Script proposals and writing a synopsis

Script proposals and writing a synopsis

There are many reasons why you would want to produce a script proposal, one of these would be to show your ideas to a company to see if they would be interested in creating the programme your script is based around. When producing a script proposal for a film for example you would have to pitch your idea to a board of a film company and explain why your idea would be good and the main unique selling points of the script.

On the other hand for factual entertainment programming, some scripts are not set for example a football broadcast, there cannot be a set script already for the broadcast as they do not know what will happen in the football game, in addition to this some parts could already be set for example the pre show before the game starts where the commentators talk about both teams and their best players etc.

Lastly, fictional entertainment programming, an example would be a drama but depending whether it be a single, series or serial, this then effects the producers of the script because if it is a single, then the proposed script could be looked over and minor adjustments could be make by the TV company if they do not fully like the idea, however, if it was a serial like Eastenders then the script writers would need to keep proposing ideas to the BBC and checking that the ideas are good and will keep the audience interested.

When presenting my script proposal I plan to produce a verbal presentation showing the research I have carried out on other scripts which I want to base my script around, these will be a variety of scripts not just one genre, also they will be from different channels to see if there is a change in how the scripts are created on different TV networks. In addition to this I will also show the unique selling points of my script in the presentation and I will try to get feedback from TV networks to see how the script could be improved before I begin creating.

On the other hand I will also produce a short written report, this report will entail what I intend to do with the script and how I plan on doing it, which will be attached to the copy of the script I will hand to the reviewer, however on the script given to the reviewer it will have the unique selling points underlined and the main parts of the script underlined and they can make notes, which I will take into consideration and then improve on to make the script more suitable for their brief and client demands.

The title of my proposed script is 'Face in Darkness'. The reason behind this name is because I want it to be a crime drama and there is one person going and killing certain people one by one in the neighbourhood.

As I just mentioned I would like my script to be based around a crime drama, I got inspiration from watching 'Edge of Darkness' and 'Sherlock', from this I wanted to create a script on a crime like 'Edge of Darkness' but then add in a few technical elements like text on screen from 'Sherlock'.

I will produce concept art of the proposed scenery for the programme and try to find a place which represents the concept art as close as possible.

The unique selling points of my script would be that 'Sherlock' was a great success and having aspects from 'Sherlock' may interest people but also there are many crime dramas on TV and they all seem to do very well so it seems to be a popular genre.

Suggested target audience for my script would be 20 - 30 year olds of both genders but mainly males as it will be violent however drama is a dominantly female genre, in addition to this the secondary audience would be older people from 30 - 50, these still may be interested in viewing, again both genders also.

The initial scenario as mentioned earlier is there is this one killer who nobody can find, killing certain people of a neighbourhood, the detectives cannot figure out why either, they cannot put a plan together and figure the mystery out.

I would like to propose the product as a single but two parts to make up the one single, and leave the first part on a cliff hanger as it may entice the viewers to watch the second part.

My intention of my product is to mix two different programmes I have seen into one and see if it works well and if the audience enjoys the programmed produced. Choosing this narrative again was good as it is a popular genre and gets good ratings and with the correct advertisement viewers will be drawn in.

My proposed product is high concept because it can be described precisely and also can be described very easy.

I will try to communicate my product by focusing it on being local and having the characters speak not the queen's English but not all slang either, kind of a variation of them, the characters also will remain professional at all times and no sort of funny business within the interactions of characters.

There is not an intended message within my product.

There are only two main characters one of which is Chris, Chris is a 38 year old man in the police force, he's been a detective for the same one in Norfolk for the past 15 years. His role is to train and be partners with the secondary main character Bill. He has a standard home life living by himself in a small flat. Chris was based on Benedict Cumberbatch from 'Sherlock'.

Bill is a 24 year old trainee detective who has to work alongside Chris as he gets used to the job and if their partnership grows they will stay as a team, he has recently just joined the Norfolk police force and is nervous about starting but jealous of Chris at the same time, again a standard home life living by himself in a small flat.

There are no non-fiction talent requirements for my production.

The beginning will start off with Bill joining the police force and going to the police station for the first time and getting the briefing that he will be working with Chris and also will get a little information about Chris. Then it will move on to the middle which will entail one or two people have been murdered but they are no traces of the killings and both main characters cannot figure out why. The story then moves onto where the ending 2 more people have been killed but it was Bill killing them all along and hiding the bodies in the police station and he tried to frame Chris. Bill then gets put in prison and its another case solved.