Fiction and Non-Fiction scripts - P1.7

Fiction and non fiction media products can have different pre-production requirements that can impact the panning and writing of the scripts, to achieve an affordable, appropriate and successful product.

Fiction scrip examples:

• Spider-man (film)
• Spider-man 2 (videogame)
• Peaky Blinders (TV Show)
• Green Book (film)
• Regular show (TV show)

Non-Fiction script examples:

• Prehistoric Planet (documentary)
• BBC News (news)
• Capital (radio)
• True Crime (documentary)
• Police Interceptors (TV show)

General challenges on fiction scripts:

If the script is for a game with multiple outcomes (Red Dead Redemption 2) the scripts has to have multiple scenarios written. This means that when writing a fictional script the writers are free to make up what happens.

General challenges of a non-fiction scripts:

People have to fact check the script before the final draft is used. In regards to a documentary the filming has to be done before writing the script as you cannot make up or act out what happens as it would then become fiction. They have to try to not over dramatise it to keep it from being fiction. Risk assessments have to be done to ensure that they staff are safe to film.

Brief based task:

Fiction (Film) - Character names need to be decided and which actor will be playing them. There needs to be a rough idea on how the story will be set. 

Non-Fiction (Documentary) - The footage needs to be filmed/collected before the script just incase the script mentioned something that didn't happen. People will need to fact check the script before it was used to keep it from being fiction. 

Non-fiction - documentary series:

Night Stalker is a four-part true crime series streamed on Neflix.
It tells the story of the police investigation into a serial killer in LA in the 1980s.
It consists of a combination of interviews (e.g. with detectives, journalists, surviving victims) archive footage (e.g. original news footage and shots of LA) and modern footage (e.g. recreations of crime scenes, a CGI map showing locations of crimes, etc).
There is no presenter or narrating voice-over for this documentary, and interviewers’ voices are not heard – only the voices of the people interviewed.

Fiction - Drama series:

Line of Duty is a crime drama broadcast on BBC 1 and streamed on iPlayer.
There were six series in total.
The storyline follows a police anti-corruption unit, whose investigations into corrupt police officers reveal wider conspiracy and corruption. 
The drama has several consistent lead characters (the investigators), plus additional different lead characters (being investigated) each series.
There are recurring indoor locations (e.g. office, interview room) and many external, mainly urban, locations (e.g. streets, prison rooms, court)