Julie ([info]majrgenrl8) wrote in [info]gayatheistspy,
@ 2005-01-31 21:52:00
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Episode one and general season plan
I was a t work observing a tutor work with a stuident on his writing. I was left with nothing to do when the student took some time to rewrite a passage. And so, I got to thinking about this here series.

We know that the final episode of season one will be "Deptford" (not necessarily the title). I think we should now work with the assumption that all roads lead to that tavern. So, we have to know where to start.

This is what I think we should do with episode 1:

1. As we learned in high school, every good drama starts in media res. We should start with him on a mission. The teaser should be something dramatic. Running/chasing/seducing. Maybe Juxtapose it with a bit of comedy with him in pub in London before we get credits and the rocking theme song.

2. Shakespeare should be set up immediately as a recurring character. We should make no ifs, ands, or buts about his being a different person altogether from Marlowe. Which will make it even funnier if we bring Marlowe back for season 2. Also I think at least for season 1, Shakespeare should be sort of Jimmy Olsen-like in his naievite.

3. Of course there must be brief, but not all encompassing flashbacks to his recruitment at Cambridge. We shouldn't tell the whole story here. We should alude to it and then bring it in about halfway through the season (sweeps!). Not to mention a brief glimpse at the French monastary of doom (or opposition).

4. And Wriothesley's cat. The cat should be in the first episode. I don't know how, but it should.

That's all I've got so far. I had five minutes to ponder this.

Also based on the poll I see that 14 people want to actually write the episodes. We should decide if we will write in pairs or not and how many episode there will be in total. An HBO season has 12 episodes, a normal network show has 22-24. Oh, and I think someone should be the Elizabethan languuage checker (or maybe a couple of people). Each episode should be run by them before being "aired"

You can tell I'm excited right? Now I have four books on my bed all about Marlowe so I'm going to shut up and go read them.

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[info]adamselzer
2005-02-01 03:17 am UTC (link)
I'm with you on how to do Shakespeare - Jimmy Olson is a perfect example of how he ought to be - but maybe he could occasionally come up with a great line from one his own plays out of nowhere and shock everybody.

Actually, this is about how Jonson portrayed Shakespeare (we think) in Every Man Out of His Humor (or maybe it was Every Man In His Humor - I never can remember which for sure).

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[info]melodylemming
2005-02-01 03:23 am UTC (link)
That all sounds pretty good to me. Probably we should shoot for 12-ish episodes--more than 20 seems a little ambitious.

Also, as one of the people who wants to write episodes, I like the idea of working in pairs.

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[info]adamselzer
2005-02-01 03:27 am UTC (link)
Pairs is good, though we could probably let everyone have "workshop" type input.
Personally, I'd really love to work on the death episode. It's probably the part of Elizabethan history I'm most comfortable talking about.

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[info]sadcypress
2005-02-01 03:30 am UTC (link)
I think 12 is a great number for the first season- we have the option to extend if we find that we have a hit on our hands. ;)

I also wholeheartedly second your #s 2 and 3. But how to bring the cat in (as we so clearly should)? I think we need to turn to the question of how we hope to portray the cat. An amusing sidekick? Reliable comic relief? Or a serious player in the drama?

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 03:35 am UTC (link)
Iswear I'm going to read! I think the cat should just be a visual device. If there was a way to work in Shakespeare and the cat...

But mostly I think the cat should just sit there and give Marlowe, and anyone else who comes upon it, attitude.

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[info]roz_mcclure
2005-02-01 04:10 am UTC (link)
I think that for the most part, the cat should just be this incredibly annoying nuisance to everything it comes across. Marlowe has a headache? MRROWYOWL. Shakespeare needs to get to his manuscripts? Bitch, no, I'm sleeping here.

However, if we let it survive the run of the series, I think it should be the only creature that knows for sure what happened at the tavern in Deptford. :)

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[info]sadcypress
2005-02-01 04:14 am UTC (link)
Oo, nice one! I quite like that. It seems like just the sort of cat that would smugly sit there, privy to the Real Story and yet wouldn't even tell us if it could.

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[info]watersword
2005-02-01 02:49 pm UTC (link)
AMEN!

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[info]poisoninjest
2005-02-01 03:36 am UTC (link)
We brainstormed a cat plotline last night... check it out here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/gayatheistspy/541.html?thread=7453#t7453

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 03:41 am UTC (link)
Ok so we build up to the death of the cat as previouly sketched. Start him out bitchy and kill him off around episode 9 (out of 12).

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[info]sadcypress
2005-02-01 03:45 am UTC (link)
Oh hurrah, fabulous!

Oh dear... I'm having some truly frightening visions that have their origin in the plans to feature Kate Winslet and Her Marvelous Bosom in various disguises- suddenly, I want Kate to be the true face of half of the characters, Scooby Doo style. Imagine the wackiness if Kate were Shakespeare! If Kate was the Cat!

I'm truly sorry. This is what comes of too much coffee and too much reading to do before tomorrow dawns.

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 03:52 am UTC (link)
Ach! She should be someone's mistress! Someone he's spying on's mistress! her breasts would feature proimnently and wackiness could ensue in the form of ickiness hetrosexual sex! Can't you see him backing away as she arches her back more and more in an attempt to get him to look at her cleavage?

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[info]roz_mcclure
2005-02-01 04:04 am UTC (link)
Now I've got this picture of Kate being all seductive-y on a bed, and Marlowe trying to make excuses and get her to keep her stays laced. Plotbunny: some...rival...spyman is totally clueless about Marlowe's Gayness(!) and sends Kate (and her boobies!) to SEDUCE HIM AND GET INFOMRATION. Le gasp.

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 04:06 am UTC (link)
I cannot contain my mirth. That's just brilliant. But it should start slow and he should just be disinterested and rival spy guy should get frustrated and be amazed at how well Marlowe is able to hold back from the Kate cleavage.

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[info]coloredvision
2005-02-01 03:53 am UTC (link)
I definitely vote work in pairs, and I already know who I'd want to work with. Which brings up the question, how would that be chosen?

Also, what do you mean by "Elizabethan language checker"? Not making us write in iambic pentameter or anything bothersome like that? ...Though personally, I'm all about anachronistic speech in period stories, but that's just me.

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 03:58 am UTC (link)
Oh god no. I'm personally horrible at meter of all types. I mean by way of being anachronistic, but not falling into so much as to forget that written words are much different than spoken. Really just to make sure there aren't too many non-Elizabethan words or phrases. I have no problem playing off references to 20th century things, but I think they shoud be anachronized a bit.

I ust think they should sound like they are from sixteenth century England. The only iambs should be when we are showing the theatre stuff.

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[info]sadcypress
2005-02-01 04:01 am UTC (link)
Couldn't we have A Very Special Episode where they speak in iambic pentameter? Pleeeeeease? ;)

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 04:03 am UTC (link)
Why not? I'm not writing it. But you can. Oh my god. It should be a very special episode indeed, with all the playwriths in London getting together and yelling at each other in iambic pentameter.

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[info]sadcypress
2005-02-01 04:11 am UTC (link)
No, I couldn't ask anybody to do that, it would be too cruel. ;) But there must be someone out there in this crazy community who'd be willing...

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[info]myalexandria
2005-02-01 04:56 am UTC (link)
I would write in iambic pentameter -- I used to do loads of it, it's not that hard. Sounds like fun. Put me on the list :)

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[info]minkhollow
2005-02-01 04:08 am UTC (link)
Sounds like a sweeps gimmick to me...

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[info]majrgenrl8
2005-02-01 04:10 am UTC (link)
But some gimmicks are worth it. Who could say no to Puppet!Angel?

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[info]elanor_two
2005-02-01 04:26 am UTC (link)
I know someone who I bet would write an entire episode in iambic pentameter. I swear he THINKS in iambs. D'you want me to point him in this direction? :D

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[info]coloredvision
2005-02-01 04:12 am UTC (link)
That I can agree with. No modern slang, but maybe references to current events (and people?) modified to be sixteenth century events. Which is exccedingly fun. Alas, I can't think of any entertaining examples right now.

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[info]thebratqueen
2005-02-01 08:48 pm UTC (link)
16th century wars and their controversies parse easily to modern wars and theirs.

Hmm. Wonder if Shakespeare could be considered the reality TV of his day?

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[info]rosamund
2005-02-01 08:59 pm UTC (link)
Well, Edward II takes a potshot at the treatment (or lack thereof) of veterans of the battle against the Spanish Armada.

Not that a modern equivalent springs to mind, of course.

::resists sudden queer theorist tangent about whistling, innocent or otherwise:: I hate my brain!

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[info]roz_mcclure
2005-02-01 03:57 am UTC (link)
Are there any hard facts about time Marlowe spent on the continent? I would love to do an episode or two (midseason) of "Marlowe in Paris!" "Marlowe in Venice!" where production moves overseas for a week and we spend a lot of money on showy camera shots. :)

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[info]mattador
2005-02-01 05:41 am UTC (link)
As far as his 'death' goes, a wild speculative idea: if we want him to survive, rather than having faked his death he could have been interrupted in an attempt at fakery by, well, a stab wound under the eye, presumed dead, and kidnapped/spirited away while in a coma. Then we could start the hypothetical second season with him in captivity?

Random thought.

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