M3: SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF FEEDBACK AND BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS
Evaluation Of Pitch
My first thoughts for my presentation is that it went well, and better than I thought it would go. Taking into consideration my lack of experience in presenting independently and nerves, I believe that my presenting skills were acceptable, as I kept eye contact to clients as best as I could, and tried to avoid reading straight from my notes as possible.
Despite my presention succeeding my expectations, I am aware that there is needed improvements if I were to present again in the future. I tried to keep my voice loud enough that the clients in the back could be able to hear me understandably but I think my nerves sometimes made my words unclear or come across as jumbled. This was frustrating as I knew what I needed to say but struggled to say them. To reduce the chances of this happening again, I think practising the presentation in front of small groups of people instead of practising the presentation with myself would help with the fear of stage fright. It would also define my words and possibly cease my voice from wavering. Furthermore, this would help my sentence fillers improve with words such as 'for example, similar to, in addition' and replace the words of 'um', 'like' and 'kinda' that I used continuously. With these words, it would make the presentation come across as more professional. I noticed from watching back my presentation that my body language could be improved as I come across as stiff and at points, I would sway while I think of my words.
Ideally, a BBC Three executive would be looking for someone who is confident in their stance and projects their confidence into their idea, making the executives be drawn into the proposal and want to commission the programme. If my confidence was improved, I would be able to express more evidently why they should commission my idea over other people's and keep the clients strongly engaged.
Feedback And Questions Asked
In my presentation, I was asked the following questions:
How might you test your ideas on your target audience to shape the idea for your drama?
I responded firstly with focus groups, by showing them a preview of the pilot and to collect their opinions of the characters, whether they could relatable and the style of the drama. Before that, however, I think it would be beneficial to also show the focus group the character profiles, with the photos of the actual cast and also mood boards. I would ask questions of whether they believed the cast was equally diverse and if the style represented in the mood boards was appealing to them.
If we could get £75,000 - £100,000 per episode, what would be the main changes you might make?
From my research, I am aware that many BBC Three shows are filmed in Manchester but with a larger budget, I would look into having the programme set in London. This is because many crime shows are filmed in the centre of London, with iconic buildings such as the London Bridge. These would be expensive to film at, so I would bring a unique selling point by filming in the outside of London, which also offers a vast difference in locations. Another reason filming in this location would be interesting, I have found teens and young adults have a curiosity about London, and interest in the cultures there.
With a higher budget, I would look into higher production quality into the visual and special effects. This would be useful in episodes that may contain action or violence. With the current budget, the programme will be using special effects such as prosthetics than visual effects, but having a larger budget would allow the option to include gun shooting and explosions that will enhance the style and sub-genre of crime. One of the reoccurring sets for the show will be the hidden basement called the 'Rabbit Hole', and I would also look into focusing some of the budget on this set with further attention to detail, with props that the target audience would find interesting.
Which social media would you primarily use to market your drama?
My response to this question was Twitter, as it is a social media platform many different types of audiences aged between 15 to 21 are presently daily. With a 140 character limit, this could be useful to easily post short updates and reminders of the pilot premiere, and staying on top of mind of the target audience. Twitter is also a platform, where links can be made to other sites, such as YouTube. The BBC Three twitter account would be primarily used in a way to direct further content, for example, the trailer and sneaks peaks published on Youtube.
Would there be any legal and ethical constraints when moving the show onto Netflix or other video-on-demand sites?
I found this question useful but needed to discuss this with my team fully before giving a detailed answer. Having now done so, my response is to contact the BBFC and get the programme officially rated. This would cover the ethical requirements, as Netflix uses the BBFC rating for each of their shows and films published on their video-on-demand site. Netflix does not follow this legally, but ethically appeals to the parents who can recognise and monitor the shows that appropriate for their children. From looking at the BBFC guidelines, I predict the show would be rated at a 15, due to the moderate violence and strong language. The age rating of 15 is appropriate as the show is to be scheduled at 9 pm, after the watershed and the rating doesn't cut off age groups, as the target audience age range is between 15 to 21 year olds. If moving the show onto Netflix to achieve global views went ahead, I would contact to discuss with Netflix any further legal and ethical constraints closer to the time.
The questions that were asked were useful and relevant, by helping shape firmer ideas.
Responding To Questions
Due to one of the clients being absent during my pitch, they have instead watched the recorded video and have responded with some questions by email.
How does your programme conform to the BBC and BBC 3 remit?
Down The Rabbit Hole would conform to the BBC remit to inform, educate and entertain through the following ways. As a unique selling point, I'm trying to bring a new style of crime to a younger audience, that includes many narrative themes the characters can develop and evolve in. The teen drama is very character lead, making the majority of the entertainment will come from the likeable and relatable characters the audience get to know, as well as following the intriguing crime mystery the twins find themselves stuck in. I wanted the teen drama to be in a world that is recognisable, but follows a narrative that is different from the audience's reality. This will then hopefully bring the audience another form of entertainment, through escapism.
Down The Rabbit Hole, as a teen drama, will focus on individual character struggles and the obstacles they fight. The four main characters are thrown into a crime mystery but still have to face everyday teenage struggles, which links to the narrative themes of love, trust, friendship and family. To educate audiences, I want to show mental health awareness through the character Lukas, who struggles with hidden depression. A large theme found majorly in the teen characters is self discovery as they head towards being an adult. The audiences would be inspired and educated in how the character Jess learns to accept her sexuality despite her family's religion.
Linking to the education elements, the programme will inform the audience in how to cope and deal with their struggles, helping guide audience members to help either recognise symptoms of mental health illnesses or bullying.
What merchandise opportunities might the programme offer?
Depending on the drama's success, Down The Rabbit Hole would be able to offer a different range of merchandise. The team and myself have thought about what merchandise would best appeal to the target audience, and the first one being a bracelet. As the drama is very character driven, the merchandise is based around the character's appearance and roles. For example, each character is very distinct in their clothing that emphasises their individuality. Lukas wears a black leather bracelet that his father passed down to him. Merchandising copies of the bracelet, with the Down The Rabbit Hole logo printed on the inside would appeal to 15 - 21 year olds especially, as it is something that continue to wear with them, and showing their support/love for the show. Teenagers enjoy putting up posters, so I think merchandising posters of the four main characters would prove successful.
What spin-offs could be considered if the programme becomes successful?
Down The Rabbit Hole will have a structure to the series, where each episode will follow an objective that the main characters take on, such as a mystery to solve or an item to collect. This structure would hopefully prove successful in a Down The Rabbit Hole spin off game. X-BOX and PlayStations are popular amongst 15 to 21 year olds, and with a game, the target audience would be able to get involved in the storylines and play their favourite characters. Each character in the show have their distinctive roles, and this can easily be converted into a game format, especially with the objectives in the episodes transformed into missions.
The game would follow and be inspired by the main narrative of the show, but would also follow lives of some secondary characters, allowing more things to be developed across mediums.
D1: DISCUSS THE CLIENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE CREATION OF THE PRODUCT FROM THE PITCH
Write a short report that discusses the feedback from the client and the considerations/requirements and differentiate between useful points and points that do not add to the product creation. Feedback should be used to further develop the initial idea in preparation for the product pre-production. Make a list of the points you would take on board when creating your pre-production materials.
Title Font
The title font has connotations relating to the narrative, can it also represent the genres?
From a small focus group, this was the title font that was decided and was found more interesting.
Chosen Title Font
It was discussed that there could be many connotations that linked to title name itself and the narrative, which is what I wanted to achieve. I choose the title fonts to be one of the main sample materials to create as the title needs to be recognisable, stand out from other shows and be used to across merchandises. The feedback I got from the title was whether it can be improved and styled further in detail to represent the genre and sub-genre of the show. This feedback has helped adapt ideas for the title in detail and I thought about one of the filled in black 'O's to be a bullet hole or have a similar art design to guns in the title below.
Runner Up Title Font
I think with these added to the title would emphasise the crime sub-genre elements, so if viewers saw the title alone, they would have some idea what the show could be about. The font styles I collected for the title were from a site (https://www.1001freefonts.com/) where the fonts were free to use and therefore already existed. In the pre-production stage of the show, I plan to have an artist design a font for the title that is similar to the one chosen but made unique with a more evident style that will appeal further to the target audience and genre of teen. There would also been more connotations to the title that would link to the narrative.
Social Media
Which social media would you primarily use to market your drama?
I was asked what social media would you primarily use to market your drama which I didn't think was useful in developing my idea for the pre-production stages and was more beneficial in understanding where the target audience is and how to achieve a wide audience.
Sample Materials
How might you test your ideas on your target audience to shape the idea for your drama?
In my pitch, I was asked the question 'How might you test your ideas on your target audience to shape the idea for your drama?' which helped further my considerations about the character profiles. When I tested the sample material, it was recognised as a diverse collection of characters but was given the suggestion of showing more minorities. The four main characters in the sample material come from different backgrounds with characteristics that either represent the LGBT community or mental health but having a character will a physical disability, for example in a wheelchair, would further represent minority groups and hopefully bring a wider audience.
Merchandise
What merchandise opportunities might the programme offer?
From the client, I was asked about merchandising opportunities which I thought was useful to adapt the ideas.
Budget
The budget for BBC Three is £50,000, which is the reason for casting unknown actors and considered low budget locations to film. The question and feedback that I received about what I would change if I had a higher budget was useful and
Location
Location - why would London be suitable
How the show can continue with storylines and character development
Spin-offs
I was asked by the client what spin-offs could be considered if the programme becomes successful which I found useful. Evidence of my response is in the merit criteria, which is where I state how I think a game would be a most suitable product to have a spin-off. The strengths of this would be greater profit and expanding the audience as people who like playing story focused games will hopefully want to watch the programme first. This client feedback is not very useful in terms of developing idea and pre-production materials, however it does make me think about character development and how the characters in the show will perform in a game. For example, I would need to make sure the characters have distinct differences about them and have a role in the show that keeps the audience engaged.