DENNIS KELLY
Contextual Research - Writers
Dennis Kelly is a theatre, film and TV writer, possibly best known for his work on BBC Three's Pulling (2006) and Channel 4's Utopia (2013).
Kelly was first introduced to writing after joining a youth group as a teenager, leading him to graduate with a degree in Drama and Theatre arts and write his first play at the age of 30. After 3 years of writing for theatre, Kelly's sitcom, Pulling, aired in 2006. Despite his constant presence in theatre and the west end, Kelly also continued screenwriting - writing an episode of Spooks in 2008, Utopia in 2013 and an original film, Black Sea, in 2014.
After watching Utopia, I immediately was drawn to not only its distinct visual style, but also its vibrant characters and complex story-line. I have found through looking into his other works that in Kelly's writing there is a distinct individuality between his characters, yet a sense of flow which makes even the most abnormal situations appear natural. This darkly humored style is also carried across genres, as Kellys' work reaches from drama to sitcom.
For example:
Utopia (2013)
During the actual writing process, Kelly explains that he needs to hear a character's "voice" in his head, and if that voice then interests him he can look more into who they are. For example, if you by chance overheard a conversation, and you were interested in that person's voice, or what they had to say you'd be intrigued by them - keeping the audience hooked to find out more. By writing his characters in this way, Kelly places himself as the audience in order to develop his characters from a 2D image.
Contextual Research - Writers
"Yeah, I suppose I am known now for dark humour. People are shocked when they meet me, I think they expect me to kill a cat in front of them or something."
Dennis Kelly
Dennis Kelly is a theatre, film and TV writer, possibly best known for his work on BBC Three's Pulling (2006) and Channel 4's Utopia (2013).
Kelly was first introduced to writing after joining a youth group as a teenager, leading him to graduate with a degree in Drama and Theatre arts and write his first play at the age of 30. After 3 years of writing for theatre, Kelly's sitcom, Pulling, aired in 2006. Despite his constant presence in theatre and the west end, Kelly also continued screenwriting - writing an episode of Spooks in 2008, Utopia in 2013 and an original film, Black Sea, in 2014.
After watching Utopia, I immediately was drawn to not only its distinct visual style, but also its vibrant characters and complex story-line. I have found through looking into his other works that in Kelly's writing there is a distinct individuality between his characters, yet a sense of flow which makes even the most abnormal situations appear natural. This darkly humored style is also carried across genres, as Kellys' work reaches from drama to sitcom.
For example:
Pulling (2006)
Utopia (2013)
During the actual writing process, Kelly explains that he needs to hear a character's "voice" in his head, and if that voice then interests him he can look more into who they are. For example, if you by chance overheard a conversation, and you were interested in that person's voice, or what they had to say you'd be intrigued by them - keeping the audience hooked to find out more. By writing his characters in this way, Kelly places himself as the audience in order to develop his characters from a 2D image.
He also explains that writing can be difficult, as stories and characters do not always come out on paper fully formed. In order to achieve this, everything has to be redrafted several times - requiring passion, patience and resilience.
Personally, Dennis Kelly is one of my favourite writers as I am a big fan of dark humor, but I also feel that without a strong element of character even the best story ever written could sink. As people, we are intrigued by others and I feel that Dennis Kelly exploits this to his advantage in every piece he writes. As I write my own material both for this unit and others in the future, this is something I strive to achieve.
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