The Calling Card Script: A Writer's Toolbox for Screen, Stage and Radio

257 Pages·2011·3.203 MB·English

by  Paul Ashton

the calling card script
A WRITER’S TOOLBOX
FOR STAGE, SCREEN AND RADIO
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the calling card script
A WRITER’S TOOLBOX
FOR STAGE, SCREEN AND RADIO
PAUL ASHTON
A & C Black • London
A & C Black Publishers Ltd
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
First published in 2011
A & C Black Publishers Limited
36 Soho Square
London W1D 3QY
www.acblack.com
Copyright © Paul Ashton 2011
Paul Ashton has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 408 11017 1
Available in the USA from Bloomsbury Academic & Professional,
175 Fifth Avenue/3rd Floor, New York, NY 10010
www.BloomsburyAcademicUSA.com
Typeset by Country Setting, Kingsdown, Kent CT14 8ES
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Martins The Printers,
Berwick-upon-Tweed
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
orotherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated in any
form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed
onthe subsequent purchaser.
FOR SUSIE, NIAMH, EMRYS
AND THE LITTLEST ONE TO COME . . .
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
An act of faith • The ‘toolbox’ • The form of this book • What this
book does not do • An industry perspective • Points of reference •
The ‘calling card’ script • A basic definition • The writer’s ego
versus the writer’s journey
1 THE MEDIUM 9
THE WRITER AS MEDIUM 11
‘Medium’ • One man and every man • What writers do • Instinct
and craft • Is the writer a medium? • Using medium
THE THEATRICAL SPACE 13
What is theatre? • Magic, ritual and spectacle • Spectator and
audience • Auditoria • Complexity of space • Complexity of form •
The empty space • The technological space • Clarity of space •
Money, monsterism and miniaturism • The director • The actor •
Directing the action • Theatre and metaphor
RADIO AND THE ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT 21
‘Theatre of the airwaves’ • Cinema of the airwaves • The contrad iction
• Auditorium • The purest form • The audience • Only for radio •
Acoustic environment • Scope • Voice • Music • Sound
FILM AND THE CINEMATIC CANVAS 26
The big picture • Theatrical release • Cinema scope • Knowing your
place • ‘Show don’t tell’ • Sign language • Up close • Montage •
The whole story • The complex singularity • The kind of story •
Universal
TELEVISION AND THE RELENTLESS FORMAT 32
Distractions • The morning after • The cold light of day •
Theschedule • Audience is god • The phenomenon • Jumping
theshark • The single exception • Format not formula • Basic
distinctions • Serial • Continuing series • Precinct • Returning
series • Relentless meets format
viii THE CALLING CARD SCRIPT
2 THE BEGINNING 45
WHAT ARE PRODUCERS LOOKING FOR? 47
The meat market • The market • So what are people looking for?
WHERE TO BEGIN? 49
The blank page • Knowledge is power • News of the world • Devil
in the detail • A head for ideas • You • Your feelings • Your voice •
The X Factor • What is a voice? • Can you hear your own voice?
KINDS OF STORIES 55
Archetypes • Linear • Epic • Full circle • Fractured • Repetitive •
Reversed • The impact of shape • Genre • Theatre and genre •
Radio and genre • Television and genre • Tone • The right form
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA? 64
‘Droit moral’ • Theme • Universal • Concept and world • Premise •
Premise and character • Premise and emotion • The big idea •
Idea and medium • Theatre • Radio • Film • Television
WHAT’S THE STORY? 71
Beginnings and endings • Knowing where you are going • Direction
and purpose • Focus • Point of view • Movie ensembles • Hook •
POV turned upside-down
GETTING INTO CHARACTER 77
Test of character • Dramatic versus comic • Spending time •
Empathy • Definition • Archetypes • Features • Eccentricity •
Qualities • Capabilities and flaws • Estimation • Attitude • POV •
History and backstory • Moral compass • Morality and conflict •
The ‘agon’ • Hero and villain • Desire and need • Desire versus
need • Action • Vulnerability • Character and medium • Theatrical
character • Radio character • Film character • TV character
HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING 94
Page one • Know your story • Hook the attention • The midst of
amoment • A focused way in • ‘Getting to know’ the characters •
Exposition • The captive audience
STRUCTURE AND THE BEGINNING 100
‘Act one’ • Structural diagrams • The universal formula • Three
is the magic number • But three is not a simple number • The
beginning • Disorientation versus confusion • Establish the world •
Delayed establishment • Desire, need, problem • Call to change/
action • The complex call • The uncertainty • Point of no return •
Tension • Episode and series beginnings
CONTENTS ix
THE PLAN OF ACTION 112
When to start writing? • Treatments • Clarity • Coherence •
Building a blueprint
3 THE MIDDLE 117
THE MUDDLE IN THE MIDDLE 119
Managing the muddle • Muddled metaphors • Fail better • Dig
deeper • Stretch the line • Dominoes
DEEPER INTO CHARACTER 122
The ‘arc’ • Change • State of becoming • Muddied wants and
needs• Muddled consequences • Beyond the comfort zone •
Developing the ‘agon’ • Developing the complexity • New world,
newcharact eristics • Qualities • Capabilities and flaws • POV,
morality, attitude • Vulnerabilities • Developing relationships •
Journey towards awareness • Contradiction • Surprising
themselves • Character and action • Character and structure •
The ‘middle’ in series and serials • Returning series • Serials •
Abstract alternatives
SURPRISE 139
Revelation • Deus ex machina • Shock tactics • Secrets •
Dramatic irony • Unexpected outcomes • Predictability • Tedium •
Cliché
STRUCTURE AND THE MIDDLE 146
The dividing lines • Momentum • Dominoes • Peaks and troughs •
The road ahead • Sharp bends and chicanes • Cul-de-sacs • A clear
view of the distance • Quicksands and high tides • The cave •
Chasms and rockfaces • A second point of no return • The (not so)
natural order
CAUSING A SCENE 156
What is a scene? • The basics • Picture and montage • Dramatic
action • Conflict • Goals • Conflicts that matter • What’s at
stake? • Three dramatic levels • Subtext • Surprise • Beats •
What to show • Juxtaposition • Less is more • Kinds of scenes •
The theatrical scene • The radio scene • The screen scene
FROM PLAN TO ACTION 170
Ready to write • Refer to the blueprint • Develop the blueprint •
Step outline • Wild drafts • Write the beginning