Assessment 1 – The Role of a writer.

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One of the most famous and well known organisations in the television industry is the BBC, they commission network television programmes from independent producers.  It commissions programmes both from in-house producers and from independent producers. However, on the BBC’s commissioning webiste they state ‘ The BBC will have final editorial control over all BBC versions of programmes including all associated online and interactive elements commissioned from independent producers.  All programmes including online and interactive elements commissioned by the BBC from independent producers will be subject to all relevant BBC guidelines and published compliance procedures including without limitation the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Fair Trading Guidelines.’ This means that the writer does not have full control over their script/programme that they are pitching to the BBC, if they are not happy with the final edit of the programme they have no right to change it, which is a risk taken when independent writers work with big cooperations  such as the BBC. An example of an independent writer who had his script made by the BBC is Tony Grounds who wrote the drama series ‘Our Girl’.

ITV is also an organisation that commissions TV scripts, with a wider range of channels and options than the BBC the writers have more of a chance of getting their script commissioned, however it is more than likely if ITV decline a script that the BBC will also be inclined to commission the script either, as the BBC are seen as a more ‘high brow’ broadcaster.  On  ITV’s commissioning website it says ‘ ITV’s broadcasting business is made up of ITV, the largest commercial channel in the country, and the UK’s leading portfolio of digital channels – ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, CITV, ITV Encore, and ITVBe. Annually ITV invests around £1 billion in content for its broadcast channels and ITV.com.’  An example of an script/production produced by ITV but written independently is Downton Abbey, written by Julian Fellowes.

Writers working through the commissioning process of film and TV need to gather, collect and generate ideas from scratch or detailed and collective research in order produce a collection of brainstorms and planning for a new film or TV project. Once the Age, gender and targeted audience have been decided along with various other points like USP (unique selling point) of the product, and genre of the storyline. After all been determined then a rough draft of the script can be produce. After all that have been gathered, the writer will pitch their idea in front of commissioning directors who will then judge the script and if they like the idea, the script will then be put forward for editing. As the Script is being edited the writer or script editor may speak with the director and producer to exchange ideas and opinions about the script and how some areas could be changed. An example of a scriptwriter/screenwriter is Aline Brosh McKenna who wrote notable films such as ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Laws of Attraction.’

The commissioning editor’s role is to buy independent scripts and to advise the writers, the role of the script editor is to develop the storyline and to oversee the developments, also to see that the script is suitable for production. The script editor will work closely with the writer at each draft of their script, giving the writer feedback on the quality of their work, suggesting improvements that can be made whilst also ensuring that practical issues like show continuity and correct running time are adhered to. Unlike the writers, script editors will usually be full-time members of the production team, working closely with the producer.

The producer oversees the making of films, there is more than one type of producer:  The line producer may manage a film’s budget and maintain a schedule. The Executive Producer oversees the filmmaking with regard to film financing. George Lucas is known for producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. The director controls the artistic and dramatic aspects of the film/programme. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. One of the most famous directors in the world is Steven Speilberg who directed films such as Jaws and Jurassic Park.  Some filmdirectors started as screenwriters, film editors or actors such as Ralph Fiennes who directed and starred in his own film Coriolanus. The director must also be aware of the physical demands of a character. The physical appearance of the actor must for the character and must also be seen in relation to other characters.

Assessment 1

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Louis Theroux –

Interview Style – Louis has a more relaxed and ‘laid backed’ approach to interviewing, so not to intimidate or judge the person he is interviewing. He tries to make them feel as comfortable as possible, resulting in them being able to open more and feel at ease telling him personal stories and information about themselves. An example of this is when Louis asks a woman on crystal meth about her children, she continues to laugh so he takes a step back but continues to watch her, letting the question sink in until she eventually changes her attitude and opens up, telling him of her past troubles and why she has chosen drugs over her children.

(Scene from Crystal meth documentary where a woman is being arrested.)

Louis Theroux question types –

In the documentary ‘The most hated family in Amercia’ with the controversial group the Westboro Baptist Church, Louis uses a mixture of open and closed questions to get to the heart of how the person feels and what they believe in, Louis doesn’t make the questions seem intrusive because he asks them in a calm amd polite way. This particular question is closed in the sense that he is asking ‘Does it make you upset seeing her upset?’, but he cannot give a simple ‘yes or no’ answer, which makes the question more open and Louis is able to get an opinion off him, in the scenario we can see that Louis disagrees with the man he is interviewing which is unlike his normal interviewing style, but he still manages to stay calm when asking questions to this extreme group and still manages not to judge them or become angry with them which is a vital skill in journalism. This interview can be viewed in the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ8d39xQBUg

Louis Theroux body language – Louis sometimes has his arms folded which could be interpreted that he seems reserved and uptight however he is always listening and observing. As a tall man he could be quite intimidating but he stands back and shows that he is listening intently. He also keeps a straight face and has no facial expressions, so not to offend who he is interviewing, this can be seen 3.06 minutes into the video below.

Structure –

In the manuscript below, Louis is interviewing someone about the ‘New World Order, in his early television series ‘Weird Weekend’s’. He is using short, concise questions but also managing to make them iterative so one question leads on to another. An example of this is ‘How can they administer that?’ To which the reply is ‘They don’t say it as killing of, they say it as the earth must have the population diminished by 4 billion people.’ Louis doesn’t just ignore this fact and ask a completely different question, he investigates more into what has just been said and goes on to ask ‘So they have a secret language?’ Making the tone more conversational but extracting more and more information. This is the manuscript from a blog and also includes a video of the documentary:

http://xalienpunkx.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/louis-theroux-weird-weekends-head-for.html

Louis Theroux Journalistic context –

The purpose of Louis’ interviews are to investigate and extract information to educate the viewers. He tries to interview the most controversial groups of people and characters to shock viewers. Whereas interviewers like Piers Morgan interview to entertain an audience, where it is always in a studio environment. An example of Louis investigating is this manuscript from an interview with Jimmy Saville where he asks ‘Are you basically saying that so tabloids don’t, you know, pursue this whole ‘Is he/isn’t he a paedophile?’ line, basically?’ An extremely controversial subject:

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2012/10/when-louis-asked-jimmy-about-being-paedophile

Piers Morgan on Simon Cowell 

Interview Style – Piers starts his interviews as light hearted as possible to make his guest feel at ease, although Louis Theroux also tries to ease his interviewee, he does not start with jokes as Piers does.  As you can see in the YouTube video below, Piers asks Simon ‘nervous?’ to which Simon replies ‘are you?’. This shows the pair are already practised in repartee and sets the audience up for backchat from Simon Cowell, overall we know the start of the interview will be humorous to relax the guest. The video can be watched by selecting Simon Cowell from the playlist.

Piers Morgan Question Types –

On an interview with Kym Marsh, Piers chooses to use a closed question to start the interview: ‘You once said people have written me off so many times you either lie down or take it or else you’re a fighter. Which one are you?’, where Kym gives a short, one worded answer. The answer that she gives allows Piers to delve deeper, and leads on to him asking why she thinks she was able to ‘make it’ and why she carried on fighting to be noticed. In this case it was a somewhat iterative question, which can be seen from 1.00 minute onwards in the clip below, select Kym Marsh from the playlist.

Rapport –

Piers Morgan has recently been a controversial character, especially his public Twitter feuds with other celebrities such as Jeremy Clarkson and Alan Sugar. However his rapport is much more polite and friendly when interviewing, he makes jokes, laughs at other people’s jokes and generally makes the interview more conversational, a little similar to Louis Theroux. On CNN in an interview with Russell Brand, he starts with ‘And Russell Brand is with me. And I can’t possibly believe that. Tonight, he’s firmly in the chair. Russell, how are you?’ The fact that he asks how he is show’s politeness and starts a friendly conversation, making the interview very informal. Russell replies ‘I enjoyed Friday and all of its sacred implications and I’m very happy to be with you, of course, across this prospect piece of wonderment, this geometrical division.’ This makes it very clear that the interview context is to provide entertainment. The CNN manuscript is below and the Russell Brand interview is halfway down the page:

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1306/14/pmt.01.html

Structure –

Piers starts the questions in a relaxed manner to make the guest feel more at ease. The questions are more fun and simple to begin with but as the interview goes on the questions are more invading and personal, for example in an interview with Cheryl Cole she is reduced to tears when he asks ‘When did you realise the marriage wasn’t working?’ As an interviewer he builds a bond with the guest before asking the more personal and sometimes hurtful questions. This clip from ‘Life Stories’ at 1.30min shows this:

Body language –

Piers uses his hands to emphasise the questions he is asking, he also seems to do it when he is showing praise for the guest. He is always leaning in towards the guest but not in an intimidating way, this shows his interest and intent towards the guest, this can be seen 10minutes into this interview with Beyonce: