WALKING AROUND DEAD....AND LOOKING FOR A GOOD STORY

There's a lot of controversy brewing regarding Frank Darabont's letting go of his writing staff for the new WALKING DEAD series....

You can read about that here. Tons of comments to bury yourself wade through.

One of the comments though struck a chord with this pulpster and I think it's important to share with you because it's the formula for making a great first movie or web series, and that's what we deal with here at the old pulp HQ.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the independent, homespun wisdom of someone named Mark Georgeff:

"If people’s idea of a quality tv show is how great it is lit and looks, then we might as well shove the original TWILIGHT ZONE down the toilet.

The really great tv shows, like movies, are great stories.

What makes a great story is great characters in great scenes.

Majority of writers on the original TZ were short fiction writers and playwrights whom creator Rod Serling showed how to re structure their stories to fit 30 minute tv slot. A few act breaks for commercials round its down to actually 20 to 23 minute episodes. 

Most were done on a studio sound stage…or exteriors on backlots or in mall towns. Having great-looking visuals or well lit scenes do not make any of those great TZ episodes stand out or stand the test of time. Since they were all in black and white anyway.

Majority of them also had a lot of unknown, but talented actors who loved to just act, as opposed to very hyped up and marketable stars.

And Serling gave them a shot. 

He had a budget and stuck to it no matter what.

Which helped him focus strictly on the story.

God knows Serling made it a point for his most powerful stories about the human condition…to be done through subtext. Not overt at all.

Maybe Darabont should take a simple education from Serling…because from what I’ve seen so far…the WD is simply run of the mill. 

No amount of bigger production budgets or simply going to freelancers is going to change this. Just find and / or train good writers. You can always get them a WGA card. 

And I love Zombies as much as the next ghoul."