MEST2: Research and Planning

You need to complete the following tasks for your Research and Planning/pre-production. Everything MUST be posted on your blog and regular tutorials will check progress.

Deadline: Christmas

Existing product research (INDIVIDUAL)

Find five programmes similar to the idea or genre you plan to work with. Remember the E4 target audience specified in the brief.

Write an analysis of the two-minute opening sequence to each TV programme you research using the aspects of film language you have learned (camerawork, editing, sound, mise-en-scene).

Research the target audience for each show and write about why the show would appeal to that audience.

Institution research (INDIVIDUAL)

Research E4 and BBC3 - two channels that boast a similar target audience to your brief. Find out their history, what type of shows they focus on and notable successes.

Audience research and planning (GROUP; INDIVIDUAL WRITE-UP)

Outline a highly detailed target audience for your TV show. Use demographics AND psychographics to profile your audience.

Conduct audience research to test how appealing your idea is to your target audience. This may involve conducting a focus group interview in class.

Pre-production (GROUP; INDIVIDUAL WRITE-UP)

In your group as a whole, you need to produce the following planning documents:

·         Project schedule

·         Script

·         Storyboard

·         Shot list

·         Mise-en-scene: casting details, location scouting with photographs, props, costume and make-up, lighting.

Each of these planning documents MUST be in the correct format - e.g. TV script layout, storyboard sheets etc. and uploaded to your blog (you may need to scan/photograph documents to do this). You can also use online resources such as the BBC Writers' Room (bbc.co.uk/writersroom) to help with script layouts and more.