Rebecca Unit 22 - Single Camera Drama

Lesson 1
TV Drama - Formats
There are for main categories of TV drama:

• Single Drama
• Series
• Serials
• Soaps

There are considerable varieties within each category and each offers different forms of enjoyment for the viewer

• Single Drama - The single drama used to be the main attraction on TV but now is slightly rare. It is designed as a 'one off' story for television. They are usually based on true stories, topical and world issues - subject matter that producers think are more appropriate to television than cinema, e.g. 'The Missing'.

• Series - A programme broadcasted once to twice a week where the same characters and basic situation will be used to tell a different story in each episode. Examples of this are CSI, Hawaii 5'0, etc.

• Serial - This uses the same characters and locations regularly, but each episode in not complete in itself and story-lines will continue through to the next episode encouraging us to carry on watching. Often serial narratives carry more than one storyline - E.g. 'Game Of Thrones, Power, ER'

• Soaps - Soaps have multiple characters who carry on many different story-lines at once. Usually no dominant storyline, however story-lines can carry on for weeks, months even years before coming to a conclusion - par example 'Eastenders, Home and Away, etc'

Boy A

The film is based on James Bulger case of 1993, which was when two ten year old boys kidnapped and killed a two year old boy

• The film had flashbacks involved 
• In the film the murders names are 'Eric Wilson' 'Phillip Craig'
• In reality the convicts names were 'Robert Thompson' and 'Joe Venables' 

Lesson 2 - Narrative Structure Form

• Linear - Follows a general order
• Non Linear - Everything's all over the place 
• Flashback - Reminiscing on the past 
• Realist - Real Life
• Anti-realist - Out of the ordinary 
• Endings: Open or Closed - Open means a cliffhanger and closed means that the whole story was explained 

Narrative

• Narrative is when the film tells you a story, whether in order or not
• Narratives appear throughout other forms of media such as: Novels, Plays, Music Videos, Comic Books, TV Shows and Commercials
• They are most common in fiction film but appear in all basic types of films
• A narrative is an account of a spring of events occurring in space and time
• They do nit unfold randomly but as an ordered series of events connected by the logic of cause and effect 
• This logic can tie together character traits, goals, obstacles and actions

Film - Key events

Boyz n The Hood 

• Ricky gets shot 
• Doughboy gets killed
• They kill the people who killed Ricky 

Menace II Society 

• KayDee and Sharif get killed in the final shootout 
• His grandparents kick him out of their house
• KayDee cousin "Harold" gets shot and killed in a car jacking
• Toward the end 'Ronnie's' son walks out to sit with the "grown-ups" as they are drinking and smoking, and he asks for some beer; O'Dog decides to try give him some but Caine (KayDee) refuses and tells him not to. This is because when KayDee was a kid the same situation went down and Caine realises that this was all one massive cycle
• The conversation that occurs between Sharif's Dad and KayDee

Three-Act Structure 

• Act I - Introduction / setup
• Act II - Confrontation / rising action
• Act III - Resolution - Crisis/ falling point

Set up / Exposition - 

• Meeting characters
• Establishing setting
• Setting the tone

Rising Action - 

• Central conflict is introduced 
• Tension between protagonist and antagonist build up
• Many events will happen and stakes get higher 

Climax -

• Climax is a turning point, which marks a change

Falling Action

• The major action has happened, this is the aftermath. 
• Sorting out of the major conflicts resolution 

Denouement / Resolution -

• The creation of the new normal
• Conflict is resolved 

How Narrativer Unfolds

• Typically it begins with one situation 
• A series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect
• Finally a new situation arises through character choice and conflict - this usually will lead to a happy end or a conclusion
• The new story equilibrium almost always results in character change 

Character

• Narrative films usually focus on human characters 
• Characters are responsible for cause and effect 

Flat Characters - Minor characters who don't go through major changes throughout the story

Round Characters - More fully developed characters who may experience a change during the story

Developing Characters

Round

Through conversations with other characters

Through group associations 

Through direct description of that character 

Through reactions to conflict

Character Traits

• Traits are attitudes, skills, habits, tastes, psychological drives and any other qualities that distinguish a character 
• Traits in opening scenes are relevant to later scenes, this is related to cause and effect 

Character: Goals and Obstacles

• Goals might include locating treasure, choosing a foster parent or looking for love
• Characters encounter obstacles in pursuing these goals - the collision of goals and obstacles create conflict and thus drama

Character Choices

• Characters create cause and effect through choices that lead to conflict and consequences 
• These patterns are designed so that the viewer clearly see' and understands the,
• Character posses traits, face conflicts, make choices and undergo changes that enable or hinder pursuit of a specific goal

Character Profile

Name: Kaine

Age: 16
Gender: Male

Nationality: Caribbean-American

From: Watts, Los angeles 

Height: 5"11

D.O.B: 15/09/1977

Hair Colour: Black / Very Dark Brown

Hair Style: Singles Plaits 

Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Skin Colour: Light Brown (lightskin)

Traits: Young, black and dangerous 

Goal: To reach 18 living in the hood

Conflict - central to any narrative

• Relational conflict - This is conflict between characters over goals and how to achieve goals 
• Inner conflict - This is conflict within a charcter. It could be concerned with their self-esteem, insecurities or uncertainties
• Societal - Conflict between a group or a person. Group could be government, gang, law, family, etc
• Situational - Develops as a result of a situation
• Cosmic - This is conflict between the main character and a supernatural force: Good vs Evil

Lesson 4

Unit 5: Working to a brief in creative media industries

Briefs

Contractual

• An example is depicted right - 
• You have to sign it 
• Very descriptive 
• Like a contract 
• Mention things like time frame, pay, deadlines, job requirements 
• Usually used in situations where a large sum of money is involved
• Once signed you must agree to all terms
• Brief is laid out very clearly 

Negotiated

• This brief is entirely up to the employee as the client is open to ideas
• This can give more leeway as you can alter almost all of the brief aspects 
• You get to use your creative vision
• This maybe used if the client doesn't know what he/she wants
• They leave it up to the employee to make finer details 

Formal

• An example is depicted right -
• Document that outlines the specifications of a product or service
• Well set out and structured 
• Uses formal language - no slang or abbreviations
• This should be thoroughly explained so the employee knows exactly what they are doing
• To make it look professional it may have the companies logo on it 

Informal

• This is a short piece, possibly a text or email that requests someone to do some work for them
• Doesn't have to be written, can be a spoken verbal agreement 
• This could be between friends or colleagues when very little money is involved
• It is also known for having grammatical errors  

Commission

• Client commissions a company to fulfil a brief
• A company only offers commissions when the client has relations with
• This is done because you already know who you would like to do the work for you
• This means you can save time on looking for potential employees and go straight away to your company of choice

Competition

• An example is depicted right -
• Brief that is open to the public
• For a wide range of people with a spectrum of talents to create a product which is based on the brief for free
• Only the winners will get the prize or monetary reward, this means that less money is spent on the product 
• An example of this would be - 'Sundance London Short Film Brief'

Tender

• Similar to competition as it requires a client to post a brief that is open to outside companies
• After receiving the brief the companies come to pitch to the clients
• The best will then be selected and they will be given the chance to work for the client; developing their ideas and creating their product
• A place that is good for tender brief is - 'http://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/

Co-operative

• Two or more companies are contracted to work on the same assignment 
• This maybe done for a number of reasons - multi-skilling, not enough expertise to complete all the assignments by themselves, tight deadlines
• If the deadlines are too short then two companies will be able to finish the work faster than one

Reading a brief

• Pay attention to what kind of brief it is 
• Final dates - When are the deadlines? How can you meet them?
• Timescale - How long do you have? Is it plausible?
• What is required? - What are you being asked to do? Is there any special requirements?

Negotiating a brief 

• Carefully read through and check if there is anything that wouldn't be possible
• All briefs are negotiable to an extent 
• If you are asked to do a snow scene in the middle of summer, you maybe asked to change locations or get rid of the snow
• Negotiation can also be used with tight deadlines or small budgets 
• If you think the constraints are too much, then negotiate and ask for an extension or more funding

Tips

• Give yourself and the client time - read through the brief thoroughly! Make sure you understand every aspect before you agree to any terms
• If you don't understand something - ASK!
• Make sure both you and the client understand and agree what your expectations, goals and objectives are for the negotiation

Opportunities

• New skills
• Self development 
• Multi-Skilling
• Gain contracts 
• Experience 
• Travel
• Communication skills
• Portfolio/CV
• Meet clients or important people in the industry  

Lesson 5 - Creating a Character

• Reveal a character through actions - Any character you wish to explore is revealed due to things in the story you decide - A heroic character will do heroic things, a villain will do evil things, so on and so forth 
• Reveal a character through dialogue - Take time to get a sense of your character - Whatever genre your character is then the dialogue needs to represent them - don't waste a line!
• Reveal character through story arc - Specific moments, actions and lines of dialogue tell us a lot - Think of how the character will change throughout the entirety of the story, think about a 'character growth' 
• AVOID CLICHE'S - Stay true to your idea - think about all elements involved, add a spark of life to your character 
• Think like an actor and give your character a P.O.V - They need motivation for the scene - They need to know where the character was the moment before they stepped into the room - think about the character's past, i.e 'where did they grow up, how have they been living, etc'

https://thescriptlab.com/category/screenwriting/character/]

Unit 22.1 by Alfie