Pre-Production: Show Research (Stage School)

Show Research: Stage School

The second show that I researched in to in preparation for building my show was the E4 series Stage School. Airing back in 2016 this show also followed the lives of contributors who attended a performing arts academy. Aimed at an older teenage audience this show attempted to get the audience more involved in its stories and contributors.

The first way it did this was, (despite having a narrator) being primarily contributor led. It featured multiple different interviews, PTC’s and reaction dialogue from each of its contributors throughout its episodes. The contributor would explain their goals and aspirations to the audience themselves., with the occasional bit of supportive narration. This technique was very interesting to me, since while it gave more importance and power to the contributors of the series, it gave it a more structured feel. Contributors would react to each scene as if they were on a reality show like big brother, and we question if what they say was enhanced for entertainment purposes or if it was natural.

The next thing to look at as well is the cinematography of the series, which tome was far more effective than that of school for stars. It clearly had a higher budget and was able to utilise more cameras/camera operators. This meant that we had more changes in shot and framing to match what was happening in the room. As soon as a contributor spike we could cut to a close up of them, and in general the physical hand held movements of the crew and cameras made us feel more involved in the story and connected to the contributors. There were some great action/montage sequences that use carully placed/mounted cameras that captured performances from effective angles. Clearly guided by producers/directors who knew the subject matter well. But I do question weather the heavy involvement and presence of crew that was required to get these shots had an impact on the reality if the story.

To me it seems that when the contributors were aware of the cameras presence/that the camera was focussed on them, they would go out of their way to enhance the drama of a situation and play up to the camera by bosting, causing arguments, or deliberately walking in front of cameras just to get more attention on themselves. This perhaps had a negative impact on authenticity of the story. Speaking of which the story is another talking point. This show was aimed at a more mature audience and as such the stories were more mature. We witnessed major arguments, romances, competition/rivalry and other more adult interactions between contributors. Whilst this certainly grabbed the attention of audiences, it had a somewhat scripted feel to it, as if we were watching a drama not a documentary. While I do want my show to cover more mature topics such as arguments and rivalry between contributors, I do not want it to come across as scripted. I once again put this down to the heavy involvement of crew causing contributors to act differently.

Its also worth noting the show was even edited like a drama, its very fast pacing as it cut between contributors and moments of contention certainly kept audiences entertained but I think devalued their connection to the contributors. Trying to cram 5 or 6 contributors in to one episode also did not help with this at all since we don’t get the chance to fully explore someone’s story and personal development (especially since if we do revisit the characters in a later episode it is only briefly and doesn’t provide closure). This is why when writing my series I will limit my contributors to ¾ per episode ensuring I leave time at the end of the series to catch up with them.

In my opinion the cast of contributors wasn’t very well chosen since none of them were particularly likeable or relatable to an audience, and this along with the scripted feel to the episodes poor stories is likely what lead to its cancellation. Never the less from this show I can take away tips on cinematography and how to edit each episode so that there is a major story arc that will hook the interests of audiences.