IIWK Titles.

On friday we got our actor Ollie in to shoot some opening titles and a poster/front cover with him the shoot went really well once we got our head round stop motion! And today I've been editing the opening titles and the dvd cover.

IIWK The shoot

We were meant to be shooting 'If I was King' on 6/11/13 everything was in place for our three day shoot. Offices booked, pub booked, crew booked and we thought the cast was booked until two days before we had two actors pull out and with not enough time to find new actors that could learn the script the company who we were renting the office off were not happy that we pulled out at the last minute so we lost our office location as well. We are doomed....So Hennie and I went and saw Simon on Monday to explain and to see where we stood and it was decided that we would do a script read through with a whole new cast. This wasn't something I wasn't looking forward to, I was geared up for a three day shoot and in my head I just thought a script read through was a bit of a cop out, it would no way have the same impact that I thought I could of achieved with my film. So we filmed the read through on 9/11/13 with a whole new cast. And to my surprise it was amazing, it went really well and it was a very useful tool as after I went back over my script and changed some parts that I didn't feel worked to give the script more of a flow and more depth. I was overwhelmed with how well the read through went it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. If it worked this well with the cast sat down reading from the script, how much better could it be on set with cameras????
But all in all I wasn't expecting much from the read through and it helped me a great deal, I would 100% do one again and recommend them as a good writing tool.

IIWK Logo

Here are some logos ideas that Hennie got from our graphic designer.

This one was mine and Hennie's favorite although we felt it looks a little bit dirty and maybe needed brighter colour as its for a comedy. We have sent here feedback and are looking forward to what she comes back with. 

Cast.

Hennie and I have seen quite a few people audition for roles in 'If I Was King' and we have a few shortlisted. We are happy that we have Stef Collins on board who played Bread in my last film 'Toerags' and he also won the UCA Broadcast Media award for 'Best Performance' for his role as Bread so we jumped at the chance of working with him again and offered him the role of 'Stef'

We think we have our 'Jamie' we have a few to choose from and although there are issues with each one it is something we'll have to work around. The problems are that one of the potential Jamie's has a northern accent which is throwing me a bit but he also is a bit old for what we are looking for. And our other potential 'Jamie' is quite posh! but this is something we are planning on having to work on.

Sophie was the hardest. We had two girls that we were torn between for the role of 'Sophie' both were brilliant and it is a nice headache to have when you have two great people to choose from. But what swung it in the end was an age thing as the two girls were at opposite ends of their 20's. And we are hoping that the girl who didn't get the role of 'Sophie' Will be interested in auditioning for the role of 'Victoria'. Victoria has been the hardest role to cast with hardly anyone showing any interest, and we have no idea why but we are hoping that our second choice Sophie will take the role.

Director's research

I've been doing a lot of director research in preparation for the 'If I Was King' shoot. I've been watching a lot of BBC Three comedies. All their comedies seem to be bright, colorful which is exactly what I want to achieve with my shoot. Although with most of it being set in a dull office and on a tight budget it may be hard to achieve. I've also been watching my last project 'Toerags' to see if there is anything I would differently...And there is a lot. I think with Toerags we just set the camera up and shouted action and filmed it. I don't want to do that with If I Was King, I want the camera to moving into the action as opposed to it already being on the action. I think it looks a lot more professional. This is a an example of what I'm talking about, its a scene from Gavin & Stacey where they are in a chemist buying a pregnancy test. The camera give a great establishing shot of the self before turn around to see Gavin browsing. If I was shooting that scene around the same time as I did Toerags I probably would have filmed a shot of them outside the chemist,  them walking into the chemist, looking around for the pregnancy tests. And that's exactly what I want to avoid. Their way is a lot quicker for letting you know where you are and getting straight into the action.... Below is the clip

If I Was King - Logo and opening titles ideas

So me and Hennie got together last week and discussed ideas for logo and opening titles to give to graphic designers.  I had an idea for opening titles witch was inspired by a album cover I saw of Notorious B.I.G's Duets The Final Chapter album.

 I thought it would be a good idea if for our title to be a bit like the picture. If it starts off with just a shot of our character Jamie and gradually he ends up with a crown and a mase with using stop motion or as if some one was graffiting the picture and drawing a crown on him and then the title 'If I Was King' would appear towards the end as Jamie is looking up at the crown with a cheeky grin.

I also came up with the idea of a regal approach for the logo, and thought maybe the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' theme might be subtle. So Hennie came up with some rough designs.

The Wrong Mans. Corden & Baynton

I've recently started watching the new BBC One comedy, action drama 'The Wrong Mans' on Tuesday nights. Starring and written by James Corden and Mathew Baynton. This is a great show. Very well written, funny and with big bugget explosions. What more could you ask for?

I stumbled across this interview about how they wrote the show which I found very interesting as by the sounds of things they had the same problem as I am having with 'If I Was King' finding a good balance for plot vs comedy. Hear is the interview...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO3XRhNlSjs

NEVER AFRAID TO TRY NEW THINGS; A Backdoor pilot

After spending the afternoon with Hennie discussing what our platform options we have decided 'If I Was King' would be better suited on BBC Three after doing a lot of research on their web site it was clear it was the perfect home for 'If I Was King'

BBC Three priorities;

BBC Three is a mixed genre channel for young audiences.

We have three key priorities:

• The channel needs to be disciplined about focusing on the young - its centre of gravity will be 16-34 year-olds: people who are young in spirit and mindset.
• BBC Three is ‘Never Afraid to Try New Things’ and that’s why we will continue to innovate with breakthrough comedy, stand-out entertainment, brave documentary and intelligent factual formats. Our content needs to have potential to innovate across platforms.
• BBC Three should provide an environment for the development of new ideas and talent and for existing talent to take risks, becoming a genuine laboratory for BBC One and BBC Two.

I have also decided that 'If I Was King' will be made into a backdoor pilot. A backdoor pilot is defined by variety as a "pilot episode filmed as a standalone movie so it can be broadcast if not picked up as a series. It is distinguished from a simple pilot in that it has a dual purpose: It has an inherent commercial value of its own while also providing proof that the concept of the show, could be made into a series and is worth bankrolling.

'If I Was King' May read as a one off stand alone episode but in fact it is a teaser of the whole series, with the idea of the battle for the managers position running for the whole series.

Writing research

Doing more research this weekend on comedy writing i started looking up my favourite writers who are  all of these people have inspired me and they are the reason I want to be a comedy writer.

 James Cordon & Ruth Jones; Gavin & Stacey

Larry David; Seinfild and Curb Your Enthusiasm 

 Damon Beesley and Iain Morris; The Inbetweeners

Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant; The Office, Extras and Life's Too Short                                                       John Sullivan; Only Fools and Horses
& Citizen Smith







                                                           










Jack Whitehall; Bad Education





When researching I found this interesting interview with the writer of Seinfield and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Talking about how he's written differently for different series of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I found it interesting that the first series of 'Curb' was written so that each episode was independent and stood by its self without a story arc and as the series when on he started adding in story arcs.

Auditions

Today my producer Hennie and I met at the studios to sort out what part of the script we wanted to use for each character for the audition piece. this was an easy task as we had already discussed what the stand out scenes would be. We then made a list of actor that will be coming in for auditions next week. I was surprised to see a larger number of girls apply for the roles of Victoria and Sophie. I found when doing 'Toerags' this was the complete opposite, we really struggled to get many females interest for the roles of Emma and Liz but it all worked out right at the last minute so I'm hoping we have a late flood of men apply for 'If I Was King' as we only have a few males at present.

Directing

After researching in to what kind of style I want for 'If I Was King' I have decided that I just want to keep it simple as far as camera shots are concerned, I am more than happy with "classic coverage" using wide shots, mid shots and close ups. It's my characters I want to do the talking and making the performances as effective as possible. Telling the story is the most important thing and that is what people engage themselves with. I'm a big believer in telling stories through the camera but I do not believe that any fancy film shots that would make film reviewers stand up and applaud would be justified in 'If I Was King'.

But as I am yet to get a D.O.P maybe they may offer something else to the table that may change my mind.....But I very much doubt it.

Director's statment

So this weekend I have been doing a lot of research into director's statements. I have been searching for directors in the comedy drama genre and I cant find any. It seems that directors statements only really apply for feature films and as I am not doing a feature film I am wondering if there is any point in me writing one when I could be putting my time to better use??

Script feedback.

Today I got my script feedback form Simon for my comedy drama 'If I was King' there was a lot of feedback! Simon thought that it lacked detail and a sense for the surroundings. I feel this was fair as in some parts of the script I ignored detail and focused on just getting the story down I feel I know where details need to be added but I was probably being lazy with it and concentrating more on getting the story down. Simon feels that the script is dialog heavy. I agree there are some bits that could be cut down but on the whole I disagree. As it is a comedy drama in the research I have carried out I have found that its your characters where you get the comedy and drama from you need to let your characters have a voice, allow them to breath. Simon Nye is an English comic television writer was once quoted for saying. "I don't do mad, plot-driven farragoes. You have to allow your characters time to talk"


My original idea was for If I was King to be a pilot episode. The idea was to write a 30 min script with the idea of being able to stretch the pilot idea over a 6 episode series, but I don't know if that's what commissioners want from a pilot, my research is ongoing. Also I have been looking for other platforms where it could sit as the majority of comedy festivals are 5-10min films. but my research is still on going.  
So not all is lost. As I knew there was still a lot of work to be done to my script but I am pleased with my first draft and reading up on the British Comedy Guide web site it says 


' The best tip is "don’t get it right – get it written!". Once the basics are on paper it is then much easier to polish things up. Remember: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. After all it won’t write itself!

Your aim should be to end up with a draft that is solid for character, plot and situation - it doesn't have to be perfect before you send it off, after all, any script can be made funnier. If the commissioner can't see the idea from a decent early draft... well... perhaps he ought not!'

So all in all I feel I'm in a good place.

Final major project idea.

So I've decided on on my final major project  as well as co writing 'Love Always' I have decided on writing my own 30 minute comedy drama pilot called 'If I was King'

If I was king; Jamie a Young professional in his mid 20's has a good job in an office that are looking internally for  a new manager. The position is the talk of the office with Jamie rumored to be one of the front runners as well as Stef a mid 20's posh ex public school boy living off mummy and daddy's fortune. Jaime never misses an opportunity to wind up the the posh gulable twit. Jamie has an eye for Sophie who is in her mid 20's a sweet, caring "girl next door" The feeling is mutual as they spend a lot of time flirting. Jamie is faced with a predicament when he is called into the manager Victoria's office she is a hard ice queen no nonsense business woman in her late 30's early 40's. She blackmails Jaime by telling him all he needs to do to get the job is sleep with her. Jamie is in two minds. Should he sleep with Victoria and get the job would he ever forgive himself for letting his morals slip and risk messing things up with Sophie if she ever found out. Jamie confides in his best friend Gary a working class builder in his late 20's Gary is loud and obnoxious and full of crud jokes and is always giving Jamie bad advice.

As my original idea for this project was very much character based I decided that it would be a great idea to give all the characters completely different back grounds from all walks of life.



Jamie; the main character, the protaganist. He is a from a middle class background, good looking stylish man in his mid 20's. He has a good job and is ambitious with a good heart, he is always trying to do the right thing by people and has good high morals.

Sophie; is a kind, sweet, pretty girl in her mid 20's. She is seen as the office sweetheart and has a real thing for Jamie.She is very ambitious and so when the chance for a promotion comes up she is very excited but when she realises she will be up against Steff and Jamie she becomes disheartened and begins to dowt herself.

Steff; is a posh, ex public school boy. A colleague of Jamie's who is also in his mid 20's. He is very annoying but totally harmless and very loveable.

Gary; is Jaime's best friend and is always there to dish out advice. He is a crude working class builder in his late 20's. Even though he is very smutty he is a loveable character and is very funny. He lives at home with his wife Jackie in their family home.

Victoria; is Jamie's boss. She is a smart attractive, hard working executive women in her late 30's. She is very powerful and vindictive like an ice queen.

I have asked Hennie Clough and Casey Parker to come on as producers. As well as the writer I am still undersided as to what other role to take.

I have also written an original score for the pilot with my friend Glenn

A writing buddy

To get the ball rolling over the summer Maddie, Hennie, Dan and I all got together to discuss our ideas and to see if we could help each other out.

Dan asked Maddie and I if we would be interested in co writing his world war 2 drama. One of the many reason that I came to uni was in hope of finding a writing partner and so far I have always written alone and although I see myself as a comedy writer I thought this project could only give me another string for my bow and finally get the chance to write with another writer. I enjoy Maddie's 'The Suitcase Kid' and I really like her new script 'Totally Masey' but as we both "specialize" I totally different genre's we knew it would be hard work and a lot of research was needed. It wasn't going to be a case of simply watching 'Shindlers List' 

Once Dan gave us the initial idea we sat down and worked out characters and the plot. We thought we would come up with the main plot point and then research further into the history of the war for little but important details.

The four main character are:

• Mary (Protagonist)
• Arthur (Mary's lover who was serving in RAF)
• Alice (Mary's next door neighbour /best friend)
• Frank (The village postman and Mary's new love interest)

Our first basic plot points we wanted to include:

• Mary and Arthur are writing back and forth to each other, while Arthur is fighting in the war. Mary is living at home, has a full time factory job and looks after her brother Johnny, with the help of her neighbour (Alice) due to the passing of both of her parents.
• The postman Frank, takes a shine to Mary and becomes more and more infatuated with Mary after each meeting.
• He begins to hide and intercept each letter between Mary and Arthur, fooling Mary into believing Arthur is dead/forgotten about her.
• Frank then begins to take on Arthurs' role in Mary's life by fixing things round the house and comforting her.
• They then begin falling in love, with Mary heartbroken and vulnerable.
• In a twist of events she finds all the letters Frank has been hiding and is distraught and guilty.
• Arthur comes home and Frank is shunned  by everyone.

After these basic plot lines, these initial questions were raised:

1. What sort of plane would Arthur be in? More research about his job.
2. Why is Frank not at war, what reasons did men not fight?
3. What job would Mary have living in the countryside?
4. What year would this be set? When were the RAF fighters in Africa?

So far I have found writing with Maddie very easy I think we both complement each others styles. Maddie is someone I'd like to work with writing after this project.

My logo

Well this is the final logo I have decided on for my sitcom...

A room with a few

Also as part of my I decided to make a theme tune for the opening. So I tried to write a song that I felt set the tone of the sitcom, something catchy and fun, so I got my guitar and wrote the lyrics and put some chords  to it, I asked my friend Glen to help me record it and I got him to play lead guitar and piano on the song while I played rhythm guitar and sang the vocals. I also asked Dan Baugh to come alone and film the making of to add to my package.

These are the lyrics.

This house falls on a vibrant street,
With fancy pubs and places to eat,
Good schools in this suburban town,
You feel that the office block is getting you down,
Contemporary art for the modern man,
Get off your back side and see all you can,
Look through the window and pull up a pew,
Cause it's all happening at a room with a few.

I thought to start with it was important to set the scene of where this house was while also connecting with the 3 main characters the line 'Good schools in this suburban town' is in reference to the character Carl as he is a P.E. teacher. 'You feel that the office block is getting you down' is in reference to the character Katie who hates her job in an office, and the line 'Contemporary art for the modern man' is a reference to the character Pete who is a bit geeky and into his art. And every where else I just tried to make the song as catchy as I could, I feel it sets the tone very well and I am very pleased with it.

A Room With a Few logo

After a meeting with my graphic designer a few weeks back these are some of the ideas we came up with for the logo for a room with a few. I decided on the idea of haveing a house as the logo and we thought it might be a good idea to make the O's look like window, I also thought it might be a good idea different fonts for each word, as it is called a room with a few I thought why not use a few different fonts!

and here is what my graphic designer came back with. I'm really pleased although I'm not sure if I like the font for the word 'Few'

New concept idea

I think I have come up with a good idea for the concept unit, after having doubts over my 'That's what I call entertainment' idea I have come up with a new one.

The working titles at the moment are 'House Share' or 'Room With a Few'

It is a sitcom about 3/4 professional people in their mid 20's that share a house, it will tackle issues such as dating, friendships and work with a lude/crude discussion

I kind of see it as Friends meets The Inbetweeners.

It is in its early stages at the moment but I will look forward to pitching it to Simon on Monday

What to do for concept?

As I mentioned in my previous blog I have some doubts on my 'That's what I call entertainment' idea. I have already started work on a new comedy called 'What A Life' but I was hoping to use that for my major project in the second semester so I am not really keen on using it for the concept unit. Decisions, decisions.

Now that's what I call entertainment

My idea for the production concept unit was to do my As live idea a entertainment chat show called 'Now That's What I Call Entertainment' the title comes from a play on words from 'Now that's what I call music' I want it to be like a new version of T.F.I Friday full of sketches and A-list celebrities from the world of TV, film and music.

The only problem is I don't think the writing is enough for what I want to achieve, I believe it is a good idea and would be a good show but I am not sure if I am selling myself short in terms of writing, so I have had to delve back in to my "think tank" and MAYBE come up with a new idea. 

Dissertation Bibliography

So far I have found some really good books to start me off with my dissertation, I have been reading The Television Genre Book edited by Glen Creeber, I think I have used this book in every single essay its a fantastic book that I find really helpful, Genre Screenwriting, how to write popular screenplays that sell by Stephen V Duncan. this book is great it covers every form of writing I see it as kind of an idiots guide, I love it. Other books i will be reading is The Sitcom by Bret Mills, Realism in TV by Raymond Williams Chavs by Owen Jones, British Social Realism for documentary's to Brit grit by Samantha Lay, I will also be "following the bread crumbs" from these books, I have also found some really good online sources like The Guardian on class and social realism.

Dissertation power point

Today we had our dissertation power point presentation with Chris, where we discuss our ideas.

My working title is...How are the working class portrayed in British comedy's

Chapter 1

• I will be focusing on the history of sitcoms, and where, when and why it started,  looking at

•Comedy verita

•Comedy drama’s

•Mocumentory

Chapter 2

•I will be looking at the theory of Brittishness, representation, social realism and class in comedy.

Chapter 3

I will be looking at a case study,m I'll be looking at The Office and comparing it to the US version, The Office An American Work Place. I will be looking to see if they use class in the same way as the British do.

Dissertation question

I think I finally have my dissertation question, after hours of reading and research I think I have found a question that I will enjoy writing about, and it is......How are the working class portrayed in British comedy's. 

Being from a working class background myself I find it fascinating that the majority of British comedy's are focused around the working class, I want to find out why this is and if it is fair how the working class is being portrayed and what is the fascination of the working class? Hopefully all will be reviled. 

Dissertation chat with Chris Hunt

Today I had my tutorial with Chris Hunt and I came out feeling more positive about my dissertation question, I gave him my idea about comedy writing and the three case studies I had in mind and he gave me a few ideas like looking in to social realism, and looking in to 'Comedy Veritia' and the history of sitcoms and representation.

This has given me a lot to think about and has given me a clearer view as to what my question should be. 

Hitchcock, drama, documentary and film

On boxing day there was a drama on BBC2 called 'The Girl' all about Alfred Hitchcock starring Sienna Miller, it wasn't as good as I was expecting but it is defiantly worth a watch, it only focused on the filming of The Birds and I was hoping it would be based around his hole career, but never the less here is a little synopsis and a tailor.

Alfred Hitchcock was at the height of his fame and creativity when, in 1962, he chose an unknown fashion model to star in his most ambitious film, The Birds. But as he sculpted Tippi Hedren into the perfect Hitchcock blonde of his imagination, he became obsessed with the impossible dream of winning the real woman's love. His failure destroyed both of their careers. 

Following this drama was a documentary presented by Paul Merton about all 23 Hitchcock films, I really enjoyed it, it was great to learn more about the great director and learn about his films I didn't even know existed, and how he learned his trade in the film business, here is a a synopsis and trailer.

Documentary in which Paul Merton explores Alfred Hitchcock's film career.

These moody features - some silents such as The Lodger - provided the essential cinematic DNA for his rise to prominence as Hollywood's 'master of suspense'.

Merton sees Hitchcock as a man immersed in the visual language of cinema, who understood how to use camera movement and lighting for dramatic effect. For Hitchcock, heavily influenced by the German expressionist cinema, the pictures would always be more important than the dialogue.

Using clips and previously unseen archive interviews with Hitchcock, Merton weaves together a playful narrative of the director's early career and macabre world, revealing a man with a great sense of humour.

So carrying on my new found Hitchcock obsession, there was a few films that stood out that I really want to see, such as 'Frenzy', Mr & Mrs Smith, The Birds, Vertigo and Rear Window. while looking on the internet for these films I stumbled across this....

I managed to get hold of a copy and watched it, it is very good with a great performance from Antony Hopkins who plays Hitchcock, but like the BBC 2 drama I felt robbed, as it only really focused on the making and filming of Psycho, and I was more eager to learn about his early career, in my opinion the documentary  is by far the best out of the three, but all three are worth watching.

Dissertation ideas

So my ideas for my dissertation; I am struggling to come up with a question for my dissertation, I know I want to base it around comedy writing, mainly around BBC British comedies such as Only Fools and Horses,

The Office
 and Gavin and Stacey

But I am still not sure what question to ask?