Katie Lovell TV Production Blog

Screenwriter - Jack Thorne  Jack Thorne is a Screenwriter who has written for television, theatre and film. I have admired Thornes work for sometime as some of my favourite television shows were written by him. A similar theme runs throughout the shows he has written for, for example, 'Skins' and 'This is England' are typically British and show the genuine lives and friendships of relatable characters. He is known for his work being dark and relatable as some of the dramas have storylines that can be deemed as realistic with hard hitting situations that some viewers could find distressing. Programmes such as 'Skins' and 'This is England' have scenes that contain drug use and scenes of a sexual nature that are not censored in anyway, they're honest and that's why the programmes are so popular and successful. In an interview with After Ellen, Thorne was asked a question relating to writing about characters of a teenage age so authentica...

Pre-Production  Story development  Once we had been given our brief, I had already started to begin planning stories in my head to what I could potentially want to film. Once I had decided that I wanted to follow the route of a drama, I took pen to paper and begun to write down some ideas. Although, initially I had actually thought of some ideas, I struggled to think of a solid idea that really gave me a buzz. I had written down a few ideas, one of them being my current idea about a girl who is struggling with life and meets a character who helps her on her journey. Steve taught us that we should write about something we know and can relate to, or to use influences around us. As I am a runner and feel running is good for the mind, I thought this would be good to write about within my script. I then decided to base the Story on a young girl, Grace and an older man John, the film also featured Grace's mother Jane. I wanted the story to show the struggle of a young ...

Pre-Production and Notes  Risk Assessment Below is my Risk Assessment for my production day and location, I feel this is one of the most important parts of filming, as the RA is done to ensure the safety of both your cast and crew. It is a way of measuring the danger of the location you are wishing to use and to ensure it is safe and practical. It was also important to complete this and ensure all safety measures and correct processes are to be taken if being around the public. In my instance, we were shooting in a public field and there were likely to be dogs and their owners wondering around. I ensured we stood out by my crew wearing high-viability jackets, as this also meant the public were aware filming was going on. During shooting I made all cast and crew aware of the risk assessment so they knew exactly the dangers and risks. Call Sheet  The call sheet was also an important document as it allowed me to send all the information needed for ...

Call The Midwife - Episode 1, Series 1. Episode Review  I really enjoyed the first episode of call the midwife and have continued to watch more episodes. The first episode sees character Jenny Lee start her new job in London, although she thinks she is going to work in a private hospital, she is soon shocked to find it is actually a nurse convent. The episode introduces Jenny Lee and how she adapts to the poverty within that part of London. The first episode follows her delivering her first baby in extreme conditions. I really enjoy the concept of the character Jenny having to overcome the poor conditions of London, it seems as though Jenny's character has come from a privileged background. The episode starts with Jenny Lee walking down the smoggy London streets filled with fog and people. Jenny Lee is in a nice dress and high heels, I think this perfectly incorporates the 'show not tell' aspect we have continuously been taught. What the character was wearing sho...

'Roadside' - Thriller  Review  I really enjoyed this short film, I feel it was simplistic yet told you such a lot in 5 minutes. The opening scene shows a young lady who seems to have been injured or hurt. The character has a sad expression on her face and dirt/blood on her shirt, straight away you can see that the character is in some sort of trouble. After being approached by a man in a car offering help, the male characters gets out of the car in attempt to help. He offers the lady a lift as he can see she is in danger. As she gets into the vehicle and the camera stays in a wide shot, the vehicle starts swaying side to side as it indicated an altercation is taking place in the car. The car stops and the horn is continuing to be pressed which makes the scene quite distressing. You then see the lady character get out of the car, drag the male body out of the drivers side and drive off. Leaving the male character on the floor. As I mentioned above, for...

Dungeness - Location Project  Task We were given the task of filming a short 2 minute film within a group at a location of Dungeness, this was to see how we could produce a short film under pressure and on location. There are many different factors to filming on location like weather, further and potentially more extreme risks and other challenges that can make creating a film harder.  We were first given the brief and put into our groups, we then had to sit down and come up with a few ideas. Although we had a few rough ideas we were looking to go with, George suggested an idea about a lost wallet and a chase between two characters. We all really liked this idea and decided to elaborate on it as a team. After discussing the story and characters, our final idea was to have the main character 'George' who is potentially a misbehaved teen, losing his wallet, once his wallet had been found by our second character 'Matt', a well dressed male, there would be a chase be...

Title -  Run Genre - Thriller  The Pitch  A morning runner strikes up an unlikely friendship with the old man she sees on her journey everyday, but she is unaware of his motive. The Story Run is about Emily, a young aspiring runner who trains each morning around a field near her house. As winter draws in the mornings get darker and darker; however, that does not stop Emily from running each day. After seeing the same older man on her journey each day, she assumes he is lonely and strikes up a conversation, after the old man introduces himself as John their chats become a daily occurrence.  After a change in the air, John seems to become overbearing and intrusive which pushes Emily to change her route; however, a few days later she goes missing. After waking up with John standing over her, all she wants to do is Run. FEEDBACK  Today (21/10/2019) I got feedback from Steve and Simon, i will list below the development points I was given so I ...

Today we had our first Premiere Pro workshop with Ferg, I have been using Premiere Pro for around 5 years and would like to think i was at a high level; however, Ferg taught us the shortcuts in order for you to only use predominately the keyboard which is expected professionally. I knew some of the shortcuts but it was really interesting to learn the shortcuts needed to be able to edit literally of the keyboard. This really will speed up the process moving forward once I competent using them. Once we had gone through setting up Premiere Pro and importing our footage, we were able to edit the clips and sound provided. This was my edit below.

YEAR ONE - CAMERA WORKSHOPS  11th October 2019 Today was our first Camera Workshop with Ferg in which we got to use our year one cameras and learn about sound and white balancing. I really enjoyed the class today as it showed how the cameras can be used to create great visuals. -SWEFF is the things to do and work on before you start filming.  S OUND W HITE BALANCE  E XPOSURE F OCUS F RAMING FOCUS - You can use both Peaking and Expanded Focus to ensure that the shot is fully focused. Peaking uses red to show that you're fully focused on the image. Expanded focus zooms fully in to the image to allow you to gain the focus on a zoomed in spot to ensure it is fully in focus also.  WHITE BALANCE - White balance is used to ensure that the camera is picking up the correct colour of the surrounding area and skin tone. To white balance, you need to zoom in to a colour and ensure it is in focus. The difference in colour you use determines w...

I have started to think of a concept for my short film, both Simon and Steve advised to write about what you know, what you have experienced or what you have heard or seen. In my previous job on the way to work, i continued to see the same Old Man on a bench each morning when i would drive through Wouldham around 6:45; However, after a few months I saw the man less and eventually not at all. This sparked my idea for my initial story in which I can then develop from this.  Title -  The Run  Character 1 - Emily/Early 20's (Runner/Young Looking) Character 2 - John/Late 50's (Flat Cap/Tweed Jacket) Location - Bench in a field - Priestfields. The Story A young girl who is an inspiring runner, spots the same old man on her morning run each day. After assuming the old man is sweet and lonely, she leaves a scarf waiting on the bench as a nice gesture. The day after the old man is wearing the scarf and asks her to come over for a chat. After a one of chat th...

Today we  met Steve Coombes who is an established writer. Within our lectures he introduced himself and gave us an insight into what makes a good script. Steve set us up with 5 Rules to help us within our script writing module: Script To Screen. Within this module, we have to create a 10 page script for a short story, this can be a Drama, Thriller or Comedy. Rule 1: Show don't Tell. You shouldn't need to tell the viewers what your story is about with dialogue. Your script and visuals should be written well enough to show the viewers what is happening and the meaning. Rule 2: Intelligence Principal   You are the CIA and the audience is your US President. Only give the audience what they need to know and keep them engaged. Is the plot something that will keep the audience present? Rule 3: Structure everything like a joke The  Set up, the misdirection and the punch line. Every joke is a tiny revolution that changes your perception. Rule 4: Know your endi...

Script to Screen - Short project. 'THE JOURNEY' Who are our characters? Susie Wells    Susie is in her mid 20's who has just made it as a 'Weather lady' and is kicking of her career in television. Susie travels daily from Southend via Train accompanied by her boyfriend, a studio producer. Jennifer Baker  Jennifer is in her early 20's and is a Secretary who commutes to London from Upminster. Jennifer seeks reassurance through others in her friendships and her many partners. Setting  (Train Station Stop) (Train Station)  Winters morning, 4:30am, Quiet.  The Main Story  Two young women, Jennifer and Susie, share the same train journey daily. During the quiet commute in the early hours of the morning, all that links them is a soft smile to each other, until a poster starts conversation as Jennifer recognises the new weather girl: Susie. Moments later, they discover something else links them wh...