TV shows are categorized (according to their STORY
CONTENT) into:
Fictional and Non Fictional TV shows
FICTIONAL TV SHOWS; include:
TV Comedies and TV Dramas
TV Comedies can further be broken down into types like Situation comedy (Sit-Com),
TV Dramas can also be further broken down into types like Soap Opera, Family drama
NON FICTIONAL TV SHOWS; include:
TV Documentaries, News,
and
Reality TV show
Reality TV show can further be broken down into types: game show (which include shows like Lip
Sync battle, who wants to be a millionaire, rap battle, cooking competition), Talk show, Music show, Award shows, family
show
The aim of a game show is to create a competition that will
incite entertainment in the audience.
TV documentaries are vast. They explore almost every field in
life - Technology, Sports, Society, Sexuality, Science, Religion, Psychology, Politics, Philosophy,
Performing arts, Nature, Mystery, Military & war, Media, History, Health,
Environment, Economics, Drugs, Crime, Conspiracy, Comedy, Biography, Art &
Artists
TV documentaries do explore all the topics found in the
listed fields. They help define concepts, expatiate facts, explain mechanisms
and demystify theories in the various topics. They also tell the history of the
characters, both living and non-living found in the topics.
TV shows can also be classified (according to their STORY
MODE) into:
TOPICAL; as in the case of News and TV Dramas
HISTORICAL; as in the case of TV Documentaries and Reality
TV show
INSTRUCTIONAL or EDUCATIONAL; as in the case of TV game show, Talk show,
ENTERTAINING; as in the case of TV Comedy, TV game show, Music show, Award show, family show,
Scripts for TV Comedy and Drama shows are usually written in episodes. And the first episode of a TV Comedy and Drama show is called PILOT.
Unlike the normal feature film screenplays (the normal movie
scripts), scripts for a TV Drama show contain different separate short stories
acted by almost the same character ensemble. The different short stories are
integral parts which build up the main story of the show; and which in turn
depicts the main theme of the show. This is to say that the main aim of a TV
Drama show is to tell a particular story in order to send an important message
using different separate short stories that run for short durations of TV time.
The events that occur in the different separate short stories
in the particular duration (20-22 mins) of TV time are called EPISODES.
NOTE: Some TV Drama shows are not written in episodes, but
rather, they are just a feature film written in sort of acts. The acts may be
up to any number, depending on the number of times the producer wants the film
to run on TV time, disguised in form of episodes. Example of such TV drama in
Nigeria is that of Wale Adenuga's productions' SUPER STORY.
Remember, the first
EPISODE is called PILOT. The pilot
is the most important part of a TV Drama show. The reason is this; the Pilot:
(1) Opens the mind of the audience to the kind of theme,
genre, mode of story, emotions and suspense they are about to experience in the
whole show.
(2) Introduces the central character in the show. The central
character is the main character around the story in the show is revolving on.
It doesn't just introduce the main character. It also states
the physical and biological nature of the character, and how the character is
well adapted for the events that are about to occur inside the story of the
whole show.
(3) Introduces the main cast. Apart from introducing just the
central character, other characters that are supportive to the central
character are also introduced.
(4) Introduces the world in the show. The world in the show
means the setting, the theme, the conflict, the villain, the main reason of the
story, and the aim of the central & supporting characters in the show.
(5) Provides a testing ground to gauge whether the series
will be successful. Here the pilot is serving as a test episode where
deliberations are being made if the following episodes could be realistic
(6) Is used to sell the show to a television network. In a
situation where a writer or a producer has an intention to sell his show to a
network, it's the pilot that would determine how far the deal goes.
The more thrilling and wonderful the pilot, the more the
chances of a successful sale deal
(7) Is used to discover whether an entertaining concept can
be successfully realized.
(8) It provides prototypes of the shows that are to follow.
(9) A guide to future series more especially when they have
not been written
(10) Serving as a tentative model
Things to take note
when writing a Pilot
(1) No back story: Go straight to the point and don't
start telling the audience what has happened earlier before now. Go straight to
the present story. Write the events happening at moment in which the central
character has found himself Write on the current situation. Explore on the
current actions. No flashbacks, no montages, no distractions, no back story!
(2) Communicate the
shows tone: What's
the genre of the show? What's the setting? What's the theme? What's the
conflict in the show? Who's the hero and who's the villain? Show at least
little details of all the above questions.
(3) Use the pilot to
determine how long the series can last: The pilot establishes the nature of the show. It states the
story, the theme, the plot, the setting, the cast and the conflict. So in order
to, for instance, elongate the series, the writer needs to choose a
setting/plot, occupation and state of the characters, theme and conflict that
can spontaneously generate stories, actions and dialogues. These help to
elongate the series and in turn create more episodes.
(4) Use the pilot to
show how every other episode will work; (what will be done repeatedly?) is it going to be close
ended mystery? Or will each episode deal with how to solve a particular reoccurring
issue.
In some shows, the episodes are distinct. This means that
every episode is an entirely different story; and different means of tackling
the 'lingering/repeated problems' in the story. Though the episodes follow same
theme, setting, plot, same 'lingering/repeated problem/conflict' and same cast
ensemble, but then the means of solving the 'repeated problem' will differ.
This automatically means that the story must differ. Example is
But in some other shows the stories in the episodes is a
continuation of the last one.
(5) Use the pilot to
tell which it is in number 4 above
Writing a Pilot is like writing the first five pages of a
feature film screenplay.
To write and present
the best Pilot, you need to:
(1) Examine and Master the other episodes to know exactly
what's going on (before you even write the Pilot, you should have developed the
other episodes)
(2) Spark up an idea
(3) Tell the conflict, the bone of contention, The reason for
the events in the story
(4) Build your characters, present them and define them
(5) Show the plot
(6) Write lively and impressive dialogue. TV Drama shows are
dialogue driven
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