For Professional Pre-Production, I will be creating a hypothetical three part-drama mini series, with a predominantly visual-based package.
Initial Idea
- In England 1993, a young woman is a gestational surrogate for a couple who can't carry a child.
- The woman begins acting strangely and in a creepy manner, falling in love with the unborn child, who is revealed as a girl.
- She decides to run away not long after her first scan, changing her identity and managing to disappear.
- 23 years later, a young woman works in a diner in a small American town. She comes home to the aged surrogate living in a cramped, run down home and addresses her as 'mom'.
- Their relationship is unusual due to the surrogate mother's deteriorated health.
- That night the daughter finds unusual evidence of her 'mother's surrogacy and starts asking questions.
- She finds out that the woman isn’t her biological mother and her mother refuses to tell her the truth.
- After an altercation the young woman packs a bag and leaves.
- She turns to a family friend; the only other source she has who tells her that he gave her mother a new identity to flee to America, and reveals her mother's real identity.
- She returns to her mother to get her to admit the truth but an out of hand confrontation becomes slightly violent and makes her wash her hands of her mother.
- She leaves permanently to find out who she was supposed to be and to go on a journey to find her birth parents.
- She receives a call from someone who has information and tells her to meet them.
- On her way she meets a variety of people, some are passers-by and others give her information.
- She finds a love interest amongst these people, but although he cares about her, she decides to cut him loose.
- While she continues moving on to find out the truth, she receives a call from her family friend, who tells her that her mother’s committed suicide.
- This causes her to go off the rails, temporarily abandoning her mission and partying with strangers etc.
- She eventually realises that she has lost herself and tries to get back on track.
- Her sources eventually lead her in the right direction, heading to England, she finds out where her birth parents live.
- She sees them at a distance, with their two young adopted children, appearing happy and seeming to have moved on.
- She decides to walk right past them, her biological father notices her walk past but brushes it off, not realising who she is.
- She decides to listen to what her love interest told her and try to move forward in life instead of back and calls him.
- We assume that she wants to try and start something new with him.
This is a rough idea that I have created for my plot, however while I feel that it is a strong initial idea, it needs a lot of work to give the story intensity, excitement and suspense.
Tagline
The tagline draft for the first plot idea...
"In 1993 a pregnant young surrogate’s mental state deteriorates as she runs away with a couples’ unborn daughter. 23 years later, the unaware stolen girl has her life turned upside-down when the long kept secret is revealed."
While I feel that this explains the plot in a quick and easy way, it also showed me that there is not enough uniqueness and excitement within the plot. I plan to have a very appealing, one-liner tagline that immediately draws in an audience once my plot is finalised and improve upon.
Characters
Main character / Protagonist:
A 23-year-old woman, a strong minded character who has lived a hidden away life in a small American town under her unstable mother’s guardianship. After uncovering a life-long secret, she begins following a well-hidden trail that could lead back to her birth parents, but loses herself along the way.
Antagonist character:
Surrogate mother – A mentally unstable ‘mother’ of the main character. She is deceivingly clever in how she covers her secrets and the company she keeps, but a selfish and imbalanced person who refuses to connect her daughter with the life that she could have had
Reoccurring characters: Romantic interest – A young man that meets the main character amongst her journey. He is an upbeat and positive person who provides comic relief to the story and brings out a softer side to the main character. He allows for her to consider moving forward with her life instead of looking back.
Birth parents – An English couple seen in both 1993 and in the present day, first as an excited young couple expecting their first child through a surrogate, then as a middle aged couple who have moved on with their life together.
Minor characters:
Source – A ‘family friend’ of the main character and her mother, who has been helping cover her kidnap for 23 years, along with the mother’s disappearance and new identity.
A variety of characters that know a small amount of information on both the woman’s surrogate mother and her birth parents, allowing her to take new paths in her journey to find them.
A small variety of characters that the main character meets on her journey such as party/club goers, location employees and friendly or villainous civilians.
I think that the above characters are a good starting point and outline of the type of people I think suit the story and will be a key component of the plot. However, they need a lot of character development and backstories for the characters to come to life.
Inspirations
My main inspiration for the overall feel, visual styles and atmosphere for my high concept idea comes from the BBC America produced Canadian TV show Orphan Black, a Sci-Fi Drama series about human cloning. This is one of many examples that I will conduct further research into to gather elements of the show that I feel are important for my own series.
Another inspiration from Orphan Black is the main character in this series, Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany), who is a strong young female, who's trying to find out where she comes from. She has a tough approach and is appealing as an attractive, loner type of main character. I feel that this sort of personality for my main character could suit the theme of the series and allow her to be an appealing protagonist for the audience.
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| Orphan Black: Sarah Manning. The actress's portrayal, the character's appearance and personality are all heavily inspiring in the creation of my main character. |
Also, my inspiration for the surrogate mother includes small influences from the character Norma Bates in the film Psycho and the series Bates Motel - although in Pyscho she is portrayed by Norman Bates in a schizophrenic state. As she is a character who is imbalanced and mentally unstable and unusual, but still clearly has a need to care for and have a connection to her child. I find that this type of personality has typically drawn in an audience with a conflicting hatred of the character alongside enjoying their role in a film or series. I will use the film Psycho and the series Bates Motel as part of my research into the surrogate's mother's character development.
Package Features
Series Synopsis - explaining the theme, genre and plot of the entire TV series.
Episode Synopsis for all three episodes - explaining the plot of each episode.
Character Profiles - In depth personality and appearance descriptions along with a backstory for each character.
Run Times - Specific lengths of episodes in accordance to the broadcasting channel's advertisements schedule.
Broadcasting Channel - The suitably assigned broadcasting channel, details on the channel and how it works with my television series.
Audience - The target audience and which elements will appeal to that audience.
Inspirations - My research based theme and visual inspirations with examples.
Cast - My carefully selected cast for each character, details about them and why they were chosen.
Crew - Similar to the above, the selected crew for each pre-production, production and post-production roles, details about them and why they were chosen.
Locations - The chosen locations in both America and England along with setting examples.
Sound Design - In relation to editing, examples of soundtracks and composers will be used to suit the theme of the show.
Costume Design - Mood boards of costume for each character to create a visual idea of how they would appear in the episodes.
Visual Style - The types of shots and overall appearance to be created, with visual examples from inspiring examples.
Editing Style - The use of colour, text and other aesthetic elements that would be used in post-production of the series, with examples.
Concept Art / Photoshopping - A collection of concept art shots to bring certain scenes to life, created by a hired concept artist, with photoshopping done by myself.
Opening Sequence - A well structured and suitably styled opening sequence for the show, with details on it's production, influence and themes.
Branding - Types of fonts, colours and logos to be used to create the show's brand, made in photoshop by myself.
Marketing - Promotional posters and how they would be advertised in accordance to typical broadcasting channel styles. Made by myself.
Research
Concept Research: Details and elements within the plot that need to be researched for stronger detail, understanding and credibility.
Plot Development - Researching into ways to develop my plot to be stronger, more entertaining for an audience and with more twists and intensity. Written and visual research.
Surrogacy & Pregnancy - Researching important details such as types of surrogacy, how surrogate agencies and meetings are conducted and types of ultra sound scans and when they reveal the baby's gender, all to give the plot credibility. Written research.
Mental Illness - Researching types of mental illness that could be affecting the surrogate mother both in 1993 and in the present, and the ways in which her health could deteriorate. Written and visual research.
Police Matters - Researching police methods when looking into a missing person and possible other issues that could arise within the plot. Written research.
American & English Towns - Researching a small, hidden, working class American town for the main character to have lived all of her life and other suitable towns for her to travel to in America and England. Written and visual research.
Any new developments in my story's plot will also be researched.
Package Research: Details of each individual package feature that need to be researched.
Series Synopsis - Researching effective synopsis writing techniques to best explain the series and episode plots in an entertaining manner. Written research.
Character Profiles - Researching important details to include in a character profile with examples of profiles and characters in real television series. Written research.
Broadcasting Channel - Researching which broadcasting channel would be appropriate and suitable for the series with in depth analysis of a variety of elements such as run times, branding, marketing and current and previous series examples. Also researching the possibility and suitability of using independent, co-producing companies. Written and visual research.
Schedule & Run Times - Researching the most suitable broadcasting schedule for the three episodes in order to keep an audience in suspense as well as retaining their interest and excitement for each episode. This includes researching the possibility of a 'box set' experience; broadcasting over three nights as opposed to three weeks. Also, researching run time for the series' episodes in compliance to the broadcasting channel's advertisement schedule (if any) with examples. Written research.
Target Audience - Researching which demographic/s the series would target, in relation to the type of audience the broadcasting channel would attract. With research on what elements of a series' theme, branding and advertising would appeal to the audience. Written and visual research.
Cast - Researching suitable and successful actors and actresses for each role in the series, taking into account the types of roles they have previous taken on, their performances and if they would typically work with the broadcasting channel. Also retaining important factors including age and appearance and whether they are suitable for the characters. Written and visual research.
Crew - Researching suitable crew members such as director, DOP, editor etc., finding details on their previous work, skill set and if they would typically work on this type of series and with the chosen broadcasting channel. Alongside examples of their previous work and how it suits my vision. Written and visual research.
Locations - Researching suitable and aesthetically pleasing locations and settings for the particular episode scenes and acts, with filming possibilities, history and visual examples of the locations. Written and visual research.
Sound Design - Researching types of soundtracks and composers that would fit with certain moments and atmospheres in the series, as well as an opening sequence and the show's theme soundtrack. Written and audio research.
Costume Design - Researching appropriate key outfits for each notable character, accompanied by a visual mood board. The research including real character costume examples and mood board style examples. Written and visual research.
Visual Style - Researching types of visual styles typically used in a drama series with dark undertones such as camera shots and lighting, with examples of other series and or films. Written and visual research.
Editing Style - Researching key elements for post-production that would suit the series' theme and genre such as on-screen text, special effects and colourisation to set an atmosphere and unique style. With examples of editing features to be included. Written and visual research.
Concept Art / Photoshop - Researching the most effective use of visuals to include, deciding between using a concept artist or creating my own Photoshopped visuals through analysis of both. If using a concept artist, I will research appropriate, local artists, their expected pay rate, time frame and skill set. If Photoshopping visuals myself, I will conduct research on effective techniques to use within the programme for the best results. Written and visual research.
Branding - Researching branding styles that fit with the show's theme, genre and plot by looking at examples of similar show's and film's branding, especially if on the same channel. Using this research I will select a suitable font, create promotional material and create a logo for the series.
Marketing - Researching suitable types of marketing for both the show's genre, themes and cast, but also suitable types of marketing for the chosen broadcasting channel. Through researching examples of the ways in which they have advertised their previous and current series. If creating promotional posters, I will conduct research into effective poster appearances and where they would be advertised in compliance with the above considerations. Written and visual research.
Opening Sequence - Researching types of opening sequences for a variety of shows, analysing them to decide which elements I should and should not use for my own sequence. These elements will include length, editing style, visual style, branding, sound design and overall themes. I will also look back over my previous work to conclude my time frame frame for producing a high quality opening sequence. Written and visual research.
Changes & New Material
After my first tutorial feedback, I have noted that important changes and additions need to be made to the above initial idea in order to create a more professional and unique concept...
- I need to create an urgency for the story to develop, a reason for the main character to rush to find her birth parents, such as an illness or needing something from them.
- The birth parents need to be developed into complex characters, possibly not being what the main character imagined them to be - possibly villainous characters.
- It is now unlikely that I will include the surrogate mother's suicide in the plot, allowing her character to continue manipulating the main character and have a high involvement in the story as a strong and important piece of the puzzle.
I plan to highly change and develop my initial idea, creating plot twists, suspense, urgency and a unique approach to the overall story. I will incorporate plot writing research into effectively developing my ideas.
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