Firstly in my pre-production I had to carry out lots of research mainly focusing on the target audience of my six part TV show this guided me towards the narrative and types of characteristics I wanted in my TV show and initially my script. I firstly created a questionnaire which I handed out to the required target audience fitting the demographics of my TV show these were a younger teenage working class audience. I firstly asked questions based around what I wanted to include in my script and TV show the results provided me with lots of information which I used to change various different things an example of this is I reduced the number of characters I had in the TV show from four to three making it easier for the audience to understand each storyline and not making it too complex. The questions guided me towards the language I needed to use in my script as it was based at a younger teenage audience I included swear words and lots of slag which is heavily associated with youth and teenagers. All the characters in my script are based around other characters that I have viewed in other media texts I have gained ideas from research in watching similar TV shows to the one that I am wanted to create and used this to my advantage. A good example of this is the show “The Inbetweeners” in which all of the four characters in that show each have a different personality and are completely different, I tried to include this in my show having each of the different characters being different and hoping people could relate to them.
When I first made my script for my TV show I didn’t know how to lay it out and what format it needed to be in to be up to the industry standard. After I created my first draft I then went and researched all different TV show scripts seeing the traits and format they used throughout. This research was very significant as it then helped me in changing all my script to look and sound respectful. Researching the script taught me that all dialog has to be aligned towards the centre of the page while all ‘slug lines’ and character descriptions are still aligned to the left of the page. Another important characteristic about media scripts is that all characters names have to be placed before each piece of dialog, if the character has not been introduced to the audience before their name will be in capitals along with a brief character description. Another valuable script formatting that I learnt was the use of “QUICK-CUT” this is to show when it is a change of scene in the TV show I used this a lot in my show as there was many changes between different scenes and locations in the narrative. There is also the difference in “EXT” and “INT” showing the location of the scene if it is external outside or internal inside, this also goes with the location which is normally left aligned along with a short description of the location.
After a couple drafts of my script I then used focus groups to find out the good and bad points about the script I had created so far. This research was very significant and useful as it helped me in seeing any faults or mistakes I had made in my script. It also gave me a chance to listen to new ideas from other people who might have been able to contribute and add more to my script. The results I got from the focus group questions where very helpful and helped me in creating my fourth draft the one piece of information I gathered was I didn’t have many female characters in my script meaning there was no male gaze or female protagonists in it. After I had completed the focus group questions I then added a woman character in the script. After completing this I then carried out more internet research on different TV scripts mainly focusing on TV shows that were very similar to the one I was creating changing different parts of my script. After I had completed my script I then chose somebody to act out the script this was to see any spelling or grammar errors I had made in the script this worked well as I was able to change some words and phrases to suit the characters acting out the script as most of the words or sentences didn’t make sense.
In the production side of my coursework I had to create a DVD and promotional poster for my six part tv show, this involved analysing other existing DVD covers and posters from successful tv shows. Firstly I designed my DVD drawing sketches of ideas which then finally lead to the final ideas drawn out in detail. The DVD cover I made showed the three main protagonists of my tv show standing at a bar on the front cover. In my opinion this was good as the audience now can see exactly the three characters that are in the tv show, two of the characters are using direct mode of address staring directly at the camera while the other character is looking the other way which could create enigmas at why the character is acting differently to the other two. The photograph used is a wide shot showing all three of the characters, this is also a representation of youth as they are all standing there with alcohol and inside a pub. On the image I have used a greyscale effect this effect has connotations of being old and as the title says “grim” showing that there isn’t much colour in their life and they live boring lives. The dark, bright colour of red stands out this is used for the title and subtitle. The colour of red has connotations of blood hinting towards there could be violence in the show, this is also represented with the age verification logo of “15” which I have placed in the bottom right corner of the dvd front cover.
On the back cover of my dvd cover I have added two images which are stereotypical images of a northern town with the use of housing and factories used in the image. On the back cover there is the use of two paragraphs briefly explaining to the target audience what the show is about. On the bottom of the DVD cover I have included the dvd technical details which best represent my tv show as it is taken from a channel 4 show similar to mine. Throughout the cover I have changed the background colour to a grey/black effect this is to go with the images used and the narrative of the tv show.
Comparing this dvd cover to other existing covers firstly I will compare it to the popular channel 4 show “The Inbetweeners” which is very similar the Inbetweeners is based around four characters on the DVD cover this also shows just the four characters on the front cover all with different facial expressions. There is no background image on the image with just the characters placed on a coloured background. I think my dvd cover is very similar to this as it uses the same technical codes with the mise en scene as the dvd cover is based around the characters.
I think I could have improved my dvd cover in a few different ways firstly on the back cover there is a big place where more information of images could have been placed, this place could have been used to show another image of the three main protagonists. The colour of the background could have been changed to represent something else in my show maybe the use of a fire/electricity effect to guide the audience towards the idea that the show is in the sci fi genre. Also the images used on the back cover are not the best quality of photography I could have chosen or taken better pictures to use.
Next I created a poster which like the dvd cover I firstly thought of different ideas then drew out all the sketches then finally using “GIMP” and Microsoft Publisher to construct and edit the poster. The poster I created plays on the stereotype of a northern town with the use of a housing estate. The picture I took was a wide shot on a housing estate while there was a rainbow in the sky which adds a better effect to the poster which could have connotation of the “powers” which are used in my tv show.
On the poster I have used a lighting effect with the use of shading and darkness on one half of the poster while the other half being bright and colourful this could be foreshadowing and representing things that happen in the tv show. In the sky I have put lots of different colours and effects which has connotations of powers and the sci fi genre. On the bottom left side of the poster I have included the channel four logo showing the audience the channel it will be broadcasted on this will appeal to a certain target audience. On the bottom on the poster I have also included a small phrase which says “Maybe a working class hero, is something to be” this is firstly a John Lennon quote and has links with the tv show as the show appeals to the working class demographic. Comparing my poster to other existing ones I think mine is very different as most other posters include characters that are featured in the tv show while mine only shows a location and estate. Also other posters are normally more computer generated images whilst mine is an actual photograph. To improve my poster I think I could have included people into the poster while also have the effect that I have but with a number of people doing different gestures in the photograph. I have also used the same font and text for the title on the poster from the DVD cover keeping the same house style but I could have altered it slightly to get a different look and effect. Overall I think the poster does guide the target audience towards what the tv show is about with the mise en scene used on the photograph and the lighting effects used in the sky.
