hi everyone, so I've been lately struggling to write my first pilot script ,and I was wondering if there are different ways to structure it besides the three act structure, plus, I heard that if I wanted to hook someone I must write a prefect first 10 pages , any tips for that?
thanks!
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I don't know of any structure besides 3 acts. As for a perfect first 10 pages, absolutely. Try to make the whole damn thing perfect. If you want to see a perfect first page, check out the first page of FALLEN ANGEL in Lew Hunter's book "Screenwriting 434."
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Hi, Alyazin Alriyami. I use the three-act structure for feature scripts. I used a three-act structure plus a cold open (at the beginning) and a tag (at the end) for a kids show pilot I wrote a while back, and I used a four-act structure plus a teaser (at the beginning) in an old Action Crime Drama pilot.
Stage 32 has a webinar called "How to Master The Story Structure Of Your TV Pilot Script" (www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-master-the-story-structure-of-...).
And here's some free TV writing webinars: www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Stage-32-and-Netflix-Partnered-Up-o...
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If it's a Series Pilot, you can have Four Acts - Literally Act One; Act Two; Act Three; Act Four. You can also add two- or three-minute TEASERS at the start - -Excerpts of what happens later - - and add two or three minutes of TAGS at the end -- adverts of what happens in the next episode. That gives you a 'Six Act' structure - which if it is fifty minutes total, gives you a traditional TV one-hour Pilot Episode. For 'The First Ten Pages' read lots of scripts first ten pages of successful movies or TV shows. The perfect first ten pages, means telling a great story beginning, which is properly formatted and doesn't have daft mistakes in it, like bad spelling, wrong scene headings, wrong character names, huge blocks of dialogue, or the author thinking out loud notes. etc