Analysing the character & message

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

My Roles

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Writer

Keeping it do-able for the deadline

small/no budget

relation to my business

Producer & Director 

Editor

Pre-Production & Script

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Why change idea?

Script: insert

 

I have been speaking to many young women about the difficulties of growing from a girl into a women. This film isn’t necessarily about mental health but the thoughts many people have through these stages of life. Some spoke about being stuck, some about not knowing what they want in life and some about men. What they all had in common was that they all felt caged.

I have taken these stories and written them into this script to hopefully cover the many issues many people have at a young age as they transition from adolescence into adulthood and the changes that we didn’t know were waiting for us.

The film will be set as a recording as my voice actress reads this statement alongside the clips I will be editing alongside to show the story visually.

 

Shooting Date: The voice recording is set for 9th August. The footage will be shot throughout July and August. Location: PCA Recording Studio

Characters/Cast: Narrator (voice only), female, early 20’s

Crew: 1 – Myself and help from fellow filmmakers

Equipment: Cannon 600D, Recording Studio

 

 

Advertisement

Change of Show Project

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Comedy

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Key points for writing a comedy script

Tips from comedians:

Andy Hamilton – Sitcom Writer

His new series ‘Ballot Monkeys’, a satirical  sitcom set around the General Election, starts on C4, Tuesday at 10pm.

1) Become a ruthless editor of your own stuff. You have to be brutal.

2) Learn to be concise. Pay attention to the rhythm of a sentence and how a joke unfolds. Just moving an adverb can change it. I’m still learning.

3) Make sure you invest in a character. Anyone can write jokes. Well, almost anyone. But if you are writing a sitcom it’s the characters that make it interesting. They have to resonate.

Reece Shearsmith – Actor/Comedy Writer

The latest series of Shearsmith’s ‘Inside No 9’, co-written with Steve Pemberton, is on BBC2 on Thursdays.

I think it’s important when writing, and especially sketches, that you very quickly let the audience in on what it is they are supposed to find funny. What is “the thing of it?” Let them in on the joke as quickly as possible. “Oh – I see, it’s a clown that doesn’t like children.” Or “Oh I get it  – it’s a squeamish surgeon”. The quicker you get to that penny-dropping moment, the longer your audience have to enjoy the situation and find it funny.  Also, try to be as lean as possible. Come in late, and go out early. More often than not, you can lose half of a scene quite easily and still impart the story. And above all else – hide the exposition! No one wants to sound like they are narrating facts. A neat trick is to hide exposition inside a joke. That way it feels valid, and its presence is disguised by a laugh.

Graham Linehan – Sitcom Writer

To borrow an image from David Lynch, you’re looking for the big fish. The tiddlers flashing about just below the surface – the trite observations, the easy targets, the established joke-constructions – you need to ignore them and wait for the big one. An image or scene that makes you double over with laughter and could only have come from deep within your subconscious.  The good news is that once you have it, the smaller jokes leading up to and away from the scene/sequence/sight gag will also feel fresh. To give you an example from my own work, Mrs Doyle wondering where the “perfectly square bit of black dirt” on the window came from is a set-up so odd the audience doesn’t even think of it as a set-up, and enjoy it for its own sake. So when Ted appears at the window with a Hitler moustache (and that’s the big fish, that’s what Arthur Mathews and I thought of first), one of the reasons it works is that the audience didn’t realise we were setting them up.

Holly Walsh – Stand-up TV & Radio Writer

Walsh has previously written BBC3 sitcom ‘Dead Boss’ with Sharon Horgan, and her new radio series ‘Best Behaviour’ starts on Radio 4 on 7 May at 6.30pm.

My tip for writing comedy would be to find someone to collaborate with. OK, so you’ll share the money, but you’ll also share self-doubt and inner loathing, so it kind of balances out. My favourite days are sitting in a room with someone else and trying to make them laugh. You might then have to go off and work stuff up on your own, but at least you know one person has found it funny. Oh, and move around. You’d be surprised how many problems are solved walking to and from the loo. So drink plenty of tea.

Josh Widdicombe – Stand-up/Sitcom Writer

His C4 show ‘The Last Leg’ returns for three election specials from this Thursday, while his new BBC3 sitcom, ‘Josh’, will be screened later this year.

Listen to what other people think of your work. It’s all well and good being a genius who doesn’t need their artistic vision compromised, but if (like me) you are nowhere  near a genius then it is best to take people’s criticism on board and to then try to improve. Which admittedly are pretty futile tips, really, as if you don’t agree with them you wouldn’t be reading an article about writing tips in the first place.

 

(Info from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/how-do-you-write-good-comedy-some-of-britains-finest-comedians-share-their-knowledge-10182878.html)

Website for ‘Reed Studios’

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Why are official websites important?

what should be included? and why?

design

how it went setting it up

 

Marketing myself & my films

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

The most difficult aspect of starting a new business is the challenge of reaching out and retaining customers. The way to do this is marketing, and with a new business or product it can be time consuming and very costly, something many entrepreneurs don’t have

Small businesses and startups generally don’t have the luxury of outsourcing their marketing needs to professionals.  However, there are a handful of marketing strategies available to entrepreneurs that don’t require burning through valuable resources to get this challenge under foot and get their business humming.

Creating local awareness

Gaining coverage in local papers, magazines and websites can increase the name of your business greatly and inform people about your product. Many competitive business may look into hiring expensive public relations firms to help set up, however there are cheaper ways to do it yourself.

Start by researching publications and writers that cover your industry — or local business.  Once you have a grasp on the writers you want to reach and the stories they typically write for their publication, craft a pitch around your business that will pique their interest.

Email marketing

According to a recent survey conducted by “Ascend2”, email is the most effective digital marketing strategy. To help build a community with your customers, starting a newsletter that offers timely information about the business, special promotions or even an inside look at the company will keep your company on their minds and this could build word of mouth.

There are free email services available such as “MailChimp”, which allows small business owners to send marketing emails, automated messages and targeted campaigns to customers. There are also other free sites such as “Sidekick”, which allows you to send one-on-one messages to your customers and notifies you when someone opens an email from you, this is great for a more personal approach.

Using Email allows you to communicate with thousands of potential customers from the comfort of your own home. Whenever a customer uses your service, offer them the option of signing up to your newsletter, this will help build up a list of email addresses for you to contact.

Social media

It’s free, easy to get started and offers a massive network of potential customers.  The hard part is increasing your followers without wasting your precious time.  Make sure you focus on value over volume.  Identify the social channels that reach your customers best – including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The goal is to provide your followers with something that’s useful, interesting and shareable. Start small, post a few times a week and learn who your audience is. Once you have an understanding of who’s consuming your content, and what they’re interested in, you can start increasing the efforts.

A website

To be successful today it is essential to have a website. The first thing a customer will do when trying to find out about your business is Google it. An attractive and easily laid out website can make your business look extremely professional and should be the home of your online presence. Your social media channels should link back to your website as much as they can. This will help drive traffic to your site, and is another way of creating sales.

A memorable business card

Business cards are cheap to create and a great way to ensure people remember who you are and your business. Meeting potential customers at an event with contact information to give them right there on the spot is a sure way not to miss the possible opportunity of gaining a client. If it’s fun and memorable they may show it to friends – Effectively they’re marketing your business for you.

 

Script

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Written by: Lydia Adkinson

Edited by: Freya Beavis

(insert script)

 

Due to the timescale I have available to me, I have had to taken into consideration the time I will have to not only film with the equipment being made available to me from early July onward, but also the time needed to edit in time for the summer show. I have kept the location and actors to a minimum to save that little bit of extra time in pre-production.

With only minor experience in writing for comedy, I have asked another writer who has worked on more comedy projects (scripts and the production of the films) to look over my script and edit where she sees necessary. Undoubtedly I feel I needed this little bit of extra guidance to not only give my script a greater quality but to learn how I can do this with future scripts. Once my editor, Freya has finished touching up the script, we have decided to meet and discuss why she has made certain changes and why she thinks the script will benefit from these choices.

(insert edited script with freya’s notes)

 

https://www.skyscanner.net/news/13-worst-things-hear-when-youre-holiday

Your flight is cancelled/delayed

Your room is haunted, but don’t worry it’s a friendly ghost

It never usually rains here but we’ve had more rain this week than we’ve had in the past five years

I haven’t got them – I thought YOU had the passports

“Ah…problemo…”

You don’t even need to speak the local lingo to know that any sentence that begins with ‘ah… problemo’ isn’t going to bode well. Whether it’s to do with hotels, taxis, restaurants, transport or shopping – you can be sure that any phrase along these lines is going to cause a headache.

“I’ve fallen in love with the waiter, I want a divorce!”

This was supposed to be a second honeymoon. You think it’s going well, until your wife announces: “I’ve had more attention from Pablo the waiter in the last two days than you’ve given me in the last 10 years. He’s asked me to be with him, we’ve got a connection.” You try and tell her that “the only connection he’s got with you is my wallet,” but she’s fallen hook, line and sinker for the professional sleazeball and says she’s ready for a divorce. Holiday from hell…

Insist on speaking the English language, but with some kind of inexplicable accent over the top.

“Uh, can I get le taxi to le beach?” a member of your holiday party will ask. Just because you put some kind of foreign preposition before an English word does not mean the person you’re speaking to will miraculously understand it.

Drink all day every day

There’s just something about being on holiday that drives us to it. Sometimes we don’t even wait until midday before cracking open the cervezas and the vodka Fanta Limón. Hmm, on second thoughts maybe that’s just me.

Buy an anklet

Or a toe-ring, or any of the other useless tat we stumble upon while perusing markets abroad. We think it’ll make us look free-spirited and well-travelled, but in reality it just gets a bit grubby and frays in the shower.

 

301 Project Proposal

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

This course has been about developing myself as a filmmaker and exploring ways of promoting my film editing practice. By the end of this module I will have created a short film to along with my research and writing. This film will also be shown in the MA show in September. Along with my research blog I will have included the development of this short film which will be supported by the Production Schedule, Script and story development.

With great thought and reflection, my first plan for my MA show film was to continue with my film from module 201. However, after taking in the consideration on the time, equipment and bodies I need to complete such a film, I have decided to create a new concept for a short film. With part of my practice being promotion and film advertisement, I have compromised and produced a script for a 5 minute film about a travel agent filming his own advert. With the main genre being comedy we follow this character as he promotes his role as a holiday salesman while slowly becoming more vulgar, however honest, about what we look for in a holiday.

Alongside my short film, I am continuing to expand my progress on the commercial income from my film-making and editing skills. This will be evidenced by the development of marketing materials for my editing company (which I began to construct in the previous module), identification of local competitors, development of a client base among local businesses and a development strategy for the company.

The research I have conducted for the previous modules have been very vast, whereas the research this module will be more set for myself and the development of my own personal, entrepreneurial business. With this, I am planning to create a website for my practice and company to sit alongside my research.

 

Reading List:

• Entrepreneur Revolution: How to develop your Entrepreneurial Mind-set and Start a Business that works/ Written by: Daniel Priestly
• In the Blink of an Eye/ Written by: Walter Murch
• Promotional Marketing: How to Create, Implement & Integrate Campaigns that really work/ Written by: Roddy Mullin

 

Short Comedy – Idea Plan

Tags

MA, MODULE 301

Travel Agents filming an advert – describing all the things we love about a holiday and what their job is. Sleazy character with a glass of whiskey and common accent. Cut scenes of holiday destinations (use own previous footage). Once shooting is over we zoom out to see the set and story continues?

Mixing a short film with a promotional video?

3-5 mins long

Cast: 2/3

Crew: 3

Equipment: Canon camera X1?, Audio, Lighting, Tripod, slider? Body Rig

Filming days: 1

Location: Office

Script Editor: Freya

Director & Editor: Myself