Factual Research Week 12: Multi-Platform Content & Writing Skills

Today, we looked into the world of multi-platform television to find out what it is, where it can be found and what it actually does.

Multi-platform content is a vastly growing form of television programme making, where programmes are realised through the use of other viewing platforms as well as television. These include things such as tablets, mobile phones, social media and the internet. Multi platform content makes it a lot easier for the audience to get involved through the likes of hashtags on social media, viewing extra behind-the-scenes footage exclusive to the channel's app or website.

We also took time in our small groups to pitch about the aspects of online content we had researched last week - and my topic was on Multi-platform content for shows that were not aired on television. We looked into Netflix's one and only documentary series "Chef's Table" to see how the show has grown such a great audience despite only being available on Netflix and has little to no promotion except via social media.

Multi-platform and interactive television are definitely the future, and I am really enjoying the idea of going into the industry when this is still growing.

Tonight's Pick: Educating Joey Essex

Having watched several episodes now of the Educating Yorkshire/Cardiff/Essex series, I was surprised to find a series called "Educating Joey Essex" - in which, as the title states, reality star Joey Essex 'learns things'...

After watching this, I seriously hope he was acting up for the camera and isn't genuinely as thick as he appears to be. I find it hard to believe that someone doesn't understand the concept of Wales not being "abroad".

I'm honestly not sure what I'm more shocked at: Essex's seemingly levels of stupidity; or the fact that there is actually an audience for this show. It worries me that this is what the future could hold for factual television and I will certainly be sure that with any potential career I have in the industry, I will make programmes of a much higher quality than this!

Tonight's Pick: The Sarah Millican Television Programme

Tonight, I watched a few episodes of The Sarah Millican Television Programme on YouTube. As a comedian, I started playing the show expecting to see a lot of quick witted humour, and I wasn't left disappointed - in that respect. I find Sarah Millican to be pretty funny, however, this show was dire. I'm not sure who commissioned it (for at least 3 series) or who was in charge of the formatting, but it was dreadful. Each episode began with Sarah sitting on a couch on stage making one-liner jokes, before she stood up and walked to the front of the stage; and in each episode, she stood there awkwardly until the extensive music stopped.

She would then bring out a special guest either on to the stage or live streaming via a big screen. I think this was a much more comfortable part of the show to watch as the conversations in a chat-show style setting flows very smoothly.

From watching this show, I can happily walk away with the knowledge that when scripting a programme, I need to make sure everything flows steadily and the viewer isn't left with the awkwardness that we are left with in this show.

Tonight's Pick: Chef's Table

Tonight, I watched an episode of the documentary series "Chef's Table". What is interesting about this documentary first of all is that it is only available to watch on Netflix, who are the creators of the programme. At first, I thought it was quite strange that the show would only be shown on a platform that is wildly popular but still doesn't have the attention of a lot of programme viewers around the world; however the show has gained it's popularity through the means of social media, particularly Twitter.

I do enjoy cookery shows as an avid food lover, however I found the format to be too familiar and it wasn't anything that I hadn't seen hundreds of times before; only from a more prestigious point of view where you pay a lot of money for very little food - "art" as the chefs liked to call it.

From a filming point of view, the programme was very enjoyable. There seemed to be a lot of interesting shots, and the camera operator seemed to really enjoy tracking shots since almost every plate of food was tracked along. It did make for interesting viewing though, because still shot after still shot would have made the programme very dull. The content of the programme was what let it down for me.

Factual Research Week 11: Archive & Copyright

Today, we learned about Copyright and clearance in post production, and was possibly one of the most important classes for working towards my Factual Research treatment file. But before diving into this, we had a group reflection on last week's class when we were visited by George Cathro. It seemed to be a collective agreement that he gave a much more positive vibe about working in the industry than Miss Hayden did and he was very interested in working with fresh talents..

I never really knew where archive materials could be sourced before and had always assumed they would be a lot more expensive than they actually are. We watched a few examples of documentaries which focused primarily on the use of archive footage; including a piece on Martin Luther King and Looking for James Bond at the BBC. Archive materials can play a huge part in storytelling and can create a much more interesting viewing experience than just seeing someone talking to the camera, telling the story.

I felt it was also useful to take a look into how copyright works. I had always known of it's existence and knew what its purpose was, but I didn't know much about the process of putting it in place. This has certainly helped my plan for the budget of my Factual Research treatment as my programme idea relies quite heavily on the use of archive footage and using copyrighted trademarks.

Tonight's Pick: Tyger Takes On... How Straight Am I?

Tonight, I watched a BBC3 documentary called “Tyger Takes On... How Straight Am I?”. The show followed young actor Tyger Drew-Honey around the country meeting people who are trying to discover their sexuality. He met up with students from Brighton, a transgender woman from Aberdeen and even entered a drag show in Manchester. I thought the programme would be very eye-opening for a lot of closed minded people.

The production seemed to have a very minimal crew: a single camera and a sound recordist. I think the low production values added to the realness of the programme, almost like in the way low budget horror films are usually the most realistic. This is a concept I will ensure to apply myself to more serious subject documentaries in the future.

Factual Research Week 10: George Cathro's Visit

Today in class, we were visited by writer/producer George Cathro. He was a very nice contrast to Jacqui Hayden from two weeks prior and wasn't intimidating in the slightest. He had a lot of interesting stories from his experience working in the television industry and gave a lot of good advice towards pitching and producing projects. His passion for working in TV definitely made it sound like an exciting and fun world to be in.

One of the aspects of his career in Television that really stood out to me was when he spoke about being in interviews for jobs and instead of going in with a mindset of "What can they do for me?", you have to think about what you can do for them. After all, with the volume of competition in the industry, you need to have something like access or knowledge of a subject to stand out in the crowd.

Another thing he spoke about was the path within a TV career and where do you see yourself lying on the balance of happiness and being financially well off. Like the interview mindset, this is not something I had ever thought about before so it was interesting to see from himself and others in the class where they intended to be.

I didn't go in to the lesson expecting to take as much out of it as I did - George was a very interesting man to talk to and I was pleasantly surprised at how much more after leaving that morning session that I wanted to work within the industry.

Having watched his recently aired documentary on George the Poet, I managed to have a little chat with him at the end of the workshop about the production and the other Artsnight project he made.

Check out George's showreel here:

Factual Research Week 9: Reflections & The Treatment File

We began today's class with reflections on Jacqui Hayden's visit last week. It seemed to be a pretty popular opinion within the class that she was quite intimidating. To be honest, the more I think about it, the more I believe this plays in her favour a lot and is definitely not a bad thing. I think it is important to have a voice, especially in an industry that runs on a word of mouth basis. One thing I know myself is that I'm not always the best and speaking out and voicing my opinion so that one moment of Jacqui's charisma is something I can definitely learn from.

While reflecting, it was also clear that a lot of us took away a lot of positive lessons from Jacqui. I know it's very important to always contribute to discussions, no matter how amazed or doubtful you are in your ideas - either way you will leave an imprint in the minds of the other people involved; and being able to blow your own trumpet is never a bad thing. Being humble and modest don't get you as far in this industry as boasting your abilities do.

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We went on to discuss the treatment file for our factual research productions, and most of it seems simple enough. I am slightly worried about looking into the budgeting sides of things again because this is where I managed to trip myself up the most last time. I'm also in a position where I think my idea could fit comfortably on two different networks and I'm not quite sure whether discussing both potentials will come across as me being unsure in my work as I don't have the clear mindset; or if discussing both networks and showing the versatility is a good thing. That's one to think about.