Hello fellow screenwriters! Let me start off by saying that I am no professional writer by ANY stretch of the imagination. I'm just an actress tired of not getting any work and therefore wanting to create work for myself. I've been toying with the idea of creating a little, no budget, web-series sitcom and I'm looking for some good places to start. I've been studying shows like Friends, New Girl, and Big Bang Theory, but I'd like to study more single-camera set up shows (since that is what I will be using). I've found a gigantic list but I wanted some opinions from this community of what the best ones to study would be. Also any helpful tips or advise would be much appreciated!
Screenwriting : Sitcom Pilot Research by Taylor Ready
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Good on you for taking matters into your own hands, Taylor. There is simply no excuse today not to go out and control your own content! Proactive is the only way to be.
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Hi Taylor! It's awesome that you're going out there to create your own show. The shows you mention are great starting points. I might also suggest focusing some of your "studies" on web series comedies, rather than network sitcoms, to help learn the differences in structure/plotting/storytelling. Take The Guild (Felicia Day's series), for example: you can binge the whole thing now, but when it first came out on the web, every five-minute chunk had to work on its own to keep people watching - and that's a big difference from knowing you've got people locked in for 20+ minutes at a time. Best of luck!
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@Matt Hurd thank you so much! I didn't even think about finding current web-series shows (duh!)
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@Taylor Ready: I second The Guild. That's a great example of a web-series. Broken Lizard, the comedy troop that made Super Troopers, had a web-series called Fatty and Tatty (?). There are plenty out there.
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@ Tony Cella thanks! I will see if I can find that show too!
Look for "12 Steps To Recovery" by a friend of mine, Tony Clomax. It was his first web series and helped get him more work as an editor and director, plus into the WGA. He just finished a project now with Al Roker Entertainment.
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@David Levy thanks!
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The 2 books you'll ever need to read first and give you all the info you need to know are "The Screenwriters Bible" by David Troitter and "Screenwriter" by Syd Field. Next get the "Movie Magic Screenwriter" software to help you format the pages correctly. Lastly may I suggest joining the IFP.org guild, it's only $100 a year (compared to SAG/AFTRA fees) After you have the finished script you can submit it to the WGA, SAG & AFTRA for investors etc...Everything you need to know is in those 2 books!
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Cuts/close-ups are pretty important to comedy (and all drama). I'd consider a second camera to add that additional layer of depth. I don't know if you're trying to avoid an actual second physical camera for utility/practical reasons.....but if you are, consider doing some close-ups/different angles on additional takes with your only camera...and editing it all together. You can make a one-camera set-up look like a three-camera setup with the right execution. Having one roving/moving camera....versus edited cuts.....there's no comparison, at least in my eyes.....unless you have a fantastic director and camera person. And even then....well....it's not that much more difficult to make it look like a three-camera set-up. Good luck and happy comedy-making, Taylor!
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I think Broad City is a good example. Good luck!
@Janet Adams thank you soooo much for that info!! I've been looking at screenwriting books and I've actually come across those two, I was just so overwhelmed I wasn't sure what to get haha but thanks again!
@Bill Costantini thank you for the tips! I'm doing a single-camera set up mainly because I have only one camera and no budget to even rent another camera. I would love to do the 3 camera set up because that is what I learned in school and didn't even think to ask my professors about single-camera set ups. But unfortunately, I'm not sure if that will be doable at the moment. I hear what you are saying about depth though and I will definitely take your suggestions and work on that!
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@Maroun Rached thanks for the suggestion! I'll be sure to check it out!
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@Stephen Kastner good idea!! My phone has a 1080p camera, didn't even think about that! Thanks!
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Download the app FILMiC PRO. Awesome filmmaking tool.
@David Levy thanks!!
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Apple has a link on this site that shows all of the great content shot on I-phones. http://www.apple.com/ios/imovie/ The film Tangerine was shot in LA last year almost entirely on an I-phone. http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/28/7925023/sundance-film-festival-2015-ta... Happy Friday....eat lots of coconut on Friday.....it provides for good joo-joo.....if you know what I mean, Taylor!