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Spec Flashpoint – Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

What we have done here is barely touching the surface of what could be done around Flashpoint.
It’s easy to talk all day about the show but if you don’t write that spec, it’s pointless.
The hardest step is to finish that first draft, so just do it!

Ideas for your Flashpoint spec can be found anywhere. The show is often based on real-life cases.
For instance the pilot episode was inspired by an ETF sniper shooting.

I would probably avoid however basic hostage situations as it has been done and redone on the show.

The teaser is a crucial part of the show and its structure. It must hook the reader/viewer.
Someone holding someone else at gunpoint also has been quite done on FP so be careful on not recycling stories.

The most important part of the story are the characters.
Linking the story to them and making the audience care is a crucial part.
As seen previously, the background of the SRU members has been well developed, so you can maybe tap into that for your spec.
Choose wisely the SRU member you want to center on. The whole thing must make sense (at the very least thematically).
Create interesting antagonists that we will root for or against.

Don’t make a happy ending for the sake of it, but don’t kill everyone in a big atomic explosion.
Everything must happen for a reason.

For more info on the show you should also look for interviews with the writers.
Jill Gollick has several of those around the creation of the show.
Actually, she even made a much better breakdown of the pilot episode than mine (with character beats et al.). So definitely check that out.

Why not as well go on fan forums and official boards (such as CTV’s) to garner even more info (from the fans’ POV).

The series is fresh enough that you can get away with almost any storyline for the moment, as long as the characters and their actions are believable and interesting.

Trust yourself, trust your writing, and write it.

Good luck!

Spec Flashpoint – Part One (B)

Time to continue on our little homework assignment and break down 2 other Flashpoint episodes.

Part One: Breaking it
B – Episodes 1×08 & 1×09

The following are breakdowns of Flashpoint 1×08 and 1×09, via the broadcast episode.

Episode 1×08

The plot revolves around a framed fellon loose in a tribunal, seeking revenge on his prosecutor, all while Ed is being interviewed for his own trial for wrongful death (cf Pilot).

What we will call the ” Hostage situation ” is everything revolving around Ed taken hostage by the fellon, and the ” “Suicide” situation ” the point where the fellon turns the gun on himself.


Storylines:

A: Tribunal situation
Ay: Framed Fellon before and after tribunal
Ax: Fellon loose in tribunal (before Ed being a hostage)
Ac: Hostage situation with Ed
Az: “Suicide” situation
Ab: Hostage and “Suicide” situation via SRU POV (and learning Fellon’s background)

B: Post-hostage situation from SRU POV

C: Ed
Cb: Being sued (SRU and Tribunal)
Cx: At tribunal before and after hostage situation

The C plotline seems small overall but this is the main story-arc of the season (the repercussions of Ed’s actions in the pilot).

Keep in mind that this breakdown was made with the broadcast episode, not the actual script, and that most of these scenes are only a few seconds long and intercut.
One minute equals roughly one page.

Breakdown:

Teaser/Act One – 16 Scenes (exposition of A and C stories) – 8 Minutes
1 – Ab
2 – Ac
3 – Ab
4 – Ac
5 – Ab
6 – Ac
-> FLASHBACK
7 – Ay
8 – Cb
9 – Ay
10 – Cb
11 – Ay
12 – Cb
13+14+15 – Ay
16 – Ay leading to Ax
END OF ACT ONE just as Fellon is loose in tribunal -> Ax

Act Two – 18 Scenes (Lead-in to Hostage situation) – 5 Minutes 45 Seconds
17 – Cb leading to Cx
18 – Cx
19 – Ab
20 – Cx
21 – Ax
22 – Cx
23 – Ax
24 – Cx
25 – Ax
26 – Cx
27 – Ax leading to Ac
28 – Cx leading to Ac
29+30 Ac
31 – Ab
32 – Ac
33 – Ab
34 – Ac
35 – Ab
END OF ACT TWO

Act Three – 15 Scenes (Hostage situation) – 7 Minutes 25 Seconds
36+37 Ab
38 – Ac
39 – Ab
40 – Ac
41 – Ab
42 – Ac
43 – Ab
44 – Ac
45 – Ab
46 – Ac
47 – Ab
48 – Ac
49 – Ab
50 – Ac
END OF ACT THREE

Act Four – 24 Scenes (Conclusion of Hostage situation) – 11 Minutes 20 Seconds
51+52+53 – Ab
54 – Ac
55 – Ab
56 – Ac
57+58+59 – Ab
60 – Ac
61 – Ab
62 – Ac
63+64+65+66 – Ab
67 – Ac
68 – Ab
69 – Ac
70 – Ab
71 – Ac
72 – Cx+Ab
73 – Ac leading to Az
END OF ACT FOUR just as Fellon turns gun on himself -> Az

Act Five – 12 Scenes (“Suicide” situation and Conclusion) – 7 Minutes 40 Seconds
74 – Cx+Ab
75 – Az
76 – Ab
77 – Az
78 – Cx
79 – Cx+Ab
80 – Cx+Az
81 – Cx+Ay
82 – Cx+Ab
83 – Ab
84 – Cx
85 – Ay

Summary:

Episode 1×08 – 85 beats

A storyline total: 13 + 11 + 15 + 23 + 10 = 72 beats
Ay storyline: 7 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 9 beats
Ax storyline: 0 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 4 beats
Ac storyline: 3 + 3 + 7 + 8 + 0 = 21 beats
Az storyline: 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 3 = 3 beats
Ab storyline: 3 + 4 + 8 + 15 + 5 = 35 beats

B storyline: 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 3 = 3 beats

C storyline total: 6 + 7 + 0 + 1 + 7 = 28 beats
Cb storyline: 3 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 4 beats
Cx storyline: 0 + 6 + 0 + 1 + 7 = 14 beats

Episode 1×09

The plot revolves around a house where is present a newly abducted girl (Lilly), her kidnaper (Gerald), and another girl (Penny) abducted by the man 8 years prior and having a strong case of Stockholm Syndrome.
The SRU makes an assault on the house, with Jules trying to calm Penny down and Greg dealing with his own personal past.


Storylines:

A: Assault on House
Ab: Assault – SRU outside house
Ay: Assault – Upstairs (Jules, Sam, Penny and Lilly)
Av: Assault – Basement and tunnel – pursuing Gerald
Az: Post-Assault

B: Pre-Assault
Bx Pre-assault – Gerald + Lilly
Bz Pre-Assault – Penny
Bv Pre-Assault – SRU

C: Greg
D: Jules

Keep in mind that this breakdown was made with the broadcast episode, not the actual script, and that most of these scenes are only a few seconds long and intercut.
One minute equals roughly one page.

Breakdown:

Teaser/Act One – 19 Scenes (exposition of B, C and D stories) – 8 Minutes and 25 Seconds
1 – Bv
2 – Bx
3 – Bz
4 – Bx
5 – Bz
6 – Bv
7 – Bx
FLASHBACK
8 – Bz (dream)
9 – Bz
10 – C
11 – Bz
12+13 – Bx
14 – C+D
15 – Bx
16 – Bv
17 – Bz
18 – Bx
19 – Bz+Bx
END OF ACT ONE

Act Two – 21 Scenes (Pre-Assault) – 7 Minutes
20 – Bv
21 – Bv+C
22 – Bz+Bx
23 – Bv
24 – Bz+Bx
25 – Bv
26 – Bz+Bx
27 – Bz
28 – Bx
29 – Bv
30 – Bx
40 – Bv+Bx+Bz leading to A
END OF ACT TWO as we move to the Assault

Act Three – 24 Scenes (Assault) – 6 Minutes
41 – Ab
42+43 – Ay
44+45 – Ab
46+47 – Ay
48 – Ab
49 – Ay
50+51+52 – Ab
53 – Ay
54 – Ab leading to Av
55 – Ay
56 – Ab
57 – Ay
58 – Av
59+60 – Ay
61 – Ab
62 – Av
63 – Ab
END OF ACT THREE

Act Four – 17 Scenes (Continuatio
n of Assault)
– 10 Minutes
64 – Ab
65 – Ay
66 – Ab+Ay (with C+D moments)
67 – Ab
68 – Av
69 – Ay
70 – Ab
71 – Ay
72 – Av
73 – Ab
74 – Av
75 – Ab
76+77 – Ay
78 – Ay
79 – Av
80 – Ay
END OF ACT FOUR

Act Five – 18 Scenes (Conclusion of Assault) – 10 Minutes
81+82 – Ab+Ay
83+84 – Ay
85 – Ab
86 – Ay
87+88 – Av
89 – Ay
90 – Ab
91 – Ay
92 – Ab+Ay
93 – Ay leading to Az
94 – Az
95 – C+D
96 – C
97 – Az
END OF ACT FIVE

Summary:

Episode 1×09 – 92 beats

A storyline total: 0 + 0 + 22 + 18 + 17 = 57 beats
Ab storyline: 0 + 0 + 11 + 6 + 4 = 21 beats
Ay storyline: 0 + 0 + 9 + 8 + 9 = 26 beats
Avstoryline: 0 + 0 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 8 beats
Az storyline: 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 2 beats

B storyline total: 16 + 17 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 33 beats
Bx storyline: 7 + 6 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 13 beats
Bz storyline: 6 + 5 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 11 beats
Bv storyline: 3 + 6 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 9 beats

C storyline: 2 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 2 = 6 beats
D storyline: 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 3 beats

Coming up next time: thoughts on the structure of a Flaspoint episode.

Scary business

Remember that news about NBC cutting costs?

Well CBS may also do that in the very near future as they announced yesterday a third quarter loss of $12.5 billion (linked to a $14 billion write-down) with ad revenue declining in its main divisions, including television.

Incidentally, digital revenues have rose 6% this year with a 12% increase regarding Internet display ads.

As for their revenues, they are up 3%, thanks primarily to CSI: NY’s cable syndication.

All in all, CBS is now in the top 10 Internet company and the “#1 producer and provider of premium online content”.

No wonder they are trying to cash in on the future.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Video is now the (distant) second in video streams with a 56% increase (to about 265 millions).
Still, Google’s YouTube is very far ahead with 5 billion video streams in September.
Let’s not forget though that most Yahoo Vids have ads in them (= money = good for the company).

Speaking of, Lisa Klink has posted about “[trying to come] at the TV biz sideways”. Meaning that wannabe TV (and for that matter any) writer wanting to break in will have better chance of doing that by trying various other “creative outlets”.
TV writing is becoming increasingly more competitive due to a number of reasons, including strong cuts in budgets, therefore creating a smaller gap for people to squeeze in.
Any kind of “out of the box” success will definitely be a plus, distinguishing you from the rest.