Forum Villain
Sounds like fun. I think I'll try one while simultaneously attempting to juggle competence and humor.
"Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person that doesn't get it."
Any formatting rules?
It's a script. Format it like one. Here you go, in case you want a style sheet.
And there's absolutely no continuity that we have to worry about? As in no major Character Development or changes in the team?
Hmm...The Dog Was the Mastermind, here we come...
vigilantly taxonomish
The series does have a (fairly loose) continuity that is best adhered to, so scripts involving e.g. the mass slaughter of the cast probably won't be accepted.
Also, keep in mind the production restraints Eddie listed.
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As Eddie points out below, he's looking for scripts of any format for a trope of the week. If you want to write for Echo Chamber specifically, then read this post.
The episode of Echo Chamber being spec'ed will take place in the middle of the second season. There will be things going on then, but we understand you're writing these relatively blind. Write something that stands on its own, and we'll take care of the rest.
The biggest thing to remember is that, after Dumbass Has a Point, the relationship between Tom and Dana changes in a big way (and not the one you're thinking). There's a degree of mutual respect, which wasn't there before. They still don't like each other, but they know why they're working together, and they know they can actually achieve good things. The snarky banter is still there, but the mean-spiritedness behind it is gone. For good.
I feel it's important to say that we fully intend to rewrite any script that may get accepted. That's not a judgment of any kind. Our scripts typically go through three to four rewrites. Dumbass Has a Point does not in any way resemble our original draft, or even our edit after the first shoot. If accepted, your script will change in rewrites. And if shot, it will change while shooting. And there will be reshoots.
I should also say that we are looking for *one* script, so we obviously can't accept them all. Echo Chamber's second season is already filling up fast, because there are certain things we have to achieve by its finale, and contingencies we have to plan for.
Since you won't know everything that's going to be going on, I wouldn't worry about it. Don't write an episode where Tom and Zack get married. Don’t write one where Dana gets addicted to heroin and kills Mr. Administrator. No reveals that Mr. Administrator was Bruce Willis all along. Basically, it would be a bad idea to write a Wham Episode. Obviously that would mess up our plans a bit. Write something that stands on its own, that is informed by the continuity, but not a slave to it.
Remember that you have a very long time to do this. We won't be making judgments on these until at least the Season 1 Finale airs, and that's five weeks from now. Don't rush a script. Take your time with it. Rewrite it.
I recommend that anyone wishing to take a serious stab at this PM me. There's spoilers I'd rather not reveal here, that anyone writing a spec script should know. Also, you'll need to PM me to get my gmail address, which is where I'll want submissions to ultimately wind up.
Also, I recommend you download Celtx so you don't have to worry about the formatting. It's free, and it can be found here:
edited 14th Jun '11 6:28:55 PM by Tanzmetall
Woops. We're interested in spec scripts, not just scripts for Echo Chamber. Constraints are a little different as to cast for things not targeted for Echo Chamber.
If you have questions about an Echo Chamber script, by all means contact Tanz. Otherwise ping Fast Eddie.
edited 13th Jun '11 6:38:41 PM by FastEddie
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
So I could protenially make a whole pilot episode by myself (with the biggest if, since I'm bad at these things) for an official series? Does that mean you're considering a line-up of shows?
-considers whatever to work on Manifestation Files project or test out Roblox camera-
Is Echo Chamber doing Stylistic Suck? I want to do a pilot episode around that.
edited 13th Jun '11 7:33:54 PM by chihuahua0
The Other Troper
"The series does have a (fairly loose) continuity that is best adhered to, so scripts involving e.g. the mass slaughter of the cast probably won't be accepted."
Unless the trope on Echo Chamber is something like Kill Em All or Negative Continuity.
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.
No, dude. This is a script for the realities of creating a video.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Can you please rephrase that? I can't figure out what you're saying. "Realities of creating a video"?
Zzzzzzzzzz
You can't completely derail the premise of the show. This means don't do a trope that forces them to retcon it away the next episode.
edited 13th Jun '11 8:15:27 PM by Madrugada
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
I'm calling it now. Ninety percent of submissions will be for Reset Button, Status Quo Is God, or Negative Continuity.
Fresh-eyed movie blog
vigilantly taxonomish
^^^ What Maddy said, and nor can you write something unfilmable given the constraints.
edited 13th Jun '11 8:16:04 PM by BobbyG
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Zzzzzzzzzz
I...
won't take that bet.
Or they'll be utterly unfilmable, like Eldritch Abomination, Malevolent Architecture, or Spaceship Girl.
edited 13th Jun '11 8:18:42 PM by Madrugada
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
Wait, so are you accepting scripts for pilots or not?
Sure. Something shootable, though. This isn't a call for wild fanfics.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
TV Tropes The Webcomic The Web Series here we go!
Seriously, though, this sounds pretty awesome. Thanks.
Okay, I'll test out the camera on Roblox and link a camera test when I get to it. The HUD isn't filtered out so I don't know if it would be too much.
EDIT: I tested out the camera a little bit. I should've turned up the lightning, since this is far from the default setting, but this is the amount of HUD necessary. Do you think it has protenial to be used for a Trope of the Week video if I edit up the place that looks more like a set?
edited 13th Jun '11 9:19:51 PM by chihuahua0
Are we writing examples of the trope concerned? Also, if there is a possibility of the scripts being produced by Echo Chamber, we need a current character sheet.
Also also, should they not be produced by Echo Chamber what's going to happen to the scripts? Should we just write dialogue with placeholders instead of actual names, and so on?
Also also... also: Where do we submit scripts?
edited 13th Jun '11 9:38:11 PM by Leradny
The cardinal rule of the Trope of the Week is that it showcases a Trope of the Week. I'm not sure if the original call for vloggers said "just talking about it" was a no-go, or if that was entirely out of the Echo Chamber pilot.
edited 13th Jun '11 9:44:41 PM by TParadox
Fresh-eyed movie blog
Email submissions to thestaff at tvtropes.org.
We have other groups working on videos. Production with them is moving less surely than it is with Echo Chamber.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
I claim Stylistic Suck for my pilot.
Other projects? Tell us more.
edited 13th Jun '11 10:10:21 PM by chihuahua0
The “not just talking” has nothing to do with Fast Eddie’s preferences. And it doesn’t even have all that much to do with mine.
Here's where that comes from. I’m not Yahtzee. I don’t have his timing, and I’m not a one-liner machine. What I know is story. So I decided to go with that, because I was sure 90% of the submissions would be vlogs, and I knew I couldn’t stand out making a vlog against vloggers.
I gave Mr. Administrator that preference because it allows me to discuss the strengths and limitations of vlogs, particularly when the people making them really shouldn’t be making vlogs, but should be making something else.
The short version of that is, you can make whatever the heck you want if it’s a pilot. Mr. Administrator's prejudice is fictional.
That applies for pilots. If it’s an episode of Echo Chamber, it should be a self-demonstrating story.
I think what Fast Eddie means re: weird stuff in Echo Chamber is “don’t break the rules of the story”. There’s a world that’s been defined, and if you’re writing in it, you should write in it. There is some weird crap that goes on, but it’s all meta crap, not space battle crap, for instance. All tropes are fun to explore, but only some of them fit the tone and style of Echo Chamber.
Echo Chamber currently does not have any scripts for Stylistic Suck, although that would work very well within the bounds of the show. Or you could make a pilot.
Fourth Wall tropes are very much at home on Echo Chamber.
The only characters you can’t bring back in Season 2 of Echo Chamber are Shannon and Elyse, because the actresses will be moving shortly and already moved, respectively. Anyone else, even one-offs, is fair game as long as you actually have something you want to do with them.
edited 14th Jun '11 6:34:35 PM by Tanzmetall
Hey, tropers. We're putting out a call for spec scripts for "Trope of the Week."
Scripts, please. Not script ideas. Ideas are easy.
There is no promise the script will be produced by Echo Chamber, and if it isn't, it is no reflection on the writers. It just may not fit.
The script is to be written to the production restraints. That is: three to five minutes, no fancy props, costumes, special effects, or mobs of cast. If produced by Echo Chamber, it will be with the cast we know. Any additional casting required will reduce the possibility of it being produced.
Subject: A trope, of course. An objective storytelling trope. It is likely a good idea to post here which trope you are doing.
Email submissions to thestaff at tvtropes.org.
There's the call. Have some fun with it!
edited 13th Jun '11 10:05:31 PM by FastEddie
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty