New Blog!

I haven't updated this blog in a long time, but I have a new blog that I'll be updating throughout the next few months about the progress of our short film, "Moving On". It's right here!

A Successful Writer's Advice.

This YouTube video is a really interesting look at a writer's world. The interviewee is Bill Lawrence, and is being interviewed by his wife Christa Miller. He has had many successes so far; he co-created Spin City, as well as creating Scrubs and co-creating Cougar Town. He's also had his knock backs too; he was fired from his first three jobs, those being Friends, Boys Meets World and The Nanny. The video is recorded from a year at the Writer's Guild Foundation and gives us a true insight in Bill's thoughts of television writing and film writing

Bill's advice for young writers is "to actually write" and realize that "you have embrace the philosophy of doing what you have to do to get to do what you want to do." And that, even if you do sell a pilot or a film script to a company, it doesn't mean you'll become an overnight success.

Sample Script

The idea of experimenting with how 'The Office' would work in Northern Ireland, lead me to try something different with one of the early episodes. Using 'Diversity Day' (Episode Two of Season One) as a solid example, I went through the script and picked one of my favourite scenes, not only for its comedic value but also for the starting to learn more about these characters; and in doing so, I changed around some of the writing to help it fit more with the attitude and religions of Northern Ireland.

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY - DAY ONE

Michael is passing around a basket full of index cards.

MICHAEL

Okay. Things have been a little slow to catch fire, I'm not blaming anyone but I mean if you had of asked Cian here to help with the 11th July, he would've been faster burning his own flag than you guys were at exactly understanding my methods.

Cian raises his eyebrow and glares at Michael.

Eoghan draws "WELSH" and puts it on his forehead. Aine draws "PROTESTANT" and Elizabeth draws "CATHOLIC". Mark draws "JEHOVAH'S WITNESS". Michael places a card on his own card: "THE QUEEN"

MICHAEL

The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.

MICHAEL TALKING HEAD:

MICHAEL

(wearing "The Queen" index card)

Why? Because the Queen literally rules the World. And yes, she doesn't exactly swing the Catholic way, but that little wave of hers, gets her out of controversial trouble all the time.

Michael imitates the Queen's wave to the camera as he pretends to drink tea, with his pinky pointed up.

MICHAEL
(in a posh English accent)

Oh deary me, those Northern Ireland ones need me to come save them. Have they never heard that tea cures the soul?

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY - DAY ONE

Michael pushes Aine ("PROTESTANT") and Elizabeth ("CATHOLIC") together.

MICHAEL

Is it Halloween yet? Because these sparklers are about to fly!

Aine and Elizabeth begin a forced conversation.

AINE

Erm, hi. How're you?

ELIZABETH

Good. You?

AINE

Fine. I like how we get an extra holiday each year.

ELIZABETH

I like that we're cheaper than Euros.

AINE
I like how confident you are walking around Belfast with ash on your forehead all day.

ELIZABETH
I like how, er... you keep us warm, you know, when we get cold in July.

Both take the index cards off their heads, Michael runs over to them, disappointed.

MICHAEL

No! You weren't meant to take them off!

AINE

Michael really? I mean, how many religions can you give us? 

ELIZABETH

You know where we live don't you?

MICHAEL

Yes of course I do. But look what I gave Eoghan!

AINE

Welsh is not a religion.

MICHAEL

Depends on the way you look at it.

ELIZABETH 

Welsh is a language, as is a person from Wales.

MICHAEL

Yeah but those Welsh are a little weird with their sheep shag-

AINE

Michael, they don't do that!

MICHAEL

How do you know that?

ELIZABETH

Everyone knows it's a myth, it has been for centuries.

MICHAEL

Exactly, myths. Myths originated from religious times. Boom. Therefore it's a religion.

AINE

No it's really not-

Elizabeth puts her hand on Michael shoulder.

ELIZABETH

You know, I would love you to play the game with Eoghan, just so you can explain it to him.

MICHAEL

Well I'm sure as hell not having you two butcher the game again.

Elizabeth and Aine shake their heads as they leave the conference room but eagerly sit to listen to Michael's conversation with Eoghan.

END OF SCENE.

Could The Office Work In Belfast?

With The Office already being a successful British import to the States; hypothetically speaking, what changes would we have to make if we wanted to bring it back to the UK and have it set in Belfast.

Location is key. Of course we can't have a Northern Irish office in the middle of America for example. Number one, it wouldn't make sense having it in a completely different country. And number two, it would work out very expensive to shoot. In the actual office, you could find something very similar, because this type of environment is universal, being one of the reasons so many watch, they can relate to it.

The writing style. As much as the Michael Scott version is praised, most of the Americanisms simply wouldn't work here, even though we can understand them. And even the David Brent era, some slang and even mannerisms would change because Cockney for example, we sometimes notice and understand it but put it with our accent and how we live in the world, it wouldn't make sense to a Belfast audience. I'm not talking about turning this into a multi camera type of show for a Northern Irish audience to get it but we're not so used to seeing our actors, in comedies, on a single camera. We're used to the studio audience, the multi camera set up and the addition of politics thrown in there every once in a while.

Political views. While every country and sometimes every city or state has their own stand point; there's no denying that Nothern Ireland has their own, pulling in a numbet of different directions. Without giving away your opinion of this recent topic, you could write an entire episode of how the Office's flag gets taken down or metaphorically, the signature sign of the company is vandalized and taken down. Not many could make an episode out of something so simple but because of the different views surrounding this topic, people here will understand, relate and find the situation funny.

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling.

(Found online, not owned by myself)

The Office (UK and US) Comparison.

"The Office" is unarguably one of the best imports from the UK to the United States. Not only was the British version itself interesting to the American audience but it was then transformed to adapt even more to that targeted audience. With the British original only having fourteen episodes, Greg Daniels brought a new life and understandably, a new stylistic look to the show and it has now lasted nine seasons with the ninth season finishing in mid 2013, being its last. The US version stuck to the same effect that the British had, which was the mockumentary style, that took off suddenly shortly after "The Office" had begun. (It should be noted that as of Season Nine, the fourth wall between the documenters and the character has slowly been broken, adding a sense of mystery and excitement for the audience because it has become a small storyline in itself by doing this).

Both the shows focus quite heavily (but not overall) on the actions of the managers, David Brent (UK) and Michael Scott (US). As mentioned earlier, The UK version of the show didn't last as long as the American version so comparisons between certain areas will vary. Michael Scott started off as a very awkward, annoying character who was never really aware of self-awareness. However, as the series grew, so did the character; he became loveable by most of the audience, you started to understand his mannerisms and even wanted to defend his actions despite him not deserving it most of the time. David Brent on the other hand, never truly got a chance to grow so we always see him as a hugely arrogant character who is hard to relate to, yet we still find humorous, possibly because his actions and sarcasm is something we all wanted to do, but never had the guts to do.  

The supporting cast on both versions work out quite differently. David Brent's team relied on him for reactions before anything happened whereas Michael Scott's team were able to have story lines not connected with him and still be just as strong, if not stronger, than if Michael had become involved. Of course, Michael almost always had a connection with the story, not hugely, but enough to not be completely discredited. For example, the Jim and Pam storyline that expanded over a number of seasons, Jim told Michael that he liked Pam and he is quoting in saying "Never ever, ever, give up". This line has undoubtedly became one of Michael's memorable lines from the show. He was also a part of spilling to the entire office that Jim actually liked Pam; but as for the whole storyline starting from the flirting in Season One, the looks, that kiss, Jim leaving Scranton for a few months and then the eventual build of their romantic relationship, Michael didn't have a large part to play regarding that aspect.

Pilot Episode of Community.

The start of the episode starts off with the Dean of Greendale giving a speech about what people think community college really is. "Loser College for Remedial Teens",  "Twenty Something Drop-Outs", "Middle Aged Divorcees" and "Old People Keeping Their Minds Active As They Circle The Drain of Eternity". As these statements are read out, we're given shots of a number of the characters that are then introduced as the study group later on in the episode. From the very start, we're shown a glimpse of who these people are, in just one sentence. Of course, once we watch more and we learn about them, we see that they are more than just remedial teens or twenty something drop outs, but those first shots and their reactions give us a first introduction to who they could possibly be.

Abed Nadir is one of the first main characters to speak, and he has quite a lengthy introduction speech to Jeff, another main character, to deliver, so because he wasn't put of the opening shots like some of the rest of the group, this gives us a lot more of an character insight to who Abed is. 

Two minutes into the episode we find out about Jeff Winger and why he is at Community College. He's in his thirties, he was a very successful lawyer, but he lied his way through and now he's been told that he has to get a real degree before he can be a real lawyer again. Again, he wasn't in the opening reaction shots so we get a slightly more in-depth look to his character because of this. Within this scene with Professor Duncan, we automatically see Jeff's sarcasm, charm and certain lawyer aspects come to life while trying to cheat his way through community college within days of starting. 

After the opening credits, we get a shot of Pierce Hawthorne who was the "Old People" reaction shot, struggling to know what to do with a hot dog and its bun. It's visibly noticeable that he is one of the older characters but this doesn't really tell us much about him. Jeff's 'charm' takes a hit when Britta Perry, Twenty Something Drop Outs reaction shot, practically shoos his advances away, and based on his reaction, it's not something that he is used to. As we have already established, Jeff Winger is a very good liar, he tells Britta that he has started a study group which then shows her not being so defensive towards him. The show is very much based on pop culture references, so when he tries to subtly explain what has just happened to a cafeteria lady, he says that he was brought up on TV noting that he thought any "black woman over fifty was a cosmic mentor", explaining why he drifted off on a small  tangent. 

We learn more about Britta when she decides to open up to Jeff as she arrives to the first study group meeting, a group that doesn't even exist at this point. She tells him what she has done before joining the college and how she just likes honesty, and even the circumstances of what lie Jeff has just told her, he looks uncomfortable at first. He tells her he'll pretty much say whatever he wants to get whatever he wants, she finds that statement honest so she builds her walls down a little lower, that we know of.

Abed makes a reference to the Breakfast Club and throughout not only each episode, but throughout each season, you will learn that the show is heavily based on these pop culture references but they make the best of them instead of just throwing them in because "they can". Jeff uses his lawyer talking skills to talk Professor Duncan around once again to get the answers for his for all of his exams, despite the Professor looking and feeling uncomfortable about it. however, because of Jeff's history of having to talk his way out of things, we can see that it comes naturally to him now. 

Coming back from talking to Prof. Duncan, Jeff heads back to the study room to find four new faces that he has never made before. As they speak, we find out a little more about their personalities. Pierce who simply asks if he's the certified tutor, Troy Barnes (who was the remedial teen in the Dean's speech reaction shot) asks him if he's going to do his homework in a very stereotypical in film, "black" attitude way as well as referencing Ryan Seacrest who Jeff looks similar to. Shirley Bennett, who was placed in the divorcee reaction shot states that she'll need to be home by ten or she has to get a baby sitter. Lastly there's Annie Edison who wasn't featured in the shots and hasn't been introduced to the audience until now, asks what sort of board certifies a tutor, showing that she is on the ball and giving the first impression that she is a perfect and organized student. Troy then makes another stereotypical remark as well as another reference to a film, "I'm gonna leave my homework with Slumdog Millionaire" (Abed is half Arabic and so would possibly be type cast as that type of person from the movie). 

As Jeff is about to leave the group and leave school altogether for the day he sees Britta and you get the impression that she can tell what he's up to. She even finishes some of his sentences, and that makes us think is she two steps in front of the ex-lawyer that seems to be using his charm to get what he wants whenever he wants. The group are gathered around the table and Jeff wants to try and twist the group so much that they eventually fall apart and this starts with Annie telling Shirley off because she thinks she's being treated like a child. This shows the audience that Annie has something to hide because she has put up such a wall and wants to be treated like an adult. At the same time, Shirley shows a lot more anger towards Annie that you would first assume. Annie and Troy bump heads when he figures out that she was the "pill popper" that had to leave his school to get help for her addiction, this helps the audience understand a little more about Annie as the episode goes on. As the group are all fighting, Abed looks very uncomfortable and bursts out into a short monologue from "The Breakfast Club" again, showing that the show is very heavily using references from film and television and putting them into different scenarios. 

As we get halfway through the episode, we have learned quite a lot about each character. Enough to be satisfied and not to be overwhelmed, and enough to understand what each of them are going through at that particular time when Jeff stirs their emotions with each other.  Towards the end of the episode we see the characters come outside, one by one, talking to Jeff and them each opening up a little more. This gives us more insight into why they reacted so hastily to one another in the study room. Jeff lets his guard down when Britta hints to him that he has all the answers, so why was he still hanging around. He tells the group that he doesn't have any of the answers after all and he's just going to flunk the test. As the group feel sorry for Jeff, they decide to head back upstairs to the study room. Britta was the least inclined to do so but the impression the audience have been given is that his charms have once again worked their way around the group.