TYPE OF PRODUCTION
I have been commissioned by the BBC to produce a 3-4 minute single drama to appear between programmes on their channel, but has to be suitable for viewing before the 9pm watershed and suitable for 16-24 year olds. It will also have to follow the BBC Drama Guidelines.
FINANCE
The BBC offer a commission to fund the costs of making independent dramas. According to the ‘BBC Tariff Prices for Independents’ – the drama I am making is classed as a ‘daytime and low cost drama’ and the BBC are willing to pay £50k - £500k per hour to make one. As I am being commissioned to produce a 3-4 minute drama, the funding I will be allowed will be less than this however, this is all subject to the drama meeting the BBC drama guidelines and being submitted via the ‘BBC pitch’. As our drama is only a school project, we will need money to fund our production ourselves for a variety of stuff. We will need equipment to actually produce our drama such as a kit, camera, microphone, tape, tripod, lights etc. We would also need to pay for a crew, talent, materials and facility hire.
This is the deposits you have to pay to rent equipment from college.
If it was a BBC production, you would have to pay to have actresses and actors working in your drama piece, but since it is an independent drama at college, we will use our friends and college friends to help us within our drama. We are working in teams so this would make up our crew so we wouldn't need to pay for one like we would if it was actually a BBC production.
We would also need to consider travelling to and from the facility where we are shooting. As a group we all live in different areas and only one of us drives to college and back. Transport wouldn't be an issue getting to college and filming at college as we all do this in the week anyway. When going on location to film to the DuPont dance studio, it is only a 5 minute walk however, if we have all of our equipment we could easily drive as there is free on street parking outside the dance studio so the cost would be kept to a minimum.
The cost would also be kept to a minimum when hiring a facility as we are filming in the studio in college within our timetabled class, so we would be able to do this for free. We also used DuPont Dance School as team member goes to the dance school, so we was able to film there without hiring out a studio. For the equipment to film our drama, we paid a deposit of £25 for a camera, tripod, microphone (boom) and a figrig.
If it was a BBC production, you would have to pay to have actresses and actors working in your drama piece, but since it is an independent drama at college, we will use our friends and college friends to help us within our drama. We are working in teams so this would make up our crew so we wouldn't need to pay for one like we would if it was actually a BBC production.
We would also need to consider travelling to and from the facility where we are shooting. As a group we all live in different areas and only one of us drives to college and back. Transport wouldn't be an issue getting to college and filming at college as we all do this in the week anyway. When going on location to film to the DuPont dance studio, it is only a 5 minute walk however, if we have all of our equipment we could easily drive as there is free on street parking outside the dance studio so the cost would be kept to a minimum.
The cost would also be kept to a minimum when hiring a facility as we are filming in the studio in college within our timetabled class, so we would be able to do this for free. We also used DuPont Dance School as team member goes to the dance school, so we was able to film there without hiring out a studio. For the equipment to film our drama, we paid a deposit of £25 for a camera, tripod, microphone (boom) and a figrig.
TIME
Deadlines: Need to be set
Pre-production blog: 09/03/2016
Video completed by: 22/02/2016
Blog & Support folder finished by: 22/02/2016
The availability of equipment would vary some days, especially close to the deadline, we probably wouldn't get the equipment when we need it. To ensure we've got the equipment we needed and that we were prepared, we had make sure our ideas and script are ready early so we could start filming straight away. We should make sure we book our sessions and make sure it is planned when we need to film. To avoid not being able to complete our video on time and meet the deadline, we made a production and shooting schedule to help us manage our time more efficiently.
Pre-production blog: 09/03/2016
Video completed by: 22/02/2016
Blog & Support folder finished by: 22/02/2016
The availability of equipment would vary some days, especially close to the deadline, we probably wouldn't get the equipment when we need it. To ensure we've got the equipment we needed and that we were prepared, we had make sure our ideas and script are ready early so we could start filming straight away. We should make sure we book our sessions and make sure it is planned when we need to film. To avoid not being able to complete our video on time and meet the deadline, we made a production and shooting schedule to help us manage our time more efficiently.
To make sure we could get the drama finished in time, we also created a lot of paperwork to help us do this such as shot lists so we knew the order they needed to be shot in and floor plans - this helped us set out the shot before we started filming. By doing this, it helped us plan ahead and prepared us for filming the drama. Below are examples from my own work of a floor plan and a shot list:
PERSONNEL
In our team there were three crew members and two additional actresses (Amelia Chana and Mia Barrett) as Cerise from our crew was the main actress. Our crew consists of me, Bridie Cleaver (Producer), Omar Adam (Camera Operator) and Cerise Bedder (Director).
I have done photography for two years at A-Level, so I have experience when handling cameras and other experience within media. We have decided on these these positions as a group however, the roles may be shared when producing the drama so that everyone has an equal input to the project. As myself and Cerise have part-time jobs outside of college hours, we can only produce the drama within college hours. So we would have to work harder than most groups completing the same assignment as we are restricted with our time.
I have done photography for two years at A-Level, so I have experience when handling cameras and other experience within media. We have decided on these these positions as a group however, the roles may be shared when producing the drama so that everyone has an equal input to the project. As myself and Cerise have part-time jobs outside of college hours, we can only produce the drama within college hours. So we would have to work harder than most groups completing the same assignment as we are restricted with our time.
FACILITIES
In order to produce our drama, there were a variety of facilities we needed to help us with the production of our drama and the post production of the drama.
As a group we will be needing access to both a camera and a computer. We will need the camera in order to film our drama and the equipment that comes along with it such as a tripod to cancel out any shaking while filming and a microphone to make sure the sound in our drama is the best it can be. We will need the computer for both pre production and post production tasks such as the paperwork needed to be done before filming and the editing of the drama done after we have gathered all of our shots.
We will be using college equipment to produce our drama - I stated in finance it will be a £25 deposit for all equipment and this will be returned if all equipment is returned in the same condition as it was given to us.
For post production, we will be using the computers in the editing suites.
As a group we will be needing access to both a camera and a computer. We will need the camera in order to film our drama and the equipment that comes along with it such as a tripod to cancel out any shaking while filming and a microphone to make sure the sound in our drama is the best it can be. We will need the computer for both pre production and post production tasks such as the paperwork needed to be done before filming and the editing of the drama done after we have gathered all of our shots.
We will be using college equipment to produce our drama - I stated in finance it will be a £25 deposit for all equipment and this will be returned if all equipment is returned in the same condition as it was given to us.
For post production, we will be using the computers in the editing suites.
MATERIALS
This section includes everything else we need to consider when producing our drama such as audio and props like costumes etc.
AUDIO
Audio consists of making sure that you get all audio that is needed and it is at as high a quality as you can get it. The levels of audio will also need to be assessed, this can be done while filming by keeping the mic the same distance from the actors or in the editing stage. The mic that we will use is the zeplin on a boom for better placement. Included in materials there is the script, this is the main basis of my drama. The next main part is costumes, these will be used from the actors closets and what we can get which fits the scene for free, other than that we may need to get a few tings to really present the actor in the way that is intended by the script. We may put some music on in the editing stage, this will come from other artists but because we are college students and don't wish to display it anywhere else we do not have to pay copyright and therefore do not have to worry about clearances.
AUDIO
Audio consists of making sure that you get all audio that is needed and it is at as high a quality as you can get it. The levels of audio will also need to be assessed, this can be done while filming by keeping the mic the same distance from the actors or in the editing stage. The mic that we will use is the zeplin on a boom for better placement. Included in materials there is the script, this is the main basis of my drama. The next main part is costumes, these will be used from the actors closets and what we can get which fits the scene for free, other than that we may need to get a few tings to really present the actor in the way that is intended by the script. We may put some music on in the editing stage, this will come from other artists but because we are college students and don't wish to display it anywhere else we do not have to pay copyright and therefore do not have to worry about clearances.
CONTRIBUTORS
When producing our drama we will be working hard as a team and sharing out the responsibilities equally between us all. This will include actors, scriptwriter, storyboard artist etc. Our actresses are a main contributor to our drama because they make the script come to life. They also help with portraying the story to the audience so they can understand it better.
The next contributor is the scriptwriter. Individually we all wrote our own scripts and treatments for our own scripts however, as a group we all chose to go with my script for our drama so I was the script writer for this drama. The scriptwriter and the storyboard artist will have a clear idea of what each shot will be and what is meant to be happening so these two roles will work closely together. The main role of the storyboard artist is to draw the scenes and to fill out the descriptions of each scene, this is a key role as you can't shoot without one.
Like I had already stated, we didn't really have set jobs and the tasks that had to be completely were shared out between us all so it was fair and we all helped each other.
The next contributor is the scriptwriter. Individually we all wrote our own scripts and treatments for our own scripts however, as a group we all chose to go with my script for our drama so I was the script writer for this drama. The scriptwriter and the storyboard artist will have a clear idea of what each shot will be and what is meant to be happening so these two roles will work closely together. The main role of the storyboard artist is to draw the scenes and to fill out the descriptions of each scene, this is a key role as you can't shoot without one.
Like I had already stated, we didn't really have set jobs and the tasks that had to be completely were shared out between us all so it was fair and we all helped each other.
LOCATIONS
For our drama, we will be shooting three different locations which are Leicester college for our 'flashback' scenes in the studio, the graveyard beside Leicester College which will be for our future shots where we see our main character Cerise a month later in the drama and finally we will be shooting at DuPont Dance School for all our main shots like Cerise dancing in the studio, the encounter with the girls bullying her etc.
A recce has been completed on all of these locations and we decided they would be suitable because they have the right layout, the correct aesthetic look and practical for the shooting. We also took photos of the DuPont Dance school where we would be filming. All of these locations are in a reasonable distance for all crew members and no one will struggle to reach them and this means the access will be easier, for the indoor studio location, we will be relying on availability but we have been allowed to shoot in this location nonetheless. There will be no cost for locations as we have access to college and the graveyard for free and we have access to Dupont Dance School as our main actress Cerise Bedder dances at this school.
A recce has been completed on all of these locations and we decided they would be suitable because they have the right layout, the correct aesthetic look and practical for the shooting. We also took photos of the DuPont Dance school where we would be filming. All of these locations are in a reasonable distance for all crew members and no one will struggle to reach them and this means the access will be easier, for the indoor studio location, we will be relying on availability but we have been allowed to shoot in this location nonetheless. There will be no cost for locations as we have access to college and the graveyard for free and we have access to Dupont Dance School as our main actress Cerise Bedder dances at this school.
CODES OF PRACTICE AND REGULATION
Codes of Practice & Regulation involve four main sections; clearances, copyright, health & safety and regulatory bodies - these all need to be considered when creating a drama.
CLEARANCES
Clearances are the gaining of permission to shoot on location or paying to shoot at a location therefore, clearances are very important when shooting on location. We were given permission to shoot at Dupont Dance School due to Cerise (Main Actress) being a dancer at that school. We were given a dance studio - the one that features in our 3-4 minute drama, we were given this one as it was the only one available for us to use. As well as this, we also shot on location at Leicester College in the college studio, this was during our timetabled lesson so clearances were not needed here. Another place we filmed where we didn't need clearances was the graveyard next to college.
CLEARANCES
Clearances are the gaining of permission to shoot on location or paying to shoot at a location therefore, clearances are very important when shooting on location. We were given permission to shoot at Dupont Dance School due to Cerise (Main Actress) being a dancer at that school. We were given a dance studio - the one that features in our 3-4 minute drama, we were given this one as it was the only one available for us to use. As well as this, we also shot on location at Leicester College in the college studio, this was during our timetabled lesson so clearances were not needed here. Another place we filmed where we didn't need clearances was the graveyard next to college.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright is defined as 'the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film or record literary, artistic or musical material'. Copyright is a very serious regulation that everyone has to consider and abide by. Because we were producing a college short drama for educational purposes, any material we used that wasn't our own and was copyright protected, we were allowed to use as the end product wasn't being published any further than our college. We also had to get 'short film release forms' for each actress that played a part in our drama so if it was to be published, we had there permission. Without release forms for the actresses, we would not be legally allowed to publish anything.
Copyright is defined as 'the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film or record literary, artistic or musical material'. Copyright is a very serious regulation that everyone has to consider and abide by. Because we were producing a college short drama for educational purposes, any material we used that wasn't our own and was copyright protected, we were allowed to use as the end product wasn't being published any further than our college. We also had to get 'short film release forms' for each actress that played a part in our drama so if it was to be published, we had there permission. Without release forms for the actresses, we would not be legally allowed to publish anything.
HEALTH & SAFETY
To ensure we covered everything before producing our drama, including health & safety, we produced a risk assessment sheet to make sure we were aware of any possible risks when recording our drama on location.
To ensure we covered everything before producing our drama, including health & safety, we produced a risk assessment sheet to make sure we were aware of any possible risks when recording our drama on location.
REGULATORY BODIES
A regulatory body is defined as 'A regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity'. The BBC would be a good example of a regulatory body - and it's 9pm watershed which set by Ofcom. This is something the BBC have to abide by. This means inappropriate material that could offend younger viewers cannot be shown before 9pm. As our drama is to be suitable for viewing before the watershed, it means our drama cannot include any sexually orientated scenes or that of murder or offensive language.
A regulatory body is defined as 'A regulatory agency (also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator) is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity'. The BBC would be a good example of a regulatory body - and it's 9pm watershed which set by Ofcom. This is something the BBC have to abide by. This means inappropriate material that could offend younger viewers cannot be shown before 9pm. As our drama is to be suitable for viewing before the watershed, it means our drama cannot include any sexually orientated scenes or that of murder or offensive language.