( 12 Votes ) There are many facets of a film Director's prep on any movie or Television show - from location scouts and creative meetings to casting and scheduling.

But the first, and most important part of your job, is to understand the script - what the story is about; the themes; the story points; the characters.

The Director as Storyteller

There are many facets of a film Director's prep on any movie or Television show - from location scouts and creative meetings to casting and scheduling.

But the first, and most important part of your job, is to understand the script - what the story is about; the themes; the story points; the characters.

A director is a storyteller, and to be a good storyteller, you need to understand every detail about the story you are telling. There's an old expression that says if it doesn't work in the script, it won't work on the set - and boy is that true!

Understanding the story requires a lot of work on your part because you need to rip the script apart to find out what it is about, what works and what doesn't.

Script Structure

Here’s the "traditional" Three Act Structure of any story:

ACT ONE - THE SET-UP
(Boy Meets Girl)

ACT TWO - CONFRONTATION
(Boy Loses girl – Boy Fights to Get Girl Back)
ACT THREE - RESOLUTION
(Boy Gets Girl)

NOTE: Even commercial Television scripts follow the Three Act Structure - they are just divided into several Act Breaks because that’s where the commercials go.

Here is a "general guide" to the physical structure of TV scripts:

• Half-Hour Episodic TV (22-25 pages and Two Acts)
• One-Hour Episodic TV (50 - 65 pages and Five Acts)
• Two-Hour TV Movie (100 - 110 pages and Seven Acts)

TV scripts can also be broken down further by using a Teaser and a Tag. So a one-hour TV Script could be divided up like this:

• Teaser
• Act One
• Act Two
• Act Three
• Act Four
• Act Five
• Tag

 

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