Artxaysliketo be continued: a magazine about series, sequels and adaptations

An independent culture magazine about series, sequels and adaptations. We neither show nor distribute films or series, and we are not connected with the former site on this domain.

People & roles

People & roles

A long story on screen is almost never written or shot by one person. It is dreamed up, laid out across episodes, filmed in pieces, edited and scored by different people, and each role leaves its mark on the finished season. Here we describe the roles in general terms; the only names we give come from our timeline.

Viewers rarely see the seams between episodes. The less visible the seam, the more people have worked on it.

— Margin note

How this section works: we describe duties found in almost any series production, and we do not write about specific creators, studios or crews.

Who makes a series

Eight roles, from the first page of the script to the last sound of the finale.

Writer

Writes the episode's script: scenes, dialogue, twists. On a series the writer has to keep in mind not only their own episode but also what came before it and what will happen after.

Close looks

Showrunner

Is responsible for the story as a whole: holds the season's vision in mind, makes sure tone and characters stay consistent from episode to episode, and makes the call when different people's interests clash.

Sequels (in Russian)

Writers' room

A group of writers who plan the season together: they lay out arcs across episodes, argue over twists and decide who writes which episode. This is where the many-voiced quality typical of series comes from.

Close looks

Episode director

Directs one or more episodes. The job is to make the work stand out without breaking the overall style: viewers shouldn't feel that a different person shot this episode.

Collections

Editor

Assembles the footage into an episode. Editing shapes the rhythm, the length of scenes and the exact frame on which the episode cuts off, and with it the force of the cliffhanger.

Close looks

Composer

Writes the music that becomes the voice of the series. A short theme at the start of an episode works like a bell: the moment viewers hear it, they are back in a familiar world.

Events

Production designer

Creates the look of the world: sets, props, color. On a long-running show this work matters especially, because the same apartment or office has to stay recognizable for many seasons.

Sitcoms (in Russian)

Actor in a long-running show

Lives with a role for years. The actor discovers new sides of the character together with the writers and often suggests how the character would have changed, so the character grows up along with the performer.

Home

Names in the timeline

  • Charles Dickens: his novel “The Pickwick Papers” came out in monthly instalments in 1836–1837.
  • Eugène Sue: his novel “The Mysteries of Paris” was serialized in a Paris newspaper in 1842–1843.
  • We deliberately name no one else: the magazine is about the forms and craft of storytelling, not about celebrities.
  • History

    A timeline from Dickens's monthly instalments and Sue's newspaper novel to daytime radio serials, and on toward the season.

  • Close looks

    A step-by-step way to break down one episode and a table of its parts: setup, arc, cliffhanger, callback, flashback, finale.

  • Events

    Festival screenings, retrospectives, talks and clubs, plus a plan for running a home viewing club around a series.

Sources

  • Reference works on the history of literature and film
  • Glossaries of TV and screenwriting terms (in general terms)

Historical facts are based on reference works on the history of literature and film. Different schools read the terms of dramatic writing a little differently, so we explain them in general terms and without tying them to specific productions.