P1: Explain different ideas for an original media product based on a client brief
Understanding client requirements I will need to create a new and original tv drama for 15-21 year olds.. the show will be aired on BBC 3 therefore I will need to look at their codes and conventions, stick to the ethos of inform, educate and entertain. I will need to keep it small budget as the BBC is funded by the TV licensing therefore our show will need to be affordable. My program will be aired after 9pm, this is the watershed, as it will be aired after it gives us the producers more rains on what we can and can’t include.
Who are the BBC? The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is one of the first ever tv companies in the UK and it is now one of the most prestigious film and tv companies in the world. The bbs owns 9 different TV channels, one online channel and 18 different radio channels and make their own movies through BBC FILMS. The are a public service company which means that their programs are free, this is because the UK has created a tv licence which pays the fees for the programs. The BBC creates programs to five main purposes. Moreover the main motif is, Inform, Educate and Entertain.
Five purposes for the BBC:
"To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them
The BBC will provide accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and the world.
• To support learning for people of all ages
Educational content will help support learning for children and teenagers across the UK, whilst audiences will be encouraged to explore inspiring and challenging new subjects and activities through a range of partnerships.
• To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
Innovative content covering many different genres will be provided across a range of services and platforms, setting the standard both in the UK and globally.
• To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom
The lives of the people in the United Kingdom today will be accurately and authentically portrayed in the BBC’s output and services to raise awareness of different cultures, contribute to social cohesion and invest in the development of each nation’s creative economy.
• To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world
High quality, accurate, impartial news coverage will be delivered to international audiences, aiding understanding of the UK as a whole."
What is BBC3? BBC Three the only online BBC channel that distributes tv drama and other shows that will be enjoyed by younger audiences. They produce a pleather of shows of a lot of different genres aimed to appeal to young people ages 16-34 year olds. The channel is online because it is easier for the audience to reach.
What is the definition of a television drama? TV drama’s are the most popular television tv shows. they cater to a large audience viewership and have many sub-genres such as:
Teen Dramas
Period Dramas
SCi-Fi and Fantasy
Action and Adventure
Comedies
Crime
Horror / Thriller
Television dramas are a recreation of real life. They are relatable stories that drag the audience in because they can believe in the characters and their situations even the most unbelievable scenarios and worlds like Dr Who or The Flash.
Who are the competitors for BBC3 and teen TV dramas? The main competitors for BBC3 are Channel 4, E4 and Netflix. These are the main competitors as thy have a large teen viewership and their content appeals to the target audience. In the aim to battle these other channels BBC3 is now online.
Codes and Conventions of TV Dramas Technical conventions:
each character tries to break out of their stereotype
Sci-fi and Fantasy
costume of the setting
props of the setting
outgoing characters
wanting to be the hero
Period
costume of the era
props of the era
Audio conventions:
Voice over
dialogue
Music bed highlights the current emotion
sound effects
Narrative conventions:
Recreation of real life
Believing that something so inconceivable is real life eg. Misfits or Dr. Who
Split screen narratives
Flex narratives
Complex to make the audience think
point of view narrative
Controversial
makes you think
First Thoughts and Ideas
Some first ideas that crossed my mind were to do SciFi or Fantasy Teen Tv Drams. To keep with the codes and conventions I would need to make sure that the programs would need title sequence and opening scenes and for my pilot I would need there to be enough excitement and good cliffhangers to keep the audience on track and wanna watch more. More over the running time will need to be an hour long with adverts. However, if the program is being aired on an online broadcaster like Netflix of Amazon prime I will need to change the running time to probably 40 - 45minutes as there are no advert and this is a more typical sunning time for other programs in a similar genre.
Dawson Creek
'Dawson Creek' is a Crime, Mystery TV Drama. When brain storming this idea I was taking into account budget and target audience requirement. For example the location of the program will begin Canada, the reason behind this because it is significantly cheaper to film in Canada than in the US.
The reason for making Dawson Creek a TV Crime Drama is that there are not many of this genre out there for the target audience but the ones that have been released have been very successful therefore I believe that this genre will be beneficial to us.
When taking the target audience into consideration I first had to know who they were first. My target audience is teenagers aged 16- 25. They are most likely going to men and due to the characters, location and narrative themes some of our audience will be Canadian and Native Indian and interested in crime will have a low income.
When thinking about characters I included the four typical characters you see in TV drama and films; The misunderstood Jock, The pretty girl, the nerd and the antagonist. the reason for this is that they are commonly found tin similar TV Dramas as they are easy for the audience to relate to. Therefore including them the target audience is more likely to wanna watch 'Dawson Creek'. Some other characters that are new and different are the Native Indian characters. This isn't typical of a crime genre Tv drama, however it brings new and interesting aspects to this program.
Some Narrative themes that I have included in' Dawson Creek' are the themes of; love, fear and the coming of age in story lines like the teens try to solve the murder. The reason for this is because they are themes that the target audience can relate too and aspire too. Teens typically are confused about their place in the world and things like who to love, what job too do when you’re older, etc. Therefore including these things and more in 'Dawson Creek' the target audience will be drawn to the crime drama.
The Bird of Many Faces
‘The Bird of Many Faces’ is a Fantasy TV Drama. To come up with the idea of this program I took into account cost, target audience and narrative themes. Therefore when considering location I had the idea of filming in Mexico or the South of USA because it would be cheaper as these are poorer places and they match the target requirements.
The target audience for ‘The Bird of Many Faces’ is My target audience is teenagers aged 16- 25. They are most likely going to men and due to the characters, location and narrative themes some of our audience will be general latino natives but specifically Mexican people and due to the age they will have a low income.
The narrative themes of ‘The Bird of Many Faces’ are; Fear, Reckoning, Love, World Domination, old Gods returning. These themes will work with the target audience as the are unsure of themselves and where they belong. The themes are new which will interest the audience as they need new things to latch onto to feel grounded.
Characters I included the four typical characters you see in TV drama and films; The misunderstood Jock, The pretty girl, the nerd and the antagonist. The reason for this is that they are commonly found tin similar TV Dramas as they are easy for the audience to relate to them. Therefore including these characters the target audience is more likely to wanna watch my program. Moreover there are some characters which aren’t typical but i think the target audience will like their inclusion and it could bring new viewer. These characters are; an Evil Deity and some Mexican Gangsters. The reason for these characters is that the legend of “Quetzalcoatl” (bird of many faces) is an Aztec god who helped create man kind, therefore the inclusion of Mexicans and this god helps to create the story of pence of crime.
‘The Bird of Many Faces’ is a Fantasy Drama the reason for this is that there are not many of this genre out there for the target audience but the ones I have seen are successful. Therefore using this genre will attract the target audience and will create new revenue which is beneficial to us.
The Independence
The Independence is a Sci-Fi TV Drama. When coming up with the idea for ‘the independence’ I took into account budget and target audience requirement. For example the location of the program will be in either a studio of a school. The reason behind this because it is significantly cheaper to film in a studio and things like weather and travel wont effect your production as much as if you were to film on location.
The reason for making ‘The Independence’ a Sci-Fi TV Drama is that there are not many of this genre out there for the target audience but the ones that have been released have been very successful therefore I believe that this genre will be beneficial to us.
When taking the target audience into consideration I first had to know who they were first. My target audience is teenagers aged 16- 25. They are most likely going to men and due to the characters, location and narrative themes some of our audience will be science enthusiasts and will most likely have a low income based on age.
When thinking about characters I included the fourth typical characters you see in TV drama and films; The misunderstood Jock, The pretty girl, the nerd, the antagonist and because of the garner I can include new characters that are aliens. The reason for this is that they are commonly found tin similar TV Dramas as they are easy for the audience to relate to. Therefore including them the target audience is more likely to wanna watch ‘The Independence’.
Some Narrative themes that I have included in ‘The Independence’ are the themes of; love, power and sexism. The reason for this is because they are themes that the target audience can relate too. Teens typically are confused about their place in the world and things like who to love, what job too do when you’re older, etc. Therefore including these things and more in ‘The Independence’ the target audience will be drawn to the program.
To conclude when choosing an appropriate idea for this brief I have looked a new innovative options for the program and they sufficiently reach the entire target market and some niche markets.