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Unit 3: Research Techniques in The Creative Media

Unit 24: Writing for Television

Task 2

Comic

 

 

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Research notes

Commissioning process, what is the commissioning process?

  • A pitch/proposal is suggested to a filmmaking company by the commissioner, the director/producer decides whether to accept the pitch or not.

  • Then, the idea is developed with the commissioning editor and it gets budgeted. The producer gets the commissioner to commission people to research, write the film; then the screenwriter/writer converts the ideas into a script.

    • The script editor comes in and checks the scripts for approval.

  • Afterwards, producers finalise the idea, budgeting and schedule and wait for approval from the company.

  • If the idea’s been approved (by the company who signs an agreement), the pre-production stage start: people are being commissioned to work on the film and pre-production documents are being planned.

    • This is where talent agents come into play; they help find actors for the film

  • Then the production plan starts where the filming starts, editing and making sure things go in order.

  • Finally, when the production stage is done, the film premieres or gets distributed.

 

 

 

Above is a chart showing channel fours commissioning process. They have commissioning editors for different shows.

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The concept of commissioning is a job to hire someone to help produce a film or writers to write scripts based on the producers pitched ideas. The commissioning job roles include:​​​​​​​​

 

  • ​Producers

  • Directors

  • Commissioning editor

  • Agent

  • Script editor

  • Writer

  • Screenwriter

 

Producers

They produce the film and oversees the whole filmmaking process. There are different types of producers: executive producer, line producers, supervising producers, producer itself, co-producer, coordinating producer, associate producer, segment producer and field producer.

 

A producer's main job is to oversee the whole filmmaking process and they select the best script, ideas, plans to use for the production stage. When in the development/research stage, they choose which writer, actors, assistants get hired and they approve to pre-production proposal pitch. In the pre-production stage, they make sure that the film is on schedule and the budgeting goes accordingly for the production stage. In the production stage, they may not be able to oversee all production elements, therefore, other producing roles like executive producers are hired to help the producer oversee the production elements. In the post-production stage, they make sure that the music, sounds and scenes go according and see if they need any changes. Sometimes, an additional scene may need to film. The producer also works with the distribution team of how the film can be distributed and arrange distribution rights. To become a producer, you need to attend film school. Usually, people who want to be a producers starts low by getting an internship then if they did really well, they will get a full-time job as an assistant.

 

A piece of quantitative data regarding producers is their salary. On average, they get paid around $70,000 HKD a month (for the head producer) or $20,000 HKD a month (for the assistant producer).

Directors

Directors have a similar responsibility than producers except, they receive an award for best director whereas producers receive an award for best film. They manage the shooting and editing aspect of filmmaking whereas producers manage the legal aspect of a film. Producers have more control of the project whereas directors have more control over the artistic aspect of filmmaking.

 

A piece of quantitative data about directors is there are more than 4,790 American film directors and at least 50 of them are famous Hollywood film directors such as Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino. On average, they earn around $700,000 HKD per year. However, that piece of quantitative data may not be reliable because that statistic was reported in May 2011. Film directors who live in California would earn the high paid job as director, on average, they would earn at least $1,000,000 HKD. Whereas directors who earn the lowest paid job lives in either Mississippi, Kentucky, North Dakota, Montana or Idaho which they earn at least $150 HKD per hour.

Commissioning Editor

They are people who work through the commissioning stage. They select programme ideas from scripts that were approved by the script editor and writer. The commissioning editor then uses that idea to work with for the film. Usually, they also buy books so that they can turn it into a film. They are responsible for planning and overseeing the project and carry out market research to what audiences want.

 

A piece of quantitative data about commissioning editor is that on average, they earn $200,000 HKD- $400,000 HKD. The salary depends on the commissioning editors experience. In BBC, there is at least 20 commissioning editor who is experienced and these commissioning editors each has a speciality in their job.

Agent

There are many types of agents such as screenwriting agent or talent agent. Screenwriting agents are people who work closely with writers, they help suggest ideas, concept or narrative to the writer. They also handle the legal part of the film. Talent agents help find actors that is suitable for the role of a film and they make connections between the actor and the people within the film industry. Although they have a unique part in their roles, it can be hard to hire an agent and the process to hire one is long. You need to hire a manager to do this because they are able to help find agents through networking.

Script Editor

They are professional writers who write scripts for a project. Sometimes working in teams. They check the script and make sure the content is related to the production stage and will work closely with writers when drafting and developing the script. They also work with screenwriters to map out ideas and story and look into the market and see what is trending there so that they can make a script based on the trend to meet the market's needs.

Writer

Writers are responsible for researching the proposal they are assigned to and have to make a script for based on the proposal. Sometimes writers work together in teams to write a script together. When writing a script, writers are responsible for writing the dialogues, character, setting and situation to the script. In the pre-production stage, writers plan out what they need to do and brainstorm ideas for a script. When writers work with directors/producers, the directors/producers gives check the script and suggest comments writer can make to improve their work.

Screenwriter

A screenwriter is different to writers, they adapt the script and their writing style is different to writers. They work more with the screenplay of the dialogue whereas writers focus on the story of a screenplay. Their role is also similar to directors because of directors made the script more creative and uses the script to make a film around the script whereas screenwriters write screenplay adaptations where they make adaptations from books, TV, or film. Sometimes Directors like Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino are not only directors but also play the role of screenwriters.

Legal Aspects

Producers and writers have to be aware of the legal aspect of their job. They must make sure that they understand the following legal aspect and must understand that there are certain things they have to avoid doing to prevent them being sued. Legal aspects include:

  • Copyright

  • Bias

  • Censorship

  • Watershed

  • Libel

  • Plagiarism

Copyright

Copyright is where legal right where if there’s a copyright sign © on someone’s work like the front cover, it is okay to copy that person's work. Otherwise, there could be legal complications. Writers can register at the writers guild if they want to get their work protected and copyright. However, it cannot protect writers ideas.

Bias

Bias is when the film has a biased opinion about something that discriminates others. Scriptwriters should be careful about who the work offends. Otherwise, controversies could happen to the audiences.

Censorship

You must consider what to include in your script If explicit content were to be shown you will be very likely be asked by the company to cut it out. It depends on what type of show writers are writing for.

Watershed

The watershed is where a certain time (usually 9 pm) helps parents and to advise the best time to supervise their children watching TV as some programmes after 9 pm may not be suitable for children to watch as they might show explicit content. Those explicit content are not allowed to be aired before the watershed time. Writers would have to consider whether they want explicit content in their script.

Libel

Libel law is a law where people must not include false information unless you say actually say that the information is made up or the content your showing is a mockumentary. If you use false information without informing the audience its false, they could be a legal consequence.

Plagiarism

When making a film or TV, the content in the show must not be copied from other film or TV. Otherwise, the show may not air and legal complications will happen. It is illegal to plagiarize another film.

Reference

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