WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.190 --> 00:00:10.150 ProWritingAid: Okay. So that should have started. 2 00:00:23.750 --> 00:00:39.780 ProWritingAid: Wow, a lot of participants. I was. Gonna say, there's loads of people joining us. So we're already getting people saying, Hi! In the chat, which is great. hi! Everybody! Welcome to Science Fiction writers. Week for pro-writing aid this year. 3 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:56.139 ProWritingAid: If you can hear us and see the screen, please. Can you? Leave a note in the chat just with your name and your location, so that we know that you can have. That's brilliant. I can see that people are already doing that. That's great. 4 00:00:56.410 --> 00:01:03.499 Lucy V. Hay: And it's moving very fast this chat already. Oh, wow! Yeah, it is so many people 5 00:01:05.880 --> 00:01:10.790 ProWritingAid: there's I've got people from Boston, Chicago, Idaho. 6 00:01:10.800 --> 00:01:16.180 ProWritingAid: yeah, Germany, Manchester. 7 00:01:16.450 --> 00:01:32.099 ProWritingAid: nice. And it sounds like everybody's excited. So my name is Sarah. I'm from priting age. And thank you all for joining us today. I'm just going to do some housekeeping items as we get started. 8 00:01:32.130 --> 00:02:05.220 ProWritingAid: So I'll just work through my slides. Now let me just there we go. So just to let you know that replays for this. If you want to watch it back and pause it because I always liked doing that. I generally missed stuff as we're going on. The replays will be added to the hub page once they're done processing by zoom. So if you're an eager beaver and you jump on straight away, and try to find the replay. You might be disappointed. But we will pop it on as soon as it's ready. 9 00:02:05.230 --> 00:02:21.769 Replays are available for everyone for a week after the event. So at the moment, it's until September 20 eighth, after the State, the replays do get posted to the Academy page on our community. So they're only available to pro-writing Academy members after that. 10 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:47.879 ProWritingAid: This time we are offering a 40% off yearly for rating a premium offer which is great. If you've decided that you want to upgrade. And you want a little bit of savings because everyone can appreciate that right now. And the premium tools are just getting better and better at the moment. Not that I'm biased and so I think if you are interested, it's a great offer to make the most of. 11 00:02:48.870 --> 00:03:18.029 ProWritingAid: If you want to join our online community where we're talking about all things from Science Fiction writing to anything to do with writing. There are so many people already in our community, but we would welcome you with open arms to come and talk to us. Talk to some of the speakers join us in there sometimes. And yeah, you'll find a really welcoming writing environment which is always a great thing to be able to boast about. 12 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:40.549 ProWritingAid: and then just a quick reminder for this session, please use the Q. And a box. If you've got questions which we'll bring up at the end of the webinar, and then, if you want to chat with other viewers, please use the chat. So the Q. And a box I will be able to see, and I'll be able to respond to. But if you want to chat with other people and get to know each other, which is always great. Please use the chat 13 00:03:40.870 --> 00:04:00.329 ProWritingAid: and then the links to any of the offers from our speakers, and any other promo links and things like that. I will be posting into the chat, but you'll also be able to access them from the Science Fiction writers. Week Hub. So I think there you go. That's it for housekeeping. Are you ready? 14 00:04:00.390 --> 00:04:22.350 ProWritingAid: Today we are joined by Lucy V. Hay, aka bang to write she's a script editor, author, and blogger, who helps writers. Lucy is the author of writing and selling thriller screenplays from TV Pilot to feature film plus. She is the script editor and advisor on numerous UK. Features and shorts. 15 00:04:22.710 --> 00:04:33.990 ProWritingAid: She has also been a script reader for 20 years, providing coverage for Indie Prodcos investors, screen agencies, producers, directors, and individual writers 16 00:04:34.310 --> 00:04:44.719 ProWritingAid: publishing as Lv. Hay Lucy's Debut Crime novel. The other twin, is out now, and being adapted by Agatha Raisin producers free at last, TV which I think is amazing. 17 00:04:44.890 --> 00:05:02.249 Lucy V. Hay: She also pre publishes under the pseudonym Lizzie Frey and her latest novel, The Good Mother is out with, is it Joff? Books? Yeah, I completely forgot to ask how to pronounce that one. Okay, so that's everything done from me. I think it's now over to Lucy. 18 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:11.529 Lucy V. Hay: Thank you so much, Sarah, I really appreciate that very awesome introduction there. Thank you so much. Let's see if I can get my 19 00:05:12.140 --> 00:05:17.520 Lucy V. Hay: my own slides up on the screen. Okay, here we go. 20 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:41.040 Lucy V. Hay: So for those of you who don't know me, I am a blogger who has been around now for 2 decades. I'm celebrating 2 decades in the writing trenches, which is just hard to believe I'm I'm so lucky and so privileged to have worked with so many amazing writers. Some of them 21 00:05:41.040 --> 00:06:06.020 bafta, and and winners, or Oscar nominated as well, which is just fabulous. And an Emmy nominated, too. So I'm a very very lucky gal, and thriller is one of my absolute favorite genres I absolutely adore. It's why I wrote this book, and I originally wrote it back in 2,013. And I updated it this year in 2,023, 22 00:06:06.020 --> 00:06:30.830 because so much has changed, especially in the last, like 5 years in particular, in the industry, in the screenwriting and filmmaking and TV industry. And so I updated it to reflect that. And it's gotten loads of new case studies in the book as well. And it's got like a hundred extra pages. And basically everything you want to know about thriller writing, including Science Fiction 23 00:06:30.830 --> 00:06:41.899 is in this book. Including all the way through to how to get it funded, how to get it made, and how how that actually works. So if you're sitting at home thinking, oh, I'd love to write a screenplay. 24 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:47.649 Lucy V. Hay: But I've literally no idea how the industry works. Well, this 25 00:06:47.650 --> 00:07:12.250 is where you start? Okay? And please do join us over at the main site. bankswright.com because there's loads of free stuff over there. There's a resources. Page and also I've just launched a new masterclass over there that's completely free. It pops up when you go over there, and if you sign up for that. Then you've got a 90 min free masterclass on all things characterization as well. 26 00:07:12.280 --> 00:07:35.080 Lucy V. Hay: And of course, if we don't cover everything that you wanna know about today, because we have only got an hour feel free to join us over on the Facebook page, which is very engaged. And I'm on all the different social media. Twitter Instagram tick tock you name it. You can find me on there alternatively. Send me an email just bang to rights@gmail.com. 27 00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:40.249 Lucy V. Hay: So let's get started. Science Fiction writing science fiction. 28 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:51.560 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So my first question for you guys to day you people to day is is science fiction a genre. 29 00:07:51.650 --> 00:08:00.980 Lucy V. Hay: I know. That's gonna sound pretty weird. me asking them. But is science fiction a genre 30 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:14.820 Lucy V. Hay: drop in the chat for me? Do you think that science fiction is a genre by itself? Is there such a thing as pure science fiction? 31 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:18.549 Lucy V. Hay: Let's have a look at the chat. 32 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:35.429 Lucy V. Hay: Yes, I think so, says, says Mohammed. Yes, says Jamie. Yes, says Alan Williams. Allen's is a commercial genre, but not a writing genre. Alan says, Okay, fantastic. Right? Okay? So yeah, I think, I think 33 00:08:35.530 --> 00:08:54.650 Lucy V. Hay: if we look at science fiction as being a category or a style of film or TV show, then, yeah, absolutely. Obviously, science fiction is a genre in that sense. Okay. But is there such a thing as pure science fiction by itself? 34 00:08:54.890 --> 00:08:59.680 Lucy V. Hay: Possibly when it comes to novels, I'm thinking, Arthur C. Clarke here. 35 00:08:59.810 --> 00:09:24.690 Lucy V. Hay: But, generally speaking, movies, TV shows tend to have to mix science fiction with another genre. So in this case, we've got predator. So that's a thriller. Or horror depending on your viewpoint. There you got edit tomorrow. Here, which is action, adventure, thriller. You got guardians of the galaxy. That's very much a comedy property, although 36 00:09:24.690 --> 00:09:41.550 Lucy V. Hay: adventure as well. Got gravity with Sandra Bullock again. Thriller got 2,001 here. Oh, I'm not even sure exactly what all the different I mean. It's a very much a mixed genre piece, that one. It's it's hard to PIN down. Got blade runner. 37 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:59.529 Lucy V. Hay: Very much a thriller, but also a mystery as well. You got aliens down here, which is very much a thriller with horror. Elements as well got June. Conspiracy elements mixed in with science fiction. There you got ready, player one. 38 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:24.389 Lucy V. Hay: Which is very much adventure. Jurassic Park. You've got again thriller and adventure in there, I mean, thriller and Science Fiction really, really go together. It's probably the go to kind of mix for Science Fiction. People just can't get enough of thriller and Science Fiction mixed together. Coming up the behind. It would probably be adventure 39 00:10:24.390 --> 00:10:38.980 Lucy V. Hay: sure as well. And then over here in this corner you may recognize we've got a rival. The Oscar nominated. A screenplay for that by Eric. Hi, Zura, and that's a drama rather than a thriller. 40 00:10:39.020 --> 00:10:53.960 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So as we can see, science fiction tends to need to be mixed with other genres. Okay? And it's usually mixed with things like thriller and comedy adventure, and so on. 41 00:10:54.140 --> 00:11:05.000 Okay, so why do audiences love science fiction so much? Well, first things. First, Science Fiction gives us an opportunity to 42 00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:29.850 Lucy V. Hay: really put up a mirror to what is happening in society right now. Okay, it's no accident that a lot of movies although they're set in the future or or kind of future style. It's kind of telling us things about what's happening right now in our society, and there are often topics that people really love to kind of talk about in Science Fiction. 43 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:40.149 and they have very powerful thematics, as I call them, those topics, those themes, those messages that people just 44 00:11:40.150 --> 00:11:48.520 Lucy V. Hay: absolutely love to kind of contemplate. Probably the very first Science Fiction story ever. 45 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:56.410 Lucy V. Hay: Well, what was the first Science Fiction story ever in terms of, and a story like, and in a novel 46 00:11:56.830 --> 00:12:02.140 Lucy V. Hay: anyone know what is generally thought of as being the very first 47 00:12:02.390 --> 00:12:04.270 Lucy V. Hay: Science Fiction novel. 48 00:12:04.920 --> 00:12:12.890 Lucy V. Hay: but it was written by a woman. Let me give you some tip. Give you some clues. It was written by a woman. She was 18 years old. 49 00:12:13.190 --> 00:12:14.550 Lucy V. Hay: just 18. 50 00:12:15.560 --> 00:12:17.550 Lucy V. Hay: Anybody know what that could be. 51 00:12:19.290 --> 00:12:20.460 Lucy V. Hay: Let's have a look. 52 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:22.510 Lucy V. Hay: Okay. 53 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:50.439 Lucy V. Hay: do do, do, do, do, do, do, Frankenstein. The chat says absolutely. Mary Shelley is largely considered to be the mother of Science Fiction. A lot of people think it's HG. Wells or Lovecraft, or any of those guys, but she predates them by a significant amount. And but obviously in our culture we tend to venerate male writers, or did 54 00:12:50.440 --> 00:13:03.029 met venerate male writers, especially back then more than more than we do now, hopefully, hopefully. But yes, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. The act of playing God 55 00:13:03.790 --> 00:13:18.329 Lucy V. Hay: in Science Fiction is something that turns up a lot, and we see that in Jurassic Park, for instance, as well. So anything to do with society, law, and ethics, personhood, what it means to be a person 56 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:37.979 Lucy V. Hay: we see a lot of stories about robots, and whether they are real or could be real. We've got the Creator coming out soon, by Gareth Edwards, which is about AI robots. Kind of fighting an underground kind of wall, which seems very 57 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:45.270 Lucy V. Hay: very presiant. Given that. There's currently the Us. Right to strike on right now, where AI is one of the 58 00:13:45.270 --> 00:14:10.250 Lucy V. Hay: main concerns of Hollywood at the moment you know. What? How is AI going to change the writing and the making of films and TV. But anything to do with robots and you know, monsters and and things like that is is very, very much part of the Science Fiction genre. And then also we have issues of intersectionality in Science Fiction 59 00:14:10.250 --> 00:14:20.760 come under scrutiny as well. So things like gender and race. Lgbtq. Disability, those kind of things. Now, these don't necessarily 60 00:14:21.130 --> 00:14:48.609 Lucy V. Hay: come up as often as we maybe like but it's happening more and more. And actually, science fiction, although it has a lot of problems with representation, as they call it, in terms of diverse characters, or, as I prefer to call them, marginalized characters, and the things that they do in terms of female leads in terms of black and Asian leads 61 00:14:48.670 --> 00:15:02.290 Lucy V. Hay: queer leads, disabled leads. There's not as much as we would like, but it is happening a lot more now. Which in turn makes a lot of people in the audience go. Oh, Hollywood's gone. Woke. 62 00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:24.479 Lucy V. Hay: It's too wo kissed now. Which cracks me up a little bit, because movies have always been woke. If we actually kind of look through history and look at Science Fiction in particular, we can see lots and lots of these things being discussed throughout history, you know, going way back 63 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:33.060 Lucy V. Hay: in the decades, you know, not just the last 20 years, but 30, 40, 50, or more years. And, by the way, I'm using the word woke 64 00:15:33.060 --> 00:15:37.110 not in its correct sense. Because, of course. 65 00:15:37.190 --> 00:15:53.519 Lucy V. Hay: I'm describing the complaints of people online, not actually how the word is supposed to be used. Okay, so basically, science fiction is what's known in the industry as genre busting. But what does that mean? 66 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:00.829 Lucy V. Hay: Okay, so what is genre busting? Sometimes you might hear it referred to as elevated genre 67 00:16:00.970 --> 00:16:10.309 Lucy V. Hay: and science fiction is very frequently an elevated genre, and by that we mean we've got pre-sold elements to it. 68 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:18.119 Lucy V. Hay: Does anybody know what pre-sold means? Drop it in the chat. If you know what pre-sold means 69 00:16:20.450 --> 00:16:21.830 Lucy V. Hay: any ideas. 70 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:30.689 Lucy V. Hay: Tropes, says Frank. Mark says tropes as well. A fixed template, says Leslie. 71 00:16:30.690 --> 00:16:56.160 Lucy V. Hay: Leisha says, I guess a trope things people already know about, says Lou. That's exactly it. Pre sold just means there are things here that people like for whatever reason, okay? And very often that's also referred to as a commercial hook. So, in other words, there are certain elements in the story that we're already familiar with, and that we already like 72 00:16:56.190 --> 00:17:14.370 Lucy V. Hay: Ok. So a commercial hook kind of hints at this notion of a cultural desire, and a very obvious thing that brings people in immediately to your Science fiction story would be something like dinosaurs. Yeah, I've had 6 Jurassic Park movies now for a good reason. They sell 73 00:17:14.730 --> 00:17:26.920 Lucy V. Hay: people love dinosaurs. They absolutely love them. They love giant monsters like Kaiju's they love. Giant robots! They love 74 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:49.320 Lucy V. Hay: stories about playing God like Frankenstein, there's no accident that Frankenstein has turned up thematically in multiple multiple Science Fiction stories. Because we're all very interested in these kind of topics and in these kind of philosophical questions. And in certain things like dinosaurs, giant robots, we just love them. 75 00:17:49.850 --> 00:17:57.329 Lucy V. Hay: And that element helps sell your story or helps get people to read your story. 76 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:19.550 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So we're talking about an established genre or story. Mix it with something else like science fiction. That's how you get read. That's how we subvert expectations. That's how we make it feel fresh and make people want to see our movie, want to see our TV series, want to read our book, want to read our script whatever. 77 00:18:19.840 --> 00:18:31.239 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So genre busted sci-fi thrillers, let's let's do some examples here. Now of genre busted sci-fi thrillers. So so obviously, the matrix 78 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:55.570 Lucy V. Hay: yeah, very much. A philosophical question about well, I mean, it's a transgender allegory we know now, 20 years on after the Wichowski's have transitioned, but also on top of that we're dealing with allegory towards Alice in Wonderland. You know that Neo has to follow the the White Rabbit. That's a pre-sold element. 79 00:18:55.570 --> 00:18:58.079 But also we're dealing with machines. 80 00:18:58.310 --> 00:19:16.390 Lucy V. Hay: We're dealing with machines versus man, which is very much a pre sold element of the matrix even before we get to the philosophical notions of everybody being in, you know, living in a alternate reality, being a battery for the machines. Ok. Looper 81 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:44.069 Lucy V. Hay: deals with time, travel. time. Travel is something that people just love. I was talking a moment ago about pre sold elements like giant monsters and robots. Time travel is another pre sold element that people absolutely love. And if you can come up with a new twist on time, travel somehow, then that can get you some serious notice in your screenplay Terminator, we've got machines versus man. Again, also, time travel. 82 00:19:44.070 --> 00:20:07.590 Lucy V. Hay: Okay. So sometimes we can get 2. 2 pre sold elements and mix them together to make it feel fresh. So time travel meets a giant robot. Man against machine. All that kind of stuff. Very, very interesting. Black Panther is a great example here of what's known in the industry as Afro fruit Futurism. 83 00:20:07.790 --> 00:20:22.930 Lucy V. Hay: One of the problems with Science fiction is it's inherently white. It's, in fact, it's super white, you know. Most of the people that write it are white. Most of the characters who appear in it are white. Here we have Wakanda 84 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:34.899 Lucy V. Hay: and vibranium, and a a black king who is very much a technological kind of 85 00:20:35.170 --> 00:20:38.220 Lucy V. Hay: country, and hiding. 86 00:20:38.350 --> 00:21:03.330 Lucy V. Hay: pretending that it's a third World country to make sure that nobody else can have its vibranium. And Afro Futurism is something that you know started a long time ago. You know there's been a small contingent of black authors from the African diaspora, who write science fiction, and Afrofuturism 87 00:21:03.330 --> 00:21:16.959 is the kind of pushback against the kind of whiteness of science fiction that is traditionally, and Black Panther showed in 2,018 how audiences are really ready 88 00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:41.959 Lucy V. Hay: to get behind such properties. You know it felt fresh and new to a lot of people in the audience because they'd never been aware of Afro Futurism before that you had to be someone who was very deeply into Science Fiction books and to Science Fiction authors and decolonizing your bookshelf to really know a lot about that. It was one of the first times that Afrofuturism was brought to the mainstream 89 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:51.649 via Marvel. And so, if you can find something that's very significant and very interesting to people. But niche 90 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:55.789 Lucy V. Hay: like Afro Futurism was in publishing before. 91 00:21:56.160 --> 00:22:15.999 Lucy V. Hay: rightly or wrongly, and then bring it to the, you know. Update it, bring it to the mainstream somehow. Then, that can get you serious notice as well. Free Guy is another one. About video games. Ryan Reynolds's character. Guy discovers he's a non player character in a video game. 92 00:22:16.090 --> 00:22:27.029 Lucy V. Hay: and he decides that. No, actually, I want to be the hero of this game. And it was just a really really good fun idea 93 00:22:27.230 --> 00:22:56.530 Lucy V. Hay: involving video games. You didn't even have to be a video game player, or even understand a lot about video games to to watch that film. I mean, II don't think I've ever played a video game in my life. But I love Free Guy. I thought it was a really fresh, unique, interesting genre busted. Take on video games, but equally on the thematics of what it means to be a hero as well. Okay, so basically, all the movies on my first slide are genre busted in some way 94 00:22:56.870 --> 00:23:01.489 Lucy V. Hay: all of them are. And the reason for this is because 95 00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:11.189 Lucy V. Hay: well, why do you think it is? Why do you think science fiction really needs to be genre busted. Any ideas drop in the chat for me. 96 00:23:11.380 --> 00:23:17.590 Lucy V. Hay: Okay. subvert expectations, says Tom. Expands the mind, says Allan. 97 00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:23.959 Lucy V. Hay: Visual elements, says Cece. Fresh eyes. Social progress. 98 00:23:24.020 --> 00:23:37.229 Lucy V. Hay: It's too niche if it's not John Robusted should be out of the box to create character conflict. Yet basically, all of those things is why people love genre busting. But ultimately 99 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:54.080 Lucy V. Hay: science fiction is really really expensive to make super expensive to make. We're talking a hundred 50 to 200 million a lot of the time. And so, as a result, we have to mix all of those kind of futuristic elements 100 00:23:54.130 --> 00:24:19.530 Lucy V. Hay: and ensure that they have something relatable about them, like comedy, or thriller, or horror, or something that will mean that people get behind it, because the last thing the studios want to do is fund a movie or a TV series that basically ends up, you know, not watched by enough people. Cause we're talking about throwing away 101 00:24:19.530 --> 00:24:39.129 Lucy V. Hay: millions and millions, you know, and even pro writers struggle to get Science Fiction greenlets over here. I was talking earlier about arrival and arrival came from a short story by Ted Chang, called Story of Your Life. 102 00:24:39.420 --> 00:24:42.590 and it was written by Eric, Hi Zura. 103 00:24:42.710 --> 00:24:51.440 Lucy V. Hay: who went on to get the Academy award nomination because the script is just awesome. It's amazing but 104 00:24:51.660 --> 00:25:01.890 Lucy V. Hay: even though Eric Kaizura had worked in the studio system for a long time, he'd written on final destination, he'd written the thing. Reboot. Yeah, he was. He was 105 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:16.300 Lucy V. Hay: a contender, you know. He was a guy who's gone on to write such things as bloodshot and a bird box and shadow and bone for Netflix as well. But he had trouble getting 106 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:39.980 Lucy V. Hay: a rival, Greenlet. He had a lot of trouble with that, even though he was already known to the studios, and he had to write it on spec, and he's written a lot about his struggle to get a rival made because it's expensive. Science fiction is always expensive, and he rather than go with something like thriller. He chose drama, and that was a good thing. 107 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:55.980 Lucy V. Hay: because arrival was amazing and awesome. It's one of my favourite ever films. It's one of my favourite ever scripts to read but drama doesn't sell as much as thriller, or horror, or mystery or comedy. 108 00:25:56.690 --> 00:26:06.749 Lucy V. Hay: That's the reality right there. So that's why, you know, if it made it into more of a thriller than a drama. Maybe he would have got it greenlit faster, perhaps. 109 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:10.030 Lucy V. Hay: Don't know because it didn't happen. But 110 00:26:10.090 --> 00:26:23.350 Lucy V. Hay: you know science fiction is expensive, and even people working at the highest level, like Eric Kaizura, can struggle to get their projects greenlit. So that is always worth thinking about. 111 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:38.359 Lucy V. Hay: so plotting in thriller. One of the reasons I recommend that writers write thriller science fiction is because basically, it's the most popular 112 00:26:38.850 --> 00:26:51.549 Lucy V. Hay: kind of combo of science fiction and thriller going together. In fact, if you look at the top movies at box office of the last sort like 20 years, most of them 113 00:26:51.590 --> 00:27:21.209 Lucy V. Hay: are thrillers at heart. Okay, so how does plotting work in the thriller. Okay? Well, basically, speaking, character drives the plot in the thriller. Okay? But crucially unlike every other type of story in screenwriting and novel writing for that, for that matter, whether we're writing a screenplay for movies or whether we're writing a screenplay for TV, a thriller is 114 00:27:21.550 --> 00:27:29.279 Lucy V. Hay: wildly different to the rest, because, unlike our protagonist, who in all other genres, basically 115 00:27:29.370 --> 00:27:47.409 Lucy V. Hay: drives the plotting, they want something. And then they need to try and go and get it, basically. And then the antagonist gets in their way. It's the other way around in thriller. The antagonist has some kind of evil plan, and the protagonist gets in their way. 116 00:27:48.330 --> 00:28:01.279 Lucy V. Hay: subtle difference, but it is crucial. Okay. The protagonist, then, is forced to engage with that antagonist. We don't have a thriller. If the protagonist can just say, you know what 117 00:28:02.210 --> 00:28:29.599 Lucy V. Hay: screw this I'm gonna call the police. That's not how it works, and thriller. They are forced to engage with that antagonist. They have no choice. So thinking about some of the other movies that we've been talking about today, in the case of gravity, for instance, we have got Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone, she is forced to engage with the antagonist of space. 118 00:28:30.040 --> 00:28:57.299 Lucy V. Hay: So, in other words, we don't actually even have an antagonist who's literally a body, a literally a human person. It's her versus space. That's how it works. Okay, she is forced to engage. She can choose. Is she gonna live, or is she gonna die? And obviously she wants to live. And so she has to go from flight to fight. So in other words, she has to. In the first half of the movie. She just doesn't want to have to deal with this crap. 119 00:28:57.300 --> 00:29:21.089 Lucy V. Hay: and we see her trying to get a message through to to Houston. She is hopeful that they can get to a space station, and people there can help her, but of course there's nobody there, you know. George Clooney, in the first instance. Looks like he's gonna help her. But then, of course, he dies, or rather drifts off out into space. You know, she doesn't wanna have to deal with this shit. 120 00:29:21.090 --> 00:30:00.770 Lucy V. Hay: Basically, she doesn't want to have to deal with what's going on. Okay? And I call that flight to fight, because in the first half she doesn't want to have to deal with it in the second half. She's like, Oh, crap. I'm going to have to deal with this myself. And of course she does, and she makes it back to Earth through her own smarts. Okay, so that's the most obvious way of describing flight to fight there. But, as we can see in all other thrillers, you know, the antagonist does something bad, and then the protagonist has to react to that. In my book writing and selling thriller screenplays, I talk about how the an the protagonist is a firefighter. The antagonist does something. 121 00:30:00.810 --> 00:30:06.550 Lucy V. Hay: The protagonist has to react to that in the first instance, they probably want to get away from the antagonist. 122 00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:22.920 Lucy V. Hay: But as the movie goes on or TV series goes on, they realize there's nobody else. I have to deal with this myself. Okay, so really, thrillers are about tension and tension is about escalation. 123 00:30:23.130 --> 00:30:44.370 Lucy V. Hay: A lot of people attempt to write screen plays, and it just feels like much of a muchness. Basically, there just is no sense of moving upwards. I like to think of a thriller as being climbing a mountain. Basically, your characters start at the bottom of the mountain, and then by the time they get to the top. That's 124 00:30:44.730 --> 00:30:48.589 Lucy V. Hay: the end. So, in other words, the bottom of the mountain is the setup. 125 00:30:48.850 --> 00:30:51.589 Lucy V. Hay: The top of the mountain is your payoff. 126 00:30:55.160 --> 00:31:25.149 Lucy V. Hay: So basically, escalation, you've got to make life difficult for your protagonists. The antagonists has got to have that evil plan, and the protagonist doesn't look like they're gonna survive. Maybe you know, life and Death Stakes are a big deal. And we see this a lot in science fiction. They're gonna run out of air. They're gonna they're going to get captured by aliens. They're going to get sucked into a black hole, you know, something bad is going to happen to them, and it is life or death stakes. 127 00:31:25.150 --> 00:31:46.210 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? And what I like to talk about is the showdown as that ending, you know, as you get to the top of the mountain. That's where the showdown happens. Okay, so plotting is basically characters climbing walls, each will higher than the last. And that's for a book called Writing Drama, by Eve Lavandier, which I recommend to everyone 128 00:31:46.210 --> 00:31:56.600 Lucy V. Hay: because it's a really really good book and really kind of goes into the nature of conflicts and the nature of showdowns. And it's really really helpful. 129 00:31:57.210 --> 00:31:59.930 Lucy V. Hay: So. but 130 00:32:00.690 --> 00:32:19.120 Lucy V. Hay: we need the same but different. Remember, I was talking about pre sold elements earlier. We want things that are the same. There's no doubt about that. We want things about dinosaurs. We want things about robots, we want things about being lost in space. We want things about. 131 00:32:19.160 --> 00:32:29.769 Lucy V. Hay: you know anything that you can think of in terms of Science Fiction. People love that stuff. But crucially we want the same. 132 00:32:30.130 --> 00:32:51.219 Lucy V. Hay: but different. So in other words, we want what's gone before, but not exactly the same as before. Okay, so producers work on precedent. So in other words, if you send them something, you send them their site. Your Science fiction story that has. There's nothing like it. Nothing has ever been done like that before. 133 00:32:52.040 --> 00:32:57.540 Lucy V. Hay: If it doesn't have anything pre sold in it. then you're probably not gonna get very far. 134 00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:03.559 Lucy V. Hay: because how are they going to market that if nobody's familiar with what 135 00:33:03.670 --> 00:33:08.269 Lucy V. Hay: what this thing is. How are they going to market? That it's gonna be very, very difficult. 136 00:33:08.840 --> 00:33:23.770 Lucy V. Hay: And remember, I've been talking about pre sold being a cultural desire. So if you've come up with something that literally no one has ever heard of, and no one can really kind of understand what it is. Then, obviously, you're not going to sell it. 137 00:33:24.330 --> 00:33:30.240 Lucy V. Hay: Okay, but also at the same time, we don't want rehashes either. 138 00:33:30.390 --> 00:33:46.699 Lucy V. Hay: One thing that I get all the time as a script, reader, are basically scripts that are the X files just rehashed, or doctor who just rehashed all the X men rehashed. In other words. 139 00:33:47.000 --> 00:34:09.729 Lucy V. Hay: it's good to have time travel like doctor who. It's good to have aliens like the X files. It's great to have X mutants like the X men. Those are pre sold elements. However, all the writer has done is just rewrite those 3 things that's all they've done. They haven't brought anything new to the table whatsoever. 140 00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:33.039 Lucy V. Hay: In other words, it's too, Samy. there's not enough different. Okay, so just as we don't want something that's completely out of the left field. We don't want rehashes either, and unfortunately, the average screenwriter concentrates on the sameness, and they don't concentrate enough on what makes it different enough on subverting those expectations. 141 00:34:33.250 --> 00:34:39.159 Lucy V. Hay: Okay, so as a result, it becomes generic, it becomes boring. It becomes pedestrian. 142 00:34:40.540 --> 00:34:56.350 Lucy V. Hay: Okay, so what I would encourage you to do is do your research in the first instance. Producers want what worked. So you need to do some proper research into finding out what sold, why, it's sold. 143 00:34:56.350 --> 00:35:15.550 Lucy V. Hay: why, people liked it. And I'm not talking about opinions here. There's a lot of people out there online at the moment, making all these kind of mad proclamations about things being good, things being bad, no one cares. Okay, no one cares about your opinion. We're talking about evidence here, what 144 00:35:15.550 --> 00:35:20.070 Lucy V. Hay: sold and where and who liked it. 145 00:35:20.130 --> 00:35:21.340 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? 146 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:50.539 Lucy V. Hay: So they want to know what works. But they also want to break new ground. They also want that element that subverts expectations in some some reason, and they want something that is genre busting to do that. Okay, so in other words, what I'm describing is your project's USP, whatever science fiction idea you have. You need a unique selling point. It can't sound too much like the X-men. It can't sound too much like Dr. Who. It can't sound too much like the X-files. 147 00:35:50.540 --> 00:35:51.829 Lucy V. Hay: No, thank you. 148 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:57.149 Lucy V. Hay: Okay. So you need to know what's gone before. What's missing. 149 00:35:57.170 --> 00:36:08.789 Lucy V. Hay: Okay, the best genre but busted projects when they arrive on my desk. And I'm reading this the screenplay. I think. Wow! Why haven't I seen this before? 150 00:36:09.910 --> 00:36:13.599 Lucy V. Hay: That's a good USP right there. Okay. 151 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:22.349 Lucy V. Hay: so who liked those stories. That's your target audience. A lot of people go. Oh, my God. 152 00:36:22.850 --> 00:36:27.349 Lucy V. Hay: why, I don't want to think about target audience 153 00:36:27.980 --> 00:36:43.060 Lucy V. Hay: that feels like selling out. Or they say, Oh, my story is for everyone, because Science Fiction is so popular. No, absolutely not. That's not how it works. That's not how target audience work. There are movies that are 154 00:36:43.600 --> 00:36:55.520 Lucy V. Hay: incredibly popular, that aren't for everyone. There are TV shows that are incredibly popular, that aren't for everyone, you know, something like avatar or avengers end gain. 155 00:36:56.600 --> 00:37:07.680 Lucy V. Hay: They vie for the top spot of the top movies that have ever been made in terms of box office in terms of sales abroad in terms of sales to TV companies, and so on and so forth. 156 00:37:07.930 --> 00:37:11.330 Lucy V. Hay: But there are still people that don't 157 00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:25.010 Lucy V. Hay: haven't ever watched avatar who haven't ever watched an Avengers movie. There's loads of people who haven't. So this notion that your science fiction story so awesome, is for everyone. That's not how it works. 158 00:37:25.430 --> 00:37:43.089 Lucy V. Hay: One of the reasons the avatar and end game are so popular is down to the fact that science fiction and thriller and adventure is so popular absolutely. But the other point is that the target audience of avengers, endgame 159 00:37:43.260 --> 00:37:54.780 Lucy V. Hay: and avatar is what's known as the 4 Quadrant audience. In other words, it's for old and young, male and female. 160 00:37:54.900 --> 00:38:01.729 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So in other words, it's a way of looking at like the family audience, but it kind of it kind of 161 00:38:01.730 --> 00:38:26.249 Lucy V. Hay: understands that. Actually, not everybody has a family who goes and sees these movies. So it's called the 4 Quadrant Audience. Old, young male female that's like the Holy Grail of target audiences. That is the mass audience right there. Okay, now, maybe your science fiction idea is more niche. That is okay, too. But you've got to know who it's for. 162 00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:37.809 Lucy V. Hay: Got to know who it's for, because that's one of the questions that a producer will ask you what is the target audience here? And if you don't know, then you look like an amateur. 163 00:38:38.090 --> 00:39:04.769 Lucy V. Hay: Okay. so that's my presentation on science fiction. Hopefully, I've given you a crash course into how science fiction works, and why it's so popular. And what producers are looking for in screenplays. And why target audience, and USP is so important. So don't forget to come. Join us over on the on the main site. Grab your free masterclass to on characterization. 164 00:39:04.770 --> 00:39:16.699 celebrate 20 years of bang to write and equally come, join us on the socials as well, because we're always chatting about movies. And by all means send me an email after this class. 165 00:39:18.170 --> 00:39:21.540 Lucy V. Hay: Okay? So that's me. 166 00:39:22.870 --> 00:39:45.220 ProWritingAid: Well, I'm back, hey? Okay, that was great. That was very insightful. I certainly learned loads from that and the chat has been going off with all sorts of different comments about everything you've been saying. We've got several really good questions in our QA. So I think if we want to work through those now. 167 00:39:45.310 --> 00:40:12.110 ProWritingAid: I'm just gonna have a look at this first. So we had one first. About definition of what a thriller was. Because I think you went going through all of the examples you had, and and saying about the different genres that were together. So this question is literally, what is your definition of a thriller? But I think. Take that sort of how you will. With regards to science fiction. 168 00:40:12.610 --> 00:40:37.419 Lucy V. Hay: Yeah, I mean, thriller is something that requires, you know, big stakes, life and Death Stakes. We're talking about escalation. We're talking about tension we've got to get from. Usually we're talking. A thriller is usually very short deadline. There's usually a ticking clock of some kind as well. So most thrillers are somewhere between about 4 h and 4 169 00:40:37.420 --> 00:40:56.380 Lucy V. Hay: days typically as well. So you know, this notion of the ticking clock. And this, I mean, there's so many different types of thriller as well. So in terms of the most common science fiction kind of thriller. It's usually some sort of villain 170 00:40:56.380 --> 00:41:03.810 Lucy V. Hay: intergalactic villain or intergalactic problem of some kind, and they have to solve it by a certain time, or else 171 00:41:04.090 --> 00:41:15.520 Lucy V. Hay: they die or get sucked into a black hole or something like that. So yeah, with you, usually thing with ticking clock, and the tension goes up as the clock comes down, as as it counts down 172 00:41:15.810 --> 00:41:43.040 ProWritingAid: perfect. I think I think that pretty much covers that one. We had someone else who got a bit confused on the genre busting term. So just wanted to explain it. Just sort of recap exactly what you mean by genre busting. Okay, so genre busting is basically taking something that we're already familiar with and then twisting it. Basically, so any of the ones that I've talked about during the actual 173 00:41:43.040 --> 00:41:49.420 Lucy V. Hay: display presentation is genre busting. So something like Terminator, for instance. 174 00:41:49.500 --> 00:42:21.690 Lucy V. Hay: we had before Terminator. We had never seen robots from the future coming back to kill. You know the kind of Messiah kind of character that feels quite familiar these days, because we've had, like 40 years of Terminator movies. But back then it was like, we've never seen anything like that before, and we'd certainly never seen a robot that looked like Arnie before, and you know he was again. We feel very familiar with very kind of muscle bound heroes now, but we have to remember that back in the eighties 175 00:42:21.690 --> 00:42:47.080 Lucy V. Hay: we'd never seen anyone quite like him in a movie before, you know. So it's it's bringing that new kind of look to to something. And then, of course they genre busted it again in Terminator 2, because he's now the old model. And even though he's a giant and he's really strong, we've got this this small guy turn, come along and he's the updated version. And he somehow manages to to 176 00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:54.460 Lucy V. Hay: fight Arnie and win. Basically so basically, we're we're subverting expectations all the time with the genre busting movie. 177 00:42:54.810 --> 00:43:03.549 ProWritingAid: perfect. We had someone who who mentioned would it be genre busting or genre, adding, but I feel like given. What we're saying is, it's 178 00:43:03.560 --> 00:43:19.530 ProWritingAid: it's definitely the more of taking what we know and twisting it to something. W. Unexpected from from what you've just said. perfect. Okay, dokey. Let's see. So we've got 179 00:43:20.110 --> 00:43:21.960 ProWritingAid: another one. 180 00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:26.880 Oh, I had it just a second ago. Sorry 181 00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:37.259 ProWritingAid: people have been saying about thoughts on sci-fi romance. So how you can change that and make that different, I guess. 182 00:43:37.610 --> 00:44:02.159 Lucy V. Hay: Yeah, I mean, we haven't seen a lot of science fiction romance, and I've always wondered why is. It seems very strange, I suppose the one that immediately comes to mind for me is probably passengers Starring, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, which, of course, is deeply problematic in terms of the romance, deeply, deeply problematic. And, in fact, John Spates, who wrote passengers, says that he actually regrets writing it that way, and would write it a different way 183 00:44:02.160 --> 00:44:24.179 Lucy V. Hay: way now from her point of view rather than his point of view, which would change everything in terms of how problematic that movie was. In terms of, you know, male female dynamics. And I think I think I would agree with him it would be if it was more of a thriller, and she finds him so threatening rather than a romance that would have been more interesting, I think. 184 00:44:24.180 --> 00:44:49.140 Lucy V. Hay: in books at the moment romantic is having a bit of a moment at the moment. And romantic is romance and fantasy mixed together. And I strongly believe that in the next couple of years we will see Romanticy turn into Romance, Science Fiction in books, but also in TV and and movies more as well. So cause it is definitely something 185 00:44:49.140 --> 00:45:00.689 Lucy V. Hay: that is missing at the moment. And it's weird because romance is so popular. And why can't we have more romance set in space, or or have, like some kind of 186 00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:25.060 Lucy V. Hay: futuristic element to it? We have seen some like the one on Netflix, for instance, where and we've seen ones like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind as well. Where you get, you know people's your your relationships wiped out of your brain and stuff like that. So I'd like to see more like that and more stuff in in space as well. And Starman, someone's mentioned in the rep in the 187 00:45:25.060 --> 00:45:32.009 in the chat as well, was a great example of a of a science Fiction romance, and I'd like to see more like that definitely 188 00:45:32.610 --> 00:46:01.039 Lucy V. Hay: perfect. Yeah, II completely agree. I mean, romance is my genre if I'm honest. So I think. And I love sci-fi. I. One of the first things I used to write was Doctor, who found fiction. So seeing romance and things in sci-fi things, I think, would be really, really really impressive next one I've got is, what are your tips on making good escalation when writing a script or story? So when it comes to sci-fi 189 00:46:01.040 --> 00:46:12.510 Lucy V. Hay: good escalation. Which is actually something I think I actually struggle with. Yeah, I think I think most writers struggle with escalation because they don't think of each obstacle. 190 00:46:12.510 --> 00:46:34.980 Lucy V. Hay: and a lot of people don't like outline, for instance, or draw the story, or or use index cards or post it, you know whatever I mean, because you don't have to write a fancy outline, and you know some people go. It screws up my spontaneity. It's like, well, yeah, maybe. But it also helps. You understand what the obstacles are in in the way of your protagonists. 191 00:46:35.560 --> 00:47:01.909 Lucy V. Hay: and if you don't know what the obstacles are in front of your protagonist. Then how are you going to? How are you going to plan the escalation of each thing that happens to them, because each thing should be bigger than the thing that preceded it. So, for example, you wouldn't go straight from the setup to the payoff, would you. You'd go, you know, up the stairs, you know. Think of. Think of being at the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. You're not going to have all the biggest stuff down here, are you? You're gonna you're gonna have 192 00:47:01.910 --> 00:47:12.430 Lucy V. Hay: to build up towards it. So yeah, II always recommend at least coming up with like 5 major, 10 pole events. 193 00:47:12.590 --> 00:47:23.510 and each one being bigger than the last one. Like I was. I was consulting on an on a screenplay just recently, and it was science fiction, and they get attacked by robot dogs 194 00:47:23.710 --> 00:47:44.629 Lucy V. Hay: very early on and I was like, this is just way too early. This. This feels like a very serious thing to happen, and then they just spending all their time, you know, holed up in the lab going. Oh, hope the robot dogs don't get me, cause it's like, and it's like, Don't have the robot dogs first have all the other things that, and then build up to the robot dogs. 195 00:47:44.690 --> 00:48:09.290 Lucy V. Hay: Yeah, I think that II imagine that would help with sort of building the suspense and and adding the mystery. If if people don't know when bad things like that are gonna happen absolutely another one is. Can you speak more about how to identify your target audience. So you you mentioned some really good points during the slideshow that I've actually made notes on 196 00:48:09.500 --> 00:48:34.650 Lucy V. Hay: but yeah, if you could just recap a little bit about that. Then I think that everyone would like that. Okay, so target audience just means who it's for. And there's multiple ways. You can do this. I like to come up with an idea. Then I go on Imdb, or rotten tomatoes, or anything like that. And I look for stuff like my idea, and 197 00:48:35.160 --> 00:49:04.800 Lucy V. Hay: I have never come up with an idea that other people haven't come up with before, and the average person is like that as well. You know, everyone thinks they're super original until they start doing some research and discover that actually, we're all part of a herd. And we've kind of absorbed all these ideas from from other people by accident. So I go on, Imdb, I go on rotten tomatoes. I find the movies and the TV shows that are like my idea. I find I read the reviews. I find out who likes them all that 198 00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:07.390 kind of stuff, and then I have a kind of 199 00:49:07.430 --> 00:49:11.470 Lucy V. Hay: an idea of who it's for. Basically, because very often. 200 00:49:11.590 --> 00:49:39.470 Lucy V. Hay: you know, movie sites and review sites will actually reference who liked these things, you know, and who didn't like them. I also go on social media. I ask people, you know, who liked this movie, who liked that movie, and people can reply to me if they want to. I go on sites like Cora as well, you know QU. Or a. And there's lots of chatter on there about movies and things like that. So yeah, I just kind of 201 00:49:39.470 --> 00:50:00.400 Lucy V. Hay: gather the evidence, as it were. I also like to ask, industry pros wherever I can. So you know, places where you online where you can find industry pros to, who are chatting about various movies and vert, various ideas is always handy. I always encourage people to join my 202 00:50:00.470 --> 00:50:05.760 Lucy V. Hay: my group as well to to chat about these things amongst themselves. 203 00:50:05.810 --> 00:50:25.349 Lucy V. Hay: And we've got some industry pros. And there agents, producers, that kind of stuff, and a simpler way that a lot of people like to do is do what I call the John Steinbeck method. He talked about having one ideal audience member. 204 00:50:26.100 --> 00:50:49.970 Lucy V. Hay: and that's right for them. So in my case when I was writing. A variety of novels and stuff like that. I would keep a friend in mind, or my husband in mind, or my children in mind, whoever it was, and say that person is the emblem of my target audience, because that person loves scares. They love. 205 00:50:49.970 --> 00:51:11.620 Lucy V. Hay: You know various tropes. They love various particular things. And they are the emblem of my target audience. So that's that's the simple way to do it alternatively, you can get online and and search for ideas like yours, who liked them? Why did they like them? Why did they not like them? And so on and so forth. 206 00:51:11.840 --> 00:51:24.889 ProWritingAid: That sounds amazing. We do have loads of Q. And as at the moment, so I'm just trying to work through as many as possible, just gonna see if we've got. 207 00:51:25.530 --> 00:51:29.570 ProWritingAid: I think there was a question about 208 00:51:29.860 --> 00:51:41.289 ProWritingAid: There's a couple we've got a couple of questions about novels, are you okay with answering perfect. So for novels does the antagonist need their own pov in order to be a thriller? 209 00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:49.170 Lucy V. Hay: it depends. It depends. I 210 00:51:49.270 --> 00:52:06.719 Lucy V. Hay: I write throws, and I write crime fiction mostly, and in this one, under my real name he does have his own pov, the antagonist. But in this 10, under my pseudonym, Lizzie Frey. 211 00:52:06.910 --> 00:52:18.969 Lucy V. Hay: it's just from her point of view, so I don't think it. Necessarily. You don't necessarily have to do certain things to qualify as a script reader to qualify as a thriller 212 00:52:19.050 --> 00:52:22.660 Lucy V. Hay: when we're just reading it. It's 213 00:52:23.340 --> 00:52:46.230 Lucy V. Hay: yeah. No, I don't. I don't think you necessarily need to do that in the novel. Pov is something that is very kind of personal to the writer. And it's just about telling the best story possible. As long as you use all the other tropes, like the ticking clock, and various other things to do with the antagonist, you don't necessarily have to have the antagonist. Pov. I don't think 214 00:52:46.940 --> 00:53:03.900 ProWritingAid: perfect. Okay, we had a question that a lot of people seem to be quite interested in, which is can you give an example of sci-fi works that are I've put to left field. So you mentioned being 2 left field earlier? And I think people would like an example of it. 215 00:53:04.100 --> 00:53:11.089 Lucy V. Hay: Sure, I mean. by the time something gets by the time something gets made. 216 00:53:11.370 --> 00:53:20.039 Lucy V. Hay: it's usually some. It's usually considered to be okay, even if it's niche. So anything that is produced 217 00:53:20.040 --> 00:53:44.679 they've used. Most people in the industry have said, I can work out who the audience is for this. So somebody likes a movie like the lobster, for instance, is really weird and really screwed up. But obviously did have its audience. But it's a very niche audience in comparison to say avengers. So by the time something gets produced usually has an audience of some kind. But in terms of reading scripts. 218 00:53:45.180 --> 00:53:57.279 Lucy V. Hay: and I've read a lot of Science Fiction over the years. I've read a lot of science fiction what I call science faction scripts, and, in other words, they have come up with what they think 219 00:53:57.280 --> 00:54:20.269 Lucy V. Hay: is a science fiction story. But actually, it's something that exists in real life. And as a result, that's not gonna work equally. Occasionally somebody will write something, and they are trying to be deeply philosophical over something. But they haven't been accessible enough. So I'm like, I literally can't follow this story. And they're like, Oh, but 220 00:54:20.270 --> 00:54:37.720 Lucy V. Hay: it's to do with this thematic or this thematic. And I'm like I get that. But there is no story here. The characters aren't doing anything. They're just literally standing around talking about this theme thing. And that's that's usually the problem. So yeah, by the time we get to production. 221 00:54:37.860 --> 00:54:49.519 Lucy V. Hay: it's huge. I mean, even really deeply weird films like annihilation by Alex Garland, for example. That's a very weird film. Oh, I think I've frozen or you've frozen. 222 00:54:50.160 --> 00:54:52.360 Lucy V. Hay: I don't know. Hello! 223 00:54:53.980 --> 00:54:54.770 Lucy V. Hay: No. 224 00:54:57.020 --> 00:54:58.879 Lucy V. Hay: Hmm, hmm, hmm! 225 00:54:59.440 --> 00:55:21.610 Lucy V. Hay: Yes, we can see you, Lucy. Okay, we can still hear people can hear me. So that's good. But you've frozen. Sarah. So yeah, annihilation is a very deeply weird film. There's no doubt about it, but you know it. It was on Netflix. It got a lot of views, and people really liked it, but probably people not as many people liked annihilation as liked 226 00:55:21.660 --> 00:55:23.149 Lucy V. Hay: infinity. Wall. 227 00:55:24.340 --> 00:55:25.410 Lucy V. Hay: okay. 228 00:55:27.860 --> 00:55:29.080 Lucy V. Hay: you're back. 229 00:55:30.510 --> 00:55:49.079 ProWritingAid: Oh, I'm so sorry my laptop completely died, and it didn't even warn me that it was gonna die. So yeah, I just have to try and restart it. Sorry. I completely technology. What can you do? 230 00:55:50.760 --> 00:56:07.210 ProWritingAid: Right? Yeah, so I'm just looking through the Q. And A to see if there's anything else. We've had a couple of questions about how we can, how the 231 00:56:07.420 --> 00:56:17.339 ProWritingAid: attendees can claim the free master class cause you mentioned it at the beginning. Yeah, yeah. Sure, if you go to bank to Writecom a little 232 00:56:17.340 --> 00:56:42.280 Lucy V. Hay: pop up will pop up, and you can put your email in there, and I'll send you the the master class if it doesn't come through for any reason. Sometimes the auto responder fails. Just drop me an email, and I'll and I'll send you the link. There's also, if the pop up doesn't pop up on Bankscom. If you just scroll down the main page, it'll say, grab your 90 min master 233 00:56:42.280 --> 00:56:48.749 ProWritingAid: class on characterization, and and that will be the page. 234 00:56:49.010 --> 00:56:54.569 ProWritingAid: let's see, do 235 00:56:56.790 --> 00:57:05.620 ProWritingAid: you've got some really good questions, and some of them they come in and they're they're like a paragraph, and it's like, I can't read all this very quickly. 236 00:57:05.670 --> 00:57:20.209 ProWritingAid: good question. Do you think movie producers have any particular interest right now in ecofiction? Slash, fancy slash science fiction. 237 00:57:20.320 --> 00:57:45.059 Lucy V. Hay: It's a it's a weird one, that one eco fiction. Sometimes they call it cli fi climate fiction as well, and it seems to be something that does quite well in books, but doesn't seem to have moved over to movies quite so much. And TV series quite so much. And I'm I'm always wondered why. I can think of the odd one here and there, you know, you got things like the day after tomorrow, and 238 00:57:45.060 --> 00:58:07.779 Lucy V. Hay: you've got things like deep impact, you know, both at, you know, like, 20 years ago, and then you've got ones like there was one starring Keanu Reeves called chain reaction in the nineties. That was about. That was about the climate thing. And then we've got. Just recently we had the Jennifer Lawrence, one with dinner. Leonardo Dicaprio don't look up. I think it was called 239 00:58:07.780 --> 00:58:18.830 ProWritingAid: so yeah, I think there is. I think there is a market for it, but it's not as in in in screenwriting. It's not as popular as in books, I think. 240 00:58:19.110 --> 00:58:22.630 ProWritingAid: Hmm. okay. and 241 00:58:22.760 --> 00:58:51.499 ProWritingAid: let me see, I'm just reading the the chat. Everyone's completely. It sounds like people are completely agree with me, but they're also putting out examples as well. Like water world, and so so called Solar Punk. I don't know that one waterworld, of course, was one of the most epic fails in bulk. Hit bot office history, of course. Which I was found interesting. Cause I thought it was. I thought the idea of Waterworld was pretty cool, but 242 00:58:51.500 --> 00:59:12.439 Lucy V. Hay: apparently people didn't like it at the time. It's gone to become a bit of a cult classic, though. So sometimes a lot of these big blockbusters in particular. They actually make it up on what's known as tertiary markets, ancillary markets and so in other words, on home. Video, DVD, streaming all that kind of stuff. 243 00:59:13.660 --> 00:59:33.319 ProWritingAid: Yeah, III like it when when there's certain films that I've watched, and you ask people about it, and no one else seems to have watched it. And then you find your people. And it turns out like you think it's it's become a cult classic. It's it's one of those I think I call it marmite films. You either love it or you don't. 244 00:59:33.410 --> 00:59:49.360 ProWritingAid: But yeah, okay, I think that's probably about all we've got time for in terms of Q. And as this was such a great session. Thank you all for so much for joining and a big thank you to Lucy Vii. For generous, generous. 245 00:59:49.640 --> 01:00:06.280 ProWritingAid: generously! Oh, my God! Getting my words out! Spending your time with us! As always, you can find the replay to this session and other sessions in the Science Fiction writers. Week hub. You can find the links again in the chat. I'm just going to pop them in. Now 246 01:00:07.950 --> 01:00:10.220 I think that works there we go. 247 01:00:10.550 --> 01:00:33.599 ProWritingAid: So if you wanna make a note of those now, I'm just going to hang around. But we hope you join us for the next session which should be in about an hour's time. With A different host. I think it's with Crystal. But yeah, thank you so much, Lucy. This has been great, and thank you to everybody for joining us. I hope you have a great rest of your day. 248 01:00:33.680 --> 01:00:35.749 ProWritingAid: Thank you. Bye.