Storytelling Unit - Screenwriter Research 1 - Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy 

This screenwriter has wrote many screenplays as well as assisting with directing and producing big TV dramas including Glee, Nip -Tuck and American Horror Story.

Murphy started as a journalist writing newspaper columns as his first main job. He then moved onto writing scripts in the late 1990's which would prove him to be the success that he is today mainly focusing on Television. After creating the show Popular which ran for 2 series, he moved onto Nip - Tuck. This series was well received and ran for 6 seasons highly focusing on the lives of 2 plastic surgeons Sean & Christian who deal with the stresses of money, family and relationships. I wanted to look at an episode that focuses on this to see how Murphy conveys everyday life into a compelling drama.

When looking at American Horror Story I watched season 1 episode 2 focusing on how the themes of the episode were conveyed. The main theme in this episode is centred around the husband having an affair with one of his ex students and is pregnant. I was particularly interested in this episode as it has links of an affair like my own project and I wanted to see how tension was created through Ryan Murphy's writing. The build up is interesting as first of all the lover calls and says she is pregnant. When he gets off the phone the title sequence starts to which after it rejoins later on that evening. His wife explains about how her pregnancy doesn't feel right. You have a sudden click of peril as an audience realising how they are both pregnant at the same time. Your engaged by the interesting dynamic and this is what I want to convey in my drama.


For Murphy to engage his audience
he moves the story at a fast pace. Its never too long on one particular scene and keeps moving back and forth throughout time adding detailed subplots that all tie together. It shows he must have thought about all the stories in a very deep analytical way allowing them all to flow and link into each other. Subplots are something that Ryan Murphy does well in American Horror Story as they keep the audience from getting bored and allow the slow reveal of clues to the overall mystery in an exciting and gripping way. When looking at the characters in the show they are very well thought out and included a lot of depth to their personalities for example Tate. He is a teenage boy with multiple issues dealing with his hatred for his mother, coming to terms with death and lacking in empathy. He is very much an outcast who wants acceptance but his metal health issues make him go about things the wrong way. This shows me that strong and complex characters are key to creating a good TV Show.