Styles Conventions & Techniques

Music Videos- Styles, Conventions and Techniques by Daryl Gilham

Blood Relations Releases

Releases.tif

Blood Relations Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Music Video

Music Video Recces

Talent Release Form

Track Analysis

Music Video Timeline

Commisioning Bodies

There are a number of job roles within the commissioning process as there are a number of different tasks to be carried out. Usually at the beginning of the commissioning process a freelance writer will have written some work and will pitch it to various commissioning bodies until someone shows interest in their work. From this point on the writer could either achieve success or his work may still not be made. It is the job of the agent to find this out for the writer as well as handling a lot of the main communication between the writer and producer. If the writer's work is to be made then it will be the director's job to decide how to approach filming.

There are a large number of commissioning bodies that can be approached by a writer to pitch their ideas to, such as the BBC writer's room that accepts submissions from any upcoming writers. You could also choose to go to a smaller commissioning body such as an independent production company, as a new writer and they will likely be more interested in you because you will be less expensive.

Independent directors are often more successful and demand a greater creative control over the production, this can make working with directors like this more difficult initially but directors with a strong artistic vision can really enhance a writer's work. Sometimes organisations hold competitions that give new writers the opportunity to show off their talent for the chance of their work getting commissioned.

The writer has to do a lot of work during pre-production, ensuring that drafts are submitted on time and they have to work with the script editor to ensure the script is suitable and concise, sometimes during the shooting of the work the writer will still be consulted or their opinion of certain scenes will be asked. This is another reason why a writer is especially busy all through the commissioning process.

Working as a Writer

When you are working as a writer you have a much better chance of getting your work seen if you are represented by an agent. This is important for new writers trying to get there work commisioned as they need someone to help them get noticed. In order to find agent representation a writer needs to send their work to them before an agent will be interested in working for them. After this the agent will have a greater ability to find work for an upcoming writer than they would due to the amount of contacts an agent possesses.

Royalty payments are given to the writer when his work is show and money is also given to anyone else involved in the process, this includes the director and producers. Professional presentation is paramount to success when working as a writer as this will dictate how interested producers will be in then making the final product. A professional pitch can really make a difference to whether a writer is successful or not.

When working as a writer there are time pressures to be considered, as writers are expected to write quickly and submit drafts regularly. Writers that write for television are often expected to write episodes under a very limited time constraint. Failures to meet the deadlines can be devastating to a writer's  career and they can end up owing money to companies if they do so.

When a writer is being creative they must consider legal and ethical requirements, it would be very difficult to show work that could be deemed racist or otherwise offensive material. They must not use any copyrighted material unless they have cleared the use of it, they also cannot libel anybody within their work. They also have to consider their work if it is scheduled pre-watershed they will not be allowed to depict strong language or themes.

Blood Relations Research

Below is a real life event that links to my screenplay's themes

Teenage dealers who ran inner city dial-a-drug hotline caught by undercover cop

Schoolkids fed £10 wraps to queuing heroin addicts

A schoolboy dished out £10 heroin deals to a line of queuing drug addicts in a street dealing operation smashed by undercover cops.
The youth was part of a dial-a-drug city gang for addicts to arrange to buy wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.
Teenage runners were recruited to take orders over mobile phones and then meet up with junkies around Anfield, Fairfield and Kensington to deliver class A drugs.
But people started to notice “gaunt-faced” strangers being dealt to in the open and told police who began a sting operation.
Derek Jones, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court: “Residents grew concerned about drug dealing which in turn was leading to greater crime as addicts sought to feed their habits through stealing.
“It was gaunt-faced people meeting with youths in baseball caps on street corners. Open street dealing going on.
“Police assigned an undercover officer to work in those areas from April 2012 through to January this year. He began by hanging around on those street corners and making friends with the dealers and getting access to phone numbers for what was effectively a drug delivery service. What was unusual was the young age of many of the drug dealers.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/dealers-who-ran-liverpool-dial-a-drug-4749374

Risk Assessment

Music Video Risk Assessment

Screenplay Research

                                                              Factual Information 

These statistics are based on the 2011-2012 Crime survey for England and Wales http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/drugs-misuse-dec-1112/extent-young

37.7 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds had ever taken an illicit drug in their lifetime (around 2.5 million people)

19.3 per cent had done so in the last year (nearly 1.3 million people)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6960431.stm

35.5% of Gun Crime victims in 2006/7 were under the age of 21 in the U.K

Artist Analysis

The song I have chosen for my music video was originally by Gerry Rafferty, a rock/blues musician who enjoyed success in the 1970’s, many of his music videos feature footage of studio performances rather than anything that could be considered more abstract. This gives his music video a basic, and yet personal feel.  The tone of the songs are usually reflective and serious, and focus on both social and personal elements of life.

His music has been compared to that of Paul McCartney and he is highly regarded amongst fans as a rock 'n' roll icon.

Group Pitch & Feedback

PUT GROUP PREZI HERE

PUT GROUP FEEDBACK HERE

Screenplay Research

The BBC writer's room is where budding writers can send their scripts to be seen by professionals; this is a system that has been put into place to give new writers a chance to show their potential and possibly gain a job in the process. It allows new writers to find out vital information and the necessary skills tantamount to being a successful writer, the writer's room also helps introduce writers and their work to commisioners and producers.

These are recent viewing figures for programmes on BBC One; although "Strictly" has taken a top spot for viewing figures it is also apparent that dramas like "Eastenders" and "Merlin" prove very popular with a majority audience.

Screenplay - Final

Daryl Screenplay - Final

Screenplay - Draft

Daryl Screenplay - Draft

Blood Relations Brainstorm

Drama Proposal Presentation

Blood Relations Drama Proposal by Daryl Gilham

Script Proposal

In this unit we were asked to think up ideas for a dramatic script which we would then present to each other and vote on which ones we would do. The title of my story is called ‘Blood Relations’ this name is a reference to the murder of the main protagonist’s brother early in the episode.  The story begins with the scene in which Nigel’s brother is killed by the gang of smugglers he was trading with for drugs arms. This scene would be brief and would jump straight in to the narrative; the viewers are then drip-fed information about Nigel’s life and are left to draw their own conclusions on the character.

The USP of this show is that it shows the complications of living a life of crime for a young Caucasian adult, this topic is not often depicted on mainstream television. It also deals with the effect that loss can have on someone who never had much to begin with. The genre of the show would be an action-drama with the emphasis on the drama, the action scenes only serving to add to the drama that entails within the show.

The show would be a six-part series in which we watch as Nigel gets closer to exacting his revenge, we learn more about his family situation and his upbringing. The final episode would show Nigel struggling between his desires for revenge and his brother’s last wish for Nigel to give up the life of crime. By focusing on this narrative I hope to achieve an accurate, meaningful portrayal of the difficulties of life for the lower class of Britain. I would like the drama to be quite moving and to tackle some issues that everyone has to deal with as well as draw attention to a much misunderstood part of society and the human sides of the monsters society knows as ‘criminal’.

I think the general narrative of my story could be described as high concept; however I believe that certain unique elements of the story are more original. I think this balance will keep audiences engaged with the familiar concept and will interest them with the original narrative. I think the characters will be interesting to an audience of young adults, predominantly males as a lot of the characters will be relatable to their own lives. A lot of the dialogue will feature language that is popular in youth culture today so this will be another relatable feature for the demographic.

I think the intended message of the series would be one of peace and pacifism at the end of the series Nigel can’t bring himself to exact his revenge as he’s tired of the killing and decides he must make his own world a better place. I want to show that although this character is dealing with emotional pain he realises that the answers to his problems are not in murderous revenge and they are in fact in reformation. The end of the programme would show that Nigel now holds his destiny in his hands and he has the power to change his life for the better.

The main character is Nigel McManson a young adult who has to support his struggling family by engaging in drugs and arms deals, eventually this goes bad for him as he loses his brother Timmy McManson. Timmy idolises his older brother and one day follows Nigel to a meeting place where he is talking to the smugglers. When the deal goes wrong and weapons are drawn Timmy gets scared and runs to his older brother. Nigel, horrified by his brother’s presence is distracted and this allows the smugglers to shoot first. The smugglers manage to escape and Nigel manages to dodge the bullets but is racked with remorse as he witnesses his brother dying before his eyes. Timmy tells Nigel that he should get out of the world of crime before dying in Nigel’s arms.

Another character that appears in the first episode is ‘Schizo’ Pete who has been an acquaintance of Nigel’s for years going back to their childhood, initially Nigel contacts him for information on the location of the smugglers but Pete turns out to be working for them and attacks Nigel. The end of the episode is a cliff-hanger as the viewer does not see who gets shot at the end. The following episode would continue straight after the last scene of the first episode and would show Pete slumping to the ground.

Realistically for this story the cast would require a child to play the role of Timmy as he is younger than Nigel; however this is the only specific requirement in the whole story as all the other characters are around the same age group and therefore it wouldn’t be too hard to find actors matching those requirements.

Dramatic Sript Synopsis

Nigel “Big Mac” McManson is a young adult living with his family on the mean streets of Gorleston struggling to provide for his family including his little brother Timmy who idolises him. In the opening scene we see Nigel undergoing drugs and arms trades with some dangerous looking smugglers. Nigel and the smugglers begin to argue over the cash; and as the tension mounts and everyone arms themselves for a terrifying face-off Timmy unwittingly gets caught up in the crossfire. Nigel survives the ordeal; Timmy does not.

Next we see Nigel mourning the loss of his brother at home, looking through pictures teary-eyed. He knows in his heart that he must get revenge on the criminals that killed his little brother, now Nigel must use his illegal connections to trace the killers. This will be a journey spanning the distance of an entire town and surrounding villages as Nigel fights his way to justice.

Nigel first meets up with one of his local drug dealers, Schizo Pete who has some interesting Intel on the whereabouts of the smugglers. As it transpires Nigel realises the killers might be closer to home than he thinks. After Nigel thanks Pete and pays him, Pete pulls out a pistol and Nigel realises he’s been double-crossed.

Nigel manages to distract Pete and the two then struggle with the gun; eventually Nigel gets the gun away and the two youths begin to scrap in hand-to-hand combat whilst exchanging insults. Nigel gains the advantage but Pete brings out another gun, Nigel quickly tries to force the gun to Pete’s own head but Pete tries to do the same to Nigel.  In the end one gunshot rings out, but who did it hit?