I began this project with
the assumption that television, while differing in structure from film, is
based on a morale premise and that the morale premise can be seen in each
episode and each character. In my research paper, The Foundation of Story, I hypothesized that the “Premise is the
Promise.” I therefore sought to identify, by analyzing a first season of one
episodic television show, the premise and how it was proven within each episode
and over the season. Additionally, I expected to see how subtext was
used to elevate the premise and contribute to the essential elements of each
character that drive story. My goal in doing this was to have a model to
which I could refer, if not exactly emulate, when it comes to writing my own
television series. I also wanted to understand the ‘buttons’ that
inspire binge watching.
Initially, I had thought to
analyze Orphan Black, a sci-fi show produced by BBC America. Upon second
viewing of the show, I considered it too niche for my purposes and switched to Scandal, an American political thriller created by Shonda Rhimes and
broadcast on the ABC network. Orphan
Black follows a clear ‘desire line,’ as John Truby writes in his article
‘Why TV is the Future and How to Write for it’. On the other
hand, Scandal contains a story within each episode while
maintaining multiple storylines over several episodes, which is more in keeping
with the type of show that I have in mind to write.
My methodology was to break
down each show by beat and chart it in an Excel spreadsheet. What I
actually did was break down each show by scene, meaning that a beat can carry
over several scenes. Following the suggestions of Ellen Sandler in
The TV Writer’s Workbook (2006), I paid attention to such as details as whether
the protagonist walked into a scene, walked out, who was assembled within a
scene, who had last word, etc. This proved to be minutiae that, ultimately, did
not serve my purpose. Or perhaps, having identified that Olivia pretty
much always walked into a scene and walked away while delivering the last word,
I quickly got it and needed to move on. The other thing that I was paying attention to
was the set pieces. In typical sitcoms and serial dramas, there are
two sets with the occasional swing set. In Scandal, there are a number of sets in which the action
regularly takes places – the White House, the office of Olivia Pope Associates,
Olivia’s apartment, the DA’s office – as well as many others, the morgue, Press
Room, parks, clients’ homes, etc. Clearly, the producers spare no expense on
production values. They do, however, utilize every minute of screen
time with no time wasted, for example, sitting in cars driving across town. They utilize
the technique, which in my spreadsheet I call “DC Pics,” of a montage of three
to five stills accompanied by the old-fashion click of cameras going off to
change locations. This technique is not only expedient and time
saving, given that the subject of the show is spinning the media, it is also
very apropos.
On reflection, I should
have been paying attention to different things, not that the spreadsheet is
entirely useless, simply that I will want to break it down into index cards and
color code them so that they can be manipulated as necessary. This was a
technique I used when writing my feature film MISMO, which tells parallel
storylines about three characters whose lives inexorably connect.
I also should not have made
the assumption that Scandal contains a morale premise. While there
is a morale dilemma in every episode, this is not the same as the show being
founded on a morale premise, and if it is, it’s one that I failed to
identify. Initially, I thought that the premise was “Who you love shouldn’t
have to be a secret,” which, trying to meet Stanley Williams’ requirements, I
turned into,” A person should be allowed to be themselves and love openly
because such secrets lead to scandals.” Realizing that this wasn’t quite the “Vice leads
to Defeat, but Virtue leads to Success” equation, I struggled further and in
the end resorted to McKee’s theory of “What if?” as a guiding tool. So in Scandal that might be turned into “What if a man and
woman who love each other cannot declare their love openly in the world?” which
definitely is the basis of each episode. Now that I’ve thought of that, I will have to go
and reflect further on each episode and see how this drives each character and
the story. I think it just might work!
Which goes to show that
constant analyses and reiteration of a problem can lead to different results.
I don't know if that's a
Little Uh Oh! or an Ouch! but I have one last episode to examine, so let's see
whether it holds true.
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