This week's assignment - NEWS OF THE WEIRD
My favorite news stories are the ones too strange to make it near the front of the paper. The ones where people or circumstances are nearly too impossible to believe. I'm also a huge fan of The Darwin awards.
So, this week, use a "News of the Weird" story as a resource for writing a scene. You have a few ooptions when it comes to this...
1) Directly, a dramatization of the story
2) A scene that leads up to the story
3) A scene that deals with the aftermath of the story
4) The "Based On True Events" Hollywood way where you only use the thinnest thread of the original to influence your scene
Earlier this week, I used number four to write a scene called "Baby Milosh." In the original story, a guy in Sweden committed to pumping up his breasts in a 90-day experiment to see if he could produce milk. His intention, if successful, is to show that men have another avenue to get closer to their children at an early age. In my scene, a man trying to calm down his baby in the middle of the night stumbles upon offering his breast to his child. I chose that approach to the scene because I wanted more than anything to have a guy on stage trying to breastfeed an infant.
If you don't have a local newspaper that runs "News of the Weird" you can find them on-line. Here's a link to one source...
http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-8174-swedenrss-male-breast-feeding.html
See you Sunday at Metropolis!
- Joe
Showing posts with label Robowriters Assignment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robowriters Assignment. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Scenes From Someone Else's Show
ROBOWRITERS' ASSIGNMENT:
If you live in Chicago and frequent coffee shops or theaters, you cannot escape the cavalcade of postcards out there for shows (Be on the lookout for a real sharp ruler-shaped one. That show will kick ass.)
The assignment is to write a scene based on one of these cards. Pick one you're least familiar with, unless you're gunning to do a parody. I wrote two this week. The first one, Elaborate, was inspired from a postcard for the play The Elaborate Entrance of Chuck Deity at Victory Gardens.
Based on the image, this play has a lot to do with professional wrestling. My scene does not. I merely used the title as a springboard and created a scene about an out-of-touch CEO who makes an elaborate entrance into a meeting.
You can also use the postcard to create a scene that, in your own warped mind, might be in the play with which you are entirely unfamiliar. I did that with The Last Unicorn from Promethean Theater. The same folks who brought you Nat Topping in bloomers with their production of Measure for Measure.
I have heard the title before. The play is adapted from a children's story which has also been an animated cartoon. But I have no idea what the plot is. I decided to write my own version of a scene that could be in a play called The Last Unicorn. I started with finding a twist. Unicorns are beautiful, vibrant creatures, but what if mine was sick and poorly cared for. Would it still be as magical? Judge for yourself HERE.
If you live in an area not littered with promotional material for shows, you can grab the entertainment section of a newspaper and look at the ads for films. Pick one you never heard of or know little about. Remember, you're not beholden to honor whatever the title is or the image. It's a place to start and to get the creative wheels turning. Have fun.
If you live in Chicago and frequent coffee shops or theaters, you cannot escape the cavalcade of postcards out there for shows (Be on the lookout for a real sharp ruler-shaped one. That show will kick ass.)
The assignment is to write a scene based on one of these cards. Pick one you're least familiar with, unless you're gunning to do a parody. I wrote two this week. The first one, Elaborate, was inspired from a postcard for the play The Elaborate Entrance of Chuck Deity at Victory Gardens.
Based on the image, this play has a lot to do with professional wrestling. My scene does not. I merely used the title as a springboard and created a scene about an out-of-touch CEO who makes an elaborate entrance into a meeting.
You can also use the postcard to create a scene that, in your own warped mind, might be in the play with which you are entirely unfamiliar. I did that with The Last Unicorn from Promethean Theater. The same folks who brought you Nat Topping in bloomers with their production of Measure for Measure.
I have heard the title before. The play is adapted from a children's story which has also been an animated cartoon. But I have no idea what the plot is. I decided to write my own version of a scene that could be in a play called The Last Unicorn. I started with finding a twist. Unicorns are beautiful, vibrant creatures, but what if mine was sick and poorly cared for. Would it still be as magical? Judge for yourself HERE.
If you live in an area not littered with promotional material for shows, you can grab the entertainment section of a newspaper and look at the ads for films. Pick one you never heard of or know little about. Remember, you're not beholden to honor whatever the title is or the image. It's a place to start and to get the creative wheels turning. Have fun.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Caption, My Caption
ROBOWRITER'S ASSIGNMENT
Go through a magazine and cut out all the single-panel cartoons. Avoid iconic characters that you may be too familiar with, like Ziggy or Marmaduke and avoid cartoons that don't need or don't have a caption. The joke's already there and it could be creatively problematic when you try to do something different with it. In cutting out the cartoons, remove the captions and throw them away. Use the remaining cartoons as springboards to writing scenes. A great magazine to use for this is The New Yorker. Their cartoons are fairly neutral and hardly ever funny. You don't have to worry about the caption being stuck in your head, because you'll promptly forget it.
I wrote two scenes this week with the exercise, "Oblique Oblige" and "Climate Change."
Join us on Sundays!
Sundays 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Bourgeois Pig Cafe
738 West Fullerton, 2nd floor
A weekly drop-in workshop for sketch comedy writers of all levels. Come to get feedback on a scene you are already working on. Come to get ideas for new scenes. Come to hang out, read scenes, meet other writers. $5.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
RoboWriters Update!
Howdy, Howdy!
RoboWriters has been going strong. We meet every Sunday at 6:30pm on the second floor of Bourgeois Pig. Detailed info is to your right. I have been lax in posting assignments, however. I will try to do better. Please like me.
This week's assignment is to base a scene on something that no longer exists or may soon be extinct. Particularly, if it is something you have seen or are seeing in your lifetime.
Examples you can use to generate ideas: VHS tapes, rotary dial telephones, cash, smoking sections and roller rinks.
Once you hit upon your dying object or trend, brainstorm ideas on how to use it in a scene. The whole scene can center around a found VHS tape that says "Tron" on it, but your girlfriend taped over it. Or your scene takes place in a video store.
RoboWriters has been going strong. We meet every Sunday at 6:30pm on the second floor of Bourgeois Pig. Detailed info is to your right. I have been lax in posting assignments, however. I will try to do better. Please like me.
This week's assignment is to base a scene on something that no longer exists or may soon be extinct. Particularly, if it is something you have seen or are seeing in your lifetime.
Examples you can use to generate ideas: VHS tapes, rotary dial telephones, cash, smoking sections and roller rinks.
Once you hit upon your dying object or trend, brainstorm ideas on how to use it in a scene. The whole scene can center around a found VHS tape that says "Tron" on it, but your girlfriend taped over it. Or your scene takes place in a video store.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Make It Weird
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT
One thing I always stress in classes and, to no avail, in RvD meetings, is the need for scenes to be grounded in logic. The audience needs to be able to relate to what's going on and be able to buy what's going on. That said, I also love it when a scene goes weird. Twilight Zone, David Lynch, dada weird.
What most writers don't realize when they try to write something weird is that the audience still needs to be able to grasp the basics of what is going on. A main character still needs to have a strong want that's easy to understand. But that's all you really need. All I need is one character emotionally invested in trying to fit in and everyone else can be a nun on Jupiter playing ping pong.
So, the assignment? Write a simple scene. Make it weird. And let the weevils dine on your forehead.
One thing I always stress in classes and, to no avail, in RvD meetings, is the need for scenes to be grounded in logic. The audience needs to be able to relate to what's going on and be able to buy what's going on. That said, I also love it when a scene goes weird. Twilight Zone, David Lynch, dada weird.
What most writers don't realize when they try to write something weird is that the audience still needs to be able to grasp the basics of what is going on. A main character still needs to have a strong want that's easy to understand. But that's all you really need. All I need is one character emotionally invested in trying to fit in and everyone else can be a nun on Jupiter playing ping pong.
So, the assignment? Write a simple scene. Make it weird. And let the weevils dine on your forehead.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
RoboWriters Wednesday!
The Assignment
Write a scene based on a moment in history.
There are a few ways to approach this...
1) Literally, show us your twisted take on the moment. Have your scene take place on the boat when Washington crossed the Delaware.
2) Show us the moment before.
3) Show us the moment after.
4) Peripherally show us. Maybe the scene is about two guys on the dock or between two of the soldiers in the back of the crowded boat.
And don't forget the option of Clash of Context or genre parody. Washington crossing the Delaware might be a nice Clash of Context with the film Titanic.
VIDEOS!
Here are two videos I made out of the editing class I took last week.
Write a scene based on a moment in history.
There are a few ways to approach this...
1) Literally, show us your twisted take on the moment. Have your scene take place on the boat when Washington crossed the Delaware.
2) Show us the moment before.
3) Show us the moment after.
4) Peripherally show us. Maybe the scene is about two guys on the dock or between two of the soldiers in the back of the crowded boat.
And don't forget the option of Clash of Context or genre parody. Washington crossing the Delaware might be a nice Clash of Context with the film Titanic.
VIDEOS!
Here are two videos I made out of the editing class I took last week.
Cubby Wadsworth's Drive-Thru Zoo - watch more funny videos
Sketch 137 - "How To Write A Comedy Sketch" - watch more funny videos
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
RoboWriters Update!
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT
This week, write a scene that uses the whole theater space as a location. For example, a classroom, with the audience as student, or the whole theater is a swimming pool with the lifeguard on stage and the audience is the pool or swimmers in the pool.
PODCASTING
We've been talking about RvD doing a podcast and are exploring the technical side of such an endeavor. I have been taking a class at Columbia that has been schooling me in Garage Band and iMovies - two applications I have on my laptop and have barely touched in a year.
Here is my first foray into editing in iMovies. Enjoy. It's very thrilling.
This week, write a scene that uses the whole theater space as a location. For example, a classroom, with the audience as student, or the whole theater is a swimming pool with the lifeguard on stage and the audience is the pool or swimmers in the pool.
PODCASTING
We've been talking about RvD doing a podcast and are exploring the technical side of such an endeavor. I have been taking a class at Columbia that has been schooling me in Garage Band and iMovies - two applications I have on my laptop and have barely touched in a year.
Here is my first foray into editing in iMovies. Enjoy. It's very thrilling.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Too Soon? - RoboWriter Update
(Ed Sanchez-Gomez and Alex Moffat play two emotional play-by-play announcers in Throwing Heat. Photo by Jerry Schulman.)Throwing Heat, the play I directed, closes this weekend. Get you butt there to see it.
ROBOWRITERS
The assignment is to write a scene that takes place in a sensitive space, like the cockpit of one of the airliners about to crash into one of the World Trade Center towers. I guess you could call the assignment "Too Soon?"
Time change - instead of 6pm - 8pm this week, we'll be meeting from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. SC booked me to teach a class from 3pm-6pm this term and until they pony up for a teleportation pad, I'm stuck walking.
See you Sunday at the Pig.
- Joe
Saturday, May 16, 2009
My Wednesday RoboWriters Post
Um, hi.
Here's my Wednesday post. On Saturday. But for all intents and purposes, I will pretend it is Wednesday.
So. last Sunday, Mother's Day, RoboWriters had our first Field Trip. Everyone got their permission slips signed - or forged, Shawn - and met at the Webster Wine Bar for Second Story. This last evening of Serendipity Theater's story telling festival focused on moms. Their signature style involves personal true stories of revelation punctuated with sound effects and music - in this case, a jazz quartet. The evening gets it name from 1) the performance takes place on the second floor of the Webster Wine Bar and 2) they encourage patrons to chat between stories about their own experiences based on the story they just heard, thus, a second story.
ROBOWRITER ASSIGNMENT
We noticed the stories worked best when...
- I felt the story teller was talking to me. Had put their arm around me and was walking with me, relating this wonderful story.
- I made discoveries with them, even though they already had made the discoveries in reality.
- They painted vivid pictures and I could imagine what they were talking about as if I was there with them.
So, the assignment is to write a character telling a story. They can do this solo or as part of a scene, but if it is part of a scene, it should be the heart of the scene.
It's a style one seldom if ever sees performed in a sketch revue. In a scene, we typically avoid characters telling stories. The stories tend to be so rooted in the past and seldom move things forward in the scene. However, if the story is the scene and the teller includes the audience and their scene partners, well, you might just have something there.
Join us for RoboWriters Sundays at 6pm. Details to your right.
Now, it's raining outside and the LOST finale is about to come on. I think they're going to answer everything and not leave any loose threads for next season. Happy hump day.
- Joe
P.S. My fellow writers aren't aware of this, but we actually do have people who read this blog! Seriously. We get 30-50 hits a day. Granted, 20 of those are Chris.
Here's my Wednesday post. On Saturday. But for all intents and purposes, I will pretend it is Wednesday.
So. last Sunday, Mother's Day, RoboWriters had our first Field Trip. Everyone got their permission slips signed - or forged, Shawn - and met at the Webster Wine Bar for Second Story. This last evening of Serendipity Theater's story telling festival focused on moms. Their signature style involves personal true stories of revelation punctuated with sound effects and music - in this case, a jazz quartet. The evening gets it name from 1) the performance takes place on the second floor of the Webster Wine Bar and 2) they encourage patrons to chat between stories about their own experiences based on the story they just heard, thus, a second story.
ROBOWRITER ASSIGNMENT
We noticed the stories worked best when...
- I felt the story teller was talking to me. Had put their arm around me and was walking with me, relating this wonderful story.
- I made discoveries with them, even though they already had made the discoveries in reality.
- They painted vivid pictures and I could imagine what they were talking about as if I was there with them.
So, the assignment is to write a character telling a story. They can do this solo or as part of a scene, but if it is part of a scene, it should be the heart of the scene.
It's a style one seldom if ever sees performed in a sketch revue. In a scene, we typically avoid characters telling stories. The stories tend to be so rooted in the past and seldom move things forward in the scene. However, if the story is the scene and the teller includes the audience and their scene partners, well, you might just have something there.
Join us for RoboWriters Sundays at 6pm. Details to your right.
Now, it's raining outside and the LOST finale is about to come on. I think they're going to answer everything and not leave any loose threads for next season. Happy hump day.
- Joe
P.S. My fellow writers aren't aware of this, but we actually do have people who read this blog! Seriously. We get 30-50 hits a day. Granted, 20 of those are Chris.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
RoboWriters Update!
Okay, we have two RoboWriter meetings under our belt and things are looking strong for the weekly drop-in session for sketch comedy writers. Here are the two assignments from the last two weeks....
4/26/09 - Base a character on your opposite sex parent. Either use them directly, such as Anthony did with having his mom do a press conference on behalf of the Center for Disease Control on how to handle swine flu. Or simply infuse a character with your opposite sex parent, regardless of the character's gender. I am considering making my mother the fourth or fifth man on the moon.
5/3/09 - Write a scene that takes place in a dynamic environment, such as in a house that is on fire, a boat that is sinking or a submarine that is under attack.
Our regular weekly meetings will be at The Bourgeois Pig Cafe although this Sunday it's a RoboWriters Field Trip! Yeah! We're going to the Webster Wine Bar and staying for an event called Second Story. Details are to your right.
4/26/09 - Base a character on your opposite sex parent. Either use them directly, such as Anthony did with having his mom do a press conference on behalf of the Center for Disease Control on how to handle swine flu. Or simply infuse a character with your opposite sex parent, regardless of the character's gender. I am considering making my mother the fourth or fifth man on the moon.
5/3/09 - Write a scene that takes place in a dynamic environment, such as in a house that is on fire, a boat that is sinking or a submarine that is under attack.
Our regular weekly meetings will be at The Bourgeois Pig Cafe although this Sunday it's a RoboWriters Field Trip! Yeah! We're going to the Webster Wine Bar and staying for an event called Second Story. Details are to your right.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Return of the Maginicent RoboWriters
RoboWriters is a weekly drop-in workshop for sketch comedy writers of all levels. Come to get feedback on a scene you are already working on. Come to get ideas for new scenes. Come to hang out, read scenes, meet other writers.
Kick off is Sunday, April 26th from 6-8ish. This will be in room 101 of The Second City Training Center (first floor of Piper's Alley, past the security desk near the escalators). Like the normal coaching tradition, everyone will be asked to throw in five bucks for the workshop leader. All workshop leaders are members of Robot vs Dinosaur. The leader for the 26th will be Joe Janes. If you have an interested friend, feel free to bring them along!
Kick off is Sunday, April 26th from 6-8ish. This will be in room 101 of The Second City Training Center (first floor of Piper's Alley, past the security desk near the escalators). Like the normal coaching tradition, everyone will be asked to throw in five bucks for the workshop leader. All workshop leaders are members of Robot vs Dinosaur. The leader for the 26th will be Joe Janes. If you have an interested friend, feel free to bring them along!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Questions About Writing
Sometimes I'll get e-mails from aspiring writers that I think are worth sharing because they ask some valuable questions. Here's one I received from Zach Meincke.
Answer, Part A: Well, Zach, if I had the answer to that, my personal assistant would be answering your e-mail instead of me. As of now, I have not made any money from the sketches I have written. The only time I have been paid for my written work is when it has been commissioned, usually for a corporate training project. While I am proud of my work in this area, it involves a lot of client and producer input and the product is not anything I regard, personally or legally, as mine. I do enjoy it and it is fun. I have been able to do this through The Second City and Fig Media. And given what I know to be true about working in Hollywood, it's probably good training for that. How does one get in to that? Hanging out, meeting people, schmoozing and networking. It also helps to be getting your own work out there as much as possible so people have a reference point for you.
Answer, Part B: So, how do you get your work out there? By any means necessary. Form associations in classes and put on your own shows at the Skybox or Gorilla Tango. Be on the lookout for opportunities through Chicago Dramatists, PerformInk, The Reader and Craig's List for people looking for short works. There are many short works festivals around the country and in Chicago. You also have a film background, so get your stuff on YouTube and Funny or Die.
Answer, Part C: If you really want to writer for film and television, get thee to New York or LA. Learn what you can here, but you'll probably have to load up the truck and move to Beverly... Hills, that is. Swimming pools. Movie stars.
Answer: Yes. It's one way. I am totally writing 365 sketches to draw attention to my skills as a comedy writer, but the real pay off, for me, will be when the scenes are produced. Not sure how that's going to happen, yet.
Answer: There's no way I could afford, or would want to spend the money, to register each piece. The thing about copyright disputes boils down to being able to prove when a writer wrote something. When I publish a piece on my blog, it is time stamped. I also send an electronic copy of it to a group of friends of mine and it also gets posted on Facebook. My ass is covered. Whenever you write anything, make sure you are tracking the dates from rough draft to subsequent versions.
Answer: The smartest thing I've been able to do is find the right people to hang with and work off of. I do a lot of writing with WNEP, a theater company which formed out of a Second City class. But I don't get enough of a writing fix through them, so I also formed Robot vs Dinosaur (formerly, Teatro Bastardo) which is geared towards writing high quality sketch comedy. Most of the people in RvD have been through the Second City writing program. The two guys who haven't been through it, I met at ComedySportz. So, meet people and get with people whose writing you admire and you feel you can learn from.
Hope that was helpful, Zach. There's also some stirrings about us restarting RoboWriters - a weekly drop-in sketch writing class RvD used to host that I frequently lead. I have a small group of students committed to making it happen. They are currently trying to nail down a day, time and place. We'll announce it here when everything's ready to go.
Hello Mr. Janes,
My name is Zach Meincke, and I'm currently a student in the Second City writing program. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me.
First off, the link I found was to your 365 day sketch page, which is pretty cool. Obviously being a new student in sketch comedy got me looking for sketches to watch and read. My main aspiration is to make a career out of writing (tv and film mostly), but I find myself having trouble starting off. I was wondering if you had any pointers on how to get my work out there, and if a sketch is good enough, maybe sold.
Answer, Part A: Well, Zach, if I had the answer to that, my personal assistant would be answering your e-mail instead of me. As of now, I have not made any money from the sketches I have written. The only time I have been paid for my written work is when it has been commissioned, usually for a corporate training project. While I am proud of my work in this area, it involves a lot of client and producer input and the product is not anything I regard, personally or legally, as mine. I do enjoy it and it is fun. I have been able to do this through The Second City and Fig Media. And given what I know to be true about working in Hollywood, it's probably good training for that. How does one get in to that? Hanging out, meeting people, schmoozing and networking. It also helps to be getting your own work out there as much as possible so people have a reference point for you.
Answer, Part B: So, how do you get your work out there? By any means necessary. Form associations in classes and put on your own shows at the Skybox or Gorilla Tango. Be on the lookout for opportunities through Chicago Dramatists, PerformInk, The Reader and Craig's List for people looking for short works. There are many short works festivals around the country and in Chicago. You also have a film background, so get your stuff on YouTube and Funny or Die.
Answer, Part C: If you really want to writer for film and television, get thee to New York or LA. Learn what you can here, but you'll probably have to load up the truck and move to Beverly... Hills, that is. Swimming pools. Movie stars.
Last term I had Glenn Earich. He told me the best thing to do is produce my work. Would that be doing something like you are on your site?
Answer: Yes. It's one way. I am totally writing 365 sketches to draw attention to my skills as a comedy writer, but the real pay off, for me, will be when the scenes are produced. Not sure how that's going to happen, yet.
Also I saw your banner said it was copyrighted to you. Is that just something you wrote on the banner without registering your work? Doesn't that mean nothing? Just curious.
Answer: There's no way I could afford, or would want to spend the money, to register each piece. The thing about copyright disputes boils down to being able to prove when a writer wrote something. When I publish a piece on my blog, it is time stamped. I also send an electronic copy of it to a group of friends of mine and it also gets posted on Facebook. My ass is covered. Whenever you write anything, make sure you are tracking the dates from rough draft to subsequent versions.
I guess all I'm looking for at this point is any advice you might be able to throw at an aspiring writer like myself. I would find it very helpful. Who knows, maybe you'll eventually be teaching one of the writing classes I'm in.
Answer: The smartest thing I've been able to do is find the right people to hang with and work off of. I do a lot of writing with WNEP, a theater company which formed out of a Second City class. But I don't get enough of a writing fix through them, so I also formed Robot vs Dinosaur (formerly, Teatro Bastardo) which is geared towards writing high quality sketch comedy. Most of the people in RvD have been through the Second City writing program. The two guys who haven't been through it, I met at ComedySportz. So, meet people and get with people whose writing you admire and you feel you can learn from.
Hope that was helpful, Zach. There's also some stirrings about us restarting RoboWriters - a weekly drop-in sketch writing class RvD used to host that I frequently lead. I have a small group of students committed to making it happen. They are currently trying to nail down a day, time and place. We'll announce it here when everything's ready to go.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Make Someone Else's World Your Own
ROBOWRITER'S ASSIGNMENT - This is a genre exercise. Sort of a sideways parody. Take an existing franchise in any medium – Pirates of the Caribbean, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Lost, The Dark Tower, etc – and write a scene that takes place in that world, but does not involve any of their main characters. The characters used should be either peripheral or completely created by you. For example, write a scene featuring janitors on the USS Enterprise or some of those nameless faces of Lost. The challenge is to use that world without calling it out specifically or depending on the audience’s familiarity with said world. The key is to tend to the scenework and not make it into a nudge-nudge-wink-wink reference-palooza.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sitting Your Ass Down and Writing & Relatives As Resource
As many of you know, I have undertaken the insane challenge of writing a comedy sketch a day for a year. Today is day 38! It's been fun, it's been nerve-wracking, it's been exciting, it's been disappointing, it's been insightful. The initial excitement and enthusiasm are waning and now the real work begins. Just like being in a relationship. Mostly, I've been happy with what I have posted. I haven't posted anything that I don't see potential in. Now, I'm too the point where I have forgotten some of the scenes I have written and am pleasantly surprised when I run across them. That's always a fun thing as a writer. What is this? Who wrote this? Oh, I did. Damn, I'm good.
The best part of the challenge is that I have written things that just never ever would have been written if I didn't paint myself in a corner to do it. Waiting for the right idea to come along is a waste of time. Might as well write while you wait.
It reminded me of an excerpt from an old Robowriters assignment when we were in the early, early stages of developing The Greatest Stories Never Told...TOLD! The scene referred to that Nat wrote was his insane Johnny Appleseed saga, which became one of the anchors of our show.
The best part of the challenge is that I have written things that just never ever would have been written if I didn't paint myself in a corner to do it. Waiting for the right idea to come along is a waste of time. Might as well write while you wait.
It reminded me of an excerpt from an old Robowriters assignment when we were in the early, early stages of developing The Greatest Stories Never Told...TOLD! The scene referred to that Nat wrote was his insane Johnny Appleseed saga, which became one of the anchors of our show.
Last night's Robowriter's meeting was a lot of fun. The 8pm - 10pm group had the assignment to write a brand new ten page scene. Now, if you're primary experience is sketch writing, you're used to writing in 3-5 page increments. Trying to write a ten page scene can make your internal editor scream quite loudly and make your heart panic a little. Only three of the seven writers were able to accomplish this. Nat Topping wrote his in two hours the afternoon of the meeting! In the 6pm-8pm group, Scott Levy had similarly written a scene hours before the meeting based on one of the assignments from two weeks ago. It's the assignment I used last week to write my scene in forty-five minutes, also on the day of the meeting.
The interesting thing is, all three of those scenes were actually pretty good. All three need tweaking, but not a lot. There's a lot to be said for just sitting your ass down and writing. Especially under the pressure of a deadline. All three of us had the experience of not having much more than a sliver of an idea and all three of us were surprised by the results. I think it might come from trusting oneself. Or at least trusting that something good will come of it, even if it doesn't work on the whole.
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT: Develop a character based on a family member you may not know very well, living or dead - like an uncle or an aunt or a cousin. Write a scene where this character encounters something unusual.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Writing Assignment - Write Where You Are
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT:
Go to a place in public, like a coffee shop or a park, where you can sit and free write (pen to paper without stopping) for at least ten minutes. Free write about the environment around you and the people around you. Ideally, do this three times over the next three days or over the course of a week. Notice who the regulars are, notice patterns of behavior, site-specific jargon, recurring situations. Who and what are you drawn to? Develop a scene based on your observations.
Now, you don't have to go to the same spot more than once if you don't have the time or inclination. You can sit and write and absorb the place and people around you like a sponge and discover your scene from there. Pick two people around you and throw them into a scene together - not literally, on paper or on your lap top - and start exploring how they might encounter one another. Find the people or things that most people aren't noticing - the quiet, but efficient busboy, the homeless guy sifting through trash outside, the spilt sugar on the condiment station, etc, and build your scene around that.
You can write about anything anywhere, but if you are writing about where you are at, it connects you to the space and instead of coming up with something to write, you're more like taking dictation from the universe.
Go to a place in public, like a coffee shop or a park, where you can sit and free write (pen to paper without stopping) for at least ten minutes. Free write about the environment around you and the people around you. Ideally, do this three times over the next three days or over the course of a week. Notice who the regulars are, notice patterns of behavior, site-specific jargon, recurring situations. Who and what are you drawn to? Develop a scene based on your observations.
Now, you don't have to go to the same spot more than once if you don't have the time or inclination. You can sit and write and absorb the place and people around you like a sponge and discover your scene from there. Pick two people around you and throw them into a scene together - not literally, on paper or on your lap top - and start exploring how they might encounter one another. Find the people or things that most people aren't noticing - the quiet, but efficient busboy, the homeless guy sifting through trash outside, the spilt sugar on the condiment station, etc, and build your scene around that.
You can write about anything anywhere, but if you are writing about where you are at, it connects you to the space and instead of coming up with something to write, you're more like taking dictation from the universe.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Bringing Elements Together
Sometimes when it comes to writing a scene, writers need a little push, or a spring board. Much like an improviser might need a suggestion, no matter how arbitrary it may seem, to just get the ball rolling.
This assignment gets balls rolling.
RoboWriter Assignment #10
Write a scene using the following elements….
An image…
A line of dialogue…
"Luckily there are no 4's in my Mom's number."
And a word or phrase…
BROKEN AURA
You can take these words or images figuratively or literally. It’s up to you. They are all just a starting point.
This assignment gets balls rolling.
RoboWriter Assignment #10
Write a scene using the following elements….
An image…
A line of dialogue…
"Luckily there are no 4's in my Mom's number."
And a word or phrase…
BROKEN AURA
You can take these words or images figuratively or literally. It’s up to you. They are all just a starting point.
Monday, July 28, 2008
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT: Almost Like A Song
ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT: Almost Like A Song
At our recent Robowriters meeting, we discussed a certain type of scene that I’ve noticed that uses a phrase over and over, sort of like a trigger point or a reset button.
As an example, a recent scene I directed for the sketch troupe Cell Camp featured the phrase “Take a letter!” over and over. The set up was a crazy man walks up to a mall information desk and demands that the assistant take a letter for him while he dictates it. The scene really begins when he demands “Take a letter,” at which point the assistant tells him he doesn’t offer that type of assistance, etc. After the first beat runs its course, and we think the crazy man will leave him alone, there is a pause and the crazy man says “Take a letter!” The next beat continues with him dictating a new letter. This continues on and on, each beat seemingly coming to a conclusion, until the scene ends as it started with the crazy man demanding “take a letter.” Blackout.
Part of the comedy comes from hearing this line delivered over and over, and each time the audience hears it, they know that they are in for another short ride of silliness in which the crazy man has to justify his reason for another letter to be written and the other character resists.
When you look at a scene like this, it is almost structured like a song. Each time you hear the repeating line, it acts like a chorus, and the verses are what fill in the story of the song (or scene, in this case). Following this example, you can even break the pattern of the scene by having a bridge near the end, which might be a walk-on by another character, a rant by one of the characters, or anything else you can think of. But it will always come back to that repeating phrase.
Another thing to note is that these scenes can work in two ways. One is where the line that is being repeated is always spoken in the exact same tone and emotion throughout the scene. The actual beat of the scene will vary in energy (most likely getting bigger and more frenetic as the beat builds) but the phrase will reset everything back to a normal level. The flip of that would be that each beat has a similar energy, and the delivery of the line changes (most likely gets bigger and more emotional) each time it is repeated. This is probably a result of which character is reacting more, the one repeating the phrase or the one hearing it.
Almost any line that you can attach some sort of emotional significance to will work. I would suggest making a list of 10 lines, choosing 3 you like, and then taking one of those and writing a scene with it.
Here are five I came up with:
But I made a casserole.
I don’t want to go to Iowa.
I’m sorry I offended you.
That’s what I’m trying to tell you!
Can I offer you a sandwich?
Taking “Can I offer you a sandwich” as a line, you can start a two-person scene with the first person asking that question, and then give the second person reasons for not wanting a sandwich (not hungry, just ate, etc.). The first person will of course have reasons for him to eat it (it’s delicious, it’s free, you’re too skinny, etc.). The person asking will obviously not take no for an answer. The scene could build for three beats, each time ending with the one fellow refusing the sandwich, then the other fellow seemingly giving up, but then asking again. The last beat could feature a rant by the person being offered the sandwich (this would be the bridge), then a pause, you think the scene is over, until the first character says, “You look really angry. Are you sure I can’t offer you a sandwich?” Black out.
So give it a try. Write a scene based on this idea. Then have a sandwich.
Chris Othic
At our recent Robowriters meeting, we discussed a certain type of scene that I’ve noticed that uses a phrase over and over, sort of like a trigger point or a reset button.
As an example, a recent scene I directed for the sketch troupe Cell Camp featured the phrase “Take a letter!” over and over. The set up was a crazy man walks up to a mall information desk and demands that the assistant take a letter for him while he dictates it. The scene really begins when he demands “Take a letter,” at which point the assistant tells him he doesn’t offer that type of assistance, etc. After the first beat runs its course, and we think the crazy man will leave him alone, there is a pause and the crazy man says “Take a letter!” The next beat continues with him dictating a new letter. This continues on and on, each beat seemingly coming to a conclusion, until the scene ends as it started with the crazy man demanding “take a letter.” Blackout.
Part of the comedy comes from hearing this line delivered over and over, and each time the audience hears it, they know that they are in for another short ride of silliness in which the crazy man has to justify his reason for another letter to be written and the other character resists.
When you look at a scene like this, it is almost structured like a song. Each time you hear the repeating line, it acts like a chorus, and the verses are what fill in the story of the song (or scene, in this case). Following this example, you can even break the pattern of the scene by having a bridge near the end, which might be a walk-on by another character, a rant by one of the characters, or anything else you can think of. But it will always come back to that repeating phrase.
Another thing to note is that these scenes can work in two ways. One is where the line that is being repeated is always spoken in the exact same tone and emotion throughout the scene. The actual beat of the scene will vary in energy (most likely getting bigger and more frenetic as the beat builds) but the phrase will reset everything back to a normal level. The flip of that would be that each beat has a similar energy, and the delivery of the line changes (most likely gets bigger and more emotional) each time it is repeated. This is probably a result of which character is reacting more, the one repeating the phrase or the one hearing it.
Almost any line that you can attach some sort of emotional significance to will work. I would suggest making a list of 10 lines, choosing 3 you like, and then taking one of those and writing a scene with it.
Here are five I came up with:
But I made a casserole.
I don’t want to go to Iowa.
I’m sorry I offended you.
That’s what I’m trying to tell you!
Can I offer you a sandwich?
Taking “Can I offer you a sandwich” as a line, you can start a two-person scene with the first person asking that question, and then give the second person reasons for not wanting a sandwich (not hungry, just ate, etc.). The first person will of course have reasons for him to eat it (it’s delicious, it’s free, you’re too skinny, etc.). The person asking will obviously not take no for an answer. The scene could build for three beats, each time ending with the one fellow refusing the sandwich, then the other fellow seemingly giving up, but then asking again. The last beat could feature a rant by the person being offered the sandwich (this would be the bridge), then a pause, you think the scene is over, until the first character says, “You look really angry. Are you sure I can’t offer you a sandwich?” Black out.
So give it a try. Write a scene based on this idea. Then have a sandwich.
Chris Othic
Monday, July 14, 2008
Robowriters Assignment
Overheard
This assignment is a pretty good way to just start a scene and jump right in। You are going to take a line of overheard dialogue and use it as a jumping off point for a writing exercise. First, do a Google search of the term "overheard." Go to any of the websites you find. Here are a couple you will come across:
http://overheardlines.blogspot.com/
http://www.overheardeverywhere.com/
Browse through them until you find a line you would like to use। Don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what you want to write after you choose a line of dialogue, just jump right into it. It’s also best to use this exercise as a sort of writing improvisation.
Once you find a line, just get to writing your scene। You can take a few seconds—no more than 20 or 30--to think of a possible setting or characters, but it’s really best to start writing immediately and discover those things as you write. An alternative to starting the scene with one of these overheard lines is to try and write your way into the line. I’d try to get to it sooner rather than later, probably by the end of your second page of script.
One of the great things about reading these "overheard" lines is that you do not know the context that they are spoken in, so you have to create it yourself। Starting a scene with one of these lines is also a great way to begin a scene quickly by throwing something at the audience and getting right into the conflict of the scene.
Also remember that writing is a lot of observing what is around you and then creating your own context for those events। Feel free to eavesdrop as you go through your day and you might overhear a line or short conversation that you can use in your scene work as well.
Now get to writing!
Chris
This assignment is a pretty good way to just start a scene and jump right in। You are going to take a line of overheard dialogue and use it as a jumping off point for a writing exercise. First, do a Google search of the term "overheard." Go to any of the websites you find. Here are a couple you will come across:
http://overheardlines.blogspot.com/
http://www.overheardeverywhere.com/
Browse through them until you find a line you would like to use। Don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what you want to write after you choose a line of dialogue, just jump right into it. It’s also best to use this exercise as a sort of writing improvisation.
Once you find a line, just get to writing your scene। You can take a few seconds—no more than 20 or 30--to think of a possible setting or characters, but it’s really best to start writing immediately and discover those things as you write. An alternative to starting the scene with one of these overheard lines is to try and write your way into the line. I’d try to get to it sooner rather than later, probably by the end of your second page of script.
One of the great things about reading these "overheard" lines is that you do not know the context that they are spoken in, so you have to create it yourself। Starting a scene with one of these lines is also a great way to begin a scene quickly by throwing something at the audience and getting right into the conflict of the scene.
Also remember that writing is a lot of observing what is around you and then creating your own context for those events। Feel free to eavesdrop as you go through your day and you might overhear a line or short conversation that you can use in your scene work as well.
Now get to writing!
Chris
Monday, June 23, 2008
Robowriters Assignment: The Three-Page Scene
When writing for our last show, Robot vs. Dinosaur writers explored writing longer scenes. Whereas a typical sketch should come in at right around five pages, we played around with ten page scenes, and occasionally some that were even a few pages longer. I think some of the writers liked doing this, as it gave them more freedom to explore and develop the scene. I hated it. Once you get around ten pages, I feel like you are writing more a of play than a sketch, and there is a different set of rules to work with.
Recently, however, we have been going the other way, by writing three-page scenes. I love the three-page scene, and I’ll tell you why. The most common critique I give when reading sketches is that a scene “can start a lot sooner.” Often, when someone comes in with a first draft, the scene doesn’t really begin until page two (or three sometimes) because the writer is “writing” their way into a scene, giving too much setup. In a good sketch comedy scene, you almost never need more than a half a page to set up the scene and then get to the conflict and start creating obstacles for the protagonist. With a three-page scene, you don’t have to worry about having too much setup because you just don’t have space for it.
The assignment here is simple: write a three-page scene, no more, no less. Anything less than three pages, and you run the risk of writing a blackout or an extended blackout. Anything more and you are not writing a three-page scene, you’re writing a four-page scene. Duh.
A three-page scene has everything a regular scene has: a set up, a problem, heightening, and a resolution, but it’s just done more economically. It’s a good way to cut the fat out, because every word has to be there for a reason. That’s why you don’t want to get fancy and have even two or three lines skip over to page four, keep it at three at all costs because it will really force you to go back and trim every unnecessary line out of the scene.
The other reason I like three-page scenes is this: it’s easier than five pages, because you can have an idea for a scene and only have to heighten it for a shorter period of time. I’ve read many scenes that were great ideas, but they either started too far into the scene, or ran out of gas at the end. With a three-pager you can avoid both of these problems. You will also find that it’s easier to take an idea that might not be quite good enough to go five pages, but you can sustain it for three fairly easily.
So write a three-page scene. It can be an original, or go find a five-page script you wrote that maybe didn’t work, and see if you can make it explode in three pages. Have fun.
Recently, however, we have been going the other way, by writing three-page scenes. I love the three-page scene, and I’ll tell you why. The most common critique I give when reading sketches is that a scene “can start a lot sooner.” Often, when someone comes in with a first draft, the scene doesn’t really begin until page two (or three sometimes) because the writer is “writing” their way into a scene, giving too much setup. In a good sketch comedy scene, you almost never need more than a half a page to set up the scene and then get to the conflict and start creating obstacles for the protagonist. With a three-page scene, you don’t have to worry about having too much setup because you just don’t have space for it.
The assignment here is simple: write a three-page scene, no more, no less. Anything less than three pages, and you run the risk of writing a blackout or an extended blackout. Anything more and you are not writing a three-page scene, you’re writing a four-page scene. Duh.
A three-page scene has everything a regular scene has: a set up, a problem, heightening, and a resolution, but it’s just done more economically. It’s a good way to cut the fat out, because every word has to be there for a reason. That’s why you don’t want to get fancy and have even two or three lines skip over to page four, keep it at three at all costs because it will really force you to go back and trim every unnecessary line out of the scene.
The other reason I like three-page scenes is this: it’s easier than five pages, because you can have an idea for a scene and only have to heighten it for a shorter period of time. I’ve read many scenes that were great ideas, but they either started too far into the scene, or ran out of gas at the end. With a three-pager you can avoid both of these problems. You will also find that it’s easier to take an idea that might not be quite good enough to go five pages, but you can sustain it for three fairly easily.
So write a three-page scene. It can be an original, or go find a five-page script you wrote that maybe didn’t work, and see if you can make it explode in three pages. Have fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
