Research and planning tasks

Research and planning tasks

1) State the genre you have chosen for your TV drama - family or crime drama.

The genre I have chosen for my TV drama is family with crime as a hybrid genre. 

2) Choose at least three TV dramas similar to your concept and watch the trailer and one scene from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene.

Topboy:

- Fast-paced editing; building up tension
- Constant change of shots to show different scenes happening within the series
- Voice over and dialogue; makes understanding easier for audience 
- Mysterious music lifting the mood and tension up. 
- Camerawork; long-shots and panning shots
- Mise-en-scene;
 costume used to connote what type of people they are; age, job, social class, personality...
lighting sets the mood in different scenes; cloudy to show danger, low-key lighting to create a sad and dull mood 

Raising Dion:

 

- Editing; starts off slow to set the mood then starts to get faster

- Sound is mainly dialogue with very slow and quiet music in the background which then builds up and gets more powerful and connotes tension and builds up audience attention. 

- Camerawork consists of medium shots and close-ups to put the focus on individuals and their facial expressions as that would convey messages to audience. 

Ackley Bridge:

 

- Starts off happy with bright and colourful lights, dialogue and happy music to set a positive mood and connote this is going to be an enjoyable, fun filled TV drama. 

- Has a range of different shots to make audience want to watch different episodes to find out what happens in each one. 

- Mise-en-scene;

costume is mainly school uniform and formal wear to connote where they are and create the feel of being in a school. 

they also use Asian attire to show cultural differences and that they're including non-British culture in this series as well. 

- Close-ups to focus on characters facial expressions and show the different moods that will be in the series. 

3) Write a script for your TV drama scene. You'll find guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room (click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional TV scripts).

Daughter: *crying* sits by herself in her room in dark lighting. Moarning noises in the background with the sound of parents arguing.
*camera goes around the family house; parents argument in the background* 
Son: *gets frustrated from the things happening at home* gets ready to leave the house. Grabs his things and leaves. *slams door*
Both parents: signing the divorce paper *in tears*
*Shot of London* (to show where they live/the area it's set in) voiceover saying ''and welcome to London'' 
Daughter: *leaving for school* not being herself with dull expressions
Daughter: *leaving school* not being herself *takes deep breath* and continues walking
Daughter: gets approached by a new person to the story during her way home (shot transition)
*blank screen* quiet/no sound
Daughter and son: camera going around them, focusing on their facial expressions. 
*bright lighting and change of mood* music building up to raise tension (non-diegetic sound)
Daughter: shot of her out with her new boyfriend (introducing new character) conversation between them with soft non-diegetic music over it. 
(high-key lighting to connote happier scenes) 
Changes of scenes as it starts to get darker and more serious 
Son: shot of him doing drugs (his friends chatter in the background)
Shot showing son with his friends *chatter amongst them*
(scenes get more intense and we see the son getting more and more influenced and a bit of violence). Sound in pain and punches being thrown, violent sounds and intense non-diegetic sound in the background. 
Son: Left with bruises sound of him crying in pain. flat and intense non-diegetic sound over the sound effects done in the scene. 
Both parents: Come to realise the impact their problems are having on the kids *sigh in stress and pain* 
Whole family: talking together amongst each other 
*laughter and chatter*

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here. 

Shot No.	Shot		Filmed?
1	Starts off with daughter crying. Going from low angle shot to high angle (alternative; close-up)
2	Panning shot going through across the wall of the house with the sound of parents fighting in the background.
3	Transition to the son. Medium shot or close up
4	Long shot of the son grabbing his bags and leaving the house; parents are still fighting in the background.
5	Shot of the divorce paper being chucked on the table; close-up
6	Tear drop falls on divorce paper as it gets signed; extreme close-up.
7	Wide shot of London; the area they live in with the boy standing alone.
8	The girl putting her uniform on and going to school with eye bags and dull face; medium to close up, tracing shot.
9	A shot of the girl walking after school not being herself.
10	Fast change of shot as she gets approached by someone; over the shoulder shot.
11	Blank screen for 0.1 seconds; tensions start to build up music starts to get more tense.
12	A shot going around the daughter as she’s stressing out and feeling lonely.
13	A shot going around the son seeing his facial expressions and showing isolation.
14	The mood changes with a shot of flowers and high-key lighting.
15	Medium shot of the daughter with her new boyfriend
16	Mood changes and more happy shots as she begins to feel better about the situation at home.
17	Then changes straight away as the son is doing drugs.
18	Long shot going around the son and his new friends as he’s being influenced to do the wrong thing.
19	Intense scene with the son getting beaten up (without showing the violence).
20		Close-up of the sons face with bruises and marks; not a lot of blood to stay under restrictions.
21		Parents coming to realise their kids are starting to fall under different distractions; the impact their having on kids. Close-up of mothers face
22		Close-up of fathers face and mothers face.
23		Whole family sitting together; long-shot
24		Come together as a family; long shot.
25		Happier faces; close-ups or medium shots. Happy music in the background
26		Blank screen to show the end
27		Picture of family with the name of drama, date and time it’s going to be aired, director’s name and institution’s name.

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. For this preliminary task, use just one location to keep it simple.

Cast- 
- The mother
- The father
- The daughter 
- The son
- The boyfriend 
- The group of friends
Costume - 
- School uniform or ID card to represent school kid
- Fashionable/branded clothing to represent their age and era set in
- Puffer jackets, hoods, tracksuits, balaclava's to represent gang members. 
- Formal wear to represent going to work, older generation; more mature
- Asian clothing to represent culture and diversity
- Dark clothes to show sadness and set dull mood. 
Makeup - 
- Simple natural makeup for the mother
- Normal 'going out' makeup for the girl (when with her boyfriend)
- Use makeup to create a sad and dull face/look e.g. dark circles
- Use makeup to show bruises and scars (potentially a bit of blood)
Props - 
- Fake drugs used around the gang
- Divorce papers
- Phone for the girl to talk to her boyfriend
- School bag/books to represent they're school kids
Lighting - 
- Low-key lighting to set a dull mood and show sorrow; light only to focus on characters facial expressions
- High-key lighting to make the scene bright and connote happiness. 
- Backlight when introducing the son
- Short light to focus on daughters tears
Settings - 
- In school 
- At home
- The streets around the area they live in

6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location.

1.

- Setting: at my house

- Character: Abisha (me) 

- Crying scene (first scene)

dark clothing (black hoodie), messy hair

2. 

- Setting: outside my house

- Character: Abisha

- Walking to school character not being herself

(and the shot walking back once it gets a bit darker)

wearing school uniform or school lanyard. 

3. 

- Setting: at my house

- Characters: my parents (acting as the parents)

- Having constant arguments

4. 

- Setting: at my house

- Character: the son

- Grabbing his things and leaving the house, frustrated expressions

5. 
- Setting: Wembley
- No characters
- Wide shot of the area they live in for representation and focus on setting
6. 
- Setting: inside the house
- Characters: the parents
- in the living room, signing the divorce papers with tears
7. 
- Setting: out in the local streets
- Character: the son and his group of friends
-  Out in their local streets messing around and 'doing drugs'