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Posts tagged as “Star Trek”

Analyzing Great TV Scenes: Case Studies of Deep Space Nine, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Good Place, The Good Wife, Lost and The Simpsons (PT77)

Alex and Nick break down six iconic TV scenes to look at what makes them engaging and unique.

The moments explored in this episode include scenes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Good Place, The Good Wife, Lost, and The Simpsons.

What makes for a great TV scene? How can a simple exchange play off character and story? How can dialogue be used to define a moment? What are ways acting, directing and editing influence the impact of a scene? What TV writing lessons can you learn from these scenes?

Plus, we talk how many people should be in a writing group.

The Paper Team gets in and out…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: How many people in a writing group? (00:00:58)
1 – Introduction to the six TV scenes (00:03:09)
2 – “The Simpsons” Steamed Ham scene (00:08:02)
3 – “Deep Space Nine” Benny Rant scene (00:16:15)
4 – “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” Papa scene (00:29:35)
5 – “Lost” Henry Gale Breakfast scene (00:37:24)
6 – “The Good Place” Many Attempts Montage scene (00:44:55)
7 – “The Good Wife” Will vs. Alicia scene (00:53:02)
Next Week On (01:03:38)

Links

“Feedback and Notes: Building Your Reading Onion” (PT08)
“Analyzing Great TV Pilots” (PT54)
“Analyzing Great TV Characters” (PT72)
“22 Short Films about Springfield (7×21 – The Simpsons)
The Simpsons’ Steamed Ham scene
“Far Beyond the Stars” (6×13 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Deep Space Nine’s Benny Rant scene
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse” (4×24 – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Prince of Bel-Air’s Papa scene
“The Whole Truth” (2×16 – Lost)
Lost’s Henry Gale Breakfast scene
“Dance Dance Resolution” (2×03 – The Good Place)
“Hitting the Fan” (5×05 – The Good Wife)
“I’m mad as hell” scene from Network
DS9 comment by Kingofmadcows
“Nonlinear Storytelling” (PT70)

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Nonlinear Storytelling (PT70)

Alex and Nick discuss nonlinear narrative in television writing, from flashbacks to flashforwards.

What are effective uses of nonlinear storytelling? When should you work with flashbacks, flasforwards or parallel storylines? What are dos and donts of nonlinear narratives? Are there drawbacks of out-of-order storytelling?

Plus, we talk The Mick case and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings.

The Paper Team flashes around…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: The Mick and Amazon’s LOTR (00:52)
1 – Brief history of nonlinear storytelling in TV and when to use it (04:52)
2 – Examples of effective TV nonlinear narratives (13:16)
3 – Dos-and-dont’s of nonlinear (31:39)
4 – Drawbacks of nonlinear (35:23)
Takeaways and Resources (40:43)

Links

“Protecting and Over-Protecting Your TV Script: Copyright, Ownership and Idea Theft” (PT23)
Wikipedia’s list of nonlinear narrative television series
Primer
FlashForward (TV Show)
“Time’s Arrow” (4×11 – BoJack Horseman)
“Thanksgiving” (2×08 – Master of None)
“The Visitor” (4×03 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
“Get Me a Lawyer” (1×01 – Damages)
River Song (Doctor Who)

Resources

“Slaughterhouse-Five” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Nonlinear Storytelling” – Game Design Concepts
“The 21st Century Screenplay” – Linda Aronson

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Macro Storytelling: Writing Character and Story Arcs in TV (PT68)

Alex and Nick discuss macro storytelling in TV writing, from season-long narrative arcs to character development.

Why is it important to have character arcs across seasons? When should you write serialized narratives? How far in advance should you plot things out? Do you need to know everything before writing a pilot? What are unique TV examples of macro storytelling?

Plus, we talk about what “signing with an agent or manager” literally means.

The Paper Team sets things up…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Paper Scraps: Reviews and rep signing (00:53)
1 – Season and story arcs in TV (05:00)
2 – Story arcs in your writing: what to watch out for (16:16)
3 – Character arcs (24:59)
4 – Keeping the macro story relevant to the micro scale (36:32)
5 – Reinventing the show (40:08)
6 – Self-contained versus serialization (50:12)
Takeaways and Resources (54:34)

Links

“Daredevil Showrunners on How Punisher and Elektra Shake Up Season 2” – Collider
“Why New TV Comedies Are Choosing Plot Over Jokes” – The New York Times
“Lay Down Your Burdens” (2×19/20 – Battlestar Galactica)
“Final Five” Cylons
“Nerve” (1×19 – Farscape)
“Chain of Command” (6×10/11 – Star Trek: The Next Generation)
“6 Screenwriting Lessons from Parks and Recreation” – TV Calling
“Hitting the Fan” (5×05 – The Good Wife)
“Dance Dance Resolution” (2×02 – The Good Place)
“One Last Ride” (7×12/13 – Parks and Recreation)
“Serialized Television Has Become a Disease” – io9

Resources

Michael Schur 2011 interview on The A.V. Club

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]