Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 2

We have decided that our episode recreation will be of Cuckoo. This is for the following reasons:

• Has the perfect cast members
• Humour doesn't rely on the audience to know the show
• Gives us more opportunity to make the characters our own

After deciding on Cuckoo, we chose our characters:

Cuckoo: Hugo
Rachel: Emma
Lorna: Amelie
Ken: James
Dylan: Louis
Connie: Silvana
Steve: Tristan

Our extras are:

Zoe: Olivia
Charlie: Alessandro
Kelly: Maddy
Kelly's Husband: James
Toby: Alan
Toby's Girlfriend: Ella

After deciding on playing Dylan, I researched his given and implied circumstances, along with general research into the character.

DYLAN 

"Dylan is a sixteen year old virgin, whose moral code would make Machiavelli feel a bit uneasy. When Dylan surveys the members of his family, he doesn't see people - he sees opportunities to get money, lifts and Chinese takeaway. Dylan couldn’t care less about his sister’s big news but for the fact that disharmony in the family presents new bribing opportunities for him. The one hope for Dylan's black soul is his undying love for Lorna's best friend's daughter, Zoe."

Age: 16

Nationality: English

Given  

Pervert - “Mum, you know the only reason he started lifeguarding was so he could perve on Zoe in her swimming costume.’

Obsessive - I am a lifeguard. I’m guarding her. If I don’t stare at her, she might drown.

Uncool - I am a lifeguard. I’m guarding her. If I don’t stare at her, she might drown.

Short attention span - Let’s cut to the chase. The vote. Rachel will be with Cuckoo, Mum will be with you, so I’m the deciding vote.

Straight talking - Here’s the deal! I give you my vote and you make Zoe come to Rachel’s party on Saturday.

 

Implied 

Stubborn - Here’s the deal! I give you my vote and you make Zoe come to Rachel’s party on Saturday.

Arrogant - So I can make my move.

Manipulative - Here’s the deal! I give you my vote and you make Zoe come to Rachel’s party on Saturday.

Selfish - Here’s the deal! I give you my vote and you make Zoe come to Rachel’s party on Saturday.

Harsh - You are a bit like Hitler, Dad. You actually look like him.

Awkward - Yeah, it can be hard to start a conversation, she swims very fast.

Desperate - Right. Erm… So, yeah, Zoe, I was just thinking that this is a terrible party. Maybe you’d want to go somewhere quieter so we could hang out?

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 1

Today, we discussed what film or TV show we would recreate and why. Here are some options:

Brooklyn 99

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an American police procedural comedy television series created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur. The series revolves around Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), a talented but immature NYPD detective in Brooklyn's fictional 99th Precinct, who often comes into conflict with his commanding officer, the serious and stern Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher). The rest of the cast features Stephanie Beatriz as Rosa Diaz, Terry Crews as Terry Jeffords, Melissa Fumero as Amy Santiago, Joe Lo Truglio as Charles Boyle, Chelsea Peretti as Gina Linetti, Dirk Blocker as Michael Hitchcock, and Joel McKinnon Miller as Norm Scully.

Brooklyn 99 has been done by a previous year group, and they executed the project very well, which played into our decision to include it in our discussion. Some pros are:

• Ironic comedy, we can execute well
• Good cast number
• We would fit the characters well

Cons:

• Don't want to do a show that a previous year did
• The locations don't vary enough
• A lot harder to find costumes on little to no budget

Here is the style:

The Office

The Office is an American mockumentary sitcom television series that depicts the everyday work lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It aired on NBC from March 24, 2005, to May 16, 2013, lasting a total of nine seasons

The Office was our first idea because it has a unique mockumentary style, in which we could bring the comedy through camera work as well as just acting. Around the same time we had though to do this series, we had to film a Christmas video for our school, so we tried to use The Office's unique comedy style in it:

Pros:

• We have already read some scripts and chosen characters that would fit each of us
• The comedy style can be executed by our cast
• Relatively simplistic costuming (suits)
• Easy to find a location (just need to set up desks)
• Could social distance easily

Cons:

• Locations don't change enough
• Slightly awkward cast number
• Not enough women in the cast

Here is the style:

Cuckoo

Cuckoo is set in Lichfield, Staffordshire, (external scenes are mostly filmed in Farnham, Surrey, Slough, Berkshire, and Amersham, Buckinghamshire, all approximately 100 miles south of Lichfield), home to the Thompson family. When Ken (Davies) and Lorna (Baxendale) collect their daughter Rachel (Kari) from the airport, they learn that she has returned from her gap year before medical school having married Dale "Cuckoo" Ashbrick (Samberg), an eccentric American hippie with an exuberantly loving attitude who does not have a job and loves to take drugs.

pros:

• We already have an idea for which episode to do
• good amount of characters

cons:

• no online script
• could be hard to execute the comedy style (quite natural)

Here is the style:

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - preperation

 To prepare for our Film and TV unit, we are splitting into 3 groups and creating adverts, being around 1-2 minutes. I am in a group with Hugo and James and we have decided to advertise a 'long stick'. This is the inspiration:

Elements we are taking from these:

• Infomercial 'title' screen at the end
• Snappy style
• Music
• Fast cuts
• exaggerated characters

Our concept

Hugo narrates the advert (film him over a green screen)

James the admirable character

Louis plays the character that is miserable, wants to be more like James

Louis is woken up by music playing upstairs (annoying neighbours) but has nothing to quiet them down with (throws toilet paper roll at the ceiling, nothing happens)

This then transitions into Hugo speaking (with background music), and discussing the 'long stick'

Then a series of 'flashback' sequences playout:

• James silences his neighbours
• Goes fishing in his bathtub
• Cooks with it
• Uses it as an umbrella in the shower
• Walking
• Keeps social distance between him and stranger
• Plays it as a didgeridoo
• Blue advert screen

Here is our final advert:

This has reminded us of certain aspects of directing and acting for film and TV, meaning we will go into our final production with more skills to be more efficient and make our shoots more effective.