Production Concept: Deciding on a tone

In trying to decide on on a tone for my project, I have watched Fawlty Towers, Phone Shop and The Office to try and narrow down what sort of comedy my project is going to be.

Production Concept: Ideas

Here are examples of title sequences, from Fresh Meat and The Inbetweeners, which I am using to draw inspiration from for my own title sequence, particularly the cartoon/animated style of The Inbetweeners one.

Production Concept: Research

In trying to give my production concept idea a USP, I have been creating a mood board to try and give the show an identity. Here are some examples of ideas I have had for styles and fonts for the title sequence.

Production Concept: Channel 4 commissioning info

Channel 4 receives thousands of submissions every year, many more than we can
commission. So we prefer a brief version of the idea for initial consideration and the
most effective method is to submit a synopsis of your idea no longer than 300
words. If a commissioning editor is interested, they will ask for more information and
suggest what budgets they have to develop ideas further.

To ensure your idea has the best possible chance of succeeding there is a lot you can
do by way of preparation – you may want to consider some of the following
questions.

- Which Channel would this piece work best on?
- What time do you see it being broadcast? Weekend or Weekday? Daytime or
Peak? Pre or Post watershed?
- Do you see your work in a particular strand? (eg. First Cut, 4Funnies,
Dispatches, Random Acts…)
- Will it be a one-off or a series? How many episodes, of what length, will there
be?
- Will there be an accompanying digital media aspect? If so, what? (eg.
website, mobile, online video, game, social media…)
- Who would watch your programme?
- How will the programme be made: the visuals, the style, the format?
- Who will be in the programme? (presenters, contributors, key talent)
- Who will make the programme? It is helpful to know who the director,
producer and other key production roles might be
- Why should this programme be made now?

Over and above these specific questions you should also be familiar with our output
– many ideas are rejected because they overlap with programmes we are already
doing, or cover subject areas that are overly-familiar.

The purpose of the synopsis is to give a clear and concise summary of your idea and
how it will look on screen. A useful exercise is to think about how you would write
the TV listing for your programme once it is made. Often those few sentences are all
you have to encourage viewers to watch the programme – how would you ‘sell’ the
programme to the British viewing public?

By submitting a clear and concise synopsis, you enable us to give you a swift
response, which will allow both of us to focus on the ideas we are interested in.

You should always make sure that you have read the commissioning requirements
for the relevant department before you submit your idea.

Production Concept: Branding and Image Inspiration

In order to gain ideas of how I would potentially want the branding for Bright Sparks to look, I have looked at existing sitcoms to determine how they brand and market their shows.

Production Concept: Inspiration

I have started composing a table of existing sitcoms so that I can decide what platform my sitcom is going to be on.

Production Concept: BBC Writers Room

I have been doing a lot of research today into how to write a script, and I have found a couple of scripts that are episodes of BBC Sitcoms White Van Man and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

Production Concept: Elevator Pitch

Bright Sparks is a sitcom which will show the day to day life of three teenagers fresh out of college, as they try in vain to start a business using their qualifications as electricians, but due to their clumsy and somewhat dim-witted nature, this ends up with disastrous but hilarious consequences.

Production Concept: To Do List

To do now • Elevator pitch on blog • Include images and links on blog • What are the reasons for choosing my chosen platform? THIS IS KEY • USP – unique selling point • Don’t write jokes, write funny situations • Think about story – first episode is them leaving college and setting up the company, rest of the series is them failing at running the company • Pitch session in 2 weeks, need to present idea, powerpoint or blog, two parts, idea and package Research • Investigate audience figures • Who airs these shows? • Who watches them? • Look at what certain channels air, perhaps choose a channel that doesn’t already have a sitcom • Research length of show, traditional length of sitcom 30 mins Script • Determine script length – possibly one 30 page script and 5 synopsises • Script format – traditional format or television format? • Research BBC writers room – good resource on how to write for television List of potential items in package • Collaborations – Simon as script editor • Casting details • Branding • Title sequence

Production Concept: Initial Character Profiles

Character List Tony The main protagonist for the series. An 19 year old lad, brown hair, blue eyes, average height, clean shaven, fresh out of college, with a HNC in Electrical Installation. He is fairly bright when it comes to the theoretical side of his subject, but comes somewhat unstuck when it comes to the practical side of it. The series follows him as he tries in vain to get a variety of jobs after leaving college, but after various disasters is sacked from each and every one of them. These disasters however, would not have happened without the aid of his two best mates, see below. Mike Tony’s oldest friend, and fiercely loyal to him. He is perhaps not the brightest person on the planet, but he will stick by his friends through thick and thin, even if he is not always entirely sure why. He is the same age as Tony, but differs somewhat in appearance. He is a tad on the fat side, has blonde hair and brown eyes, and a rather comedic attempt at a beard, which is a constant source of ridicule towards him from Tony and Bert. He was well known and liked amongst his classmates at school for his laid back approach, even if this did result in an experiment in a Science lesson blowing up in his face, quite literally… Bert Bert started at the school that Tony and Mike attended later than them, as his parents moved to the area recently. He, like them, studied Electrical Installation at college, and has successfully passed it, though in dubious circumstances according to Tony and Mike, as he lacks any actual thinking ability. He is a short bloke, with mousey coloured hair and brown eyes, clean shaven, skinny. He is definitely the class clown, and is constantly struggling to understand what he is supposed to be doing, and is therefore almost always responsible for the various disasters that the threesome find themselves in. For example, in one episode, he was asked to do some wire stripping, and took this to mean stripping down to nothing whilst holding a piece of wire. Needless to say, this got the group kicked off the job they were working on, much to the annoyance of Tony and Mike, who expressed their displeasure with Bert by pushing him into a duckpond.

Dissertation Research

During research for my dissertation, I watched the BBC 4 drama "The Long Walk to Finchley". Compared to The Iron Lady, I preferred The Long Walk to Finchley, as I feel it gives a more accurate representation of Thatcher during her rise to power. The Iron Lady gives a far more negative portrayal of Thatcher in her later years, which is an area that is not covered at all in The Long to Finchley. This is definitely a positive thing when it comes to the level of detail shown in the film. It is helpful for me in writing my dissertation as I am aiming to asses how Mrs Thatcher changed the way in which politicians were portrayed by the British media.

Production Concept Unit: Commissioning Research

In order to determine that Netflix is the appropriate platform for my idea, I have found a few articles on the subject of commissioning, including a rather helpful one which outlines Netflix's approach to commissioning original programming. http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/feb/21/internet-tv-commissioning-roundup http://storythings.com/2012/04/23/netflix-commissioning-for-attention-patterns/ http://www.screendaily.com/news/digital/netflix-moves-into-local-commissioning/5059059.article

Production Concept Unit: Research

To gain an idea of where I would like to go with my production concept idea, I have watched a number of web-based comedy series, in order to get an idea of the key elements involved in writing a web series. I decided to write a comedy web series as I have never before written a comedy, and whilst my idea of humour may not be to everyone's tastes, I am planning to aim it a a fairly specific demographic, so I will aim to write in a way that it appeals strongly to my target audience. Below are examples of episodes from web series I have watched in order to hopefully gain some inspiration for my own script. Comedians in Cars getting Coffee: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/george-costanza-the-over-cheer It's Not You...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KVhAz2kN0 The Vessel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNY_c47Nq9M&list=PLD162B9963635599E&index=3