The semester just gone has been a particularly enjoyable one, largely due to the ‘Drop the Pilot’ studio, which focused on creating a hypothetical television show and learning the process of being in a writer’s room. Together students were tasked to devise a television series and mimic the industry standard approach to creating and collaborating through its conception of characters, location and script.
Our class group pitch decks, proved to be a very engaging and valuable lesson for myself and others, as it summated everything we had done previously as a class, whilst finalising certain aspects that still had to be decided upon. The group for tone and style conducted a terrific presentation, despite it being a challenging brief. I thought their creation of a tonal playlist to suit the show’s overall style was a unique and well-thought-out aspect, that gave me good clarity of the style of the show. In addition, the group used found footage from real movies to mirror similar scenes in our own, all reflecting the chosen style for the visual aspect of our series. I found this to be a great help when devising my own script as it was a constant reminder for myself to stick to the devised tone and style. Looking back, this group’s presentation had a profound impact on my own writing style, and also found me a great playlist next time I find myself near a country pub.
Despite only having to conceive a third of the pilot’s script, having the episode layout presented to us was a very helpful and enjoyable presentation, as it summated all the storylines that we had worked hard on. The episodic outline group did a terrific job in presenting synopsises and the storylines that each episode would have, and did a great job in their timing of when to reveal certain details kept from the audience. As this show most likely won’t go to air in its entirety, it was still nice listening through the presentation, as it showed us how far we’ve come as a group. The group no doubt filled multiple key concerns of the course through its presentation of character arcs, and storylines that are a vital part of developing of episodic series.
‘From Idea to Earbuds’, is a studio that centers around the idea of creating a podcast that covers a multitude of young voices, and is somewhat about revealing personal experiences. ‘Waving the Red Flag’, was the first installation of this studio’s work that I listened to, and focused on the experiences of young people dating. Each group member gave individual stories about their own dating experiences, a somewhat relatable tale for many listeners. These stories of their personal dating experiences were littered with moments of external commentary from group members, as well as added effects that created a soundscape to accompany tales of first dates, and intimate moments. As a key concern for the ‘From Idea to Earbuds’, studio was to create a meaningful connection between producers, hosts, and listeners, I thought this group did a great job in executing a podcast that was relatable for many. With the addition of non-diegetic sound effects that immersed the listener into the story world, I can comfortably say that I was engaged and felt a somewhat connection between the presenters and myself. Due to this, I thought this group executed their final product in a good way, and ticked multiple studio briefs in the process.
The second podcast that I came across was named ‘Leap of Faith’, an audio story about different people’s first-time experiences, that range from driving, mental health, and stand-up comedy. I thought this group’s signposting at the start of their podcast was really effective, as it gave myself a clear outline and structure of what to expect. This is a typical podcasting trope that is seen in many different industry works and helps to fill the brief concerned with creating a distinctive podcast narrative. Like the previous work, ‘Leap of Faith’ did an impressive job of implementing sound and music to accompany the presenters relaying their stories. The way in which they implemented this was particularly effective, as they paused the music when wanting to emphasise an important point of their story, as well as using music to transition between different monologues. This helped to engage and further immerse myself in the stories they were telling, as well as gave a certain overall structure to their work. In all, I think this group used a great range of technical features to create an overall work that I enjoyed thoroughly, and I think they fulfilled their brief strongly.
