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08-03-2012, 04:32 PM
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#1 |
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New User
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1
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What to avoid in a bible?
Hello peeps!
So, TV series bible.... I'm writing one as I speak and here I have a question before I make a mess out of it. What should be excluded from a bible? Is there anything that should be excluded or will be "frowned upon" by TV execs and/or networks? Say I have an idea of what future seasons (regardless the number of seasons) will include and be like (plots, arcs, character development, etc. wise), can I put that in the series bible? Or is it a big no-no? Overall, what would you say it would be best to avoid or to leave out when writing the bible? |
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08-03-2012, 08:35 PM
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#2 | |
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 697
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
Quote:
Bibles are pretty subjective. Some are more in-depth than others, and in my experience, most execs don't even look at them (at least perhaps until you're very far down the line). I generally have character sketches and a brief outline of the season arc. 5-6 pages. |
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08-05-2012, 05:15 PM
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#3 |
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Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 625
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
my general impression is that unless and until you've actually sold and are producing a show, there isn't much use for a bible. the pilot script is what's going to be "proof of concept" to the execs.
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08-06-2012, 11:07 AM
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#4 |
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Regular
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 201
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
Bibles, bibles, bibles.
I've spent the past 8-10 months working back and forth on the bible for my series. Here's what I learned. Granted, this is all information for someone working on spec with no deal in place. First, go off and write yourself a 20-30 page bible. Put in all the information you have on your series. Give detailed descriptions of all your characters, outline the first couple season, plot out a few episodes. Know everything inside and out. Then edit it down to 4-5 pages. Think of your bible like this: if you got a meeting to pitch to an executive, your bible is what you'd leave behind to highlight everything you talked about. The reason you do the big bible is so you have everything worked out in your head. You can answer any questions that executive asks. But no one is going to read your 20-30 page bible. Hell, you'll be lucky if they read the 4-5 page one. |
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08-06-2012, 03:55 PM
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#5 |
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New User
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 9
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
I really don't know a lot on the subject, but I found this an interesting read a while back. It's the Freaks and Geeks series bible. It might help.
__________________
kthnxbai |
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08-06-2012, 06:10 PM
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#6 | |
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Regular
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 201
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
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08-07-2012, 04:13 AM
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#7 |
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Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,849
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Re: What to avoid in a bible?
I'm just an observer, but the last two bibles I've seen have had a section on being 'sponsor friendly' ... ie - product placement opportunities.
The fashion seems to be to setup to permit digitally changing the product placement after the fact - so they can resell the ad space differently in the re-runs and internationally. eg: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/800207/Misc...ertisement.png (The Lexus Ad was digitally inserted in post production) It's done inhouse now (at least for the TV channel I was looking at) so it was more about making it easy for that department. So if you have a TV set in the background in any scene they can sell the fact it will be showing a current ad and recoup some more money for production. It seems that outlining "An average of XX opportunities for product placement per episode via AA,BB & CC, with high end brands at location DD" etc is the fashion. I have zero idea if that is part of a wider trend - this is just what I've observed. Mac |
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