I chose to undertake the Professional Pre-Production option for the unit, as opposed to the Major Project Pre-Production. The entailed devising a hypothetical, industry scale Pre-Production package that would not go into the stage of production. I made this decision because the concept of creating something of industry scale was unlike anything we have done previously on the course. With every other unit, I have completed the pre-production for a project that would then be made. This meant that I had to think realistically to a student sized project and budget, limiting me somewhat. Other factors regarding my choices for the Major project later on in the year, which will entail working on a stand alone project, also affected my choices for this unit as I wanted to have the experiences of working alone and working in a group in my final year. For the unit, I decided to create a Crime/Thriller drama series entitled 'Motherhood'. My choices for the genre of the production were based on research of Television programmes I enjoy watching myself, and was therefore based on my personal interests. I felt like this was an important decision to make because I wanted it to be of the nature of programme I am drawn to as a viewer.
In terms of the successes for this unit, there are lots of elements that I am happy with. The decisions for each element of the package took a considerable amount of time and experimentation with, therefore I am pleased with most. Addressing the story line and central themes of the series first, as this went through a number of changes within the first few weeks. I started the unit with a basic list of the plot line. After a meeting with Simon, he suggested there was no theme or strong characterisation that would hold the audiences attention and keep them invested in the series. Struggling to come up with a substantial story, I took it back to some key themes of family, abduction and then later Motherhood specifically, before writing the character of Vivian who would become the main character of the series. Using these as a basis to work with was really helpful for writing the story around for the synopsis, characters and opening script. Along with research and feedback from Simon, I managed to develop the story, and give it a purpose to be told.
I am also pleased with my choice for the Broadcasting Channel in particular. There were a few early doubts from Simon about whether Netflix would be the most suitable choice. However, after going away and researching other channels, I was confident in my initial choice.
The genres, characters, themes and initial branding for the series were all suitable for the platform and were created almost with the channel in mind. Given the audience choices, I also think that Netflix is the best option in terms of schedule and accessibility, as the audience are able to watch it in their own time, giving them more freedom.
The branding and advertising has been successful, not only for its suitability for Netflix but I think in terms of its suitability to the series. This element of the package, I am particularly pleased with because Graphics are not my strong point. However, I wanted to challenge myself and really experiment with photoshop to achieve something that looked creative and professional. This was also rather a challenge as I didn't have access to the Actors and so had to rely on stock photography. This made it difficult to find the right kind of images and in good quality to use with photoshop. However, I am very pleased with the outcomes.
Overall, I am very pleased with the overall look and content of the book. Using In-Design to create it, I was very particular about the presentation and content. I think the choice to do a book instead of a website was also a good decision as it became much more about the creative writing as opposed to the imagery, and therefore would not have worked so well as a website.
The biggest challenges for me during this unit were the creative writing elements. This included the character development. I found it rather challenging to devise characters that all had a background and reasoning for all of their actions. I overcame this by thinking about each one in terms of their past experiences to make them more 3D and relatable. The casting choices were a challenge and some of them were altered. Writing for an industry scale production, but not a feature film makes it challenging to find actors that are not unrealistic. Therefore, my research for the casting included choosing actors of the appropriate ages and appearance and then watching some of their previous work to access their suitability. Although, this was challenging, I am happy with the final choices I have made and the decisions for each cast member, adding to the development of the project.
During the process of writing the book, I decided that the content became much more of a focal point than the imagery and visual side of the production. Therefore, after talking to Simon, I changed the package contents to write an opening script instead of the opening titles. I made this decision because I felt like I hadn't properly engaged in the process of the opening titles and didn't want to make them a last minute element and not give them attention to detail. Having worked on my synopsis across several drafts, I felt like an opening script would be a suitable alternative and better the creative writing aspect of the project. Overall, I am pleased with this decision and the final draft of the script.
To conclude with what I have learnt from this unit, I would say that research was incredibly important for this unit. As I was unable to do any primary research, I relied on online material to make the important decisions. Working with Simon in the tutorials was also beneficial to understand what ideas needed to be revised and what I could improve on to develop the project further.
Although, I faced several challenges in this unit, and made some big changes, I am pleased with the book and the work I have completed in the short amount of time. This unit has been the most independent so far and really pushed me to work hard to complete each element of the package to a good standard.
