fandomhigh | So You Want to Make a TV Show- 2nd Period- Class #1

As the last student walked into the classroom, Dana greeted them all with a smile and said in a voice that was just quick enough to make you realize that you were going to have to work to keep up with her, "So you're here. You made it. If you're not supposed to be in So You Want To Make a TV Show you have one of two choices. One, you can slip quietly out the door and we'll pretend never to speak of this again while we really snicker behind your back after you leave, or two, you can pretend you're really supposed to be here and just not show up next week, which is the safe bet since I'm not paying enough attention to remember your names yet anyway.

"If you are supposed to be here, congratulations, you get to have me as a teacher. My name is Dana Whitaker, and you've probably never heard of me but if you've watched Sports Night anytime recently you know my work. I run that baby and I run it well. And you may be here because you thought that this sounded like fun, or you think television is a blow-off thing, something a monkey can do, and if you think so, I'd like you to know that this monkey would have to be some NASA-trained ape, with possible genetic engineering and maybe even some psychic abilities to be able to put up with the egos, the drama, the last minute fires that pop up around you every day during the extremely long and hard hours that you spend trapped in a building with the same people whose egos create the drama which sparks at least half of those last-minute fires. Time is valuable, which is why I will tell you right now that the fastest way to get yourself detention is to waste mine. If you show up late, that's an automatic one unless you have a good reason or a damn entertaining excuse.

"We're going to be covering a lot of different aspects of putting together shows, but this week you're gonna be winging it," Dana went on. "Forget syllabuses- syllabi? Someone get me a right answer on that- that's cheating. I want you to go ahead and start making your own show.

"This is what TV is. It's a fast-paced environment where half the time you have to figure out what you're doing as you're doing it, so this is exactly what I want you to do. What do you think goes into putting together a show? Do you think you need a script? Are you going to write one? Are you going to make someone else write one? What kind of show do you want to work on? Are you going to work with other people to get things done or are you going to take it on alone and figure that gives you the right to boss people around later? I want to see how you work, so, show me how you work, so get going."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"She's a little intimidating," Dinah said, looking up at Dana again. "Cool, though. I'm just not the best student ever." She peeked over at what Claire was doing as she wrote, Person on the street. Question of the Day? as she brainstormed. "Ohh. That's kinda cool. Are you an artist? Or just like to doodle?"

"Its probably kind of backwards, to have a logo before we know what we're doing," Claire said, flushing a little. "I ... I guess I want to be an artist."

She read down Dinah's list. "So you're thinking a news program?"

"Maybe? A jokey one? Because I was thinking, I'm so new, I don't even know what current events here would be. If I tried to write about a serious one, I'd be sunk," Dinah admitted. "I can't act, so I just want to head that off before it even starts. And logos are important!" She smiled. "People have to recognize the show right away, don't they?"

"Like sketch comedy?" Claire thought about that. "I could try that. Maybe."

"Where are you coming from, Dinah?" She wasn't sure if her "here" meant the island, the country, or the planet.

"Cool!" Like ~~meta for~~ Stephen Colbert, maybe. If he existed here. "I'm from New Gotham City? In New Jersey?" She sighed a little ruefully. "Aaaand I think I'm getting used to people not having heard of it. How about you?" She frowned at her paper. "Maybe short silly facts, too? Like the world's biggest ball of yarn, only less geeky?"

"Los Angeles," Claire said. "And yeah, I haven't hadn't heard of New Gotham, but the whole East Coast kinda blurs together for me. Is it big?"

She raised an eyebrow at Dinah's suggestion. "Like Guinness Book of World Records stuff, with the longest toenails or whatever? I like that."

"Yay," Dinah may have bounced in her seat a little, then gotten a grip on hersefl. "And yeah, New Gotham's the biggest city on the east coast where I'm from. But hey, I have heard of Los Angeles! Do you ever get to see movie stars there?"

"So, like New York but in Jersey?" Claire asked, but it wasn't as though that were the weirdest thing she'd been told that week so she'd let it pass. "And no, not really." She thought about it. "We had some chick from slasher movies at my family's business a couple months ago. Becky Milford?"

Granted, she was dead, but it kind of counted.

"Haven't heard from her, but I'm not much for slasher movies," Dinah admitted. "Still, you could see stars. We used to at least see rich people in Gotham a lot. And I guess? New York, hunh? I'll have to remember that, the next time someone asks. See if they get the idea." She grinned a little, and said, "So you want to do the video editing side, you said?"

"Yeah, I think I want to study photography in college," Claire said, brushing back a stray hair. "I was kind of hoping this class would have something about the film side of it. How come you took it?"

"Because Literature looked intimidating, and I'd like to see be on the other side of the camera," Dinah said without thinking, then winced. "And it looked fun, too, even if it's not going to be as easy as I thought."

Claire knitted her brows, not sure what the wince was about. "You mean you want to act/" she ventured. "That's cool. There's a theater in town."

"There is? Oooo." Dinah pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Yeaaaah, no need to get into the reporters stalking her sister at the moment. "And yeah. I'd like to try, anyway." If she was ever going to be an undercover operative, she had to start learning to act somewhere. "Not for a career, but just for fun, I think."

"They did Shakespeare right before break," Claire said. "My friend Cal was in it. It wasn't bad." Which might not be high praise, but it was the best she could do. "You should try out."

"You think?" Dinah perked up. "I could be in the chorus or whatever, since I haven't acted before. And I ran into Cal at the gym, yesterday. He seemed cool."

So You Want to Make a TV Show- 2nd Period- Class #1

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!

Re: Get to work!