{"id":51,"date":"2009-10-02T17:40:02","date_gmt":"2009-10-02T16:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhing.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2009-10-02T17:40:02","modified_gmt":"2009-10-02T16:40:02","slug":"first-episodes-and-pilots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhing.com\/chaotic-tortoise\/2009\/10\/first-episodes-and-pilots\/","title":{"rendered":"First Episodes and Pilots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing is harder than it looks.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m almost tempted to just leave this post there to prove a point.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m fairly easy to please when it comes to television and film and I actually struggle to identify bad writing.\u00a0 I know this because of those awkward moments where everyone around me will be laying into the film crying foul at its poor structure, heavy handed exposition and forced dialogue when all I can really think is \u201c\u2026but it was great…right?\u201d and so I know that I\u2019m not a critic.\u00a0 However, sometimes I\u2019ll see something on television that I\u2019ll think was awful and that I just can\u2019t watch, and I\u2019ll make my mind up that it\u2019s due to bad writing and that I could do better.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Whereas I might be right on the first bit, it might not be the writer\u2019s fault and I\u2019m beginning to think I might be wrong on the second bit as well.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been trying to put together a few scripts for first episodes of ideas that look fantastic on paper only to find it\u2019s incredibly difficult not to waste lines and directions on irrelevant details.\u00a0 When you get ten pages in (ten pages being that magical cut off point where a script reader will not feel rude to put the script down) and find you\u2019ve barely even introduced the main character, you know something has gone wrong.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just finished reading an analysis on the pilot episode of Scrubs<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0 the medical comedy (which was fantastic until the end of season four in the humble opinion of the tortoise), and it\u2019s fascinating to see how quick and how solid the whole thing is.\u00a0 By five minutes into the episode (approximately five pages) all six of the main characters have been introduced and for the most part established, along with basic relationships to other characters, as well as providing two plot hooks and a love interest.\u00a0 Not only that, but the majority of this was done after three minutes (three pages).\u00a0 That is some fantastic and efficient writing.<\/p>\n

Scrubs quite clearly isn\u2019t to everybody\u2019s tastes.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure why; it\u2019s clever, occasionally surreal and occasionally dramatic whilst at the same time skirting around slapstick and stupidity.\u00a0 I suppose the \u201cmoral of the story\u201d bit that comes around every episode can sometimes feel a bit forced, but at least it gives the whole thing a certain level of coherence.\u00a0 I think what anyone who might be interested in writing scripts can take away from the analysis of this (and I do recommend giving the link above a read) regardless of whether you liked the show or not is that a lot can be gained by really scrutinizing the first episode of any successful series and seeing exactly how they set it up to begin with.\u00a0 So much of what I\u2019ve seen on television has just gone in one ear and out of the other.\u00a0 I suppose I\u2019ve never before thought that spending any time studying it would make much sense.<\/p>\n

Of course, not having thought of this sooner might just be an indication that I\u2019m an utterly stupid writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing is harder than it looks. I\u2019m almost tempted to just leave this post there to prove a point. I\u2019m fairly easy to please when it comes to television and film and I actually struggle to identify bad writing.\u00a0 I know this because of those awkward moments where everyone around me will be laying into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[16,15,239],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-analysis","tag-comedy","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Episodes and Pilots - Chaotic Tortoise<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.davidhing.com\/chaotic-tortoise\/2009\/10\/first-episodes-and-pilots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Episodes and Pilots - Chaotic Tortoise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Writing is harder than it looks. 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