SCENE BEGINNINGS - BEGIN THE SCENE AS LATE AS POSSIBLE, AND GET OUT OF IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
See SCRIPTING THE BEGINNING OF A SCENE
EXAMPLES OF SCENE BEGINNINGS
FROM 'SPACE DETECTIVES ARE GO!'
SPINNER - INNOCENT BOY
DAVE - STREETWISE BOY
3.1.3.
Equipment storage Room - Dave and Spinner - Warehouse interior.
1 Dave: (indignant and unwilling to help) What on earth is all
this junk?
2 Spinner: (sorting) This 'junk' is some of the most advanced crime
investigative equipment of the third millennium. Sensors that could trace
a mouse's heart
beat from two miles. Legs which mean the humanoid wearing them can run
faster than a carnivore megatron.
3 FX: (Dave rooting through equipment, as it clatters)
4 Dave: Junk!
5 Bryan: You're supposed to be helping me look, not making a mess.
6 Dave: Surely an 'invisibilty' outfit is going to be pretty hard to find?
COMMENT ABOUT THIS SCRIPTING - the TWO PLUS ONE FORMULA and GET INTO IT AS LATE AS POSSIBLE, GET OUT OF IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Two characters are struggling with some spaceship equipment, one of them dedicated to the task, and the other objecting and joking, and they then can get on to discussing another (serious or crucial) topic. In the middle of the scene (later - not in this excerpt), a third character arrives.
We are on a spaceship, and the plot here involves finding the pieces to build an 'invisibility suit'.
TECHNIQUES FOR BEGINNING A SCENE
| TWO PLUS ONE FORMULA - see example above |
| GET INTO IT AS LATE AS POSSIBLE, GET OUT OF IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - always the rule |
| Never the 'Hullo, Mary! Hullo, June'! - NEVER NEVER BEGIN A SCENE AT THE 'BEGINNING'. Never have a person in a room and another then comes in and they greet each other. This is so boring. This is NOT radio. THIS IS HOW YOU WILL BE TEMPTED TO WRITE AS YOU START BECAUSE YOU ARE THINKING TV. |
| You can BEGIN WITH AN INTRIGUING STATEMENT, WHICH IS THEN EXPLAINED. |
| DESCRIPTION - describe an action the TWO CHARACTERS are in the middle of, and push us into what they are doing. |
| BOSS ORDERS SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING |
| CRISIS |
| RECOVERY FROM CRISIS |
| INTRIGUING - KEEPS US GUESSING |
| IN THE MIDDLE OF A COMPLICATED TASK - EXPLAINING |
| VILLAIN HAS A HERO CAPTURED |
| PLEASURABLE TRAVELLING - TO BE DISRUPTED! |
| DREAM BEGINNING - the hero is having a dream. The listeners are not let in on this until the dream crashes and reality breaks in. (As INNOCENT BOY dreaming of a date with INNOCENT GIRL). |
| LIGHTNING CUT - end a scene on a particular phrase or word & begin the following scene with a new character saying that particular phrase or word. Example - 'I'm so sorry. I'm going to have to call you back.' The second time we hear this, it is used in a different context, and we get the pleasure as listeners of having an insight into the characters' worlds - of knowing a bit more. You can even script a short play using this technique in every scene! (I call this the LIGHTNING CUT from Orson Welles' technique in film of edging in the sound track of the succeeding scene into the end of the visual track of the ending scene. This is much used nowadays. |
| INTRIGUING STATEMENT, WHICH IS THEN EXPLAINED: You can change it, if you don't want it. |
| Describe an action the TWO CHARACTERS are in the middle of: What are you putting in that (suitcase) |
| BOSS ORDERS SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING: Come on - come in …. (boss on phone) |
| BOSS ORDERS SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING: (Boss - orders - cleaning) .. I want to be able to see my face in it. |
| CRISIS I don't understand - everything should be .... (alarms go off, sudden emergency) |
| RECOVERY FROM CRISIS: (coughing) Is everyone OK? |
| INTRIGUING - KEEPS US GUESSING: I can't wait to see |
| IN THE MIDDLE OF A COMPLICATED TASK - EXPLAINING: Look - I've set the XXX to ….. configurations ….. computer |
| VILLAIN HAS A HERO CAPTURED: Get your hands off me! |
| PLEASURABLE TRAVELLING - TO BE DISRUPTED!: What can you see out of the pod? (space travel) |
| BEGIN WITH AN INTRIGUING STATEMENT, WHICH IS THEN EXPLAINED: Are you sure that's wise? |
| IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ARGUMENT: Just one thing, - I'm not sure your ethics are right. |
| (monologue) This catering lark - I knew it wasn't me |
| (FROM 'SPACE DETECTIVES ARE GO!' - space ship - on the bridge) Dave: (in his best Captain Kirk voice - INNOCENT BOY) This is Dave Mumford logging on as Navigator.... Ship in drive mode. (normal voice) I've always wanted to say that. Silica: (FEIST GIRL- sarcastic) You're only getting a go because you need the practice. |
| (FROM 'SPACE DETECTIVES ARE GO!' - we go straight into the middle of a meeting between a distressed new client for the company and the woman BOSS) 3.1.2. 1 Zelda: Mrs Nifficent, I'm not sure we can help you. |
| (In the middle of a police investigation - begin a new scene) So are the police sure? |
| (Two characters have broken into someone's desk or computer) A: I hate misusing X's confidence like this. B: That makes two of us. (both laugh) |
JOKEY - UNEXPECTED SCENE BEGINNING
Heroine (feisty girl or woman boss) heard at top of scene
making noises that seem as if something suspicious is going on - even sexual!
But in fact, she is in a beauty spa, beauty treatment room.
(opening of scene) Ohhh
It doesn't work unless it hurts.
(getting beauty treatment)
READ THIS SAMPLE OPENING TO A SOAP - 'The
Magic Detectives' - sample beginning to a radio soap by Alan Beck
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Radio Soap (serial drama) - HOW TO MAKE IT
Five-minute episodes - or short episodes
Step by step instruction from Alan Beck.
Learn about radio drama on this site along with my book - Beck, Alan, Radio Acting, London: A & C Black (1997) ISBN 0-7136-4631-4
This is how to make a short-form soap - entertaining (above all) and you can include issues (issues that could influence the listeners' behaviour).
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