31.5

The original version of this image was a little too bright to match the aesthetic and theme that i wanted. To dull the sky, I just added a new layer, coloured it black and put it in a soft light effect creating a burn effect. After burning the sky, i simply just desaturated the whole image and brought the brightness down quite a lot. Im still not happy with the overall outcome because of the colour of the grass but in order the keep the image looking realistic i wanted to keep the editing to a minimum.

With this image i started by just desaturating and decreasing the brightness a bit. I then added a new layer and burned the sky in the same way that i had with the previous image. I found that the pink/purple sign behind the phonebook would be too bright to fit with my theme so I used the selective colour tool to tone down the pinks/blues/cyans/purples with just desaturated that part of the photo a bit more.

Overall, I quite liked the aesthetic of this image before i had edited it, however again the sky was a little too bright so i added a new layer and burned it in a soft light effect. I then just used the Vibrance tool, colour balance tool, and selective colour tool to tone down the bluest part of the sky and Im really happy with the greyish colour that it has left. I pretty much just left the rest of the image raw as i like how dark the bottom third of it is as i can draw more attention the the flats.

This image was very simple to edit and sort of similar to the previous image. I first added a new layer and burned a sort vignette effect around the edge, it helps make the end of the tunnel look brighter and fit better to its purpose. I then just used the vibrance tool to tone down the yellow lights on the right hand side of the photo, this worked well and made them look more white which i definitely think works better.

Again, with this images i started it off by adding a new layer and burning the sky around the building using the soft light effect. I then used the magnetic lasso tool to select the block of flats. Once selected, I used the Hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, and the selective colour tool to increase the vibrance of the building. I think this works well as it helps it really stand out against the dull sky and it also works well due the the angle that the image was taken at.

16.5

We have decided to combine Oak Street and Castaway. This is because we thought the location of Castaway was better due to the fact that it would be more realistic. Whereas the storyline of Oak Street and characters are stronger stronger. We also felt that in order to find a realistic budget, we should special and visual effects to a minimum. (Castaway woud require quite a lot of vfx/big sfx)

Dates and Timescales:

PRE-PRODUCTION - We expect to be doing preproduction work until Easter, as we have to write the script, complete a location recce, sort out costumes, write up a health and safety report and sort out hiring cast, crew and equipment. Get release forms completed for actors, music and locations.

PRODUCTION - Realistically we expect to need 8 days per episode (1 per episode plus two for the final longer finale). Therefore we would expect to start filming from April until August (excluding weekends unless they are needed). Filming during the summer would be ideal for us, as some of our scenes will be outside and therefore the longer we have natural light, the better.

POST PRODUCTION - We think that the post production will take place between June and October.

RELEASE - We expect to be able to release the series by November/December. All episodes will be released together on Amazon Prime, we hope this will boost the audience as a lot of people will be taking time off work for christmas and they can choose when they watch it. We also think that if all of the episodes are available as out target audience would be more inclined to 'binge' watch the series.

Resources and Equipment:

We have budgeted for our series based on the fact that it will probably take 7-8 days per episode. We therefore estimated it to take 64 days for the whole series to be filmed. We looked at several different sites for the prices of equipment we may choose to use for filming. We then calculated how much it was going to cost to use all of this equipment for the amount of days we were planning on filming for.

-(2x) Dedo 150W 3 Head Kit -(£43.20 per day- excluding VAT)

£2,764.80 x 2 = £5,529.60

+20% VAT = £6,635.52

-(2x)Sony PMW-200 (£85 per day)

£5,440 x 2 =£10,880

+20% VAT = £13,056

-(2x) Sony CLM-FHD5 Clip On LCD Monitor -(£24 per day)

£24 x 64 = £1536

£1,536 x 2 = £3,072

-Polecam Starter Kit (£32 per day)

£32 x 64 = £2,048

+20% VAT = £2457.60

-Sennheiser 416p Microphone (£100 per week)

£100 x 10 = £1,000

Locations: 

-Her house - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-52729852.html

£1550 per calendar month for 3 months

£1550 x 3 = £4,650

-His house - http://www.primelocation.com/to-rent/details/38749355?featured=1&utm_content=featured_listing#wGBlvf36ZC0XjxTE.97

£3,445 per calendar month for 3 months 

£3,445 x 3 = £10,335

-Warehouse- We could not find prices for a warehouse, so we have suggested an amount £7,500 for hiring a warehouse. 

Props, Costumes and Transport- We think that another £50,000 for all of these. 

Total: £

Personnel and Activities:

Key roles for out series.

Camera Operator- 'Their main role is to support the Director of Photography (DoP or DP) and the Director, by accurately carrying out their instructions regarding shot composition and development'. 

(Executive) Producer- 'Executive Producers are responsible for the overall quality control and success of TV productions, and for ensuring that final products conform to commissioners' specifications'.

Director- 'Directors are responsible for the look and sound of a production and its technical standards'.

Actor- 'Actors interpret others' words in order to bring a script to life, and to put flesh and blood on the characters they portray. '

Art Director- 'It is the Art Director's job to realise the Production Designer's creative vision for all the sets and locations that eventually give productions their unique visual identity.'

Booking Co-ordinator- 'Bookings Co-ordinators/Schedulers are part of the team that supports the work of Post Production personnel and clients. The bookings department allocates and monitors all the work at the facilities house.'

Boom Operator- 'TV Boom Operators control the long boom arm, either handheld or dolly-mounted (on wheels) with the microphone attached, manoeuvring it as close to the action as possible without getting it in shot, in order to achieve the best quality sound recording.'

Colourist- 'Colourists make sure that all shots in each scene match one another. They do this by balancing colour saturation and luminance from shot to shot. '

Costume Designer- 'Costume Designers' work helps to define the overall ‘look' of TV productions and films and their role requires a great deal of expertise.'

Gaffer- 'Gaffers are responsible for all the practical aspects of lighting sets and locations.

Lighting Director- 'Lighting Director is the most senior role in television lighting departments. It is their job to use the script or brief from the production team to design the specific look required for each shot.'

Location Manager- 'Location Managers identify, from scripts and discussions with Directors, Designers or other heads of department, the number, types and sequence of locations required for productions.'

Hair and Make Up Artist- 'Make-up and Hair Artists must be able to create make-ups and hairstyles to meet production requirements.'

Production Manager- 'Production Managers are responsible for all the organisational aspects of production scheduling and budgeting.'

Sound Supervisor- 'Sound Supervisors oversee the work of all sound personnel on multi-camera productions, which may include Grams (Gramophone) Operators, Sound Technicians, Boom Operators, and Technical Assistants.'

Walk On and Supporting Artists- 'Walk Ons and Supporting Artists provide background action on film and television productions. They may be directed by First or Second Assistant Directors, and must be prepared to spend long hours waiting on set or on location until they are needed for shots.'

Cast and Crew:

-Based on the basic crew prices from http://www.slvision.co.uk/crew
Basic crew for one day = £3,108
£3,108 X 64 = £198,912

Cast
-Our main actors won't be that well known as it will mean they are cheaper to employ. For example, we estimate that they will earn £250 per day.
£250 x 64 = £16,000 x 2 = £32,000

-We estimated that our extras will be paid £50 per day. 
£50 x 64 = £3,200 x 100 = £320,000

-We estimate that the supporting actors will be paid £180
£180 x 15 = £2,700 x 64 = £172,800

Total: £822,418.12
Per Episode= £117,488.31

Personnel and Activities:
Key roles for out series.

Camera Operator- 'Their main role is to support the Director of Photography (DoP or DP) and the Director, by accurately carrying out their instructions regarding shot composition and development'. 

(Executive) Producer- 'Executive Producers are responsible for the overall quality control and success of TV productions, and for ensuring that final products conform to commissioners' specifications'.

Director- 'Directors are responsible for the look and sound of a production and its technical standards'.

Actor- 'Actors interpret others' words in order to bring a script to life, and to put flesh and blood on the characters they portray. '

Art Director- 'It is the Art Director's job to realise the Production Designer's creative vision for all the sets and locations that eventually give productions their unique visual identity.'

Booking Co-ordinator- 'Bookings Co-ordinators/Schedulers are part of the team that supports the work of Post Production personnel and clients. The bookings department allocates and monitors all the work at the facilities house.'

Boom Operator- 'TV Boom Operators control the long boom arm, either handheld or dolly-mounted (on wheels) with the microphone attached, manoeuvring it as close to the action as possible without getting it in shot, in order to achieve the best quality sound recording.'

Colourist- 'Colourists make sure that all shots in each scene match one another. They do this by balancing colour saturation and luminance from shot to shot. '

Costume Designer- 'Costume Designers' work helps to define the overall ‘look' of TV productions and films and their role requires a great deal of expertise.'

Gaffer- 'Gaffers are responsible for all the practical aspects of lighting sets and locations.'

Lighting Director- 'Lighting Director is the most senior role in television lighting departments. It is their job to use the script or brief from the production team to design the specific look required for each shot.'

Location Manager- 'Location Managers identify, from scripts and discussions with Directors, Designers or other heads of department, the number, types and sequence of locations required for productions.'

Hair and Make Up Artist- 'Make-up and Hair Artists must be able to create make-ups and hairstyles to meet production requirements.'

Production Manager- 'Production Managers are responsible for all the organisational aspects of production scheduling and budgeting.'

Sound Supervisor- 'Sound Supervisors oversee the work of all sound personnel on multi-camera productions, which may include Grams (Gramophone) Operators, Sound Technicians, Boom Operators, and Technical Assistants.'

Walk On and Supporting Artists- 'Walk Ons and Supporting Artists provide background action on film and television productions. They may be directed by First or Second Assistant Directors, and must be prepared to spend long hours waiting on set or on location until they are needed for shots.'

All job information was found on http://creativeskillset.org/

Legal and Ethical Issues: 

There are strong themes of Drugs and Violence with regular use of strong language which could be offensive to some people if this was to be shown on T.V it would have to be on after the watershed. However since it it most likely to be on amazon maybe  box where you confirm that you are over 16 should pop up before the episode begins. A warning should appear before the series so that people know that it contains those themes). Helplines and links will be featured at the end of each episode for charities that can help anyone that has been affected by themes of drugs and violence.

Using music and sound effects in the series means we will have to get permission for them or we have to resort to using copyright free music (which again, often needs permission).We will also need to get release forms for all of our actors so that we have permission to release the series with them in it. This also applies to the locations. This means that we will need permission from the local authorities for filming in London. We will also need permission from the people that own the houses and flats that we plan on filming in, because otherwise we won't be able to air the series. 

Working Crew conditions should be good. For example, regular breaks for all crew members and food and drink available for all crew. There will also need to be green rooms on all locations so that the crew can rest in a pleasant place. All cast and crew will be made aware of Health and Safety rules for each location, and when using props. We will be using some children as extras for realism so we will need to be aware of the hours that they can work for and make sure they get the right breaks.

Contingency Plan:

Cast dropping out: In the unlikely event of cast dropping out of the series, we will have a understudy for the key main roles. 
Crew being late: Before the filming takes place, we will meet to discuss where the filming will take place and confirm timings for the filming. 
Noise: We have several scenes that will take place outside, therefore if there is too much noise that the quality of the sound that the microphone picks up is poor, then we will re-record the lines after the series has been edited. 
Weather: If the weather is poor on the day of shooting, then we will swap the outside scene for a scene inside as we are then not wasting filming time. 
Due to the fact that we are filming during spring and summer, the weather shouldn't be too bad. This was done deliberately so that the lighting is quite bright and the days are longer, so we are able to shoot for longer.
Children: We may feature children as extras in out series. We need to be aware of when they need to finish filming as they have restricted hours due to their age. 
Equipment not working: Due to the fact that we are renting most of our equipment, we can take it back and the rental company should replace it (if it is at their fault).
We also left a month in the schedule plan so that if anything goes wrong we have some time to make it right so that nothing is behind.

16.3/4 CASTAWAY

Treatment for the series

This is a detailed version of Episode one: The series starts with a shot of a young girl (Maree) playing outside. The footage has an orange colour to it to resemble an old film camera so that it looks dated.  Maree would be running around, picking flowers and making daisy chains. There is then a shot of Maree being given a necklace from her grandmother. The necklace has a purple gem in the middle of it, with a gold chain. Her grandmother passes the necklace. ‘Maree, I want you to have this necklace. You are the most important person in my life and I hope it looks after you’. It then cuts to a shot of Maree wearing this necklace to her first day of school. This would be shown by a head shot of Maree walking down the hall of a school. Lockers would be on either side of her and she would be wearing school uniform consisting of a yellow and blue tie, a grey wool looking blazer with the school crest on, white button up shirt underneath with formal black trousers. In the shot, she would walk up to the bathrooms, where she would stand in front of a mirror and fiddle with her hair and then the necklace. A close up shot of the necklace would then be shown.  You then see Maree wearing the necklace at her graduation. She would walk up to the principal of the university and receive her degree scroll. In this scene she is wearing a blue graduation gown, with a matching graduation hat. Her hair is down and quite long to show her youth. There is a shot of the crowd cheering loudly and clapping. It then quickly changes to the next shot which is at Maree’s house where she looks very distressed. She is wearing jeans and a purple top, and her hair is up in a ponytail. She is looking through all of the draws in her room. The room looks quite messy at this point. You then see her run into the room next door which is her office room, where she tries to continue looking for the necklace in draws. She then runs back into her bedroom, where she looks inside her wardrobe to try and find the necklace. You then see her look behind her bedside table and she finds the necklace. There is then a shot of her face where she looks very relieved and she’s holding the necklace close to herself. It then cuts to a shot of her out for a meal with James. The restaurant looks quite fancy and the waiter is at their table.  There is again a close up shot of the necklace that Maree is wearing. You then see Maree and James walk out of the restaurant while holding hands, where he then takes her near the river Thames. He then proposes to her. Maree hugs him while crying. It then cuts to a shot of Maree and James getting married. The shot is of Maree and James saying their vowels. 

Outline of Form: My TV series will be a Long Form TV original series with themes of crime running through it. It would be released all at once on Amazon Prime.

Content and Style: The genre of the series will be a crime drama, with themes of family, loss and mystery. The series will have taken inspiration from another crime series produced by BBC One called 'Cuffs'. 'Cuffs' used quite a lot of handheld shots to put the audience amongst the action and drama and I thought this was very effective and would therefore want to use this idea in my series.

Product Potential and Market Position: Amazon Primes' biggest series is its original drama 'The Man In The High Castle' therefore this would be a competitor as it already has a large audience. In terms of programmes that are similar, The Bridge and Luther are big competitors which both feature on the Netflix, the biggest competitor to Amazon Prime. However I think there is room in the market for my series as it combines the feelings and emotions of the family, with the action of trying to find out who committed the crime. I also think the age and type of people that watch series like 'Man In The High Castle' would enjoy this series as they both have quite a lot of action and adventure in them.

Target Audience: I think the main age range for my series would be 25-40 year olds, as the series would feature some scenes that may be distressing to a younger audience. For example the scenes with strong emotions and anger between Maree and James. I also think a younger target audience may not completely understand what is happening in the series, as well as a younger audience tend to go out on the weekend and therefore wouldn't have the time to watch a series like mine. I think that both genders would watch my series, but i think more females would watch it because they could make a personal connection with the character of Maree and therefore would return to watch all of the episodes.  For example, 'Luther' which is another crime series on Netflix had an average of 405,371 streams online after 4 weeks of airing ending the 10th January 2016. This obviously shows that there are people who like to watch crime series and who would probably like my series too.

Powerpoint used in pitch

Initial title sequence

https://vimeo.com/151447044

16.3/4 OAK STREET

Treatment for my series (the first episode is written is more detail than others to give an idea of how it might look)

Powerpoint used in the pitch

Initial title sequence

https://vimeo.com/154715649

31.3/4

I did this shoot on a Cannon EOS 600D, the camera was set to manual with manual focus. I mostly just altered the aperture to achieve the right shot. Some examples of this can be seen on IMG_9913/IMG_9914 and IMG_9935/IMG_9936 and others. I altered the aperture to get the right amount of light in the image so it wasn't too dark or too washed out. 

Selections

IMG_9928 - The model in this photo is supposed to be James Canning from Oak Street, he's dressed roughly how i picture James to look in the series. In the photo he is standing on a bridge quite far from the camera. I like chose this as i think the leading lines on the bridge go towards him which when used in the title sequence will show that he is a key character.

IMG_9943 - This photo was taken from the top of a multi-story car park. Like most of the other photos from this shoot it is used to set the scene and mood of the series. The main reason I chose this image is that I like how they lower half of the picture is very dark and the top half is a fairly plain sky so the main focus of the image is the two fat buildings. The sky is a bit too blue for the look that i want but it will be easy to edit in photoshop to achieve the right colour.

IMG_9951 - I chose this image as I like how the leading lines almost act as a one point perspective type thing and makes it feel as if the building is towering in a threatening way which will set a mood for the programme. Again the sky is the wrong colour but will be simple to change in photoshop.

IMG_9964 - I composed this image to have a frame in a frame also leading towards the end of the tunnel. Again the purpose of this image is to give a feel of the setting for the series. It give a very urban feel.

IMG_9967 - Similar to the previous one this image is to set the scene for the series. I think the fact that its a standard telephone box gives it a more realistic feel of an urban area in England. When i edit this i will tone down the pink/purple in the background to give it a darker feel.

31.2 Photoshoot Planning

These are various planning documents for my photoshoot. The images that I take on the shoot will be used in the title sequence of my series 'Oak Street'.
Synopsis: Set in Surry area of England. Ex Super Intendant Laura Chambers hires herself out as a bodyguard to keep busy and earn money during her retirement. After being a bodyguard to a wealthy 26-year-old James Canning for 3 years she discovers that he’s the head of a multinational trade of high quality ecstasy. Knowing that she’d go to prison for being involved in the business, she decide against turning him in and subsequently gets deeper in the drug trade. Shortly after her discovery she gets called back to the police force to help investigate the death of a man who had taken an overdose and. By using her knowledge of the police tactics she avoids arrest and carries on working in the force.

My shoot will take place in Stevenage to give an urban/sub-urban feel, shots will include residential areas which will give it a more realistic mood of an English setting. The shoot will be conducted with natural lighting although when i edit them i will make them a bit darker to set the mood for the series.

This is a basic costume idea for my model during the shoot:

Release forms: