Matt Kirton

Tone and the Screenplay

De Montfort University, UK

Story, character, theme and structure dominate craft of screenwriting discourse and research; comparatively little is written about tone. However, tone remains a major talking point in development meetings across the UK film and TV industries. Countless projects have been lost in development hell, dropkicked to turnaround, and passed on by commissioners due to the screenwriter – and their work’s – inability to confidently articulate tone. Turning to research and the academy for answers this article aims to kickstart new discussion whilst developing practical guidance for professional screenwriters and students hoping to better practically understand tone and the screenplay. The article examines what tone is and the various ways it presents in the screenplay. Primarily the article argues that tone can be measured in screenplay characters responses to death. It closely analyses two protagonists actions and dialogue in the immediate aftermath of violent murders in TV shows Happy Valley (2014) and Killing Eve (2018). Finally, the article turns its attention to a third show, the author’s own The Mother of All Murders, and aims to answer – once and for all – the bafflingly simple question: What is its tone?

MATT KIRTON is an ITV / Red Planet Prize finalist and Liverpool Everyman Young Writers’ Programme graduate. He has had plays produced in London, Liverpool and at the Edinburgh Fringe. In November 2016, Matt won Green Door Pictures’ Write to Green Light receiving a development option with Green Door Pictures and Lionsgate UK for pilot script SIN OF GOD. Matt has developed original shows with Expectation Entertainment, FilmNation UK, Leopard Pictures, Two Cities and Red Planet Pictures. Represented by Christian Ogunbanjo at United Agents, Matt has taught at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Salford, and is currently a Lecturer in Creative Writing at De Montfort University.