- Genre Research -

Expanding upon my findings from yesterday, I delved further into researching different genre types that are both fascinating and achievable to inform my production. I'm thinking that a very dystopian feel is going to appeal to both me as a creator, and a crime-drama-weary audience.


Something different and fresh is needed, and to pitch something with an intriguing plot and the dark, chilling undertones found in these researched genres may be a draw for ITV commissioners. Even if there was some kind of crime theme underpinning running though it - maybe even an 'occult detective' spin - I think that something of a real, but frighteningly distorted nature is going to be my best bet in this...

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Even more genres...

After realising that most TV dramas are centred around crime fiction, I wanted to look around for other options in the attempt to avoid being too 'samey'. After simply Googling a list of genres, Wikipedia brought many that I hadn't even heard of to my attention. Here's a list of a few that captured my interest:


- ' Techno-thriller '
- ' Paranoid fiction '
- ' Biopunk '
- ' Weird fiction '
- ' Slipstream '
- ' Urban fiction '
- ' Dying Earth '
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- 'Tech-noir (also known as future noir and science fiction noir) is a hybrid genre of fiction, particularly film, combining film noir and science fiction, as seen in Blade Runner (1982) and The Terminator (1984). ' - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_noir 
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...So, there's clearly a lot that I would have never even considered. I like things a little 'out of the box', and so if I could somehow interweave these into my production - whilst managing to not scare away a potential audience -  I think this project could be really great and an interesting challenge for everyone involved in its creation.  ^___^




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Channel 5 - commissioning

'We are not really in the market for Comedy or Drama at the moment but that will hopefully change moving forward'
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Since I was set on creating a drama piece, Channel 5 is not the route for me. This channel wants more factual based programmes, and creating a segment of a documentary isn't going to allow me the creative freedom I had in mind...



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ITV Drama - commissioning

'No subject is off-limits - we can rise to celebratory, hilarious highs or plunge to very dark areas of human behaviour. But we will always look for mainstream appeal and an accessible way in for our audience.
This might be the kind of story, type of character, or a piece of clever casting. We can take our audience to places they have never been as long as we don’t alienate them. An ITV drama is never cynical and is always entertaining, and even in the darkest stories we seek the hope of redemption. We don’t do black comedy or satire, and we can’t be bleak.'
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This was a great starting point from the ITV Commissioning page. The call for dramas with a darker nature are still sought after on this channel, and so this is probably my best bet in terms of pitching this new programme idea.


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Action Plan - Schedule

Excuse the messy handwriting, but here's my 'action plan' chart. I'll use this to plan my lesson time, track my progress, and clear up what I'm doing outside of college hours in order to maintain the project's momentum. This is only the first section of the schedule up until the start of the summer break, so I'll expand on this as I actually begin filming and producing the show:

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In the beginning...

My drama student sister has already been, if reluctantly, roped into the cast of my show, and I'm working on a few others so that I can get an idea of the kind of character tropes that are going to work with my plot, their personalities, as well as acting ability. I have a few ideas for the narrative too, and I'm a little closer to understanding what kind of scenario is going to be interesting to shoot and present, but at the same time what is going to be viable in terms of props, locations and special effects. Lucky for me, I have a fair amount of experience with cosmetic visual effects, so costuming and make up shouldn't prove to be all that difficult. Still, once I have more clarity regarding my plotline, I want to draw up some character designs and see how I can flesh out my ideas and drive the production forward.


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Action Plan

I think I'm currently settled on the idea of a crime drama based production, but I had to be sure that this kind of show would fit the rest on the schedules of ITV and Channel 5. After analysing the styles of programmes on each, I think that Channel 5's content best matches what I had in mind to create. The scene I envision may depict ~some~ violence, and so in terms of a schedule I should choose for this to be broadcast after 9 am, during watershed hours for an audience of adults. This isn't an issue in terms of my target demographic though, and is far from uncommon in drama shows; particularly those of a psychological or crime-based nature...



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Responding to the brief...

So, the brief allowed us to be fairly open-ended in how we each choose to interpret the task at hand; I'm really glad we weren't restricted to only a given genre and working style. I need to analyse the show listings of the specified channels though, in order to gauge exactly what kind of programme is going to fit with the others already broadcast here. Also, I think that looking more deeply into the viewing preferences of the 'millennial' generation would be beneficial, giving me a decent starting point when working to produce something to appeal to this target demographic  of viewers between ages 18-35. In order to create a powerful piece that can allow me to incorporate a considerable amount of professional media language, a great variation in camera shots and interesting but achievable 'mise-en-scene', my initial idea is to create something within the crime drama category. Just an idea for now.


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My Media Coursework - creating a TV programme

Welcome to my Media Studies Coursework blog!  ^__^


I'm Mollie, and this blog will be used to document my progress throughout the production of my A Level coursework project. We were tasked with creating a three minute video in the style of programmes appearing on Channel 5 and ITV, as well as a front cover and feature article that would work to publicize our new television show. Since we haven't been restricted to a particular genre, we're free to work with whatever we feel could have the best appeal to our millennial target audience - so long as what we film takes place during either:


- A key turning point

- A point of significant conflict

- A resolution

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