict with the WAYSAW• Let audience know that a character is supposed to be unlikeable by having another character "play the audience"• US TV shooting pace is very very fast• Theatrical films need about 620 films a year o Based on # of films submitted for MPAA ratingso Need to keep product in theater• Shows that go over 90 min are classified as "TV movies" and then costs for every union/guild member go way up• Get a copyright o Protects your idea from being stolen To be "stolen", the person had to have had access to your idea and had access to it before they registered it as theirs (they might have already had it before you met)o Copyright lawsuit; We Are Marshall Documentary producers met with Warner Brothers and were offered $, turned it down WB bought life rights to key characters and then composite characters after that Documentary producers sued; events were similar, events were shot in similar fashion to the documentary, the same incorrect episode of The Newlywed Game was featured Lawsuit failed; events are similar because its a real story Example of why a studio might pay for a script they don't plan to produce; would've saved WB $ in the long run (they paid more for court fees than the documentary producers wanted in the first place)4 /21 • When you see company logos at the beginning of a film, those are the production companies that paid for the film o If studio name is in there, they put money up. If not, they just distributed the film• Costs of distributiono Making the prints (Now becoming digital; reduced piracy)o Publicity (Ads, lobby posters, paying theaters to show the trailers)o First week- 90% to distributor, 10% to theater. From there it goes down.• Coverage: 2 page report readers give a script and score it o Scores- Pass, Consider, Recommendo Readers score script & writer; could pass on script, but recommend writer A strong action writer could have script passed on but asked to do rewrites on a consider filmo Will be fired if you pass scripts that become hits elsewhere! Don't say yes too much, but don't say no too often either No one wants to be wrong Forrest Gump: Passed over many times. Script was bought, developed & then passed on it. Another studio then did the same thing. Paramount finally took it over and produced the film. This is turnaround.o Coverage goes into database about the script & the writer• Production companies are owned/run by producers or directors or actors o They find & develop & produce films and TV shows for film/TV studioso Production company for film needs to find a studio to produce and then the same or another to distribute domestically & internationally• What determines whether a script becomes a studio film? o Marketing: The key determinanto The four quadrants Male under 25; Male over 25; Female under 25; Female over 25 The more quadrants you hit, the more box office results you have Except if "fanboy" movie like Transformers, they'll see it 5 times and that takes care of the fact that not many older people will see ito American sports movies won't be big international hitso Tax credits: States compete for production. Some states give future credits, other states rebate cash. Louisiana, Michigan & North Carolina successful• How an idea for a TV series gets to the screen o Track record• TV development process is much different UK v. US o Don't need to show film to test audience and advertisers in UK4 /5 • Sitcom o Runner: Repeated jokeso Sometimes too many characters, not really fully drawn or usedo People on sitcoms don't really watch TVo "Bottle shows": Flashback episode. Saves money, only have to film the transition sceneso Rule of Threes: A joke pattern for sitcoms and jokes in general Need three points to define a joke So say two things to seem to create a line to a third point, but something differento Humor arises out of the situation- Very few characters in TV tell jokes, the other characters would call him a jokester (except Chandler on Friends) Ex: Frasier doesn't know he's on a gay dateo Double-Entendre: Audience had a second meaning, while the characters often didn't Protecting the character: Roz's behavior; setting up an uncomfortable situation, knowing that Frasier isn't gay Motivating the character: When Frasier holds up the sign; Roz didn't tell Tom that Frasier is straight because of that momento Character usually says what they want o Callback: When you set something up and then you call it back. Building on a previous joke Ex: Character gets old milk out of fridge, smells it and puts it back in, then another characters gets the milk and drinks it without smelling it.o Audience is usually ahead of at least some of the characters in a sitcomo Showing v. Saying: Better to show than to sayo Playing the Moment: The audience has the info, let the character take time as the audience "runs through their minds" the info the character is running through his/her mindo Episodic v. Serial: There may be elements in an episode that you don't know if you didn't see other episodes, but you can still follow the story of that episode. Serialized drama- You're not gonna get it Episodic drama-
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