CSSD Course

8/8/2019 CSSD Course

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How TV Drama

workswith Tim Holloway


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Bre d n f 9.30-9.40 Intr ducti ns

9.40-10.30 Ide t Screen: vervie10.50-11.50 evel pment nd prep-

pr ducti n

11.50-12.50 Pr ducti n nd P st

12.50-1.40 Lunch

1.40-3pm Pr ctic l r sh p


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Focus of

to ayU rsta i g how

T l visio Drama g ts

ma

Explori g proc ss s from

v lopm t to Post

pro uctio

Practical skills


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I tro uctio sM a You


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Who am I?T ach r of M ia Stu i s

T ach r of E glish

BAFTA TV jury m mb r

x-Film Mak r

x-Dir ctor a Pro uc r

of TV Drama


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CVTVS ri s Pro uc r - Byk r Grov 2006 (BAFTA

Nomi at 2007)

H a of Ki s Drama v lopm t, Z ith

E t rtai m t - 2005/6

Pro uc r - Casualty (BBC1) 2000-2002

Dir ctor - Th Bill, Casualty, Brooksi , P ak

Practic , Da g rfi l 1997-2003

Film

Dir ctor - Tilt Films films 1995-7 (s v ral awar s)

Script R a r - Ha ma Films 1995

Film school - Polish Natio al Film School 1992/4

a NSFTV - 1991-2


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Who ar you?What o you watch?

Wh o you watch?

How o you watch?

Do you watch?

Why o you watch?

How much o you watch?

Is maki g importa t to you?

Do you mak a ythi g?


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Pair up a iscuss th qu stio s


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What about

stu ts?What o our stu ts watch a

cr at ?

How o th y i t ract with th M ia?

TV Drama is part of th OCR AS sp c

but is it r l va t to th stu ts?


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KEY ROLESi th D v lopm t Proc ss s


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writ r writ r

pro uc r pro uc r

script itorscript itor

x cutivx cutiv

pro uc r pro uc r ir ctor ir ctor

ag tag t

commissiocommissio

rr

starstar

r s archr s arch

rr


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Who works with who?fitti g all th pi c s tog th r


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pro uc rsTh y com i various shap s a

siz s, what o th y o?

x cutiv

v lopm t

s ri s

piso ic

li

i p t

i -hous

fr la c


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ag tsICM, William Morris, CCA,

Cassarotto Ramsay....

th ir rol is to promot a prot ct

th ir cli ts

th y also tak a ha i packagi g

proj cts i clu i g s v ral of th ir

cli ts

th y ar a ba g of ho our or

sham for th ir cli ts p i g

o th ir ku os withi th i ustry

GOOD AGENT MEANS BETTER

WORK FOR BETTER MONEY

AND MORE POWER OVER THE

PRODUCT.


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dir ctorsi TV th y arriv lat to th

proj ct a d l av arly (i th US

aft r 3 days i th dit!)

th y hav littl or o i volv m t

with th development of the script

they are tasked with creating the

vision of the writer andexecutive

producer andnot screwing it up

Directors in TV are almostinvisible as Mal Young ex-head of

BBC TV drama series once said,

glorified camera pushers!


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In t e l r

What r le will y ur tudent have t

fulfil?

What r le will y u have t fulfil?

Why i it i p rtant t have e grasp fthese labyrinthine stru tures?


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What forms of TV

dramaList all the programme formats you can

think of fordrama.

eg. continuing drama series (soap)


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Drama formatsWhat is TV drama? You might have hadwrittendown some or all of the following?

Different forms: theatrical release, TVmovie, single, serial, series, continuing

series (soap), childrens, hybrid

(docudrama, factual drama, dramedy,

online/interactive...?)

And there arenew forms being piloted

each year.


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What enre

s

List as many enresas you can think ofin a minute.

example: copsshow


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Can you classify these shows?

Life on Mars

Coronation Street

The Street

Mad Men

Torchwood

Outnumbered

Skins

Shameless

Sherlock


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Compare youranswers

did you agree?

what words did you use?

is classificationeasy ordifficult?

how would GCSE students do at this

type ofexercise?

what about A level?


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Creating a New Show


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Useful wor

ds?Sci-fi fantasy romantic mystery

crime epic thriller mythological

medical dystopian horror scientific

comedy period political extra-terrestrial

domestic contemporary classical musical

interactive magical puppet animation

CG feel-good time-travel procedural

precinct star-vehicle police hospital

working class animal apocalyptic biographical

rock r elationship sporting school


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Creatin ne dr amaIn pairs you have 3 minutes to create

three ne drama series ideas.

Rules:

Use 2 to 5 ords from the sheet todescribe each one.

Think ofa crackin title for the sho .


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First Pitch


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Choosin the riter

You have a reat idea but now you need

to find the ri ht writer to create yourvision.

Use the writerssheet forsome

su estions.Whowill you choose andwhy?


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WritersDavidChase

The Sopranos

StevenMoffatSherlock/Coupling/Dr

Who

Alan BennettTalking Heads/History

Boys

Aaron SorkinTheWest Wing/The

Social Network

Andy HamiltonOutnumbered/Drop the

Dead Donkey

Dennis Potter

The Singing detective

Paul Abbott

State of Play/Shameless

Alan Bleasdale

Boys from the Blackstuff

Andrew Davies

Bleak House/Pride and

Prejudice

Jimmy McGovern

Cracker/The Street

A team of 16-21 year old

kids picked from writing

comp.

Coronation Street

writing team

The unknown middle-aged writer of a spec

script you think is a work

of genius.

Peter MoffatCriminal

Justice/Shakespeare re-

told

A best selling femalefantasy novellist whose

books rival Dan Brown for

sales.

David Simon

TheWire

Graham Lineham

The IT Crowd/Father

Ted/Black Books

David Peace

Red Riding/The Damned

United

Russell T Davies

Queer as Folk/Dr

Who/The SecondComing

Joel Surnow

24

Joss Whedon

Buffy/Angel/Toy Story

A hot shot film school

graduate with a Cannes

winning short film

Peter Morgan

The Deal/Last King of

Scotland

Abi Morgan

Sex Traffic/White Girl

Your sister because she

read you idea and really

got it.

Tim Kring

Heroes

Tony Jordan

Life on

Mars/Hustle/Eastenders

Heidi Thomas

Cranford/Soldier Soldier

ShaneMeadows

This is England 86

Phil Redmond

Grange Hill/Brookside


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writers researchChoose your writer and figure outwhat they are going to bring to

the show

Heres the rub -

If you chose a really big nameyoull get the show commissioned

but you might get the chop

Choose a minnow and you may

not get the commission at all

If you dont like thenames listed

find someoneelse....

You have 5 minutes


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Did you change anything from the originalidea?


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Commissionin

The processof ettin your idea commissioned is a

tricky one.

BBC, C4, ITV

Independent Production Companies

Slots

Audience

Channel profile and requirements

Schedule


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relationshi s

Commissioning isabout matching relationshi s with

roduct.

You may have the roduct but not the relationshi s tomake it happen.

You may have the relationships but noproduct at that

time.

So who gets the commissions?


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Production

CompaniesTiger AspectThe Deep/Secret Dairy of a Call

Girl/Robin Hood

Talkback Thames

The Bill/Capturing Mary

Shine

Merlin/Hex/Sugar Rush

Shed Media

Waterloo Road/Bad

Girls/Footballers Wives

World ProductionsNo Angels/Outlaws

KudosSpooks/Lip Service/Hustle

BBC in house

75% of all BBCdrama inc.

Soaps/DrWho/State of Play

Wall to Wall

New Tricks/Man on a Wire

Company Pictures

Skins/Wild at heart/Shameless

Imagine Entertainment

24

Bad Robot

Lost/Alias/Six Degree

Hat Trick

Bodies/God on Trial/Outnumbered

Granada Media

Corrie/Prime Suspect/Housewife

49

Or start your own...


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De elopment

You ha e your idea, you ha e the writer

and the production company.

Now de elop the pitch.

24 words or less

Plus a 250 word synopsis


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Plenar

Move round the tables and read the other

groups work. As ou read their pitches and s nopses tr

to think what went well (www) and even

better if (ebi)

These two means of positive evaluation

can reall make adifference to the students

development

Write ou www and ebi and box it out to

one side


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Plenary

Read the feedback

How will you improve your pitch?


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UK Drama QuizWhich form ofdrama rates the highest audiences?

Which form ofdrama has the highest oversees sales?

Which drama format costs the most per hour?

Which channel broadcasts the cheapest dramas?

Who makes the most drama in the UK?

What is state of thenationdrama? Give anexample.

Why doesnt our soap sell well abroad?

Why was The Bill cancelled?

Which are the most popular US drama imports?


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AnswersContinuing drama series

Period Drama adaptations/Murder mystery

Period Drama

BBC 4

BBC Drama

One which explore fundamental issues in society: State of

Play

regional accents

Poor ratin s didnt make successful transition to 9 m slot


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Drama follows

fashionTV drama like all forms of reflective andrepresentative media must address the

issues, debates and fashions of its time.

What are the current obsessions in our

society?

What debates trouble us?

What fears do we have as a society?

What innovations are we obsessed with?


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Sour es

book/play adaptations

origi

nal

news (both print and web)

internet stories

films

resear h


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Channelswho takes what, when and how?


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WhereMain players:

BBC - up to 75 % commissioned in

house (min 25% independent)

ITV - all independent but used to have

strong production arm

C4 - all independentC5 - as C4 (now part of same grouping)

Sky - mainly independent commisioning


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Casting


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Stage 2 - Ideal

CastingChoose one of your ideas.

Now from your knowledge andexperience as consumers of TV drama

and movies - cast the main characters

from the show.

Tip. Say what other work the actors have

done, you can look them up online if you

need to.


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Pre-productionwhat you need to have and what you dont...


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List

make a check list for what you thinkmight benecessary pre-production for ashort film shoot.

work in groups of three or four


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Think as a student...!

What do you think your average GCSEstudent will do by way of pre-productionfor a Coursework assignment?

So what iare the absolute MUST DOs?


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working without

sound Tip working without sound free the students to focus on camera work and

miseen scene

giving them this freedom will lead to better shots, less naff a dialogueand overall better films.

It also allows you to teach sound as post production.

As you will discover sound acquisition can be problematic withoutexcellent mics, mixeretc. Most domestic videos are NOT built for

good sound acquisition.

With this in mind, digital stills cameras with HD video mode are asgood for production often as Camcorders.

Older style DV camcorders with Manual focus are better still (CanonXM1/2 etc)


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Shooting Schedules Shooting schedules

All film and TV shoots have them and they are a vital part ofproduction

Encourage all groups to produce one and stick to it. The information on it can be basic but will help avoid confusion:

Dates and time of shoot, sunrise/sunset

Locations, props, actors, costume, make-up, equipment needed

Scenes to be shot, in which order with start and finish times

Shots to be achievedeach day.

Whose involved

Telephonenumbers of EVERYONE, roles and responsibilities

ory oar s v s o


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ory oar s v s o -

list

v overhead plan I believe in all three andencouragingstudents to think in 2D and 3D space is

important.

Plans of sets are important fordesign

Shot-lists and plans help lighting and

design Storyboards help, editors, design and

camera

All help production anddirector


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Task

In groups of 3/4

Write a short scene - one page only - set in a school

Plan your shoot - storyboard, shot list and overhead plans.

To do this you have 15minutes to walk around the school site withcameras, take photos anddiscuss your idea, adapt your script.

Then back in the classroom, make overhead plans, storyboard and

shot-list.

Then create a draft shooting schedule for your script.

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