2008: The Directors and Writers Thread

[MarkH]

Yikes. Seems forboding. I will officially stop delving.

[Sylph]

It's not (foreboding)! It's just that there isn't much there...

[sheilaforever]

...unless she stole cryogenized sperm or her husband had two vasectomies.

Little gossipy question: DaytimeConfidential said (well it's been two weeks or so) an ex-Y&R-writer applied for Imaginary Bitches. Who is it? Sara A. Bibel?

[dm.]

Larry Carpenter directed 4 episodes in a row for OLTL last week. It's a 60 minute show... isn't that man exhausted?

[sheilaforever]

It's probably summer hiatus pre-taping like 4 episodes in 2 or 3 days...

And I've heard of people with an office job (soap directors sit in the booth) who work 5 days a week!?

[Kubla Khan]

Well, directors have a lot to prepare for. They may only be in the studio 1-2 times a week, but they have to work at home to extensively plan out their shots.

[R Sinclair]

Exactly. They don't just "sit in a booth." They do pre-production, have production meetings, block out an entire 90 page script, and are there pretty much until the last scene is taped. Depending on what's going on, they could be there until midnight. They don't have the luxury the actors do these days -- come in at 7am (or whenever their call time is), block and tape a couple of scenes and be out by noon (not all the time, but depending on what that character is written to do during the episode, yeah. Sometimes).

That reminds me of a joke from Joey on Friends, where he talked about how he had a difficult day at work taping DAYS. Something along the lines of, "Yeah, I had a tough day at work, too. I had to open a door and go "

[Sylph]

So did Brown & Esensten had an effect on DOOL dialogue while they were there (January-July 2007)? Who edited under Hogan before and after those two?

[Toups]

Like SheilaF said, it's probably multilple episodes in one day. But still, that is a lot for a 60 min show.

I don't think they had a huge effect on dialogue. The main problem was Hogan's stories from Jan-July. Of course we now know Hogan had dfferent plans than what aired.

Before B&E was Jeanne Ford. After B&E was Richard Backus.

[Sylph]

Thanks, Toups.

[soaplvr02]

B&E specifically wanted dialogue that was "natural"... their first few months on AMC they tore all the scripts apart, adding things like, "huh?" and "oh" all over the place.

"Really?" was also a favorite line B&E would add themselves.

[Sylph]

:lol:

[MarkH]

Oh my--what a surprising site redesign! It is definitely brighter...I look forward to getting used to it.

Anyway, JenniferKate's link to the final episode of Santa Barbara in the VideoBash let me see the pics of a number of writers/directors/producers who are still active. So, I'm putting a few screen caps here...maybe they help Toups' collection? I hope I'm not duplicating stuff someone has already done... These images date to 1993.

The video is not clear, so these caps reflect their quality. The thumbnails here link to bigger (but not necessary clearer) images.

Bridget and Jerome Dobson:

Lisa Hesser:

Steve Kent:

Andrew Lee:

Anthony Morina:

Pam Long:

Michelle Val Jean and Thom Racina:

[R Sinclair]

I can't front. I do things like that when I write dialog(ue). It's just that writing dialog(ue) is similar to composing music. There are certain rhythms and beats that words have. I plead guilty to ripping a certain line of dialog(ue) to shreads just because it didn't read well to me. Granted, it doesn't change the meaning of what's being spoken by the character, but it does change the tone or rhythm. Like, for instance, I have been known to change "can't" to "can not" (I hate "cannot," so I don't write it like that) for the simple fact that I believe the latter expresses the mood or the importance of that line.

I will say, however, that when I do write and take my red felt tip pen to my hard copy, one of the first things to go are the "huhs." I hate the sound of "huh" with a major passion. Also, what I tend to remove are things like "so, what are you going to do?" or "so, what are you saying?" Those are traps that I tend to fall head first into and then cringe when I read it back -- because the whole point of writing dialog(ue) is to express what the character's "going to do" or what they are saying. There should be no need to have another character ask that question. The audience doesn't need to be prompted or cued to wonder what someone's going to do. If the audience your writing for is smart, they'll already be involved enough to the point where they're wondering that themselves. They don't need Character B asking the question to Character A for them.

[Sylph]

As much as I like this chockfull of theory, I have to ask: are you seriously suggesting that "huh?" and "really" make the dialogue more natural? Those inarticulate, street-speak words should be the first to go when editing a script.

And you're not the only one who "rips a certain line of dialogue" just because it doesn't read well. That's the whole point of editing.

And cannot and can not are two very different things. Incomparable.