Hi Kev,
Is slightly shorter okay too? How strict do you need to be with the acts time split? Would five and a half mins and then four mins be okay?
THE SITCOM TRIALS - October 21st 2011 Manchester Page 2
Quote: Kev F @ September 26 2011, 10:16 PM BSTHi all,
As always, rules are made to be broken. If you can keep to the Sitcom Trials guidelines it would be a good thing, and writing something way too long would be a distinct disadvantage. But if your script is funny, and you're having difficulty compressing it to 8 minutes, it would be better to send it in a funny but slightly long state than not enter it at all.
If it's funny enough, it might get a chance. Bring em on, let's have some fun.
Kev F
Given this fantastic new rule change - i.e. there are no rules - I may well submit an entry. Thanks Kev!
Quote: Badge @ September 26 2011, 10:57 PM BSTGiven this fantastic new rule change - i.e. there are no rules - I may well submit an entry. Thanks Kev!
Quote: AJGO @ September 26 2011, 10:19 PM BSTHi Kev,
Is slightly shorter okay too? How strict do you need to be with the acts time split? Would five and a half mins and then four mins be okay?
Short scripts aren't a bad idea, but I wonder just how much storytelling you can squeeze in. A lot of people balk at the idea of an 8 minute script, which is indeed very short. But it came about pragmatically from the Sitcom Trials 2003 TV series (check it out on YouTube). Initially we thought in terms of 10 minute scripts with a 3 minute payoff, and figured we'd get two of those easily into each 30 minute episode. We soon found that a half hour show on ITV is nearer 23 minutes long after adverts and titles, which with links left us with very little time to squeeze our 23 minutes worth of sitcom in. So 10 min scripts were whittled down to 8 minute scripts and surprisingly they worked just as well, if not better.
We then realised that American TV sitcoms were running at about the same length, and that the ad break in Frazier and Cheers was coming in at around the 9 minute mark, which made The Sitcom Trials cliffhanger valid in comparison.
So try and stick to the rules if you can. But do be aware that this season of The Sitcom Trials is not a big budget competition, it's a series of comedy shows in a pub theatre venue, with the emphasis on trying to make people laugh and to give writers and actors the chance to be funny in public. Think funny first, and keep the rules in mind (because, if push came to shove, a rival script might have the edge if it is the perfect length, perfect cast size, and totally immediately stage-able because the writer's adhered strictly to the rules as well as being good.)
Kev F
Is Jeb Bush still running the voting system this year...?
Quote: RedZed333 @ September 27 2011, 12:14 PM BSTIs Jeb Bush still running the voting system this year...?
Yes. Any suggestion of fairness will be ruthlessly pursued and eliminated.
By the way, we only have three scripts entered so far, so I think you may be in with a chance of being one of the four selected if you get an entry in now. Not that I'm an expert at maths or anything.
Kev F
Is there a preference for PDF/Word etc?
Quote: AJGO @ September 28 2011, 1:39 PM BSTIs there a preference for PDF/Word etc?
Given the HUGE lack of interest so far, you could probably get away with writing your entry on the back of a fag packet.
Quote: don rushmore @ September 28 2011, 2:37 PM BSTGiven the HUGE lack of interest so far, you could probably get away with writing your entry on the back of a fag packet.
Many submit them at the last minute
Indeed. But 3 entries at this stage, plus the lack of thread activity, doesn't exactly suggest Kev F has a smash hit competition on his hands.
Good to see you supporting it though Don, by repeatedly bumping the thread.
Quote: Kev F @ September 28 2011, 12:48 PM BSTYes. Any suggestion of fairness will be ruthlessly pursued and eliminated.
By the way, we only have three scripts entered so far, so I think you may be in with a chance of being one of the four selected if you get an entry in now. Not that I'm an expert at maths or anything.
Kev F
Well, following their rave reviews from the last comp, Bob and Ted are currently on tour in Margate and won't be making an appearance this time round...
However, Footlights, the highly acclaimed student sitcom based in Manchester and since stolen by Dead Meat, might just make a show...
Give me a minute or two and I'll see what I rustle up...
The competition that's so good even those who slag it off feel compelled to enter!
Is it sponsored by Yahoo?
Do I have to have a Yahoo account to find out the rules?
Maybe that's why you've got so few entries.
Quote: evan rubivellian @ September 28 2011, 5:19 PM BSTThe competition that's so good even those who slag it off feel compelled to enter!
