Hey scott. do your prep classes for outline and character include how to do this for a tv pilot?

Thank you for that great post. My protagonist had a great interview session with my nemesis last night; it was enlightening. It also made me think of an editing post I saw last night which ties in to all the various unknowns that exist throughout the whole process. FILM EDITING: The average film has 1300 cuts. Every cut affects flow, rhythm, and story. Every cut can make or break the film. 1300 pieces to an invisible puzzle... With endless combinations. None of them right or wrong. That's the beauty of filmmaking.

Zack, not at this point. The prep class is geared toward movies. However Tom Benedek teaches a pilot workshop in which he covers that. In fact, the next session begins a week from today. More info here.

1300 cuts. I often talk in my classes about how writers have to deal with hundreds of forks-in-the-road as we develop, construct, and write a story. Go this way or that. Over and over and over again. Each path impacts the story. I would think that in editing, there are even MORE of those choices. So is it fair to say, Anita, that to be an editor, you not only have to a good eye, a sense of rhythm, an understanding of story, but also the courage to try something out, to suggest alternatives to the director, to be willing to go down this or that path to see where it takes the story? BTW you might enjoy this post I did on the opening to The Shawshank Redemption. Talk about editorial choices!

Your Shawshank post was great! Loved reading the pages, then watching the scene. Editors and directors must do those juggling things often, especially if the film's opening doesn't immediately pull the viewer in. I did a film a couple years ago about stillbirth. The opening was all happy LaMaze classes and baby showers. It was very linear and expository. The producer came up with an idea to use a shot and a couple lines of dialogue from much later at the very head of the film. So the film opens on a very tight close up of a woman's scared eyes. We hear a doctor's voice tell her he's about to give her a drug to induce her labor. Then it goes back to the beginning with all the happy scenes. Since we know it's a story about a stillbirth, that little snippet at the top gives an ominous feel to everything that follows. We know whatever joyful events we are seeing will be short-lived. I thought it was a brilliant idea. And I wish I had thought of it.