Sunday, 16 June 2013

Task 1: Researching Scripts

TV Comedy Sketch Show

Style and Format: The scripts for a TV Comedy Sketch shows are introduced with: where the scene is, whether it is interior or exterior and if it is day or night. An example for how these scripts start is EXT. TERRACE STREET - DAY. This is called a Slug Line and states clearly the details of the scene. EXT stands for exterior and is in place if the scene is outside and INT stands for Interior if the scene takes place inside a location of any kind. Characters names are in capital letters the first time we meet them and are in lower case for the rest of the script unless they are speaking, when characters are speaking the names are in capitals and are centralised. In between dialogue there is a description of the action of which the characters perform and that is written in the present tense. They have the same format with a 12 point Courier font.These are all conventions of a TV Comedy Show Sketch.

Content: Content of a Comedy Sketch show includes slug lines which introduce where, and when the scene is as mentioned in Style and Format above. Following this is the action of what is happening in the scene and possibly dialogue if needed. Camera directions are not used in a spec script, they are instead used in a shooting script. In the Future Cop sketch below the script describes what John is wearing and also what happens between the lines of dialogue.

Narrative Structure: The narrative for the Future Cop sketch like any other script has a beginning, middle and end. In the beginning of the sketch John wakes up in an unusual place whereas in the middle he is being told he is the future of law enforcement where at the end of the sketch he is put into action and fails his task. Usually in comedy sketch shows the sketch builds up to the funny events which happen at the end. This is the same for this sketch as John is being hyped up to be the future of law enforcement but when we see him he is dressed in carboard boxes which are eventually thrown out of the warehouse. The end of a sketch usually ends with one line of dialogue which is described as 'The Punchline'.

Genre: The Genre for TV Comedy Sketch Shows is as it says in the name which is comedy. These are designed to make audiences laugh in small sketches 2-3 minutes long. The characters in the comedy sketch shows are simplified and often stereotypes so the audience know immediately what type of person they are by the way they look and speak. The comedy is produced through the use of 'punch lines' and the amount of laughs produced depends on when and where the punchline is. TV Comedy scripts are part of the TV scripts genre, and all scripts are like any other TV show scripts.

Target Audience: The target audience for Comedy Sketch shows can vary on the comedy involved in the sketch. Some sketches such as: Little Britain or The Catherine tate show include swearing and themes inappropriate for children and are therefore targeted at a older audience. Other shows are suitable for children and are therefore targeted at a younger audience.




Radio Drama:

Style and Format: The slug lines for Radio Dramas are different to TV Comedy Sketch Shows as they are more precise with the times as for this script the scene is set as 'Morning' whereas in a TV script it would be stated as day or night.. The whole of the slug line is underlined but not in bold unlike the TV scripts and do not have INT. or EXT. Because their is no visuals everything is happening through dialogue and not action.  Occasionally their will be sound effects which are formatted as: F/X: KNIFE ON CHOPPING BOARD - CHOP. This uses an abbreviated style which makes it very simple. In between the dialogue there is only sound action but not action of characters. Radio script is a genre in which places are identified in italics and most of the program is about dialogue and the script also displays when an actor should speak in a different way. E.g (SIGH) means a someone should sigh before speaking.

Content: The content of a Radio Drama is mainly dialogue throughout and a conversation of characters. However sometimes to emphasise the setting where the characters are in their will be sound effects. So if the characters were in a kitchen, a knife chopping could emphasise what the characters were doing. The content of this Radio Drama Smooth Apparatus is a man and a woman having a conversation in a kitchen and sound effects of the blender working and a knife cutting vegetables up on a chopping board. Radio scripts tend to not explain characters in great detail and allows the audience to imagine the characters themselves.

Narrative Structure:  The narrative has a beginning, middle and end with the beginning is of Dave waking up and entering the kitchen, the middle is of his wife Sarah is angry at Dave for coming home early hours in the morning, the end is dramatic as Sarah puts his money in the blender, blends it and forces him to drink it. During the script the sound effects get more louder and vicious as it starts with just a knife chopping which attacks his manhood and progresses to more vicious sound effects of the blender working. The narrative structure is linear as it is the same story throughout the drama. The action in Radio Scripts will be told through dialogue, occasionally their will be music overlaying the dialogue which sets the mood for the drama. This happens in this radio drama as the audience understands what is going on through the dialogue between Sarah and Dave and can understand the situation with the sound effects of the equipment. The Drama becomes more tense as it progresses

Genre: The genre is drama with an element of comedy. This genre is designed to create an audio dramatic situation. It does this entirely by sound. The characters must use a certain tone in their voices to transfer that emotion to audiences and this conversation is on a Radio script. The sound effects also create drama and comedy because the audience can visualise Sarah's increasing anger through sounds of her voice and the progressing sound effects.

Target Audience: This Radio drama was aired on Radio 4, a radio station that is targeted at older people so the drama itself is targeted at older people. The drama could also be targeted at blind people who may not are not able to see visuals of TV dramas so instead listen to a Radio Drama where they can listen to the drama and imagine it.



Radio script from mediadumbo

 Short Feature Film

Style and Format: The style and format for a Feature Film script is very similar to a TV comedy Sketch Show script. However the Feature film script is a lot more descriptive of what is happening on screen, in describing characters and locations. It also has transitions to other scenes which are in capitals but not bold text. For example FADE IN: means that the scene is going to fade in at this point and it will usually be a new scene. Characters are introduced in the same way as a TV Comedy Sketch script with the characters names being in capitals the first time we meet them and in lower case for the rest of the script unless they are speaking. Sometimes the scene will continue with time passing but still in the same location. For example for this script My Mother Dreams The Satan's Disciples In New York there is A FEW MINUTES LATER indicating that it is the same scene just that time has passed.

Content: Content of a feature film script is also similar to a TV comedy sketch show script. The script is designed to sell an idea to a production company and it has to be detailed enough so producers can imagine the script, the same as the person writing it. This means when characters or locations are introduced, they are very detailed. An example from this feature film script is "MARIAN PATERSON, a grey haired woman in her sixties. This gives the reader an imagination of what the woman looks like. The slug lines also have INT. and EXT. to state whether the scene takes place inside or outside. The content is a story which follows a central character which is Marian through an unusual place which is New York.

Narrative Structure: The narrative structure for the script is linear with a clear beginning, middle and end. The beginning is of a 60 year old lady Marian Peterson who lives in a rural village and visits a busy New York city to visit her daughter, a surrounding she is not used to. She is worried about a group of bikers called Satan's Disciples outside her daughter's flat. She eventually faces up to the bikers and offers to clean their club for them and eventually becomes their best friend.

Genre: The genre for the script is a drama but with elements of comedy. This is because an old lady who has just lost her husband is rightly scared by these violent bikers, she has nightmares where she sees her dead husband in the bikers club. Eventually she faces up to the bikers and becomes their best friend, this unusual relationship between the bikers and a 60 year old Marian creates a comedy effect.

Target Audience: Because most of the characters are older such as middle aged bikers and 60 year old Marian, it is targeted at an older audience who fit the ages of the characters. The program has a moral message about drugs and not judging people as at first we believe the bikers to be drug dealers themselves and violently beating up an innocent person when in fact they are beating up a drug dealer to keep them away from their area. In 2000 the film won an Oscar for the best 'short film' so it is likely to be made to enter competitions and to be watched by a wide audience.
 

My mother dreams the satan from mediadumbo

News Script

Style and Content: A television news report has a different style to other types of scripts. There are three columns, the left column has the timings of when everything is going to take place, the middle is video and the right column is audio.  The timings audio and video all have to match and the exact dialogue of people talking whether its voice over (V.O.) or interviews with relevant people. The voice over of the news story is scripted but interviews with relevant people are not scripted. News scripts are not fictional but are true events so depending on the news story they could either be formal or informal. In this case the story is relatively informal because the story is light about an under 17 car club.

Content: The audio and visuals for a news script has to match for example the first 12 seconds of this script has close ups of a car ignition and long shots of car, during this time their is a voice over introducing the news story to the audience. The script does not include details what people or places look like. This is because the people and locations in the news story are real and do not need to be imagined. The story has different layout to a TV or film script and different camera directions. A Roll and B Roll are used significantly. A Roll is used when someone is being interviewed and B Roll is used for cutaways.

Narrative Structure: News scripts are different as they are not fictional, the events actually took place. The news anchor introduces the story briefly at the start as well as introducing relevant people. These people are then interviewed on A Roll with B Roll cutaways of relevant material. Throughout the middle of the script there is often statistics and the end of the script is either concluded with an open question or briefly concluded about what has actually happened in the news story. At the end of the news story the story goes back to the lead reporter who speaks to camera and the reporter signs off by saying who she is and where she is. In this case the reporter signs off with "Laura May McMullen, Midlands Today, Long Marston."

Genre: The genre of the script is a 'News Program Story' which are informative and non-fictional. However depending on the news story the tone could be informal or formal. If the story is serious the tone will be formal but if the tone is happy and fun the tone could be more informal. The news story for this is not so serious and quite light making it more informative. This means that the tone is formal and the interviews and cutaways are designed to keep the audience entertained and link the visuals with audio in the news story.

Target Audience: The target audience for a news story depends on the actual story. There is no specific age or gender which the news is targeted at but is instead targeted at people who are generally interested in the news. For this news story the story is about young drivers so people who might take a particular interest in the news story is young drivers that also face problems. Other audiences who watch the news regularly may also watch the news. The news story is from BBC Midlands Today and so it targets local people of the Midlands community in particular.


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