D1 REQUIREMENTS MET

THE RUNDOWN

The brief for this project was to write a screenplay for a short dramatised sequence to garner interest from the chosen target audience - 15-21 year olds. We didn't need to angle it to please TV executives and commissioners, as it was already commissioned. This also means that we've been tasked with writing a spec script, which uses technical details like camera angles, shot types and sound. It had to be 10-15 minutes (in script terms, pages) long. We picked a scene from the show we pitched in Unit 21.

The idea for a show I've created is an oddball mystery drama, such as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Agatha Raisin. It's inspired by shows that interest me personally because they blend dark themes with comedy and silliness.

GENRE

As previously stated, I wanted my idea to reflect oddball mystery series I've seen. The genre is an interesting one, seemingly based on the subversion of the conventions of other genres. It's meant to shock and entertain you, make you laugh with one breath and then cry along with the characters in the next. 

I want to strike that balance in Croak, wherein viewers care for the characters and laugh with them at the odd things going on. It brings in elements of mystery and comedy dramas to create something silly, but enticing and puzzling. 

I think my script reflects the mystery elements of the story more than the comedy angle, but I was sure never to take myself too seriously when writing it. The subject matter could be dark, but Croak's tone is consciously light. The juxtaposition is supposed to be a bit jarring and weird. 

TARGET AUDIENCE

Our brief was to target 15-21 year olds, the intended audience of BBC3. To cover BBC3's target audience, you'd be hard-pressed not to mention the audience pleasures it tends to cover (and therefore whether I've followed or broken them as a convention). We have:

ESCAPISM/DIVERSION

WATCHING SOMETHING IN ORDER TO ESCAPE FROM REALITY, FOR GRATIFICATION OR A DISTRACTION. 

SURVEILLANCE

A WINDOW INTO THE LIVES OF OTHERS, OR THE WIDER WORLD. VIEWERS LEARN FROM CONSUMING MEDIA THIS WAY.

PERSONAL IDENTITY

VIEWERS MAY RELATE TO THE CHARACTERS OR SITUATIONS DEPICTED IN THE MEDIA.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

VIEWERS MAY:

• USE THE MEDIA AS A TALKING POINT WITH OTHERS IN THEIR LIVES.
• FORM A BOND WITH THE CHARACTERS DEPICTED IN THE MEDIA.

These are the things we find in the media we consume. I was aiming to fulfil the audience pleasures of escapism, personal relationships with characters and personal identity. I've always found comfort in fiction and the ideas I have conform to the desire to share that feeling.  

Something I find relevant to both the genre of my drama and the viewing habits of my target audience is the idea of comfort, which is slightly strange in a mystery series. I simply mean that certain series, like for instance Agatha Raisin, Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote and Poirot are all examples of murder mysteries wherein the cast of characters you become attached to are likely to be safe as they solve crimes. Viewers aren't on their toes waiting for their favourite characters to die because the shows focus more on telling compelling mystery stories to engage brains but not shock and dismay. I believe many people enjoy this kind of low-stakes mystery story, however complex and impossible the crime may seem, because it really appeals to the audience pleasures of both escapism and, most importantly, personal relationships with the characters. No matter how many times you awe your audience with a character death or a twist, there's always going to be something comfortable and reliable in stories with such a predictable outcome. 

CHARACTERS

ARCS

I wanted to show improvement in Fen's character throughout the show to reflect the morals of opening up to people. She would start as someone closed-off and difficult to talk to and change to allow friendships to blossom. In this, I'm conscious of human nature and - despite my show's silly and supernatural elements - I would like the characters to reflect reality even if they're exaggerated. Fen will never become a social butterfly, and that's perfectly in line with who she is. She doesn't become a new person, she just ends up molded by those around her. 

Lotus, whilst being an antagonist, is never portrayed as evil. Despite the show's theme of murder, I wanted to keep the line between good and evil blurred. This reflects the time we're living in and the shows we see popping up constantly - something like Line of Duty, which has greatly influenced the public's expectations for characters and people tend to expect a greater degree of nuance from the media they consume. This influenced later decisions about Lotus, such as her involvement with the case and the reasoning behind her actions. I'm very interested in morally grey characters, certainly with a concept that doesn't take itself that seriously like Croak. 

I wanted the dynamics between characters to shine throughout the series, finding that I tend to enjoy a fun group of characters more than I do other elements of a story. A good cast can even carry a dull story, creating attachments to the characters that make viewers care about what happens to them and laugh along with them. 

STORY

I wrote the story loosely following Todorov's narratology (steps listed below). 

EQUILIBRIUM Fen is looking for a new story but stuck with the regular ones, like coverage of pet contests and the missing items column in the university paper.

DISRUPTION There is a death in Ngaio. 

RECOGNITION Fen is on the case and immediately becomes obsessed not only with covering it for the paper, but solving it single-handedly. 

ATTEMPT TO REPAIR Fen chases clues and spirals deeper into conspiracy, she figures out her family secret about being witch hunters.

NEW EQUILIBRIUM Fen has friends she can talk to and the town has settled again, the case having been solved.

One notable convention of the mystery series genre I've broken is that Croak's mystery is non-episodic. The same mystery takes place over the course of the series, which goes against the formula set up by pioneering mystery stories set in sequence (like Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes). This was a conscious decision made to set up the world and story before perhaps diving into an episodic mystery format in later seasons. I think that something more involved would be more popular nowadays. 

My original synopsis for Croak was as follows:

"A die-hard journalism student, determined to write a big story and get into the business, latches onto every small thing life throws at her. Fortunately, this small thing in particular grows and grows - until she realises she might just be in over her head. What else to do from there but dive right in, headfirst?

We follow our protagonist, Fen Marsh, as she uncovers and unravels a mystery way larger than herself - it's something that eventually forces her to spend time with others and get to know them. It has themes of opening up, as opposed to keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself. Her interaction with her brother at the start of the series is conveyed purely through texts and calls, in contrast with the end of the series wherein she'll be talking to others freely and making time for them."

I think I've honoured the concept whilst adding mystery to the story for further public appeal. The difficult part was finding a middle ground between my vision and something appealing to the widest audience possible. 

chosen extract

The part from my story I chose to write was a scene from the 'attempt to repair' stage, where Fen is following someone she believes to be the killer into the tunnels under the town. This has plenty of potential to be tense and, importantly, end on a cliffhanger.

I think that this has the potential to gain the most traction - it has action and a clear story arc within its episode. The entire show I chose to set at a time when the campus will be mostly empty, to save money on extras. 

At this point in the story, Fen is still on the left side of her character arc. She's in equilibrium approaching disruption as she gets sick and realises she needs help from those around her. Again, I think this will resonate with a lot of people even if they don't notice it happening - it'd difficult to communicate your feelings sometimes and Fen is an extreme manifestation of the desire to get things done yourself. The message of finding strength in other people is a universal one, something that BBC3 would be able to promote as educational without it feeling too forced. 

IN THE END

I think that the script I wrote fulfilled the BBC3 guidelines given whilst conforming to my genres of mystery and, to a lesser extent, comedy. The dialogue is natural whilst giving us an insight into how Fen thinks, and how selfish she can be without thinking. 

I've chosen a time in the story when the character still has some growing to do, and a time when there's an active mystery to solve. I think it's interesting enough to draw in viewers whilst conveying character.