Preliminary exercise: TV drama scene

1) State the genre you have chosen for your TV drama - family or crime drama.

The genre I have chosen for my TV drama is a crime drama.

2) Choose at least three TV dramas similar to your concept and watch the trailer and one scene from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene.




In the trailer of Top Boy (Season 3 Trailer), it starts with an over-the-shoulder shot of Ashley Walters which allows the audience to identify the fact that Ashley might be at the place which he may own or is most respected at. Furthermore, it allows the audience to know that Ashley is a very important character within Top Boy as the trailer starts with him. The second shot in the trailer starts with a close-up pan however goes into a long shot. It starts of with a police officer walking past in front of the camera and then you can see a group of youths (IC3 Males) looking at the police officer as he walks past. This allows the audience to establish the fact that this trailer involved crime and action.






In the trailer of Luther, the use of costume is very classic to determine who is who and what type of role they play. Luther is dressed up in a suit along with a trench coat which helps the audience identify that he plays a crucial role in this TV series and he is a detective. The use of lowkey lighting from 00:06 - 00:12 allows the audience to figure out that Luther is speaking to a criminal or someone who is going to cause trouble for him. Furthermore, it could illustrate that the female is linked to the investigation he is working on. The use of make-up at 00:05 is significant for the audience to inspect that the character is definitely an antagonist. 

Blue Story Trailer:

In the trailer of Blue Story, it starts with graphics on the screen saying 'paramount pictures' followed by 'BBC Films'. As the trailer is starting and graphics are being shown, there is a voice over of a news report along with non-diegetic sound of police sirens. The news that was being reported is "The latest young person apparently at the wrong place at the wrong time". This could help the audience figure out what type of genre the trailer is about and could be identified as a crime/action trailer. After the graphics of 'BBC Films' There is text on screen telling the audience who created this film. On the screen it says "From Rapman, Creator of Shiro's Story". Shiro's story was a very successful show in London. By putting this into the trailer allows the audience to know that this is gonna be a very good movie as well. The trailer ends with text on screen saying "Blue Story".


3) Write a script for your TV drama scene. You'll find guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room (click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional TV scripts).

Sajin’s Media Coursework Script

TV Drama Trailer

1. (Bathroom) (Ashley is looking down at the sink) Dialogue over the music: “Everyone around here thinks they are a big man”
   
   

2. Dialogue over the music: “They live in this mad world where anyone can get it”
   
   
3. (Background music suspense builds up)
   
   
4. Dialogue over the music: “The olders are washed”
   
   
5. Dialogue over the music: “The youngers fear nothing”
   
   
6. (Music suspense continues to build up)
   
   
7. Dialogue over the music: “And everyone wants to be a top boy”
   
   
8. Keisha: “You alright?”
   
   
9. Ashley: “Yeah”
   
   
10. Ashley: “I’m good”
    
    
11. (Background music continues to build suspense)

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here. 

Shot No.	Shot	Filmed?
1	Close-Up of phone	Yes
2	Close-up of phone panning back	Yes
3	Medium-shot of LB Speaking to Hida	Yes
4	Medium shot of Hida speaking to LB	Yes
5	Medium tracking shot of LB walking towards Hida	Yes
6	OTS Shot of LB walking towards Hida	Yes
7	OTS shot of Hida speaking to LB	Yes
8	OTS Shot of LB speaking to Hida	Yes
9	180 degree shot of Hida and LB speaking	Yes
10	Close-up of Hida’s phone	Yes
11	Long shot of location	Yes
12	Medium tracking shot of me walking	Yes
13	Close-up of me looking left	Yes
14	Long shot of me entering house and being followed	Yes
15	Medium close up of me entering the house	Yes
16	Long shot to medium shot of me running up the stairs	Yes
17	Close up of mother and father in bed	Yes
18	Medium shot of me trying to keep door closed	Yes
19	Medium close up of parents waking up to try help me close the door	Yes

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. For this preliminary task, use just one location to keep it simple.

Ashley – He is a kind hearted man with morals however, the pressure
he is put under gets him into a life threatening situation.

Omari – Omari is the boss. He’s the one who supplies the drugs in East
London and has a numerous amount of teenagers working for him. He
is someone you wouldn’t want to mess around with.

Brandon – Brandon is the father of Ashley. He suffers from mental
health issues and is currently relying on benefits to feed him and his son.

Keisha – She is Ashely’s ex girlfriend. She cheats on Ashley and dates
his boss as he offers her the luxury lifestyle. When Ashley finds out,
things get nasty.

The costumes I will be using is a balaclava, tracksuits, gangster attire. Furthermore, some of the props I'll be using are intimidating weapons such as guns, baseball bats etc. I'll be using natural lighting throughout most of my shots however, some shots will be low-key and some shots will be high-key. The setting I'll be using is in a estate in West Ealing.