Singing About the RainComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Monday, February 02, 2009

Q. I have a scene in my spec pilot that would play better in the rain. And maybe thunder. Is rain an expensive effect in TV?
One mistake aspiring writers make, I find, is to worry too much about the production budget, and often in incorrect ways.

Some things look expensive and are: car chases, stunts, explosions. Robots that turn into cars. Dinosaurs. Dragons.

Other things don't look expensive, but are. Every time you take the cast to a new location, it involves a company move. That means the entire company has to wrap up all of their stuff, put it in the truck, take it out again at a new location, and put it in place.

Every time you put an extra character in a scene, that increases the number of setups the director needs to cover the scene. Each new setup means the d.p. gets to fuss with his lights some more. It's hard to get in and out of a new setup in less than half an hour.

Time is the real cost. TV shows just don't have that much time in the schedule. You have a crew of, let's say, 30-60 people, all of them on the clock and hoping you go into overtime.

Cats. Cats are really expensive. The cat wrangler doesn't get all that much money, but cats never do what you want them to do, and the whole crew is sitting around while the little carnivore is not doing what you want him to do. Dogs are better -- at least they want to do what you want them to do. But any kind of animal on screen that isn't a person sitting on a horse is going to eat up your day. That's why characters on TV so rarely have pets.

What's not expensive? Rain. If you are shooting indoors, rain is a pipe with holes in it, stuck just out of sight above the window. In you are shooting outdoors, rain is provided by a rain truck, which is just a tanker truck, some hoses, and a variety of nozzles. The camera doesn't register rain at a distance, so the crew just has to slick down the street with water and then provide rain up close.

Granted, you can't shoot rain in the sun, which is why most rain scenes are at night.

Thunder, on the other hand, is practically free. It's a sound effect; the sound editor has it in his computer, and he can give you fifteen different thunder breaks inside of a minute. Sound editors are super fun to work with.

Oddly, real rain rarely registers on camera. You can shoot in a drizzle, and no one will know. Only big gloppy raindrops show up.

You know what else isn't expensive? Extras. While producers will always try to get you to knock some of the extras out of a scene, a regular TV budget can stand a few scenes of your stars walking along a busy street. Don't be afraid to put a (non-speaking) guy selling knishes in your scene. They can always take him out later if they have to.

It's good to keep your pilot "small" and easy to shoot. But don't go overboard and write nothing but two-handers in rooms. No one wants to see that on TV. Focus instead on fitting your story into fewer locations with fewer speaking characters, and flesh out your world with an appropriate number of extras and all the rain you like.

5 Comments:

Thanks for answering so fast, that's really useful.

I'll have to save that post somewhere and keep referring to it.

Thanks.

By Blogger Neil, at 10:00 AM  

I attended the taping of a sitcom pilot with Fred Savage once. He was a single rich screenwriter with a cat. I don't think there was a single scene where that cat did what it was supposed to. Eventually they just lived with a shot of it leaping away from him as he tried to pet it.

By Blogger Emily Blake, at 11:08 AM  

I attended the taping of a sitcom pilot with Fred Savage once. He was a single rich screenwriter with a cat. I don't think there was a single scene where that cat did what it was supposed to. Eventually they just lived with a shot of it leaping away from him as he tried to pet it.

By Blogger Emily Blake, at 11:08 AM  

Useful tips, but don't you think writers should ignore the weather, unless they have a really good reason to dictate it? (ie. reasons that are essential to the narrative, that tie into the theme or the character's emotions, etc.) I set the first feature length screenplay I ever wrote in Northern Canada, for reasons that weren't much better than "snow looks cool." I thought I was writing for a miniscule budget. I got my first on-set experience as a PA shortly after, and realized that setting every last exterior shot in snow would be a huge pain in the ass. Think.. the crew wouldn't even be able to walk around without completely disturbing the set! Now, movies like The Thing wouldn't exist if writers/filmmakers stayed away from snow completely, and I don't want to live in a world where The Thing doesn't exist. But the weather should never be arbitrary, even though it often seems to be in real life. So my approach to the weather is to always questions whether it NEEDS to be a certain way, and if it doesn't, I don't mention it and if it ever gets produced the art department can figure it out.

By Blogger Zack Mosley, at 4:50 PM  

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:24 PM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.