Thoughts on reading spec pilots

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  • #16
    Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

    Wow this is an interesting thread. It is making me rethink the use of VO in my pilot. I feel it is integral to the story telling, but now I should keep my mind open.

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    • #17
      Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

      Thanks for sharing, Jeff. This is a pretty common thing, as you know. I recently wrote a TV pilot that starts with a one-page pre-credit sequence that's a sort of abstract flashback. Maybe I'll rework it the next time that I do another draft.

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      • #18
        Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

        Odd any mid-levels would be resorting to 101 tactics (if it really is excited that clumsily). On paper I hate the concept of breaking the 4th wall the way House of Cards does, however, they make it work.

        Summation: whatever works, works. I'm not convinced this revelation is a reason to blindly toss out your intros [re: the above posters]. Only you know if your pilot is working that way. Well, you and your producer...

        I do agree that you need a lot less setup than you think. The trick is to stop cutting the fat before you hit bone.
        DOPE CITY

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        • #19
          Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

          Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
          Jeff, what are your thoughts on the flash forward opening, where a pilot shows a snippet of the end and flashes back to "48 hours ago" or whatever? I know it's done a lot, thanks to Breaking Bad, but am wondering if it's still a good approach if done right.
          How to Get Away With Murder seems to do this... across a number of episodes, where Analise's house burns down. A mystery man is dead. We don't know what caused the fire or what's going on, but...

          I think they're doing a pretty good job showing it unfold. It does keep you watching.

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          • #20
            Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

            Thank god my pilot starts with a woman turning off her alarm clock and going for a run...all before hubby even wakes up!

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            • #21
              Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

              I opened a pilot I wrote this year as a flashback three hundred years ago (but still in our future) and shot in black and white with very select imagery in the color red-- for example, a little girl's RED ribbon in her hair and a specific shot of RED BLOOD-TEARS.

              It was a franchise design decision. Each episode's teaser is set in The Year of the Plague (2149) which explains how humanity was decimated to near extinction. Each teaser explores the mistakes of the past and establishes the theme of the episode in the future. And buried in the past narrative is a huge secret that we build to that has an impact which is revealed later in the series.

              The idea is to unfold two timelines at once. "The Year of the Plague" which causes the downfall and decimation of humanity, and the first season which is "The Year of the Healer," (2463) where the first rebellion in the New Republic's history finally begins at the end of the first season.

              The black and white vs color esthetic is a way to distinguish the two worlds (timelines of the story).

              After the teaser, we jump forward three hundred years to "current time" where the episode plays out and we see how the past has informed the future. It explores themes and struggles of whether man is destined to destroy itself and his world or will he learn from the past and save humanity.

              So, for my pilot, the flashback is an important tool as it is built into the franchise and narrative itself.

              I'll have to rewrite it, I know that, because the Black List review had this to say:

              One Weakness (which is the biggest one):
              Whilst we are certainly in a golden age of television, the budget required to pull of even a third of this pilot would be nothing short of the most monumental undertaking in network history (and from a business stand point - very unlikely as it's original I.P).

              and...

              TV series potential:
              In its current incarnation, prospects for a sale are unlikely. It's not that the idea isn't strong enough, it's simply to do with the sheer size and cost. It goes from a fun idea to commercial suicide, and most producers will likely view this as a solid and creative writing sample as opposed to something they'd ever actually undertake. The writing is strong, and some of the concepts in here are HUGELY imaginative and marketable (eg. what kid wouldn't want a moodipet plush?). There hasn't been a rugged, Indiana-Jones like adventure hero such as Novak on tv screens for a long time, and this is another huge asset to the work, but further development will be essential before sending out. The scale is just unmanageable as it is, even for tv.

              Ambitious? Yes. A little embarrassing, well, yeah. Needless to say I've some work to do on it. I know that. It's clear that they've figured out that I'm a big budget feature writer... I'm planning on writing a book proposal in the future. Hell, why not.

              Thanks, Jeff Lowell, for starting this thread and opening a very interesting discussion that provides a lot of good insight, as writers, we need to be considering when we make the choices we make for our TV projects.

              These are the kind of discussions I look forward to.
              "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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              • #22
                Re: Thoughts on reading spec pilots

                Originally posted by Levenger View Post
                Thank god my pilot starts with a woman turning off her alarm clock and going for a run...all before hubby even wakes up!
                LOL

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