Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Here is Miss Villalobos, writing on a chalkboard. Here, she is demonstrating the difference between television shows.
During the workshop, she brought up the idea that most comedy shows are shot in either two ways - single camera and multiple cameras. Traditional situations comedies (sitcoms for short) such as Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, or How I Met Your Mother use multiple cameras, and typically have a studio audience as well. She went on to explain that I Love Lucy was the first sitcom to pioneer the use of multiple cameras. Examples of single camera shows, where movement is less restricted, included shows such as Scrubs, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and The Office.
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
One of the things I am most proud of regarding the Tomas Rivera 2009 Annual Conference was the attendance. As seen in the picture above, we actually managed to fill the room for a change - something that is much harder to attain, as UC Riverside has a tendency to have low turn-outs for events held on campus, due to factors such as a higher percentage of commuters. However, thanks to agressive promotion, we were able to get many interested students the opportunity to attend a professional workshop, free of charge!
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Third year Creative Writing major Carolyn Stephenson taking notes, while in the background Professor Juan Felipe Herrera, Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair, sits in.
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
First year UCR student Alicia Lin listening intently to Miss Villalobos.
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Miss Villalobos discusses the elements of a successful screenplay.
Miss Villalobos decided to make the workshop into two distinct sections: for the first half, she talked about the ins and outs of writing for television. One important piece of advice that she gave us was the idea that we should try to keep track of which television shows look like they are popular and long lasting. She mentioned that it was a bad idea to try to write for a show like LOST, because it was a show that was already ending very soon. In contrast, she advised us to try and write for a show like The Mentalist, which was not going anywhere anytime soon. She also advised us to be able to work in different genres of television, such as procedurals (Law and Order, CSI) and serials (LOST, HEROES) and sitcoms. It was a good idea for writers to have writing examples showing that they have a wide range of skills - it was preferable to have written a script for all three of those different genres to show to prospective hirers.
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
A student taking notes on his laptop and a pad of paper.
For the second half of her workshop, she talked about writing for movies, which work differently compared to television shows. She mentioned that it was very hard for speculative scripts (spec scripts) to make it in Hollywood, and that usually writers would have to work on properties given to them by the studios. She also mentioned that motion picture writers tended to make a lot of money - sometimes up to half a million dollars, if they played their cards right.
Photo by Michael J. Elderman
A student looks at one of the many handouts that Miss Villalobos handed out.
Miss Villalobos went over many other things in regards to constructing screenplays, such as structure, conflict, characters, and much more. Overall, it was probably one of the most entertaining sections of the Tomas Rivera Conference, especially for the many Creative Writing majors and minors who attended the workshop.
Next up: The reception, the eulogy, and the movie screening of Under the Same Moon.
Also on the agenda: A monthly writing contest for UCR writers!
