Agent Representation

Agent Representation

A literay agent is someone who represents writers who sends thats person's work to producers and commissioning bodies. They often deal with negotiation of money in sales and royalties. 

Agents benefit screenwriters in a number of ways, the first being that they will be able to send scripts to appropriate production companies. For example, they may send it to a company that has produced simiar programs before. They also make sure that the writer is getting a fair deal in relation to sales and royalaties.

Usually a screenwriter would accept a one off payment for their script, and a title credit in the movie. This is an easier way for the screenwriter to get money, and safe guards if the production isn't successful. However, sometimes royalties are agreed, which would mean that the writer receives a percentage of money from the profits made. So for example an agreement may be made that the writer will receive 4% of all profits, or profits from a specific place for example DVD sales. This system can be good, if the production is successful. If it is not, they may have made more money by accepting a one off sum. 

Royalties also come from a number of places. For example a writer of a BBC drama could get royalties from the initial screening of the series, and then from what comes after such as; DVD releases, repeats of the program, time shift viewing such as iPlayer and also possibly merchandise. The writer may have agreed to have a percentage of all these sales. With time shift viewing a writer may be payed per 100 views.

BBC Pitching

Pitching To The BBC

At the end of this project i will be submitting my script to a commissioning process. To do this we will propose to the BBC, via their e-commissioning scheme. The BBC shows a wide variety of shows, for all different audiences, on several different channels. Each channel shows a different style of show and therefore have a very varied target audience, respective for each channel.


The channels include:

• BBC 1 
• BBC 2
• BBC 3 
• BBC 4 
• Cbeebies
• CBBC

The script that i write will most likely be shown BBC channels 1-4, rather than the two childrens channels that the BBC run. 
BBC 1 appeals to an extremely broad audience, as it is the 'shop window' for the BBC. It shows a variety of shows from all genres and backgrounds. This is also the most popular tv channel in the UK.
BBC 2 is mainstream channel that is skewed towards an older audience. Programs on this channel most often factual based, and shows a wide range of documentaries.
BBC 3 is a mixed genre channel aimed at younger audiences. Most programs on this channel are comedy based, and it offers an enviroment for new ideas. Its is the perfect place for new shows to be first aired. 
BBC 4's aim is to show quality programming for older audience. This channels audience must feel that watching televison is time well spent, and should be enlightened by the experience. 

Assessment 1: Commissioning

A commissioning body is the part of a company that chooses witch film and television programs should be made from scripts that have been sent. Scripts are sent to the company and read, scripts that interest the company will be picked and money will be invested and will be produced. Some example of a commissioning body are corporations such as the BBC, smaller independant production companies such as Tiger Aspect, but also competitions such as the red plant competition can form part of the commissioning process.

A good example of corporate commissioning body is the BBC. The BBC offer aspiring writers the chance to have their script produced by the BBC. Writers can send in there script at specific submission window, for example scripts are being accepted at the moment until the 14th of Febuary 2013. The script is garanteed to be read by a BBC script reader, and they will assess the first 10 pages. Writers whose scripts get past this point will be given feedback, and if this is listened to and the script is improved, then the show may be produced. The writer will not be payed for the script until it is made into a producion, they will then be given a percentage of all profits.

Smaller production companies have a slightly different way of commissioning shows. Usually, to get your script seen by a smaller independent production company you would have to hire an agent, who would then know how to get the right people to see your script (contacts in the company).  Tiger Aspect will not read any independent scripts. This is due to legal issues, for example if a script is sent in to the company, and they later produce a similar program the owner of the original script may try to sue the company for plagiarism. So to avoid these issue Tiger Aspect and many other independent production companies will discard any unsolicited scripts.

Competitions are another way of commissioning shows. One very well known screenwriting competition is the Red Planet Prize (named after Red Planet production company. In this competition, entrants enter a sample of a script to begin with, and if it gets through the first round of judging then the full script is submitted. The winner of the competition get the chance to be mentored by Red Planet and also the production company Kudos. Winners of this competition usually shoot to writing success, for example the first winner of the competition, Robert Thorogood, in 2007 went on to write hit BBC 1 drama 'Death in Paradise'. This is clearly a brilliant way to get noticed and increase you chance of getting your script produced. 

During the commissioning process there are a number of job roles, including commissioning editors, producers, directors, script editors, agents and writers. All these jobs play a vital role in finally getting an idea turned into a reality.

Producers are always part of the project from development all the way through till completion. Often producers supervise the whole project to make sure that the end result is satisfactory. Sometimes producers are in charge of fun raising and budget, to make sure that what is on the script is  possible within the constraints of money. For example if the film is heavily CGI based and the budget is only £30,000 then changes may be need to be made to the script to make sure that it realistically possible to make.

An editing commissioner makes the decision on which films should be made. The commissioner will the receive the scripts and choose which ideas he likes and which should be discarded. Before he gets to see them someone may have already read them, like in the BBC commissioning system. If the commissioner like the idea and wants to make it, a contract is made between the commissioner and the production company. The program/film is then made. The script is sometimes developed according to the commissioners recommendations.

Once the screenplay has been commissioned to be produced the writer still often has to be part of the production process. Often during the production the writer has to do numerous re-writes and drafting. This means that all or parts of the script may have to be changed for certain circumstances. This is usually because parts of the script don't come across properly on screen, or because of budget issues. Also parts of the script that arn't completely vital to the script may be removed, or re-written more briefly. Sometimes when shooting the directer may film the way it specifies in the script, but for some reason or another this may not work, so then again the script has to be changed to suit the shots that are possible. Writers such as Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain (writers of Peep Show) say that they often draft there scripts 20 times or more, often to make them more funny to the audience.

http://www.createhavoc.org/louisclark/Louis_Clark/Writing_for_Television_and_Video/Entries/2010/3/18_Day_of_longboarding.html

Sherlock Anylasis

Sherlock Anylasis

In the episode so far, we have met a character called Soo-Lin, who works in the natural history museum. We see her enter the artefacts storage room of the museum and spot a large statue in the corner. Once she has returned her tea pot and turns and goes to leave, she notices that someone has untied the statue. She goes the investigate and when she reveals the statue she lets of a terrified scream, but as a viewer we don't get to see what made her scream. We then cut to a story of a banker, Eddie, rushing home to get something, he storms into his flat in a blind panic and searches frantically for something. Eventually he finds his handgun. Just at this moment tribal drums being to play loudly, again freaking out the banker and casing him to barricade himself into his bedroom. This story then cuts to one of the main characters, John, shopping for food in tescos. This then cuts between our hero sherlock locked into hand to hand combat with a anonymous. This cut then repeats between the two narratives and eventually sherlock knocks out the shiek. Eddie then returns home without shopping as he had an 'argument' with the chip and pin machine. When he returns there is no sign that Sherlock was just In a fight, except the shirks knife is lying  on the floor 

So far in the story the viewer may think that these 3 stories seem unrelated and irrelevant. But I think that there is a clue in the title of the episode 'the blind banker' that the bankers story is vital to the unfolding story.

Next in the story I think that the banker is going to be found dead in suspicious circumstances, or to have committed suicide. Then Sherlock will be called in to investigate the crime and will find that Soo-Lins story is related to the bankers story. I think this because the 3 stories at the moment are so unrealated that they must link together at some point, otherwise why would they bother to include it. 

Soo Lin- 'Pale, young, beautiful', works at the british museum. May have possible conflicts relating to the bankers possible death, may know some answers and therefore theatened by the murder. Wants: to know all there is to know about ancient history. Needs: to relax and leave her work at work.

Andy- 'Sexy in a geeky way', works at the british museum with Soo-Lin. I don't think that he will be involved much in the plot of the story and may not be featured again, only there to show that Soo-Lin is commited to her work. 

Sherlock- Obviously good in combat sitiuations, may have had previous training. Will be involved heavily in the plot as the whole series is named after him. If he is anything like other Sherlock Homes charecters, he will be intelligent and witty, but also a think in a diffrent way to everyone else allowing him to solve cases that others cant.

John- 'Self consious' John is obviously easily embarassed, which is backed up by the fact that he becomes self consious after not being able to scan items on a self check-out. I think that John is going to be Sherlock's 'sidekick' and help him solve cases. Although he may not be the brightest crayon, he will come up with ideas that spark soff something for Sherlock. Wants: to be as cleaver and intuative as Sherlock. Needs: to be his own person.

There are lots of constraints for writers. I think that the biggest is the fact that writters may not easily be able to get there original idea across to a producer, and therefore onto the screen. This is because some producers are afraid that their ideas won't attract attention and therefore won't make any money. This means that the producer changes the idea, and makes it into something that it wasn't, and then then the writers original idea becomes lost into something that was made to sell.

Lesson 3 05/02/13

Character Creation

NAME: Mack Denge

AGE: Late teens

DESCRIPTION: Slurred South London accent, punches bricks for fun

WANT: To run the hood

NEED: To to calm down and get a job

OUTER CONFLICT: Brother is trying to get him a job and get his life back on track.

NAME: Jez Denge

AGE: Early 20's

DESCRIPTION: An ex-gang-banger, seen some bad things and decided to go on the straight and narrow

WANT: To get his brother on to the right track

NEED: To worry about where his own life is going

OUTER CONFLICT: Trying to deal with the fact that all of his friends blame him for his best mates death.

Lesson 2 05/03/13

Character

Characters are the most important things in a story, and are vital to any successful screenplay. Often, characters in a story become more memorable than the actual plot. For example  virtually any character from Star Wars is more likely to be known than the plot of any of the movies.

Without characters in a story, the reader is left in the dark. There is no-one for them to identify with, no conflict, no emotion and non dialogue. Simply put, without characters there is no story.

When introducing a character in a script, you would usually say 3 words about them. This gives a good overview of the character but a much better way of giving a character life is to encapsulate their persona in a sentence.For example:

JIM, tall, muscular, square jaw.

Or a better way:

JIM, looks like he punches walls for fun.

The second sentence gives a good description of the character but doesn't give much about them away, this leaves room for development of that character. 

Characters often develop throughout a screen play, often through things that happen to them and some experiences they may encounter. Development often happens through the characters body language  interaction with other characters, and how other characters may react to them. These things happen during the script and develop the character over time.

Lesson 1 03/02/13

How to write a script

In the first lesson we learnt about what a script is, and the basics of how to write one.

We learnt that a script MUST be formatted/spellchecked/proof-read if it is even to be considered by a production company. If a producer picks up a mistake or formatting error in the first few pages, they will immediately discard them.

The script is the foundation of a movie, and it guides the director. If the script was read, the reader should be easily be able to imagine the scene, without question.

1 page of a script should equal 1 minute of screen time.

In a script, dialogue runs alot quicker than action.

Typically a script should not be more than 118 pages and no less than 90. If it is over, a producer may not even consider it and again throw it away, without even reading.

A scripts layout should be clear,simple and concise. Descriptions should be said in the least words possible, around 4 lines or less.

In a script, stage directions and camera angles should be kept to a complete minimum. This is because some actors/directors may think that you are trying to do their job for them, and people don't like being told what to do.