Ficlet: The TV Series
This is a postscript to my preceding idea about making the Hackett Continuum as a role-playing game...in the interest of making all ficlet dabblers aware of the paradigm involved, I looked into my copy of a screenwriting book written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracynski.
Now whether you incorporate "commercial breaks" into your ficletage, that's entirely your thing. I was hoping to do so in my own series if only to put the "reality" of my world in perspective--what things cost, what was available technology-wise, what the culture was like, and so on. Plus it would have been nice comedy relief when needed. (And they can be repeated from one episode to the next.)
So this is the model:
* Episode Teaser/Opening Theme and Credits
* First Commercial
* Act I Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Second Commercial
* Act II Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Third Commercial/"News Brief"
* Act III Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Fourth Commercial
* Act IV Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E)
* Promo for Next Episode/Closing Theme and Credits
The reason for the Scenes in parathenses is because we could move Scene allotments around as needed. Each ficlet would represent perhaps two or three minutes of screen time. As an Act generally runs eleven minutes in practice, that means four to six ficlets.
The grand total is...twenty-two to twenty-nine ficlets. This is for the 'hour-long drama' show that I wanted to emulate; a half-hour sitcom would only have three Acts and fewer Scenes per Act.
More to come.
FP
Now whether you incorporate "commercial breaks" into your ficletage, that's entirely your thing. I was hoping to do so in my own series if only to put the "reality" of my world in perspective--what things cost, what was available technology-wise, what the culture was like, and so on. Plus it would have been nice comedy relief when needed. (And they can be repeated from one episode to the next.)
So this is the model:
* Episode Teaser/Opening Theme and Credits
* First Commercial
* Act I Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Second Commercial
* Act II Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Third Commercial/"News Brief"
* Act III Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E - F)
* Fourth Commercial
* Act IV Scenes
- A - B - C - D - (E)
* Promo for Next Episode/Closing Theme and Credits
The reason for the Scenes in parathenses is because we could move Scene allotments around as needed. Each ficlet would represent perhaps two or three minutes of screen time. As an Act generally runs eleven minutes in practice, that means four to six ficlets.
The grand total is...twenty-two to twenty-nine ficlets. This is for the 'hour-long drama' show that I wanted to emulate; a half-hour sitcom would only have three Acts and fewer Scenes per Act.
More to come.
FP