Bibles

[Kandiman]

Originally Posted by SCanfieldfilms

Yeah, I've been working on a show idea for years that takes place over thousands of years, so I've taken to writing everything down about the show, and it's getting quite long. Honestly, the scripts to the entire first season will be shorter. But I gotta know this stuff backwards and forwards, and it has historical connotations, so I have to make sure everything lines up.

On the same token, I've never planned on showing that document to anyone, always planned to pitch the pilot script, and anything after that will fall into place easily, because I know exactly what I want.

In my opinion, from the few bibles I've seen, it really is what best highlights and describes exactly what you want to describe. I even though the bible for The Wire was overkill, but I know David Simon blocked out 5 seasons of plot before he ever wrote a page. Which basically nobody does, but again, he's the best TV writer/producer on the planet, in my opinion at least.

I'm a big fan of that kind of plotting. When I pitch a show, I generally make sure I have the first four seasons mapped out (with outlines for at least the first two seasons) because I don't want to find I've pitched something, sold it and discover that "sh!t, I have no ideas past episode three!"

Why waste everybody's time? Outlines can always change, but you need to know the idea has legs in advance.