Sunday, June 1, 2008

Where will my script take place?

The location you choose for your script is very important. This of course is also true for the smaller scale pieces, your scenes, but i'll talk about the general location of the script. A few points to think about when choosing the place where the action happens:

1. The location defines the world of your script. Or, better say, you define the world by choosing the locations. Say you write a hospital drama. Does it take place in a hospital like you and I know? Is it a hospital in a rough area of the city? A small private institute? How does it look: maybe it's a super modern facility in the middle of the desert? Think of the hospital in House and the hospital of Grey's Anatomy. They feel different. And it serves the script.

2. How real is your location? Is it there for some fantasy feeling? I'm not talking about SF here, but something more basic. Is it a place that looks very normal (the beach) but we see it in a new light, that makes it very unique (in Israel, a beach that's only for religious women, no men allowed)? There is a dramatic force to this location, conflicts and rules that go with it.

3. How well do you know this location? Say you write a comedy in space. You don't need to be related to NASA by any case. Maybe space is just another way to describe your highschool. Like they did in Alien: the spaceship (and the crew) look more like a truck drivers' station. Location, that is, goes hand in hand with character. And when your character doesn't fit the place - it's another conflict you must deal with.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR BLOG, IT(HE,SHE) CONTINUES FORWARD. IT (HE) LIKES TO ME YOU DO IT, ME THE CINEMA LIKES AND TO WRITE. I HAVE LEARNED VERY MUCH OF YOU. PLEASE WRITES A SMALL PROFILE OF YOU. BY, ADOLFO, BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA (MSN TIGRE3415@HOTMAIL.COM)

Kash said...

thanks :)
profile will come soon, or never

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