Structure

Structure, What Structure?

By Vern Smith

Mark Farrell hasn’t had to write within a new box… yet. But he recognizes the plot, and he’s pretty sure he can see where this story is going. The deregulation of prime-time television advertising is still unfolding, and broadcasters are just now sort of sticking their toes in, so to speak.

If, or perhaps when, it happens, Farrell knows he’ll have to get his head around writing for a smaller chunk of programming time. The sketch show This Hour Has 22 Minutes is one thing: a series of fast outbursts, laissez faire advertising limits will eventually threaten to make it shorter, Farrell figures, by a sketch-plus per show.

More complicated, however, is a show like Farrell’s other main gig, Corner Gas–a half-hour comedy with stories, regulars, and multiple broadcasters. The shift in regs creates a possible shift in storytelling–less time but also perhaps, more story breaks.

It may also call for a Canadian version as well as an extended US re-mix. “You’re going to have a shorter episode for Canadian TV than American TV,” he says. “I can’t see how they couldn’t do that. It’s almost a logical conclusion. If our shows are say 19 minutes long and every other market is 21, yeah, you’re going to need two or more minutes of content there. For an hour, you’re going to have a 40-minute version and a 42, or whatever the numbers will be. I’m not looking forward to it, but obviously we’ll have to deal with it when it happens.”

In 2007, in order to give broadcasters the ability to generate more revenue, the CRTC relaxed the advertising regulations, allowing more commercials per hour on prime-time TV. Stations were allowed to increase advertising to 14 minutes an hour, up from 12. This fall, the limit goes to 15.What was not considered was the impact the CRTC decision would have on storytelling and screenwriters. Sure you might be able to sell a few more ad spots, but would the show you sold it on have the same dramatic or comedic power?

And to make matters worse, it’s a phased-in approach that will eventually remove restrictions on prime-time advertising completely. The broadcasters are saying there’s nothing to worry about on this front. But that’s just because there’s a bigger front for worry: the fact that most of the programming arriving in Canada is simulcast with the U.S. networks–and that means Canadian broadcasters have to follow their lengths.

The possible discrepancy does introduce the potential for different commercial loads on Canadian shows, and/or between networks. Ironically, the lifting of these advertising limits will coincide with dropped requirements to fill some of that time promoting Canadian programming.

Officially, the CRTC says the lack of regulation will free up broadcasters to use potential windfalls “to respond to changes in the industry.” Farrell thinks it’s just a bit odd given that American broadcasters such as Fox appear headed in the opposite direction. “I’ll be really interested to see how the two shows in the states do that are actually cutting back on commercials, Dollhouse and Fringe,” Farrell says.

Here in Canada, assuming broadcasters can sell more spots and intend to do so, the challenge for writers is bringing viewers back from extra breaks, breaks that are longer, or a bit of both. The standard 30-minute structure, which generally calls for three acts (an introduction, rising action, and a conclusion), gets trickier to meet when the number or length of breaks increases. And then, in a year, those numbers could change again when the market may apparently re-determine both story length and structure.

As is, Corner Gas has roughly 20.5 minutes, not a lot of time to get three plots in and give all the characters of Dog River something meaningful to contribute.“We’re trying to feed a lot of mouths in terms of actors,” Farrell says. “In 20-and-a-half minutes, it’s hard to tell a compelling story. Forget compelling, it’s hard to tell a story.”

Losing even more time, Farrell says, is not insurmountable. He just wishes the ad game “could just slow down a little.”He already ends up losing his cold opener often enough. Much of everything else that is not connected to the story–“every texture, every nuance, sometimes good jokes”–tends to get cut as well.

So in future tense, he’s not sure of what goes next. “It’s nice to have a quiet character moment that may pay off later,” he says. “If it’s going to be a shorter story, you’re going to take more pebbles from the stream and hope the audience follows. You’ll have characters jump to more conclusions and solve more stuff off screen. That’s not great either. There’s no real way around this.”

The “60-minute” drama, in turn, will also be pressed, an eventuality that was built into CBC’s The Border between the pilot and episode one, bumping the four-act structure to a five. “I don’t personally find it that difficult, but some writers are very thrown by it,” says writer and producer Janet MacLean.

 “We have a 44-minute hour, which is about what we’ve been dealing with for some time. It’s putting in more breaks and figuring out where those breaks are going to give you the most impact for your story.”

For The Border, the best strategy as a five-act is to put the first sponsor’s words off as long as possible. “We just keep going,” MacLean says. “Our first act is kind of a teaser, a title card and an act. We call it all act one, and it’s continuous with the 12-second title card. A lot of shows go to commercial right after that and I think they lose people then. We sometimes lose people with just the expectation that there will be a break, but hopefully people are catching on.”

 To help, MacLean puts the first break in around the 13 or 14minutemark, commercials following more rapidly thereafter. As they roll, MacLean admits that writers commonly worry aloud that the five-act structure is a momentum killer. A theatre person, she doesn’t see it that way, citing the four-act as her own private Achilles.

 “I’m from theatre,” she says. “I tend to think in three acts, so four acts always gave me trouble. I always felt that my last act was too short. If you left your last commercial break in the middle of rising action by the time you came back and rejoined that action and took it back to the climax, then you’re going to end up with a short fourth act, whereas, for a fifth act, you’re allowed.”

 As for bringing folks watching live (or just channel surfing) back, MacLean says the drill isn’t so different. “We try to find a point of maximum viewer interest to break on,” she says. “That’s pretty standard, because we’re an action show. We try to build in for the last act and for the pre-title period, and for hopefully one or two other acts, some kind of very dynamic act breaks. If they’re not actually physically dynamic, there’s a key moment in a relationship, a revelation.”

If all else fails, MacLean says it’s always good to go out on blowing something up.

Please see the print edition for full article.