The Commissioning Process (Drama)

Drama

Give a summary of the type of content and overview for each channel and what it expects and how does it differ depending on that channel.

BBC 1:

BBC One’s style of Drama aims to be for and about the BBC One audience, providing something for everyone. In other words this means coming up with ideas and problems for the characters that the watchers have to deal with in everyday life.

Drama maintains a mix of established, returning favourites and new and original ideas in either contemporary or period settings, always telling big stories through big characters.

List of BBC1 Dramas:

·      Call the Midwife

·      Casualty

·      Doctors

·      Doctor Who

·      EastEnders

·      Merlin

BBC 2:

BBC Two’s drama aims at appealing to audiences who enjoy looking at the world in provocative and imaginative ways, this can involve telling stories about the past and present.

List of BBC2 Dramas:

·      Cinderella Man

·      Dancing on the Edge

BBC 3:

Drama on BBC Three exists in a very competitive digital landscape and therefore has to be at its most original and imaginative to attract the 16-34 audience.  Being Human, The Fades and Lip Service have all brought distinctive and full-flavoured narrative to this audience.

Drama opportunities are limited on BBC Three, with funding for a maximum of two series, and they must have the potential to grab attention and make an impact.  Concept and high concept pieces have been successful on the channel.

List of BBC3 Dramas:

·      Being Human

·      The Crash

Who are the Audience for each channel for your chosen genre? Give examples.

BBC 1:

BBC One’s drama tries to appeal to all target audiences as it has the widest reach of all the channels (average of nearly 80% of the population tuning in to the channel every week.)

BBC 2:

The audience for BBC Two is mainly aimed at middle aged viewers but also young adults, around about twenty to thirty years old.

BBC 3:

BBC Three’s drama is often aimed more at a younger audience, between 16 – 30.

PTO

Finally explain in your own words the commissioning process. Remember to include what happens to the proposal once submitted and any details on Legal and ethical considerations: copyright; bias; censorship; watersheds; libel; plagiarism  

The commissioning process for the BBC is set out in the BBC Code of Practice. After someone submits their idea to the BBC, all proposals receive an acknowledgement of their proposal within one week of receipt. The relevant Commissioning Editor (Comedy editor for comedy etc.) will then make the decision of either reject or progress proposals for further consideration within six weeks of receipt.

If the idea is good and the BBC is happy they will ask the writer to think about the idea some more and get in contact with an independent production company in order to successfully produce the idea into a film or TV series. After this if all goes well the BBC might accept the idea and show it on a channel and time appropriate for the target audience (e.g. BBC3 at 9:00pm for adult comedy.)

If for example my script I’ve been writing was accepted by the BBC and got past the commissioning process I believe my Sci-fi, fantasy, Drama would fall under the Drama 3 category. This would be because my show would be likely to have high production values with known talent to play some of the main roles. To start off with my series would be a lot like how Torchwood (Doctor who spin off) started out. This type of drama would get me paid about £500k - £630k per hour of screened showing, this basically means if the show was on for 1 hour a week I would be paid about £500k - £630k every week until the show finished.

The role of the writer

The writer of a film has probably the most influence when it comes to making a film. From writing an original screen play to writing an adaption of a pre-existing story, such as an adaption of a book. When ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was first being translated onto the big screen, numerous changes had to be made to bring the story up to date. This included giving some characters bigger roles as well as dropping some altogether. Female characters especially needed bigger roles as women didn’t have as many rights back when the book was written between 1937 and 1949. One such character, called Arwen, had to be expanded upon so that there was a female lead in order not to be sexist. Key characters such as ‘Glorfindel’ and ‘Tom Bombadil’ were absent, and substantial parts of the story were completely missing. The reason for this was because Peter Jackson, the films writer, believed these characters didn’t add anything to the story they wanted to tell.

During the writing of the film Peter Jackson wanted to add in the history of ‘The Ring’ and what happened before the film. In order to do this he got one of the co-writers, Philippa Boyens, to cut down these events into a short exposition to be added to the start of the film. This way the audience would know a bit of backstory as to why so many people are after this important ring.

Another film that took this similar approach is the Japanese film ‘Death Note,’ based on the anime series and manga books of the same name. This film cuts a good way into the story where the main character has already found the book that allows him to kill others with just their name. After a brief introduction we then are shown a flashback as to how he found it and the first few events of the film. This whole segment is done within about 15 minutes. This just proves that this is a widely used technique used by not just American and British writers.

Many writers draw inspiration from scenarios and events that have happened, either to themselves or in history. Just as ‘Lord of the Rings’ needed a female lead due to the fact that women now have the same importance and rights as men, films such as ‘Aliens’ written by James Cameron took ideas and drew inspiration from the recent history of the Vietnam war.

The idea for ‘Aliens’ was a situation in which a technologically superior force was mired in a hostile foreign environment. In the story of Aliens the Colonial Marines are hired to protect the business interests of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, corresponding to the belief that corporate interests were the reason that American troops were sent to South Vietnam. The attitude of the space marines was influenced by the Vietnam War; they are portrayed as cocky and confident of their inevitable victory, but when they find themselves facing a less technologically advanced but more determined enemy, the outcome is not what they expect.

In the popular series ‘The Big Bang Theory’ the writers decided to only add in the jokes that made the live audience laugh. Due to the fact that the show is mostly filmed in front of a live audience the writers use this to their advantage but making the actors do the same scene numerous times but changing the joke that is used. The one that made the audience laugh the most would be used in the final script and show.

In conclusion the writer has a huge impact on the way a story is written. From the original draft to the numerous changes and ideas added to the final script.

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Big Bang Theory

After watching the making of 'The Big Bang Theory' I found out about the way the idea came about. The writer of the show said about how the idea first came to him when a friend told him about how he used to live a few years ago and the people he hung out with. He went on to say that this friend knew people who where extremely intelligent and friendly but didn't socialize with other people very often.

From this the writer thought of making a show about a group of nerdy intelligent guys who's new neighbor was a very attractive young woman. This awkward relationship between the nerds and this neighbor is the main focus of this series along with the nerd jokes and romantic relationships.