Research Dossier Sonny King Submission of work Organisations and competitions provide a good way for writers to get their work out there. While many organisations won’t fund a script, ones like the BBC (rather unusually) accept unsolicited (no agent needed) scripts. Currently, the open call will be open from 9th November – 10th December (below). BBC, 2022, How to submit a script to us [online] https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities/send-a-script Many competitions also exist for writers to get the chance to get their work seen by professionals. The ‘Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest’ allows writers to submit a Pilot or Webseries for a small fee, with many brilliant prises for the winner (below).
Research Dossier Sonny King Coverfly, 2022, Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest [online] https://writers.coverfly.com/competitions/view/scriptpipeline-tv Background material Scripts are laid out much differently to novels or other pieces of written media. They include large spaces and thus less chunks of text to allow for
Research Dossier Sonny King them to not only be easier to read, but to allows actors and crew members to make notes around them if they need to. Scene Heading/Slugline: This will start with INT. or EXT. (interior or exterior), and include a time and place of where/when the scene is set. This is essential to establish before every scene. Action, this is where the main description of what is happening in this scene is put, it should never be too long so cast and crew can easily digest what is happening. Character names are capitalized so actors can easily find where they are in the scene. Character Names are centered and in capitals to allow for cast to easily identify where their dialogue is, meaning line learning is much easier. Dialogue goes below this. Never write dialogue in capitals to indicate shouting, all ways parentheticals such as (shouting). Parentheticals are used to indicate how a line is meant to be said. It shouldn’t be too descriptive to allow for actors to make their own choices with performance, but general directions are okay. b. Identify a variety of sources from which you could seek inspiration for a story if you were a writer preparing to produce a screenplay / script. You should explore at least 4 different sources / avenues for information and find a specific example for each, e.g., an actual news story / event (factual information) was referenced in order to produce a script for the film Titanic (Cameron, 1997) - but you need more detail than that! Writers often get their inspiration from real life experiences. Russel T Davies, a prolific British screenwriter, lived through the AIDS pandemic. Being gay himself, he said it was something he was all ways passionate about and wanted to write about all his life. This eventually turned into the hit show ‘It’s A Sin’, which documents the life of several friends living through the AIDS pandemic. Davies included his own experiences such as ‘The Pink Palace’ (a flat in which he used to live) in the show, as well as basing the central character Jill on a real life friend of his. Davies said he had been thinking so long about writing the series, he didn’t need to plan it out at all and wrote it quite quickly, which can be common for writers, especially considering how long they may have to wait to get their scripts and ideas commissioned. In an interview (https://youtu.be/ua8urwbbYpE) , he explains how the dialogue itself is greatly inspired from his friends he knew at the time.
Research Dossier Sonny King Another Nice example of writers getting inspiration is through what they used to watch as a child. Famed auteur director Matthew Vaughn explains in this article that he has all ways wanted to make a classic 70s War movie, and by linking it to the Kingsman franchise (which was already heavily popular), he could get studios to financially back him up. Factual events often make for great inspiration to a writer. The quintessential Noir film, Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944), was itself inspired by high-profile, real-life events that took place in 1927.
Research Dossier Sonny King First adapted into a book by James M. Cain the year before, Wilder was massively inspired by this massive murder case, with the screenplay playing out almost exactly like the real life case in parts. Science Fiction is often one of the hardest genres to write. Trying to balance the mix between grounded drama and reality and the often silly sci fi ideas can be a challenge. This is why a lot of inspiration for sci fi screenwriters comes from everyday things. In an interview (found here), writer of Doctor Who’s least series, Flux, explains how his inspirations for his latest sci fi creature creation, and how really he didn’t need to think about it too much and just went with it. I think this really shows that overall, inspiration for a screenwriter can really come from anywhere, no matter how silly or random you may think it is. Research (for an idea, once conceived) In the professional industry, there are various ways that primary research gets obtained for various uses. One example is production companies going
Research Dossier Sonny King out for recces to research about locations, including size, availability, fit for purpose etc. by taking detailed observations and asking local councils. Another, more unorthodox way of collecting secondary research comes in the form of the writing team for Stranger Things holding public polls on twitter, to find out which parts of the script people would want released (below) b. Primary sources for own screenplay idea - what primary sources did you / will you use when generating your own screenplay idea? For my own screenplay, I used a few primary sources to generate some ideas. Firstly, I created an electronic questionnaire for my target audience, teenagers, to complete. This allowed me to find out exactly what genres they enjoyed, which I could then incorporate into my script. The top answers I got where sci fi and action, so I decided to incorporate their respective genre tropes such as wide open landscapes, spectacle and futuristic spaceships into my screenplay. I also did a 1 to 1 interview with one of my friends who fell into my target demographic and psychographic. I interviewed them about what they wanted to see in this sort of sci fi action film, with questions such as ‘What sort of characters would you like to see in a film like this’ and ‘What do you enjoy about sci fi films’. For the first question, they replied saying they would be like see strong female characters, typically ones who are the leader of an organisation or company, which you don’t very often see in films. Thus, one of my main characters, Liz, was heavily based off this idea. She doesn’t take anything from anyone and is the leader/commander of the mission our characters go on.
Research Dossier Sonny King c. Secondary sources - identify at least 3 secondary sources that could be used to gather specific information for a script. If the screenplay is based on a real person, then an autobiography is an essential piece of secondary research. Since their autobiography is written by the person themselves, you will get an extremely reliable and detailed account of their life, which you can then incoportate (with permission) into the screenplay. Another good example of secondary research comes in the form of encyclopaedias. Often written by experts, they are important tools if your script relies on fact, for example in a police procedural show. They contain detailed information on very specific topics, which means your show can be factually accurate and more reflective of the real world. Finally, if you are basing your screenplay on a real event, news articles and broadcasts can act as a fantastic way to gain more knowledge of the event. Especially with news broadcasts, as they usually contain eye witness accounts and live coverage of what is happening. While interviews would usually be classed as primary research, this would still be secondary research as it has been carried out by someone other than yourself. d. Secondary sources for own screenplay idea - what secondary sources did you / will you use when generating your own screenplay idea? I personally got my inspiration mostly from genres and shows I love. To faithfully recreate the sci fi aesthetic, I watched various episodes of ‘Doctor Who’, particularly ones from the 1960s and 70s.. As well as this, I picked up some DVDs which included extras, that included ‘making of’ featurettes. These included various interviews with the prop makers and producers to show exactly what they made and how they made it, which gave me a greater understanding of what they made and how they made it. The large model-sand miner on the rocky planet (below) from ‘Doctor Who: The Robots of Death’ (1977) inspired me to set my film on a desolate planet with a harsh landscape. This proved very useful as the location for my film was an integral part of the atmosphere and tone of the piece, as it immediately let the audience know the sci fi genre of the piece. I think my research was very effective as I was working in quite a niche genre, which meant I could really pick up on small details with things like setting and plot structure. For example, many Doctor Who serials in the 70s were split into 4, 6 or even 8 parts. This meant there was a very linear narrative flow, with clear rises in action, climaxes then falling actions. This inspired me to follow a similar structure, with a deliberate disruption of the equilibrium when the ship crashes down to the unknown planet near the start of the film.
Research Dossier Sonny King 4. Prepare material (for your own idea, once conceived) a. What are the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary sources? b. What material / information has been the most useful for you and your script idea? c. Where you have disregarded information that you have found, relevant to your own idea, why did you decide not to use it? d. How are you managing the information you have found? What methods of storage / organisation / documenting are you using? Primary and Secondary research both have their advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, Primary Research is usually more tailored to what the researcher needs and can produce highly effective results, but it also takes much longer to obtain and can sometimes be expensive. Secondary research is much the opposite, with it being a lot easier to find and gather but being much more general, and often outdated, which is why you should all ways check any news articles for the date they were published. I think overall, a mixture of both is best, as then much more variety in the sources you have available to you. Personally, I think that my primary research has been most useful. It allowed me to get information on exactly what my target audience wanted to see in the script. While it wasn’t the easiest to conduct, as I had to actively
Research Dossier Sonny King plan an interview, it meant I had a good specific idea of what to include in my screenplay, something that secondary research wouldn’t have been able to tell me. One example of secondary research that I have not used is the Doctor Who behind the scenes featurettes, located on the DVD’s. While very interesting, sometimes the content was not relevant to my screenplay, and would give information on the more technical aspects of the production which wasn’t very useful when trying to generate ideas. Originally, I was looking up articles on how Black and White films had their screenplays structured, and if it was any different to that of color films. However, after a few revisions, I no longer wanted my film to be in black and white, so this ended up being irrelevant. Due to the sheer amount of research I had to conduct I had to have a way of managing/storing it. In terms of secondary research, I would simply have a word document with all the linked websites and a small summary of what the research was. For Primary Research, I kept all my questionnaires on Google Forms which itself has a very good layout for all the information you have gathered. For the in-person interview, I simply made notes on my phone during the interview and kept them on there, then referred back to them whenever I needed them. I did not opt to print any of my documents out, as it was much easier to have them all online since then they could be accessed by any device at any time, wether I was at home or at college, which was very useful.