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.