Screenplay Research

BBC Writers Room:

A bit about writers room

We know how hard it is to be a writer and we believe in finding ways to inspire and inform you, to keep you across changes, giving you access to commissioners and production departments but most importantly to the skills and and experience of established writers.

We are not here for the short term, we understand how long it can take for a writer to find that first and second commission, but if we think you have talent then we will do everything in our power to support and develop you for the long term

BBC offer various ways to help writers by offering them step by step tips on how to write a script. In addition they also help by letting writers download previous scripts to then gain an idea of how they need to write their scripts.

Who is involved

Kate Rowland leads the team and is the BBC's Creative Director.

Paul Ashton is the Development Producer, overseeing writer development, script calls and talent searches, development schemes, partnerships and production projects. Writersroom is one team sited in two places.

In the London office there is also a New Writing Coordinator, Website Producer, Assistant to the Creative Director, and Script Assistant; and in Salford there is a Project Coordinator.

Alongside us is a team of freelance professional script readers who work on the script calls, talent searches and competitions.

 

Here you can see that in 2011, strictly come dancing was the most viewed with 11,422,000.

A year later in 2012 you can see again that it is the most viewed programme.

However what we need is dramas and as you can see in 2011 and 2012, Eastenders is still in the top 3 of the most viewed.

Alongside with this Merlin has drama elements to it and is in the top 10  for 2011 and 2012 also.

 

As well as BBC 1, Channel 4 has to put up some competition and although they don’t have as much success in the views they still have a huge amount of views.

Unfortunately on the top 10 for channel 4 there are not any well-known dramas hitting the big ratings                    

Another competing channel is ITV1, Although these are seen as the main competitors to the BBC they still hit the same if not more views on their programmes.

For example the BBC has Eastenders as their main soap and drama whereas ITV has Coronation Street and comparing these two programmes they get around the same amount of viewers however in 2012 for ITV Coronation Street overtook I’m A Celebrity.

 

As you can see here Eastenders is on at 8pm on BBC 1 however its rival Coronation street is on twice in one night compared to once and its on half an hour before Eastenders and then half an hour after Eastenders. This gives viewers who like both to watch both soaps and count as a figure for the statistics.

Silent Witness:

Choices Part 1 and 2

Within the opening scene of this programme we see one of the main characters Ainsley Modest in his car with what we assume his fiance, they are driving to Ainsley's newly opened night club. When they arrive at the night club Ainsleys fiance runs over to who we think is Ainsley's sister, Simone, Ainsley then follows behind but notices a car move in the distance, he turns away but then turns back and sees the car window rolling down, an arm then appears from out the window holding a sub-machine gun and begins to fire at Ainsley and his nightclub in the background. Once the shooting is over the police are called and review that 2 are dead and others severely wounded.

The characters involved in this opening scene were Ainsley, Simone, Ainsleys fiance, Terry the doorman, The mystery gunman and also the others outside the nightclub.

The primary audience for this particular episode and the series overall would most likely be around the ages of 35-55, the reason for this is because younger audiences may not understand what is happening to engage into the series whereas older viewers can understand and also would be more interested in this series. In addition to this I think that both genders would enjoy this series however drama is predominantly a female genre but because of the crime element added to this series males would be enticed to watch this series also.

The secondary audience for this particular episode and the series overall would most likely be around the ages of 20 to the main target audience, again because any lower may just not be interested in the series whereas 20 is a decent age to say that they may be interested in watching. Again both genders because of the crime elements and because it is a drama.

I enjoyed the thrill elements to the gun shootings but also how the assess the bodies to see exactly how they died and then using what knowledge they have gained to guess who it was and how it all happened together. I would like to forward possibly the thrill elements as I would like to do a crime drama also like this episode.

The part I disliked was how there was a really big build up to the big gun fight and then they just get caught out and arrested which ruined it for me. I would hate to have a big build up in mine and then for it to just fall. 

Sherlock:

A Scandal In Belgravia

Within the opening scene of this programme we see what previously happened in the first series with Sherlock and John Watson trapped in a swimming pool place with Moriati. This then goes to John Watson blogging about eveything thats happening and then goes into a montage of different cases that want sherlocks help but he just sends them all away.

In the opening scene the characters involved are Moriati, John Watson, Sherlock and all the other characters who are asking for sherlocks help.

The primary audience for this particular episode and the series overall would most likely be around the ages of teens to around 30. The reason for this is because it has whitty humour which would appeal to the younger audience and also would seem more interesting to a younger audience. Both genders would also be interested in this programme.

The secondary audience for this particular episode and the series overall would most likely be around the ages of 30-50. The reason for this is because although the main focus is the primary audience their may be a minority or other ages that also enjoy the humour and other aspects to this programme.

I really liked the way the statistics were on screen and how the edited the 3D plane in when sherlock was trying to figure the puzzle out. I would love to incorporate this into my planning.

I did not enjoy that there were some parts that didnt need to be there which made the episode longer but did not make any point of being there for example they did not help with the story etc.

Casualty

S27. Ep.16 - I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus

During the opening scene of this programme you see Dylan walking into work just outside the hospital when it begins to snow, he then stops outside the hospital and places his hand out and starts to feel the snow on his hand it then cuts to the hospital.

In the opening scene is just one chacracter who is Dylan.

The primary audience for this programme would be around 20 - 35 year olds, the reason for this is because there is some gore which younger audiences would not want to see and also the timing of this show is fairely late for younger audiences also. Also both genders would enjoy this programme.

The secondary audience for this programme would be over 35s, the reason for this is because although the main audience is 20-35 year olds older audience members still may be interested and enjoy this programme.

I really liked how there are more than one thing happening in the episode which really enhances how busy hospitals are and how much they have to deal with on a day to day basis.

One thing i did not like about this was there was some parts that did not seem that they were created well for example there was one part which seemed that you can easily see that they are acting and it didnt look very well.

Edge of Darkness

Compassionate Leave

In the opening scene of this episode, Ronald Craven was assigned to the union case which involved the miners voting on whether they wanted to switch to nuclear power or not and James Godbolt was having a fued with Craven because he is complaining to Godbolt about the votes they have recieved.

In the opening scene there are two main characters who are Ronald Craven and James Godbolt.

The primary audience for this programme would be around the ages of 30 - 50, the reason for this is because the protagonist tries to represent the viewers by being a parent and knowing how much they care for their child and how lost they are once its gone.

The secondary audience for this programme would be younger audience members, the reason for this would be that they still may be interested in what parents go through to look after their children and the pain they feel if were gone.

I did not like this programme because i feel that it is outdated compared to what i was use to growing up with also because it is outdated it was filmed in 4:3 whereas its 16:9, in 4:3 you cant see as much which would be better. In addition to this i think that it was too slow which meant it lost my attention.

Eastenders

18/12/2012

Within the opening scene of this episode, Alfie was with his child Tommy going through a little christmas present box pulling out plastic glow in the dark stars and telling Tommy that when they glow he will be thinking of him and the scene finishes with Alfie telling Tommy he is sorry.

In the opening scene there is Alfie Moon and Tommy Moon.

The primary audience for this programme would be 25 - 35 year olds, the reason for this is because its on at reasonable times throughout the week however soaps are usually for parents which is what the primary age range is.

The secondary audience however may not be parents but may be younger or older than the main target range, this is because there are some teenagers that watch eastenders and also some older people that also watch this programme.

I did not like this programme because i feel that it is too cheesy and you know what is going to happen, it has a linear storyline which never really goes anywhere. It is still modern because it started a long time ago but the series is still going. It is also filmed in 16:9 which is good compared to 4:3. In addition to this some of the characters are easy to read and overall are just too simple.

Understand the requirements of working to a brief

Understand the requirements of working to a brief

When receiving a brief from the media industry, it could be received in various ways. Firstly you could receive the brief by it being outlined in an employment contract from the industry you are going to be working for, such as written work for publication. This would be known as a contractual brief. An example of this would be Bring Me The Horizon asking for a specific director to create their new music video.

 

Next, you may help the client by working with them to discuss and finalise the aims and objectives of the brief to then complete the brief. This is known as a negotiated brief. An example of this would be a production company asking the BBC to create a new programme but the BBC asking the company to change a few minor things to then finalise the idea.

 

In addition to this organising a meeting with the client to outline the company’s requirements for the production would be known as a formal brief. An example of this could be a company calling a meeting with an advertising company to discuss what they would like in the advert and how the advertising company could make it happen.
 

Production companies could also call you or send you an email and discuss the requirements of what they would like; this is known as an informal brief. An example of this could be a production company calling you to discuss the requirements you need to become an editor for their company.

 

Some briefs are sent to several companies via post or email and inviting you to respond to their offer with your own ideas. This is known as a tender brief. In addition to this when entering a competition you will be provided with a brief explaining what the client wants you to deliver. An example of this would the competition E4 holds every year to create an E4 ESting. The brief for this competition shows that you need to create a video no longer than 10 seconds with a nice creative flair to it but also to use un-copyrighted material. The prize for this competition is to get your ESting featured on E4.

 

When we was given the E4 ESting brief, it stated that we needed to create an ESting video which was no longer than the 10 second limit but also the video must be posted on a blog and then send E4 the blog address. In addition to this the brief also said that we should research their brand first to understand the audience we are aiming for but also to make sure that they would prefer one really good ESting to three okay Estings as you can submit up to three each year.

 

The brief demanded the video to be finished and sent by the 9^th November otherwise the entry would not be counted because the deadline has finished. Everything on the brief which was mentioned was very important because this is the requirements E4 has given for the ESting to be submitted but also to make sure the ESting is suitable for showing on their channel.

When we received the brief we then had to negotiate it with our tutor by asking for her assistance on the ideas produced and if they would be suitable to the brief we were given from E4 and if not how we could amend these ideas to suit the brief and create a unique ESting.

 

Within the brief E4 had given us we were allowed to read the brief via the E4 website which then also shows the terms and conditions of the competition also within the brief we were not allowed to change or twist anything because this would then break the strict rules that E4 had given. In addition to this the brief E4 gave was strict because of the 10 second limit and uncopyrighted material but we were allowed to use any ideas we wanted and show our creativity.

 

When creating the ESting there would always be constraints in a production, one of these would be legal action if when creating the ESting we used copyrighted material such as a soundtrack but E4 were kind and gave the competitors some sample soundtracks available for download on their website. Another would be the regulatory companies such as Ofcom because E4 would not be able to show the ESting if does not accompany the broadcasting codes because if they show a violent ESting during the day this would then break the Ofcom broadcasting code.

 

Once the ESting was created, we uploaded it to Youtube and shared the link on other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and received responses from those websites as well as creating questionnaires to pass round to friends after watching it and also using an online survey. In addition we then received feedback from the class and used this feedback as a focus group. Once all the feedback was received we then acted on the improvements to our video by recreating the E4 logo and trying to place the E4 logo better in the video to make the final part of the video look much better.

 

As we created a stop motion animation using real people we did not use any of the budget for the Claymation models however if the college did not have the correct equipment then this would have impacted our production hugely because we would have then needed a HD camera as well as other equipment.

 

In addition we did not get extra on the timescale aspect as the deadline for the ESting was the 9^th November and if it is not submitted by then your video would not be entered. We only had around one day to get the ‘Punch’ video filmed and edited the other we was trying to amend the  space invader video.

 

As well as having these minor occurrences the conditions did change because we had our minds set on creating the space invader idea but because this idea did not work out we needed to create another idea in a very short amount of time.

 

When given this brief I thought the idea of creating a stop motion animation would be very difficult but after having practice first I then went ahead in proceeding to get this video completed and looking at its finest. When creating the film I learned that it is vital you get sleight movements then take another picture otherwise the film jumps and it looks really bad, you want the film to flow smoothly and make it look as realistic as possible. Now I have created this film I am confident about creating stop motion animation films and know that if I needed or wanted to create another video I could and possibly make it even better than before because practice makes perfect.

 

Throughout this unit I have learnt new skills such as camera placement for doing a live action stop motion animation, this is because I now know that you need to include the whole body of the person you are taking photos of and not cut parts off as it ruins the effect of making the impossible possible. Again if I decided to create another stop motion animation I could use this feature.


 

When creating this film I think I did have to multi skill a little because I needed to take the pictures for the space invader idea as well as helping sam organise where the helpers should move to and when creating the punch film I also did the same by helping take the pictures of alex and tell him where to move.

 

My contributions to this project brief were that I said we could use one of the soundtracks E4 have made available to avoid legal action by using copyrighted material. In addition to this I also suggested changing the idea for the space invader idea but then when conditions changed and this idea did not go ahead, I helped suggest ways to develop the punch idea film into a good stop motion animation film to enter into E4s ESting competition.