Pre-Production: Project Development (Simon's Feedback And Collaboration)

Project Development: Simon’s Feedback And Collaboration

After speaking with Simon about my pre-production he gave me some very interesting feedback and points to consider. He explained to me that I will need to come up with a 25 word pitch that sums up my series. He also liked the idea of Australia being compared with the UK but said I would need to Justify it which is something I will work on. As well as this he encouraged me to look in to the differences between fly on the wall filming and to see that it is different to fixed camera (which is more in line with what my show will be).

He suggested that I should look in to making this series a collaboration between two different networks (one in the UK and one international). Since I have already chosen Channel 4 as my platform I needed to look at a broadcaster in Australia who has similar content and audience goals to Channel 4. After some looking I cam across the SBS network which bares striking resemblances to Channel 4 in terms of its content (mostly documentary/real life based). As such I think this will prove to be a great network to collaborate with. It will allow me to save money by hiring multiple crew overseas which will also save time and money sending people overseas to scout locations meet contributors etc as this can all be handled by SBS who are clearly a very competent network.

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.

Pre-Production: Show Research (School For Stars)

Show Research: School For Stars

As part of my research for this project I watched and researched in to shows that had similar content and inspired me to produce this series. One of those shows (and one of the biggest inspirations for this series) was the CBBC show School for stars. This show aired on the children’s BBC channel CBBC back in 2009, it focussed on one of England’s leading full time performing arts academy’s, namely London’s Italia Conti. This show expressed a lot of similar themes to what I have planned.

It followed students over several months as they either started at the school for the first time, or began to take their first major exams at the school. Being a BBC show it did not have any add breaks and ran for almost a full 30 minuets. This is something I will have to work around when planning my show. But being longer in length each episode tended to follow between 3 to 4 contributors per episode, using narration to explain their stories. Most of the show was made up of actuality guided by narration. It took a very observative point of view and the students rarely interacted with the camera. When they did it felt quite natural as if they were just airing their thoughts and feelings aloud rather than talking to someone behind the camera. While I definitely think this is a motif that I want to keep in my documentary (the idea of observatory non interactive/invasive filming) I do think that the show missed out on some valuable exposition. I think the lack of structured interviews meant we didn’t connect to the characters as much as we possibly could have done. But to make sure I keep the ni=on invasive feel in my documentary series I will ensure that interviews take place at a sperate enclosed location and are almost completely separate from the main filming, just edited in to provide further context of characters actions.

Going back to the narration briefly I think this was one of the most effective parts of the series. It acted as a guide to the viewer, providing us with valuable information not given by the contributors and introduced us to each scene with effective set up. The series was narrated by Reggie Yates a well known personality that has worked on several series before. In my series I absolutely want to keep it narration led as a presenter would feel to obtrusive and out of place, using a well known narrator that audiences are familiar with is also an interesting idea that I will consider.

As mentioned each episode tended to follow between 3 to 4 contributors, as the series progressed it would revisit some of the contributors seen in earlier episode to update the audience on their progress and reconnect us with them. This is something that has the potential to appear in my series but it would likely come very late in the series (maybe even the last episode), since due to the scheduling and structure of my series this is when the majority of development would occur with most contributors.

The cinematography of this series was interesting. Despite using a lot of hand held shots, mostly the camera operators would assign themselves to one place/corner in the room where they would observe classes and contributors from. Using mostly zooms or camera switches to change the shot framing and get us close to the contributors. Although it still told the same story as it would have done otherwise, I do wonder if more movement with the cameras actively moving to follow contributors rather than panning, would have helped us connect with them better. This is why I think a fixed camera set up will be best for my series. We can cover multiple angles at the same time easily switching between framing and shots to follow the contributors and action through the locations no matter how quickly it changes.

The editing in this series was also effective. It kept a consistent pace and was able to merge several months of filming in to just a few episodes without it feeling rushed. The choice of editor is key for the success of a show like this. They need to be competent and understand the subject matter to narrow down the most important parts of a story.

Overall I think there is a lot to learn from this series, they way it takes an observational stance, revisits its contributors and creates an entertaining and educational view in to the world of performing arts. It makes sure to pick contributors that an audience can relate to and that provide gripping stories that will impact even people who know little about the performing arts world. Despite simplifying some things are skipping over some details to compensate for its younger audience it was definitely successful. I hope I can take a lot of these aspects and build upon them in my series.

Pre-Production: Beth Turell Lecture

Pre-Production: Beth Turell Lecture

Today we had a talk and workshop from industry producer Beth Turell.

She went over her journey and experience in the industry which was a valuable insight. 

One of the first key points she raised, that we should consider; especially as we prepare to pitch our major project ideas; was why does your idea matter now? What about it is relevant to people right now, why should your audience (and broadcaster) care, and why does it matter more now than it would have done before, or would do later. 

Don't be afraid to do something different, it can have many advantages, for example you could offer a different/unique perspective on a topic which has been covered before. Meaning you've already got some base audience and you can then expand upon it. 

You should have fully thought out your idea before you pitch it. be able to answer any questions that get thrown at you and have an answer for any obvious holes. 

You need to be able to some up your idea in one sentence so you can sell it to people quickly.

The most important things to have when pitching are timeliness scale and ambition. 

When pitching content you want to make sure its something people will talk about, and ensure it brings something new to the table. 

The more planned and thought out your idea is the more success you will have. Do your research to make sure your idea hasn't already been done. Look at as much similar source material as possible and critically analyse it so that you can learn from it.

Be clear about; Access, Talent, and Format 
How viable are each, do you have some already in place, what is your target audience and how will each of those benefit them.

Depending on the format of your content (e.g. drama or Documentary) you may want to prepare a draft script, or treatment, or both.

Make the story clear when pitching (it should be the heart of your treatment) doing this now will save time later. 

Your style and tone should also be clear non your pitch/treatment; be clear on how you will achieve it, why you've chosen to do it that way and how it is different to what currently exists. 


Things To Remember
Ensure your pitch has - Relevance
Leave the room making sure there is - Talkability
Pitch with - Timeliness
Make sure your idea has - Originality
Have your idea fully thought out and be fully aware of the - Scale
When you pitch make sure you do so with - Passion and Ambition 

Pre-Production: Project Development (Platform And Style)

Project Development: Platform And Style

After thinking carefully about where best for my series to be shown I have ultimately settled on Channel 4. As a six part documentary series it will fit in very well with channel 4’s other content and with public money involved there is more room for a large budget and collaborative production.

I also have decided that I want my series to be a fly on the wall type series. Something that films in an unobtrusive way with remote operated cameras that encourage contributors to act natural and allow us to observe day to day events as they play out in real time.

The working title for my documentary series so far is “In It To Win It”. Since this series follows two drama schools from two different countries I want a reason to bring them together, as such I will look in to performing arts competitions that take place internationally that both these schools can compete in against each other. Thus referring back to the title of the series, and giving audiences something to look forward to.

Pre-Production: Project Development (Schools and Locations)

Project Development: Schools And Locations

Having considered different countries and polled my potential audience, the majority of people want to see a comparison between a UK stage school, and one in Australia. I think this will be a good idea since it will give us a chance to see what similarities and differences we share with people literally on the other side of the world.

After looking at various schools I have chosen to compare Prima Stage school based in Maidstone in the UK with CenterStage performing arts school in Melbourne Australia. Both these schools have a strong focus on pushing their students through several exams and shows a year to give them a head start in the performing arts world and help them build bonds with their classmates through a supportive pushing environment.

By comparing these two schools I think we can gain an informative insight in to the world of structured performing arts, showing people that its not all fun and games and that young people especially face a lot of pressure when perusing their passions. This will allow us to see how similar or different a performing arts program on the other side of the world is and if students cope with pressure differently.

By choosing these two well established performing arts schools we are also guaranteed to find some very interesting contributors since both schools offer multiple classes for different age groups. It is likely that many students will have bold personalities and stand out stories that audiences can connect with.

Pre-Production: Project Concept

Project Concept

After the initial briefing and some consideration over the summer I have chosen to do a hypothetical pre-production. I think it will grant me a unique opportunity to research and plan something truly unique and something that I am passionate about. As well as giving me valuable practice at skills I will need as producer in the major project.

For this hypothetical pre-production I will be planning a series that focusses on the world of performing arts. Specifically looking at the lives of people who attend these stage schools part time as a hobby, but may want to turn it in to a career. It will be a multi episode documentary series and will look at more than one school to get a wider source of contributors, stories and examples.

This idea stems from my own personal passion in performing arts. I have attended a performing arts school, taking acting classes in my spare time for a number of years, and for a while thought I might make a career out of it. But despite having lost my vision for being an actor I never lost my passion for performing arts and this unit will give me a chance to explore the journeys of similar people and see if there’s consistent themes that link us all together.