P1: Explain different ideas for an original media product based on a client brief
Scenario/Client Brief:
BBC3 Needs You!
You have been asked by BBC3 executives to plan ideas for a pilot episode for a brand new television drama aimed at a 15-21 year olds. The budget for the programme is quite low and they would like the programme to air at 9pm on Thursday nights. Once you have created your ideas you will pitch them to the channel. As a starting point you will need to:
BBC3 Needs You!
You have been asked by BBC3 executives to plan ideas for a pilot episode for a brand new television drama aimed at a 15-21 year olds. The budget for the programme is quite low and they would like the programme to air at 9pm on Thursday nights. Once you have created your ideas you will pitch them to the channel. As a starting point you will need to:
- Research the channel, programme type and target audience
- Develop programme ideas
- Develop a proposal and documentation for your ideas
- Plan and deliver your pitch to the client
what are the client requirements?
The client requirements within the brief state for the target audience they want 15 - 21 year olds. I also need to consider the genre of the piece as well as the budget requirements. The program that I will be pitching will be aired at 9:00 on Thursday afternoons. When looking at the client brief I understood that the client wanted a teen dram that could beard on the BBC at 9:00, however more specifically on BBC three which is aimed at a younger demographic. The BBC's ethos is to educate, entertain and inform, meaning when creating my teen drama it will have to fir into one of these categories. As the budget for the program is low I will have to make sure I stick to the brief and plan the production accordingly.
What are the audience considerations? (Looks at BARB for statistics of channel and genre)
This here is the viewing figures of BBC threes programs in one month
http://vodzilla.co/blog/vod-news/bbc-three-viewing-figures-revealed-thirteen-most-popular-as-views-rival-sherlock/
Who are the BBC ?:
The BBC are a Public Broadcasting corporation, which means they create content for the public but specifically the Tv license payer. The TV payer pays £145 a year for nine different channels all run by the BBC corporation and they all deliver different content to the audience. Content ranges from, News, entertainment and sports. The BBC's remit is to Inform, educate and entertain which they do by having these channels. The BBC's values are... "Our mission, vision, and values inform the work of the BBC and are how we promote our public purposes.The public purposes are set out by the royal character and agreement, the constitutional basis for the BBC." Also on their website they attest their mission is to "enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain." However the clients brief states this program will be aired on BBC Three which is another platform to the BBC franchise, mainly because the platform is an online one rather than on TV.
What is BBC Three ?:
BBC Three is a channel run by the BBC, which has only recently become an online platform. The channel aims content at a younger demographic ( 16 -34 ) they have a mixed genre of entertainment on their channel, from comedies, dramas and horrors. The platform is aimed to each to a younger target audience and now it is online it makes it easier to reach that target audience. BBC Three compared to BBC 1 and 2 have got a wider limitation on what they produce, this also means it will then be easier to produce and follow the codes and conventions of the chosen genre.
Who are the competitors for BBC3 and teen TV dramas ?:
The main competitors for BBC Three are; E4 and channel 4. This is because the content shown on these two channels have got a lot of similarity's as well as the channels having more leniency of what they can produce. Also there is competition hit other online companies, such as Netflix, Amazon prime and 4OD, this is because the content shared on these channels are very similar to the ones on BBC Three. As well as the shows being similar their target audiences are very similar.
What are the main codes and conventions of a TV Drama?:
Main conventions of a television drama?:
The main conventions of a television drama are, having a big plot line this being the narrative, being heavy character based and the mise-en-scene used within the drama. For example that big the lighting or camera angles. Some televisions dramas are based on true events, for example a period drama. These are normally more gripping and interesting to the audience. Some dramas have sub genres within the piece, as I mention earlier a period drama is a sub genre as its set in specific time in the past, this is the same for futuristic genes as well as love genres. Below are the codes and conventions of a TV drama or typically what you'd find in the drama.
The main conventions of a television drama are, having a big plot line this being the narrative, being heavy character based and the mise-en-scene used within the drama. For example that big the lighting or camera angles. Some televisions dramas are based on true events, for example a period drama. These are normally more gripping and interesting to the audience. Some dramas have sub genres within the piece, as I mention earlier a period drama is a sub genre as its set in specific time in the past, this is the same for futuristic genes as well as love genres. Below are the codes and conventions of a TV drama or typically what you'd find in the drama.
Television drama conventions
Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-media-conference-2013-tv-drama-stories-audiences.pdf
- A setting that is relatable or recognisable
- Cliffhangers
- Strong storyline / narrative
- Lighting ( Harsh lighting with shadows / Soft lighting etc)
- editing techniques
- Shots ( Cuts, fade, wipes)
- Characters that have relatable traits or pass strong messages.
- Audio codes: Dialogue, sound effects, voiceovers, music
- Set time i.e the show lasts for 30 minutes to an hour
Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-media-conference-2013-tv-drama-stories-audiences.pdf
Teen Tv dramas
Here are some conventions I found by looking at these three Teen dramas
Sneaky Pete
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Sneaky Pete is a action / adventure love story, released on amazon prime on the 7th of August 2015, the story is about;
"A con man who tries to leave his old life behind by assuming the identity of his cell mate, Pete. While Pete's family doesn't have reason to suspect that he is not their long-lost loved one, they are a colorful group with their own secrets and lies that could make life as dangerous as the world Marius was hoping to escape. Marius must find a way to keep his lies from backfiring as he deals with unexpected situations that come his way". Source: (sneaky Pete)
Sneaky Pete follows many codes and conventions of a teen drama, for example with its strong opening scene of a flashback and then returning to a prison cell instantly engages an audience. This here will interest the viewer as straight away it has such a contrast from the first scene we have just watched, the second one that is shown, this is a code and convention of a TV drama in fact, the idea of using a setting to interest or intrigue the audience (Setting and iconography, ((this means having something that is familiar to an audience.)) And by changing the shot to a prison is changing the viewing habits for the audience making them more engaged. By adding the subgenre into the piece as well (action/ adventure/teen), means it will create a better narrative and make the story more of a mystery, therefore, appealing more to the audience. The actors used in this program represent the target audience as the actors used are a similar age, this then will make the audience become more attached to the characters as well as the story and series. Because the opening scene is a flashback it manipulates the audience's feelings this can then evoke feelings of happiness or sadness etc, and with this information, the audience can, therefore, justify the narrative or make sense of it, as they have some backstory to the series.
These codes and conventions used within 'Sneaky Pete' first pilot episode is something I would like to use in my pitch from the client brief, as I think this adheres the clients brief and has codes and conventions that I would like to use in my idea, the length of the show is something I would also like to use in my pilot episode as it sticks to the clients brief and is the average time of a teen drama.
"A con man who tries to leave his old life behind by assuming the identity of his cell mate, Pete. While Pete's family doesn't have reason to suspect that he is not their long-lost loved one, they are a colorful group with their own secrets and lies that could make life as dangerous as the world Marius was hoping to escape. Marius must find a way to keep his lies from backfiring as he deals with unexpected situations that come his way". Source: (sneaky Pete)
Sneaky Pete follows many codes and conventions of a teen drama, for example with its strong opening scene of a flashback and then returning to a prison cell instantly engages an audience. This here will interest the viewer as straight away it has such a contrast from the first scene we have just watched, the second one that is shown, this is a code and convention of a TV drama in fact, the idea of using a setting to interest or intrigue the audience (Setting and iconography, ((this means having something that is familiar to an audience.)) And by changing the shot to a prison is changing the viewing habits for the audience making them more engaged. By adding the subgenre into the piece as well (action/ adventure/teen), means it will create a better narrative and make the story more of a mystery, therefore, appealing more to the audience. The actors used in this program represent the target audience as the actors used are a similar age, this then will make the audience become more attached to the characters as well as the story and series. Because the opening scene is a flashback it manipulates the audience's feelings this can then evoke feelings of happiness or sadness etc, and with this information, the audience can, therefore, justify the narrative or make sense of it, as they have some backstory to the series.
These codes and conventions used within 'Sneaky Pete' first pilot episode is something I would like to use in my pitch from the client brief, as I think this adheres the clients brief and has codes and conventions that I would like to use in my idea, the length of the show is something I would also like to use in my pilot episode as it sticks to the clients brief and is the average time of a teen drama.
Fargo
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Fargo is a crime detective story, officially released on Channel 4 but has most recently been bought be Netflix to show on there platform. The Tv show was a spinoff from the film. The Tv show was released June 17th 2014, the story is about;
"A drifter named Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) brings trouble to small-town Minnesota and influences insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) into murder. Meanwhile, a pair of local police officers are trying to piece together a series of murders which they believe is connected to Malvo and Nygaard." Source (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/fargo/s01/)
Fargo follows many codes and conventions of a teen drama, for example with its strong narrative instantly engages the audience to want to watch more of the show. I also think by having in a big bold title "This is a true story" Will insatiably engage the audience and is another key convention to make the audience want to watch it. Having a show based on a true story or is a true story makes it more desirable, as people want to know real stories. Having the Tv show genre as a crime/thriller means the narrative will be interesting, bringing mystery to the stories which again appeals to that key target audience. And when I refer back to the client brief they state in their brief, that the target audience age will be between 15 and 21-year-olds. So from this, I will take key aspects of Fargo as this was aimed at 15 - 21-year-olds, and by having some of these conventions in my piece will make it more desirable, and make more people want to watch it. The actors used in the program are very relatable ones. For example our main character Lester, he is a very nice person and someone people might look up to, he has this father figure feel to him. So by having this makes the show more relatable to the target audience.
All the codes and conventions used in 'Fargo' is something I would like to be using in my pilot episode for BBC Three. This is because this sticks to the client brief and is what the client is asking for in the pilot episode (conventions similar to Fargo)
"A drifter named Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) brings trouble to small-town Minnesota and influences insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) into murder. Meanwhile, a pair of local police officers are trying to piece together a series of murders which they believe is connected to Malvo and Nygaard." Source (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/fargo/s01/)
Fargo follows many codes and conventions of a teen drama, for example with its strong narrative instantly engages the audience to want to watch more of the show. I also think by having in a big bold title "This is a true story" Will insatiably engage the audience and is another key convention to make the audience want to watch it. Having a show based on a true story or is a true story makes it more desirable, as people want to know real stories. Having the Tv show genre as a crime/thriller means the narrative will be interesting, bringing mystery to the stories which again appeals to that key target audience. And when I refer back to the client brief they state in their brief, that the target audience age will be between 15 and 21-year-olds. So from this, I will take key aspects of Fargo as this was aimed at 15 - 21-year-olds, and by having some of these conventions in my piece will make it more desirable, and make more people want to watch it. The actors used in the program are very relatable ones. For example our main character Lester, he is a very nice person and someone people might look up to, he has this father figure feel to him. So by having this makes the show more relatable to the target audience.
All the codes and conventions used in 'Fargo' is something I would like to be using in my pilot episode for BBC Three. This is because this sticks to the client brief and is what the client is asking for in the pilot episode (conventions similar to Fargo)
Bad Education opening scene
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Bad Education is a comdey, released orgianally on BBC Three then later added by netlfix in 2016, the story is about;
"Bad Education is a British sitcom that was produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Three. It stars Jack Whitehall as young teacher Alfie Wickers – Bad Education "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system" – at the fictional Abbey Grove School, in Hertfordshire". Source: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Education_(TV_series))
Bad Education follows many code and conventions of a teen comedy-drama, for example, the mise-en-scene used in the program can really relate to the target audience which is school kids. The mise-en-scene used for example lighting, location and costume is something that will very easily connect with the target audience, therefore making them more invested in the program. For example the first scene, is a grey school car park which straight away makes the audience interested as its something they know well, what also adds to the comedy, is that grey sky and rainy day something that us British people find very familiar, and is stereotypically used in British television to make the audience relate to the show. Another convention of the show would be the costumes used, all very familiar costumes to the target audience (School uniform) This relates to the target audience as well as adding to the comedy. When thinking about my idea I will be pitching to the BBC Three executives I will make sure I consider these points, as the client wants me to create something that relates to the target audience.
These codes and conventions used within 'Bad Education' first episode is something I would like to use in my pitch from the client brief, as I think this follows the clients brief and has codes and conventions that I would like to use in my idea, the length of the show is something I would like to change as my pilot episode, I feel it needs to be longer than 30 minutes as this might not interest my target audience and engage them, and the client brief states it needs to want to make the target audience want to watch more and be invested in the program.
"Bad Education is a British sitcom that was produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Three. It stars Jack Whitehall as young teacher Alfie Wickers – Bad Education "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system" – at the fictional Abbey Grove School, in Hertfordshire". Source: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Education_(TV_series))
Bad Education follows many code and conventions of a teen comedy-drama, for example, the mise-en-scene used in the program can really relate to the target audience which is school kids. The mise-en-scene used for example lighting, location and costume is something that will very easily connect with the target audience, therefore making them more invested in the program. For example the first scene, is a grey school car park which straight away makes the audience interested as its something they know well, what also adds to the comedy, is that grey sky and rainy day something that us British people find very familiar, and is stereotypically used in British television to make the audience relate to the show. Another convention of the show would be the costumes used, all very familiar costumes to the target audience (School uniform) This relates to the target audience as well as adding to the comedy. When thinking about my idea I will be pitching to the BBC Three executives I will make sure I consider these points, as the client wants me to create something that relates to the target audience.
These codes and conventions used within 'Bad Education' first episode is something I would like to use in my pitch from the client brief, as I think this follows the clients brief and has codes and conventions that I would like to use in my idea, the length of the show is something I would like to change as my pilot episode, I feel it needs to be longer than 30 minutes as this might not interest my target audience and engage them, and the client brief states it needs to want to make the target audience want to watch more and be invested in the program.
How I have interpreted the client brief
From the client brief, I have made sure I follow the guidelines they were looking for. That being a show aimed at 15 - 21-year-olds, that is low budget and will be aired at 9 o'clock on a Thursday evening. Because go these guidelines they want me to follow I have decided to make a teen drama as this will relate to my target audience.
From the client brief, I have made sure I follow the guidelines they were looking for. That being a show aimed at 15 - 21-year-olds, that is low budget and will be aired at 9 o'clock on a Thursday evening. Because go these guidelines they want me to follow I have decided to make a teen drama as this will relate to my target audience.
Idea Generation
Below are the three ideas I have generated, some of which I think I can put towards pitching to the BBC Three executives
Idea 1 - A teen love story
For my first idea I thought of creating a popular teen drama which is a love story, however, I wanted this to intrigue both genders rather than more of the female genders. So the story will be placed in east London with 2 male protagonists and one female protagonist. The narrative of this piece will follow one boy who got kicked out his college in Falmouth and goes to meet the girls he's been chatting to for the past three years on social media.
Key Ideas and Genrations by will on Scribd
Mood board for Idea 1:
The reason why I chose these images is because I wanted to go for the dark gritty English look. Images I have added on this mood board are places like alley ways, council housing, state schools, and london roofs I added these images as this will be the theme I will be aiming for in my propsal. I also showed some ideas of what my chacters might look like, as I want to display and show who I might be casting in regards to how they lok or what thye wear.
Idea 2 - Crime drama
For my second idea, I looked into the genre of a crime drama. I looked at dramas such as Fargo and Peaky Blinders to follow some the codes and conventions used in the programs. For my idea, I decided to use a corrupt police officer who uses his powers for bad, and four boys who are all best-friends; one of which is the son of the corrupt police officer. In the plotline, it focuses on drugs, murders and lies. All of which are tangled the four best friends together and they have to unravel it to find out the truth.
Idea 2 and generations by will on Scribd
Mood board for idea 2:
I added these photos as they are key to show what the show might look like and what sort of vibe/feel it'll be. The reason why the money was chosen is becasuse money will play a key role in this idea, as money in the show detsroys all the families lifes and pulls them apart becsue of greed.
Idea 3 - Sci-Fi drama
For my third idea, I looked into the sci-fi genre, the narrative for the piece would be set later in the future after earth has been destructed from a nuclear disaster. The story will touch open morality, the idea of heaven and hell. it will also focus on alien life form falling to earth and help to destroy earth even more. And as the last 2 humans (At least we think there the last 2) they come tufter to try and save earth from being destroyed.
Mood board fro idea 3:
These photos where added because the setting would look very similar to the ones in the mood board, it would also allow for my client to get a great visual understanding of what the setting, characters, plot and sub characters would be like.
M1: Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the different ideas
Idea 1: A teen love story
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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One of my strengths for this idea would be having it more storyline heavy meaning the TV programme would focus more on the storytelling rather than having a massive budget and making look very professional. By having a good storyline that is engaging and interesting it much better than having the show look nice. Although the show has to look professional a good storyline will keep the audiences attention for however long the show will be that being for 30 minutes to an hour. Another strength would be having diverse characters in the show, as this would make the show much more popular as then more people will be interested in it as there is a range of genders and race in the show. This follows the BBC remit of having different backgrounds of people represented. Another strength would be that the show won't only appeal to 16-year-olds but also 20 to 25-year-olds, this is because the storyline would appeal to older people such as 25-year-olds as it is very relatable, also the culture hasn't changed that much in the past 5 years so they can get a lot of the ideas or slang used in the program. However, a weakness would be not being original enough, as this show follows some codes and conventions of teen dramas, such as Waterloo.
Idea 2: Crime drama
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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I think one of the strengths of this idea would have to be the plot line, this is because I will be using 4 young boys as the main characters, and by having the storyline being very dark and being filled with, drugs, murders and lies, really juxtaposes the whole story especially as out four main protagonists are young boys. Having them as young boys makes the plot line much more sensitive and one that's engaging, this is because no young boy should be surrounded by drugs, murders and lies. So I think that's one strength of the program. Another strength would have to be how cheap the program will cost to make, this is because there will only be several locations, and most of the locations will be set inside (therefore can be filmed within a studio) all of which makes the budget a lot cheaper for the BBC Three executives, meaning this will be more of a program that could easily be developed and produced as its so cheap to make and has a strong storyline to it. However the weaknesses for this program would have to be how violent it would be, this is something that wouldn't suit the target audience, and I think something the client brief wasn't really looking for, as the state they want a teen drama. This also means having this violent scary drama, it wouldn't relate to the target audience, meaning the production would lose money as no one would want to watch it. I also believe this program to be similar to other dramas (not teen dramas, however), meaning it is not a fresh idea and people might be bored of this concept and it won't intrigue them to sit down and watch it.
Idea 3: Sci-fi drama
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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The first strength of this idea would be the popularity of sci-fi genres, as there is such a high popularity for this genre it means more people will want to watch it. I think by having a Sci-fi genre on BBC Three will bring it a different target audience as well as a larger one, which will mean more views. However, a weakness of this would be the age restriction of the program, seeing as this is a sci-fi genre it might be too scary for 15-year-olds. So it would have to be put on after way after the watershed, this is because the sci-fi might be too scary and bloody for some younger viewers, I also don't think the program will follow the BBC Three remit very well, as this would be more of an epic story rather than having morals behind each episode, or in fact to educate the audience in any way. Another weakness would have to be the cost of the program as well, seeing as this is a sci-fi genre it will cost a lot to create, with props being expensive as well as actually creating the sets, backgrounds, 3D models etc. The program will cost a lot to produce, and when I refer back to the client brief they state they are looking for a cheap budget drama for teens, this is something that won't interest the target audience.