I wouldn't class Meadows work as pretentious.
Drama or Comedy? Page 3
I wouldn't call his work pretentious either. My interpretation of it was though. A few too many hazy 'flashback sequences' filmed on 8mm etc. Maybe I'll have another go at something like that one day. I wouldn't mind making an arty, short film.
I'd love to write something that grips in the way that first series of Bodies did. And makes you desperate to see what happens next. Great drama has a stranglehold over the viewer that even a great sitcom can rarely equal.
Quote: Ben @ May 1 2011, 4:19 PM BSTI probably wasn't being entirely clear, Griff, so I'll shoulder my share of the blame.
Are you asking him to sit on that finger?
Quote: Marc P @ May 1 2011, 7:58 PM BSTAre you asking him to sit on that finger?
Griff's a giant compared to me, so, if anything, I should be standing on his shoulder.
Drama or comedy? Frankly - directly or indirectly - I've alientated, offended and insulted pretty much everyone in the television industry, so as far as a choice of genre goes I should probably consider myself lucky if I was offered a gig writing whimsical asides for the regional f**king weather reports.
Dear Dr Tim Walker
You can go f**k yourself.
We will write our own copy and will now make it rain on you for the next 2900 years (we have that power)
Yours the regional weather forecaster copy writers union (Mrs)
ps Sootyj wrote "it's a bit parky" and "nice weather for ducks"
for which we paid him 1 billion quid and many sexual favours
Although writing comedy is very difficult (at least it proved far too difficult for my tiny intellect) I think it attracts alot of new writers because:
A) Everyone likes a laugh, has a sense of humour.
B) Alot of people can be witty and a 'joker' in social situations, and be mislead into thinking they can therefore write a sitcom.
C) It has a clear goal: Make people laugh. New writers also seem to think that if it makes people laugh it doesn't matter about punctuation and grammar.
To me, drama has a less defined goal. Also most people aren't natural story tellers, at least not very effective ones anyway.
I suspect an advantage of comedy is that it is a little easier to believe that what you are writing actually works. I laugh at my own jokes, even if no-one else does, but when I have attempted to write dramatic dialogue it has always seemed a bit meh, even to me.
Another advantage of comedy is that the jokes provide, or should provide, the architecture of the piece.
Quote: Tim Walker @ May 1 2011, 10:40 PM BSTDrama or comedy? Frankly - directly or indirectly - I've alientated, offended and insulted pretty much everyone in the television industry, so as far as a choice of genre goes I should probably consider myself lucky if I was offered a gig writing whimsical asides for the regional f**king weather reports.
The scene in Billy Elliot sums it up for me (handy) where he appears to be flunking the audition for the ballet school, when asked how he feels when he's dancing he struggles to articulate, but says it all really when he says he loses himself, something about it being like electricity through his body..writing is a bit like that to me (not much electricity going on!) but in so much that its just somethingthat's within you,and you're drawn to that particular way of relaying the world around you. What I like about comedy writing is the scope and quick end result, with regard to one liners, sketches, cartoons etc which can be up and running almost instantly,idea to paper taking minutes rather than months,
Humour bonds people,if someone can write a sitcom/comedy drama that people take to and will watch because they look forward to seeing what the characters will do next,that must be a great achievment.
Quote: Marc P @ May 1 2011, 1:12 PM BSTI wouldn't be so sure Matthew. I once wrote an ep of Emmerdale where absolutely nothing happens apart from two characters getting pissed in the pub. They kept taking the story out until that was all that was left.
Did you? That's pretty cool. What else have you written, was it just the one episode of Emmerdale? And what sort of feedback did that episode get? I could be imagaining it, but I seem to remember hearing something about that episode, I think it might have been a favourable 'review', but I could be wrong.
Yeah, it would have been favourable.
Quote: Marc P @ May 2 2011, 10:02 PM BSTYeah, it would have been favourable.
Was it the one you penned for the EDP?
Quote: Marc P @ May 2 2011, 10:02 PM BSTYeah, it would have been favourable.
Feel free to elaborate!
Sorry Vader, I was being flip. I don't know if it was reviewed favourably anywhere. I liked it. 