The "24" style of screen writing

x-angel

x-angel

Well-known member
From what I understand...the director/producers/screenwriters of "24" develop a basic concept for an episode, and then write the script "on-the-fly".. I was just wondering if anyone else does this.

The main reason why I ask is that I have a story idea...and I have the basic concept (and trust me..it's one hell of a concept), but I would much rather live "in the moment" of the scene and adapt the script from there, rather than have a static script that can't evolve.

Comments? Suggestions?
 
this is how i work. you still need to do the legwork of sorting out character objectives and intentions for each scene.
 
While I don't know how 24 creators produce episodes down to a fine detail, I'm pretty sure it's all pre-scripted to a very high standard.

Producers/showrunners often come up with episodes or arcs, then they farm out the episodes so that writers knock it into 60 pgs of TV.

That said, you can of course do your own thing.

Are you asking this question because you want to write a spec of 24? or are you talking about TV writing (drama/comedy) or feature?

EJ
 
EJ Pennypacker said:
Are you asking this question because you want to write a spec of 24? or are you talking about TV writing (drama/comedy) or feature?
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I have a story that I really want to put on the screen (feature), but I like doing a lot of things adlib, with a "pre-visualized" idea in my head. I don't think I could sit down and write the entire screenplay - dialouge and all - and have it be very easy to translate to the screen.

I know...it takes plenty of practice to get good at screen writing, but I heard how the guys at "24" do it, an dI was just curious to see if anyone else has done it this way.
 
I would really warn against that. There's a world of difference between writing an episodic tv show with an already-established character, and writing for a feature film in which you need to establish character, story and setup before you can get into the on-the-fly writing.

When I do shorts, I write out the whole thing but treat it as a very loose blueprint. We alter whole scenes, dialogue and characters on the spot depending on our situation and what we're doing, but at the same time, I've made sure my bases are covered.

What I would warn in this case is that you want to do a feature, but if you're doing it on the fly, there's a very good chance you would end without enough material to make a feature out of it and play with too much filler trying to get your scenes up to snuff. There's a reason most feature films have screenplays that have been rewritten dozens of times.
 
Well.... I do have the basic shell of it written (scenes and things), but I just haven't written the line by line dialouge. But I do see what you are saying.
 
Ad-libbing will happen on its own. You can't be prepared enough as a director. Try writing a script anyway, and then just throw it away on the day. You are trusting your actors to 'write' the scene for you. This is absolutely the recipe for disaster. You will end up with filmed scenes full of useless crap that the actors just thought up at the moment. Your actors should not have to do this. It's your job! Don't be lazy, find some other way of creating the experience you want that doesn't involve just 'messing around'. You must have a game plan and your game plan must have a game plan. Try and visual the most prepared person in the world, and then go further than that, and you will still be halfway to what the greatest directors do. Seriously, don't ad-lib. When you read that article on '24' I think they were just saying that they don't plan thier main story line completely so they can respond to fan demands. When it comes to a script, they absolutely write everything down to the last breath. How else do you think the episodes are so efficient, that it happens by accident?
 
yeah, i mean if you've got your scenes and everything out, then write the thing. it sounds like you just don't want to, which is fine - hire a writer to write it for you then. i think everyone thinks they can tell a story, but very few can write it out, this is why not everyone is a writer.

plus, by writing it out, you can see how much space your ideas actually take up and you will start to find all kinds of holes in your dialogue. There are all kinds of ideas that you think work o ut because you have an innate understanding in your head, but it's up to you to write it out and then show it to somebody and make sure that it flows. There may be a jump in logic that seems natural to you but doesn't make sense to someone else because they don't have the same character understanding you do. If you go ahead and shoot and you have these problems in your ideas, you're gonna have serious problems later on.

really, you cannot underestimate the value of a script.
 
Well.. I am more concerned about "accuracy" since my "masterpiece" would be religiously based...and just like what happens with military movies (although I know some of this is intentional)...I HATE it when things are REALLY inaccurate.

I can write.. I have been complimented on my writing.

It's the "visual" I am worried about.

I have a priest that is willing to review my work and make sure that movements and actions at certain parts are done correctly.

So maybe thats what I was trying to address here. The visual more that the spoken.

Am I making ANY sense here?
 
then just write it. the point is to be visual, a script is simply a blueprint. you're not gonna be locked down to anything in particular by writing it, it's just gonna be on paper. if nothing else, you can read through it to make sure you've covered all your bases and then go off and make it and throw the thing away. but it's not going to hurt you or your visuals to have them written down.
 
mrWr0ng said:
I would really warn against that. There's a world of difference between writing an episodic tv show with an already-established character, and writing for a feature film in which you need to establish character, story and setup before you can get into the on-the-fly writing.

.
Click to expand...

I second this comment, in a majorly major kind of way.
 
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