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A.K.A. GREAT DRAMA
My Fellow Writers,
Even though I'm in the midst of a move, I am watching as many pilots as I can stomach. I've even just today landed myself the AT&T Silver Package, which guarantees that I have sixteen forms of HBO. I'm at that stage in my life where the Bronze Package was simply not enough to cover my pathological appetite for television and movies. But I wasn't enough of a man to go after the Gold Package, and certainly nowhere near financially capable to afford the Platinum Package, which probably requires an equity line of credit.
In any case, I've got all the television I want. After hearing the hype on pilots at a number of meetings over the summer, it's nice to be able to see who was bluffing and who was actually delivering solid pilots.
I won't go into pilots I didn't like, or found disappointing. I'm not a critic and, anyway, I'm probably going to try to write for some of those guys.
I just want to talk about one particular pilot that struck me - the ALIAS pilot. I know what you're thinking - that I'm reacting to the fact that the lead is a stunner. But that's not it. She's married, and anyway, I don't date actresses anymore. It's a long story. And beside the point.
I apologize to those of you who didn't see ALIAS, because some of this won't make sense. But my more general point will, so hang in there.
Point is, ALIAS was a show that could have gone wrong in a million ways. At first blush, it looked like a possible LA FEMME NIKITA ripoff, complete with pink-streaked hair and a martial-arts babe. The concept is in the realm of secret agents and plots - an area that is probably among the most popular pitches.
So how did writer J.J. Abrams manage to make it fresh - and end up with a killer pilot?
He did it with emotion. The point I knew that I'd watch the show next time was (I'm about to give away a plot point here) after the lead's fianc? was killed. The writer was faced with a scene in which he had to show the lead's grief. This has been done so many times, in so many ways, that it would seem a perfect time to just pull something out of a familiar bag of tricks -- with the lead looking at her fiance's picture and crying, or waking up to an empty bed, or whatever.
Instead, the scene was something we could all relate to in loss - the lead was changing the message on her answering machine. It was wonderfully written, acted, and shot, and it was a moving moment.
My larger point is that ALIAS succeeded because it created genuine emotional moments. Things didn't feel forced. Moments felt real; familiar enough that we all recognized them, but not so overdone that they've lost their effect.
Every beat of your script has to be approached with similar care. How do you create a genuine emotional beat? Stay away from solutions that seem too cast in television and film, and not out of real life. Create characters that are intriguing enough that they do things in a distinctive way. Know what emotion you're going for before you write a scene, and then stick to it.
A common mistake in many screenplays is that the characters and situations seem far too much like a movie. Think through decisions. Don't always just go with your first, second, or even tenth idea. Really create moments. String those together and you'll have a hell of a script.
One beat at a time,
Grady
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