Building a TV Series Episode 1: Writing a Pilot

so i've talked a lot about writing a screenplay for a feature-length film and now i want to walk you through writing a television show starting from how to write a pilot then talking about the philosophy behind a particular show then going through the characters and character change over the course of a season and also talk about the structure of a tv show today i want to look at how to write a strong pilot i'll show you the purpose of a pilot episode how to write a pilot well and how to set your story on the right track let's begin as a writer you'll usually not write an entire show or an entire season of a show on your own some writers have done that like nick piselata with true detective and taylor sheridan with yellowstone but it's not the norm when you're wanting to write a tv show you will write a pilot the pilot will be the first episode of your tv show the pilot exists to do a lot of different things your pilot will set up the concept of your show set up the philosophical ideas within your show set up the characters of your show start your characters on their show long or season long arcs and it will showcase your talent as a writer so how do you begin writing a fantastic pilot you will start your pilot just like any other story with an idea remember any idea can be good or bad ideas themselves don't immediately mean a story will succeed or fail but some ideas are more immediately interesting than others for example a show about office workers going about their daily lives is not as immediately interesting as high school chemistry teacher decides to become a meth dealer this is just something to be aware of just because your initial idea is easy to pitch doesn't mean it will be good and just because your idea doesn't immediately sound spectacular doesn't mean it can't be a fantastic show so once you have an idea for your tv show you want to understand your show's hook your show's hook is a one to two sentence explanation of the show's concept and what makes it unique or interesting this can also be called your show's premise breaking bad's premise is simple a 50-year-old brilliant chemistry teacher finds out he has cancer and starts to cook and sell meth this is the fundamental idea of your story and it's what you need to show your audience in the pilot episode of your series now that you have an understanding of the concept of your show it's time to build the most integral element the philosophical conflict fun concepts can hook an audience for a little while but what keeps an audience coming back to a show again and again will be the core philosophical conflict taking place at the center of the show breaking bad isn't just about a chemistry teacher who decides to cook meth it's about something much deeper when we meet walter white in the beginning of the show we meet a man who is essentially sleepwalking through life he is intelligent a brilliant chemist and has won a nobel prize but he is not respected he teaches disrespectful high school students at his main job and then gets yelled at by his boss at his second job and on a particularly bad day he has to clean the wheels of his student's car walter's wife and brother-in-law don't respect him his son walter jr looks up to his uncle not his father walter is a man without control and without respect and inside he desperately wants both when walter is diagnosed with cancer suddenly his world changes instead of living passively the cancer wakes him up and it jolts him into going after what he really wants walter is awake he is finally going after the power and control he's always wanted getting cancer changes his beliefs breaking bad is not just about a high school teacher becoming a meth cook breaking bad is about a man who is taking action because of a sudden change in his philosophical beliefs this is how you need to look at your story as well what are your characters lacking at their core what do they truly want not just externally but who do they want to be do they want respect power control what are their values and how do those values come into conflict with other characters notice that the other characters like hank and the disrespectful high school students aren't simply external obstacles they directly show walter how little power and respect he has they directly attack his self-image and self-worth this takes time and skill to correctly understand and implement into your show but learning how to do this will be the singular most important thing you can do to strengthen your writing once you have an understanding of the different beliefs and ideas within your story and how your characters will act upon what they believe you can begin structuring your pilot episode there's a great video by lessons from the screenplay where he breaks down the structure of the breaking bad pilot and i recommend you check out that video i will be taking a slightly different look at the structure of the breaking bad pilot but i recommend watching his video as well the breaking bad pilot starts off with a teaser the teaser of your pilot is built to hook the audience into this episode teasers are usually very short around 1 to 3 pages the goal is to get in and get out and simply leave the audience wondering what in the world is about to happen in this show breaking bad's teaser starts with a flurry of action an unknown man wearing a gas mask drives an rv through the desert two dead bodies slosh around in mysterious liquid behind him the rv crashes forcing the man to prepare to face the police in pursuit of him he takes out his gun ready to fight this teaser is intense and gets the audience hooked into the rest of the show now the rest of the show follows a four act structure but rather than taking a look at each of the acts i want to look at the story as a whole and examine how it works within the story circle if you've watched this channel you know i've covered the story circle at length links below for detailed videos on the story circle the story circle is a fantastic way to write any story from a novel to a short script and it works great for an episode of television as well let's take a look at the breaking bad pilot and look at how it fits within the story circle in the beginning we meet our main character walter white he is intelligent but bored mentally strong but powerless we see what walt wants even though he doesn't go after it he wants respect and control and we see his reaction towards others who belittle him at the end of act 1 walt collapses and act 2 starts out with walt's unfamiliar situation walt is crushed by this news but he adapts when he goes on the ride along with hank and sees a former student of his fleeing the crime scene walt continues to adapt and teams up with jesse to cook meth and it is here we begin to get a stronger sense of what walt really wants walt is continuing to adapt he invests thousands of dollars into this new enterprise and steals from his high school act 4 the pilot brings us through the rest of the circle this pilot has been about showing walter white in the world he lives in now we are getting a taste of what's to come and what this show will be about walter and jesse take their rv out into the middle of nowhere and walter gets what he wants they cook their first batch of meth but this comes at a cost when jesse goes to sell the newly cooked meth everything blows up in his face his old partner is angry at him for running when the dea showed up and he forces jesse to take him and his brother to walter the drug dealers are looking to take the meth and kill both walter and jesse but walter ends this conflict by killing the two men this does not return walt and jesse to a familiar situation since this is the pilot of a tv show but it does end the conflict for this first episode while still giving lots of room for further conflict in the future the show is now set up and walt has changed he is finally awake he has only two years to live and now we have the setup for the rest of the show your pilot will set the tone for your entire show it will introduce the concept of your show introduce the philosophical conflict and show who your characters are and the journey they will be on remember that a good concept can only take you so far strong characters deep conflict and skillful writing will matter much more than having the perfect show idea writing a screenplay for a pilot or a feature can be a difficult task many new writers struggle with writer's block and procrastination and never even finish a single script and some writers get 20 or 30 pages into their screenplay and give up if that's you then i have a video for you to watch where i show you how you can write 5 10 even 15 pages a day consistently and finally overcome your fear of writing click the first link in the description to watch it now and if you like this video leave a like and subscribe for more videos just like this one thanks for watching [Music] you

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 214,711

Keywords: film analysis, movie review, tyler mowery, nerdwriter, lessons from the screenplay, every frame a painting, screenwriting, script breakdown, writing, workshop, writing course, teach screenwriting, oscar best screenplay, film school, breaking bad, pilot, tv pilot

Id: 9QlDqebTX5A

Length: 9min 10sec (550 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 27 2021