Chosen Drama Series

For the 'Directions' unit, we have been given the task to look very closely at a drama series that we admire from a directorial and creative point of view. Whilst studying a few British dramas for the 'Story-telling' unit, I looked at the first series of Broadchurch. It is a fictional crime drama that takes place in the close-nit town of Broadchurch in Dorset. We follow the characters of DS Ellie Miller and DI Alec Hardy who investigate crime in the area. The first series focusses on the murder of a boy in the town. Like many crime and mystery dramas, we are taken on a whirlwind of twists and turns, lead to believe many of the characters may have done the murder before a shocking reveal at the end, keeping the audience in suspense. I have chosen to look at Broadchurch as my drama choice because I loved the storyline but thought that the way the directors - James Strong and Euros Lyn directed it really carried the series, making it feel very gripping but moving at the same time. The topic of the first series is incredibly serious. I thought that the way this was handled was excellent, as the directors managed to convey the emotion and heart ache Danny's family were feeling through good story-telling, camera work and music whilst not taking away from the excitement of the unknown for the audience.
For the brief, we have been asked to choose a scene or sequence of scenes that we particularly admire from a directorial point of view and recreate them, putting our own personal style and signature into it and re-interpreting the scene/s. As I have only watched the first series, I would like to watch the second series too and choose from both so I have a wide knowledge of the drama before interpreting it. One thing, I particularly admired was the use of camera shots and time frame in the series. I thought that this was a great way of showing something on screen and creating emotion without having the characters say anything at all.

Directions

Directions is the second unit for this year. A director is a visual story teller. Every successful director has a distinct style of directing that personalises their work and shows their individuality. For this unit we are expected to explore our role as a director and create two short films. The first short film will be a self portrait. The film should be no longer than 2 minutes and should demonstrate who we are through our own personal directing style. It should represent who we are as people, what we think about and show the world through our own eyes. For the second video we have been given the task to look at a drama series, examine it and choose a scene or sequence of scenes and recreate them putting our own creative spin on the series. However, we are required to keep the general tone of the series the same so it is still recognisable to the audience. We can choose any drama series, excluding sitcoms or soaps. We then have to develop a 5-6 page script, retelling the scenes in our own way. This should be very helpful when directing the scenes and evolving a new scene that differs from the style of the original scene/s.
For both videos, the point is to explore our directorial vision, therefore, we must use crew members including a camera operator and a sound operator, as well as incorporate actors from outside of the class to give the videos a much more professional and dramatic feel and atmosphere. I think that I will enjoy this unit as I am looking forward to exploring my own directorial vision and working with a larger crew than last time. However, this is also quite daunting as the role of a director is very authoritative which I think will be quite challenging.