Have we done a good job with our scripts?
The Leeds based production company wanted me to write a sequence of events from my tv drama, it had to be between 10-15 minutes long and was aimed for a BBC 3 15-21 audience so I chose an exciting segment of my tv show to fulfil the aim which is to promote our tv drama to gain interest from our target audiences. As it's already been commissioned and paid for, we are writing a shooting script which will include shot types and camera angles so they could film from my script on set.
My tv show is going to be episodic as it's made for a home audience. The conflict is realistic (my show includes manslaughter, murder, robbery, physical assault) and as you can see all of these crimes range in severity but are all serious conflict. The conflict is physical and emotional but they work together- the physical violence affects Connor mentally so by the end of the first series, he is more paranoid.
My show is a crime drama with the subgenre of supernatural.
Typical features of TV Dramas: Episodic tv dramas normally are for a home audience. Tv dramas are about people and conflict in their relationships. There is usually one main conflict and other subplots which follow other characters- these can follow minor plots which interact with the main story but aren't a really large factor. This could be something such as a romance subplot.
Equilibrium - Everything is normal, Connor (the main character) goes to school, hangs out afterwards with a few friends and goes home.
Disruption - Burglary occurs, things are stolen and Connor is lightly traumatised. In the morning, he realises that he's body swapped and is also repeating the same day over again.
Recognition of disruption - After the first day and burglary for the second time, he realises that this isn't a dream.
Attempt to repair - He goes around trying to find out why his house was targeted and also why they broke in to begin with.
New equilibrium - He finds out why and manages to stop the time loop however he is more shaky, paranoid and fidgety before.
What extract did I choose and why?
The extract that I've chosen is from episode 1 and 2 of my tv show which is the introduction of my disruption (the burglary) following onto the recognition of the disruption (the body swapping) which is recognised right at the end of my chosen scene.
It reveals the whole nature of my show with a few comedic moments (the burglary montage scene, the breathing into the Tesco's bag, the screaming section at the end) and introduces Connor as a flawed character. He's too reliant on everybody else and is cowardly when the people break in- he believes that the best way to go about it is to go along with it and do what they say. As an explanation, he's a scary-cat but through speech, hopefully elements of a further 'relatable' personality comes through in the use of swearing and underwhelming reactions (Which typically fits into the British type of humour).
By choosing the extract with my burglary in centre frame, I should've (hopefully) highlighted it as a significant event- which it is. It's the catalyst for my entire show so the audience need to see it to fully invest in my show. If they don't see it, the audience might get confused- which I don't want.
I haven't ended on a cliffhanger but on an active question- What's causing the body-swapping? How's Connor going to fix it? How will he learn and adapt? I think this is wise because if I left everything resolved then the audience wouldn't have a reason to tune into the actual show.
Why will people be interested in my show?
Hopefully, in my script I've given him some introverted character traits (not speaking up, not challenging people, being very quiet, preferring to spend time on his own rather than with people, not shouting etc...) which people might be able to relate to as 25-40% of the population identify as introverts. I think the audience will be intrigued by the supernatural element as well as the incident (burglary) itself as something like a burglary could happen in real life so might be relatable but adding a supernatural twist might hook the audience in and make them watch on. People have always been interested in the supernatural as it aids escapism for the audience so they can invest in something so different from their everyday lives and can take a break from it. The time loop element has happened in Groundhog Day (winner of a BAFTA film award and one of the most famous timeloop films ever made making a lifetime gross of $7.9 million dollars.) and more recently in Netflix's Russian Doll which was nominated for a golden globe and won some Primetime Emmy Awards showing that there is an audience for this type of show.
Character Dynamics:
In my script, I tried to make Connor and his mother, (Heidi) seem close. There's no angst on Connor's side and no overbearingness from Heidi. Hopefully, this is a good setup so when my show progresses we see their relationship change dramatically. I also sort of introduced Wesley through text messages in my script- he's Connor's boyfriend and I purposefully didn't want the texts to seem nice as Wesley is not a kind character. I tried to portray realistic relationships (as not all teenagers have issues with their parents and not all relationships are perfect) and to not overly dramatise them as BBC 3 tends to broadcast realistic shows that comment on society instead of melodramas.
Connor's character arc:
In the extract, we are right at the start of Connor's character journey as the script features the first major disruption 1/3 of the way through. Overall Connor has a Fall Arc, he changes negatively by becoming more paranoid and ultimately harsher with people as he discovers that most people have their own motives and don't actually value him, they're simply using him. He realises more things about the people in his life (his mother especially) and this changes him- it finally makes him realise how corrupt the world can be. In my chosen extract, we see don't see any change in Connor yet, since it's very early in the show and he hasn't made any concrete growth.
The laws of my alternative universe:
In my script, I show the audience the burglary (along with what day it is explicitly) all the way through then into the 'next day' where I show Connor in a different body to his own (his mother's) I then flick back towards the real Heidi in the kitchen, showing the audience that there are now two versions of the same person simultaneously- I haven't found any evidence of this being used in a time-looping concept so hopefully with the body-swapping and having the navigate the original person, the day replays, I think the idea is unique enough to intrigue and audience as I don't answer all the questions they may have instantly.
