The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio
The calling card script is the script that expresses your voice, gets you noticed and helps you reach commission and production. Written by Paul Ashton, Development Manager of the BBC writersroom, and born out of his wide experience of reading scripts, working with writers, and as an industry 'gatekeeper', this is a guide to the key writing tools you need to know and understand to write a truly original script.

As many professionals need to switch mediums and genres in order to survive and thrive, the book uniquely draws together the universal principles of dramatic storytelling for screen, stage, and radio. With a focus on the script as a blue print for performance, sections and chapters break down into bite-sized practical insights and the book mirrors both the jourbaney of the story and process of writing it.

The Calling Card Script shows how to tell a great story in script form and offers valuable professional development insight for all writers, whether established or just starting out, who wish to hone their craft and speak their voice.

"1100823667"
The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio
The calling card script is the script that expresses your voice, gets you noticed and helps you reach commission and production. Written by Paul Ashton, Development Manager of the BBC writersroom, and born out of his wide experience of reading scripts, working with writers, and as an industry 'gatekeeper', this is a guide to the key writing tools you need to know and understand to write a truly original script.

As many professionals need to switch mediums and genres in order to survive and thrive, the book uniquely draws together the universal principles of dramatic storytelling for screen, stage, and radio. With a focus on the script as a blue print for performance, sections and chapters break down into bite-sized practical insights and the book mirrors both the jourbaney of the story and process of writing it.

The Calling Card Script shows how to tell a great story in script form and offers valuable professional development insight for all writers, whether established or just starting out, who wish to hone their craft and speak their voice.

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The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio

The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio

by Paul Ashton
The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio

The Calling Card Script: A writer's toolbox for screen, stage and radio

by Paul Ashton

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$26.95 
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Overview

The calling card script is the script that expresses your voice, gets you noticed and helps you reach commission and production. Written by Paul Ashton, Development Manager of the BBC writersroom, and born out of his wide experience of reading scripts, working with writers, and as an industry 'gatekeeper', this is a guide to the key writing tools you need to know and understand to write a truly original script.

As many professionals need to switch mediums and genres in order to survive and thrive, the book uniquely draws together the universal principles of dramatic storytelling for screen, stage, and radio. With a focus on the script as a blue print for performance, sections and chapters break down into bite-sized practical insights and the book mirrors both the jourbaney of the story and process of writing it.

The Calling Card Script shows how to tell a great story in script form and offers valuable professional development insight for all writers, whether established or just starting out, who wish to hone their craft and speak their voice.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350361973
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 09/05/2024
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Paul Ashton is Head of Film & TV at Creative UK, where he works extensively with writers and filmmakers and has lead industry talent programmes iFeatures and Breakout. He is Executive Producer on the film and TV slate - from Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' and Netflix Original 'Calibre', to theatrical releases such as 'White Riot' and 'Benediction' - as well as on numerous shorts, including BIFA-winning and BAFTA-nominated films.

Paul was previously Development Producer at the BBC, where his credits included ACADEMY and BAFTA-nominated shorts and BAFTA-nominated debut feature 'Shifty'. His work with talent through BBC writersroom has seen BAFTA, RTS, SONY, PRIX ITALIA, IMISON and TINNISWOOD winning drama and comedy by emerging writers produced across television and radio slots - from Mike Bartlett's first drama on BBC radio to 'Wolfblood' on CBBC. Paul has over 20 years of experience across film, TV, radio and theatre, with a career-long commitment to emerging talent and regional voices.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

An act of faith

The 'toolbox'

The form of this book

What this book does not do

An industry perspective

Points of reference

The 'calling card' script

A basic definition

The writer's ego versus the writer's journey

1 The Medium 9

The Writer as Medium 11

'Medium'

One man and every man

What writers do

Instinct and craft

Is the writer a medium?

Using medium

The Theatrical Space 13

What is theatre?

Magic, ritual and spectacle

Spectator and audience

Auditoria

Complexity of space

Complexity of form

The empty space

The technological space

Clarity of space

Money, monsterism and miniaturism

The director

The actor

Directing the action

Theatre and metaphor

Radio and the Acoustic Environment 21

'Theatre of the airwaves'

Cinema of the airwaves

The contradiction

Auditorium

The purest form

The audience

Only for radio

Acoustic environment

Scope

Voice

Music

Sound

Film and the Cinematic Canvas 26

The big picture

Theatrical release

Cinema scope

Knowing your place

'Show don't tell'

Sign language

Up close

Montage

The whole story

The complex singularity

The kind of story

Universal

Television and the Relentless Format 32

Distractions

The morning after

The cold light of day

The schedule

Audience is god

The phenomenon

Jumping the shark

The single exception

Format not formula

Basic distinctions

Serial

Continuing series

Precinct

Returning series

Relentless meets format

2 The Beginning 45

What are Producers Looking for? 47

The meat market

The market

So what are people looking for?

Where to Begin? 49

The blank page

Knowledge is power

News of the world

Devil in the detail

A head for ideas

You

Your feelings

Your voice

The X Factor

What is a voice?

Can you hear your own voice?

Kinds of Stories 55

Archetypes

Linear

Epic

Full circle

Fractured

Repetitive

Reversed

The impact of shape

Genre

Theatre and genre

Radio and genre

Television and genre

Tone

The right form

What's the Big Idea? 64

'Droit moral'

Theme

Universal

Concept and world

Premise

Premise and character

Premise and emotion

The big idea

Idea and medium

Theatre

Radio

Film

Television

What's the Story? 71

Beginnings and endings

Knowing where you are going

Direction and purpose

Focus

Point of view

Movie ensembles

Hook

POV turned upside-down

Getting Into Character 77

Test of character

Dramatic versus comic

Spending time

Empathy

Definition

Archetypes

Features

Eccentricity

Qualities

Capabilities and flaws

Estimation

Attitude

POV

History and backstory

Moral compass

Morality and conflict

The 'agon'

Hero and villain

Desire and need

Desire versus need

Action

Vulnerability

Character and medium

Theatrical character

Radio character

Film character

TV Character

Hitting the Ground Running 94

Page one

Know your story

Hook the attention

The midst of a moment

A focused way in

'Getting to know' the characters

Exposition

The captive audience

Structure and the Beginning 100

'Act one'

Structural diagrams

The universal formula

Three is the magic number

But three is not a simple number

The beginning

Disorientation versus confusion

Establish the world

Delayed establishment

Desire, need, problem

Call to change/action

The complex call

The uncertainty

Point of no return

Tension

Episode and series beginnings

The Plan of Action 112

When to start writing?

Treatments

Clarity

Coherence

Building a blueprint

3 The Middle 117

The Muddle in the Middle 119

Managing the muddle

Muddled metaphors

Fail better

Dig deeper

Stretch the line

Dominoes

Deeper into Character 122

The 'arc'

Change

State of becoming

Muddied wants and needs

Muddled consequences

Beyond the comfort zone

Developing the 'agon'

Developing the complexity

New world, new characteristics

Qualities

Capabilities and flaws

POV, morality, attitude

Vulnerabilities

Developing relationships

Journey towards awareness

Contradiction

Surprising themselves

Character and action

Character and structure

The 'middle' in series and serials

Returning series

Serials

Abstract alternatives

Surprise 139

Revelation

Deus ex machina

Shock tactics

Secrets

Dramatic irony

Unexpected outcomes

Predictability

Tedium

Cliché

Structure and the Middle 146

The dividing lines

Momentum

Dominoes

Peaks and troughs

The road ahead

Sharp bends and chicanes

Cul-de-sacs

A clear view of the distance

Quicksands and high tides

The cave

Chasms and rockfaces

A second point of no return

The (not so) natural order

Causing a Scene 156

What is a scene?

The basics

Picture and montage

Dramatic action

Conflict

Goals

Conflicts that matter

What's at stake?

Three dramatic levels

Subtext

Surprise

Beats

What to show

Juxtaposition

Less is more

Kinds of scenes

The theatrical scene

The radio scene

The screen scene

From Plan to Action 170

Ready to write

Refer to the blueprint

Develop the blueprint

Step outline

Wild drafts

Write the beginning

4 The End 175

An Ending in Sight 177

Fundamentals

Some endings

'The End'

Simple versus complex

Is that it?

Ending is emotion

A fitting end

Satisfaction 181

Entertainment

Follow through

The story beyond

Open endings

Ambiguity

Twists

Deus ex machina

Anagnorisis

Impact

Structure and the Ending 190

Climax and crisis

Change

Resolution

Conclusion

Coda

Absurd endings

Series and serial hooks

Cliffhangers

The natural order

No pause for breath

A means to an end

The Character's voice 198

Mouthpieces

Dialectic

Dialogue is not conversation

Monologue

Theatrical soliloquy

'Inner' and 'close' in radio

The cinematic voice-over

TV catchphrases

Can you hear it?

Can you say it?

Dialogue is not logical

The non-sequitur

Voice is expression

Authenticity

Uniqueness

Tics

Accents

Dialect and slang

Naturalism

Stylisation

Rhetoric

Lyrical

On the nose

Exposition and information

'Bad language'

(Prefacing)

Shouting!

Terse versus glib

Wit and wordplay

Silence and space

Subtext

Writing and Rewriting 218

Focus and control

Expectations

Questions

Realities

Rewriting

Rewriting your signature

Time and space

Objective and subjective

Feedback

The red pen

Reclaim your subjectivity

Is it really finished?

How finished does it need to be?

Coda 226

Starting over

It never gets any easier

Appendix 229

Script reading and viewing

Books about writing

Resources

Index 235

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