Loglines and Beatsheets

A week into my classes at VFS, I realize just how little I know about the business of film and TV. We started our Genre: TV class by listing different genres and examples of those genres on the board. At least half of the TV shows mentioned I had never even heard of before, and probably 90 % of them I hadn't seen. Needless to say, having spent so much time in Korea has caused me to abandon my television viewing habits. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine, but as an aspiring writer, maybe I've got some catching up to do. So, in addition to all the regular homework I have to do, now I have a whole bunch of TV shows I should watch. Hmm, could be worse, I suppose.

Yesterday, I completed my first homework assignment -- an adaptation of the first chapter of The Maltese Falcon. The point of the assignment was to learn the correct format for writing a screenplay. Whether or not I did a decent job of adapting the story is probably not important right now, but it was good to get the practice.

I also completed reading a script for the first time: Some Like It Hot. Written half a century ago, the screenplay is probably meant to demonstrate some features that we would not want to include in our scripts today, especially the overly-descriptive action paragraphs and the guiding of the camera. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining story, easy to visualize.

As for those loglines and beatsheets, I learned what they are: difficult to do! But at least I know what their purpose is. And it's those kinds of things that begin to make me think I'm getting something useful out of this program.

P.S. In case some of my former co-workers in Korea read this, don't be confused about the term beatsheets. Those aren't something you use after enjoying your favourite porn on the Internet. Just thought there might be some confusion there. Carry on.