Change of Story Arc

I've been thinking a lot about something I mentioned in a previous post. Previously, the package was going to run like this:

Someone has created a scottish comedy.

That Scottish comedy is being commissioned to be shown elsewhere across the UK.

Someone/a reviewer from elsewhere talks about the scottish comedies, and being glad that they're now shown across the UK.

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While I still think this is a good idea, I like the idea of the final part coming at the idea from a slightly different angle. Instead of a reviewer from elsewhere being glad that a show is now shown across the UK, what about someone who is annoyed that their favourite comedy show from Scotland is still not being shown all over the UK. That would limit this final part to probably be about Limmy's Show, as the other recent comedies have been networked. As mentioned in a previous post, I have an idea of who I can interview for this.

I'll have a think about it, and make sure that I could get it to work.

A reason for doing the package.

I don't think I've mentioned what I think is one of the main reasons for me doing my package on this topic. I'm a big fan of all of the shows I've mentioned on this blog so far (Gary: Tank Commander, Limmy's Show and Burnistoun) and I often recommend them to friends, both in person and on websites such as Facebook & Twitter.
If it's in person, it's very likely that friends can watch it on BBC2 Scotland as I very rarely leave Scotland. But when recommending it to people on Twitter, the vast majority of them do not live in Scotland; and therefor, can't access it as easily as everyone else (with the shows only being shown on BBC Scotland.)
They either have to go up to the high numbers in the Sky TV guide, or look for the programme on the iPlayer.

One of the things I love about Twitter, is the combination of it and TV; you can comment on it in realtime with friends, but as (originally) the majority of these shows weren't shown across the UK it was a lot harder to do this.

I don't know if that makes a lot of sense, but it's definitely one of the reasons for me doing this package.

Trying to think of other interviewees.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to think up a new tactic for the 3rd interview. It's looking like I probably can't get the person I'd had in mind, and it's become hard to find a reviewer in general.

One idea I've had, is the comedian Michael Legge. I've seen him a few times on twitter talking about his love for Limmy's Show another scottish comedy, which is currently ONLY being shown in Scotland. He could possibly talk about his anger of it not being shown all over the UK?
I don't know if this would be an interesting idea to add to the package - someone WANTING a programme to become a scottish comedy export - or if it will just ruin the package idea as a whole.

I'm not sure whether the fact Michael wants it to be shown where he lives, is enough of a reason to include him in the package. With the reviewer idea, they know exactly what they're talking about in terms of TV. And I'm sure Michael does too, but in terms of job title he's not a TV reviewer.

The Book Café!

I can't quite remember what was discussed in huge detail at the last meeting, as the minutes are still yet to be sent out by Jen, but there were several shows brought up by Liam. The Book Club, The Movie Cafe, and the other Cafe shows on Radio Scotland. He thinks that these will be good to base our one hour show on. We're planning to do it at about 3 on a Sunday. That's when we think our show would be on.

By the looks of it, I agree, but I've never actually listened to these shows. So that's what I'm going to do now, by listening to the latest 'The Book Café' as broadcast on Sunday 25th March.

It's got a lot of mood-setting music in the background. This is good, as I think it will add to packages such as Liam's with his comic books, which usually have quite a dark undertone.

Interesting interview with the author of the book they're talking about. Maybe our guest for the hour-long show, could be related to/in one of the previous packages? I think I've mentioned this idea before, but 6-8 minutes may not be enough time for someone involved to get their point across, and if they're local, they may be only too happy to expand on it (but only if the questions answer things that are entirely different to the stuff that's already been covered in the package.)

So far, it's been about 10 minutes of pure interview. Having not listened to Radio Scotland much, it's clear that it doesn't use regular station stings and music doesn't have to be under everything. This is good, because it means I can focus more on the actual intellectual content of the package, rather than packing it full of effects and music beds, like I'd probably have to do a bit more if our station was Radio 1.
Good radio interviewers and interviewees shouldn't need a music bed underneath them, and that's exactly what's happening here.

That interview was over 10 minutes long. I feel this adds a bit of pressure for us to have the duration of our to last about as long as this. I don't think it's necessary that our interview be this long, but to fully capture the style of this Radio Scotland show it'd be good if it could be. Once we work out who our guest is, we have to get together as a group and write a load of questions for them; this task shouldn't be given to just one member of the group, as we've all got as much work as each other to do and it wouldn't be fair.

The 2nd interview is being held elsewhere. The first was of a much better quality, and was clearly recorded in the studio. But this one has a bit of echo in it, and doesn't sound as great.

This 2nd interview has also lasted about 10 minutes so far. That gives me the general idea that the interviews are about that long. Another reason for our one hour show interview to be a duration of 10 minutes long.

I think, at this stage, I've got the general feel of this programme. There's no music, other than maybe a small bit of mood setting music. It's what I'd expect to hear on Radio 4.

There's now a live reading of a book that the author was talking about. I had an idea that we should include a reading of a comic book and brought it up in the last meeting. This just reinforces that idea, as I now know that it's exactly the sort of thing that would be included in a show like ours. I'm going to stress to the rest of the group that I think we should definitely include this in our hour-long show.

There's just been a small excerpt from The Hunger Games film which they're about to talk about. I like this, because it again reinforces an idea; this one being that I can include excerpts from the scottish comedy shows that I'm talking about. I wasn't entirely sure if that would work, but hearing that has made me worry slightly less.

There's now an interview with 2 people at once. It's a lot like the discussion bit that may be included in our hour-long show, so it's good to hear that it's featured in this.

That's the end of the show. Overall, I'm very happy with what I heard, as I think it fits in really well with what I want our packages to come across like. I'll listen to one of the other café's (movie café, comedy café) at a later date, and see if that will add anything or basically just be the same to this show, but about different topics.

Interviews!

So the 3 people I'm planning on interviewing, were going to fall in to the following:

1. A creator of Scottish Comedy.
2. Someone who decides what Scottish Comedies are going to be shown elsewhere (UK, etc.)
3. A reviewer from elsewhere, talking about exported Scottish Comedies and if they think they work as well in England, etc.

1. I've had a few ideas for this one, and two people have been contacted. First off I got in touch with Robert Florence, who's the co-creator of the TV show Burnistoun that was made in Scotland, and then shown elsewhere; people weren't happy that it wasn't' being shown everywhere across the UK, and there was even a newspaper campaign set up to make it happen. Mr Florence has agreed to do an interview at some point, but I need to get in touch with him again to work out when that will be.
Another person that would work very well in this package, is Greg McHugh. He's the creator and star of the TV show 'Gary: Tank Commander' that was originally just shown on BBC2 Scotland and then UK-wide on BBC3. I tweeted him about the interview but didn't get any response, but luckily my friend knows him and is going to email him about it for me; just the 'beginner email' so he knows that I'm a really great guy. Apparently, if he's not too busy, it's very likely that he'll be up for helping out.

2. This one was proving to be quite tricky. Commissioners are very hard to get in touch with as they're incredibly busy. I was worrying a lot about this one, as it's a bit of the package that is crucial and I'd probably have to change everything if I couldn't work out a person to interview for this part. I'd met Kristian Smith before, who's the executive editor for comedy commissioning at the BBC, but he's not got back to me yet, which is not surprising as he's probably got a huge workload.
After a bit of worrying, it just popped in to my head who I should be interviewing. Jemma Rodgers. She's the former Head of Comedy at BBC Scotland, and also a friend. She's agreed to do an interview. I think Jemma will add what is needed for the package, which is the input of someone who has a lot of control over these shows.

3. In all honesty, I probably haven't done as much as I could have for this one. There was only one person I really had in mind for it, and that's Grace Dent. She's a columnist and reviewer who in the past, has written the following about Burnistoun:

'Due to the unique way in which it is funded, the BBC produces a diverse range of excellent telly, then promotes it in such a piss-poor manner that no one ever sees it. Take, for example, the brilliant BBC2 Scotland comedy Burnistoun. For the 55 million Brits living south of Dumfries, finding Burnistoun would involve an exploratory trip into the remote 900s on your Sky EPG, taking you out somewhere near the African ministry channels and those sullen nude teenagers glued to their phones. This assumption that Scottish comedy is of niche appeal rankles me hugely. Iain Connell and Robert Florence's imaginary landscape of demented ice-cream van owners, petty single-issue local MPs and hapless husbands deserves a much wider audience.

If the British public can cope with season two of The Wire (22 hours of thick Baltimore mumbling about dockyards), we can surely overcome the Glaswegian language barrier: Burnistoun's Gordon standing up to a "ned" by "chucking a two-litre bottle of jinga right dead set on the rocket's nappa"; or Burnistoun funeral services, who promise to "dig youz up once a week to check if yer still deed". Two Glaswegian hardmen film a work-out DVD clad in greying underpants. Some friends go to a buffet for the first time and don't know the rules. Burnistoun FM's phone-in show can't find anyone who can even understand "today's big question". A chancer hires out crutches and hospital beds by the hour outside the dole office, to people defrauding the DSS. It's hard to nail the essence of Scottish humour without making sweeping generalisations, but here's my shot at it anyway: Scottish comedy tends to be raw and often sweary, mixing the plainly absurd with traditional old-school observational; it pokes fun at religious guilt, unsexy sex, the lazy and the tragic, the eccentric and anyone with delusions of grandeur. But isn't that just like comedy everywhere, you're asking. Well, maybe. So why isn't Burnistoun being shown on mainstream BBC2?'

Since then, Burnistoun has been networked across BBC2. But what interested me was her interest and passion on the topic, as shown in this piece. I've contacted Grace via Twitter, but didn't get any response. It was probably quite annoying, as I hard to write it all in 3 separate tweets and probably didn't look in the least bit professional. I'm going to ask if she's willing to give me an email that I can send the interview request to.


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That's where I'm at in terms of interviews. Really worrying about the third one, but I probably went at it the wrong way, as there was only really one person I had in mind for it. I should've taken a bigger look at it all, keeping different people in mind. But that's what I'm going to do now. Does it really have to be a reviewer? Or can it just be someone from elsewhere, who's a big fan of scottish comedy, and is known in certain circles for being that? I'll have a think.

Hour Long Show. Live reading + Live bands. Live.

During the latest group meeting, we were trying to think of ways to flesh out the one hour show. I brought up the idea of having a live comic book reading, as I think it would be nice to have in there, and also fits in well with a radio show we’ve been looking at for when our show will be broadcast (The Comedy Cafe, The Book Cafe, all the Cafes etc) The next day, I came up with the idea to feature a live band performance + interview with a band as part of our one-hour show. It seemed odd that none of us had thought of it before, as one of the packages was on Scottish Music Exports and Allan has links with a load of bands who are up-and-coming. To me, it seemed like a great way to have a live guest, whilst also doing something a bit different. The performance itself would probably be pre-recorded, as the microphone set-up would have to be different for the interview afterwards.

Lately, Allan brought up that he doesn’t think having the live performance idea would really work, and we need to find someone who encompasses all of our packages to be involved in the show. But I think it’s going to be very difficult to find someone who can speak about scottish comedy, scottish tartan, scottish music, whisky and scottish comic book writers equally. I think he means someone who is archetype (?) of scottish culture, a person who, when you see them, you just immediately think ‘Scotland’.

He’s emailed someone about it, so I’m interested to see if anyone will come forward or how it will all work out. 

Analysis of the Brief

Package Content

For the task, we have to create a 6-8 minute package which can be on a topic of our choice; but it must fit in with the 1-hour long show theme, that we must decide in groups assigned to us. Everyone in the group must then decide on a theme that everyone’s package must fit around. 

The packages can have music and SFX in them, but that decision must be based on the choice of station. If the radio station the package is being made for uses music/SFX, then it can be used in the package. 

Every package must have a minimum of 3 interviews in it, and those 3 interviews must add something to the package; 2 of those interviews can’t be people that will be saying basically the same thing. 

The hour long show itself must have a live interview in it, arranged by the group as a whole.

Radio Station

In our groups, we also have to decide on a radio station to create our packages for. Each package must then be created with that station in mind. That means studying the target audience of that chosen station. We must also listen to other shows on that chosen radio station, so as to get a feel for it’s output and mimic it in our packages.

Target Audience

In our groups, and individually, we have to think about the target audience of that station, asking ourselves questions along the lines of:

What age are the listeners of the chosen station?

What gender are the listeners of that station?

What are their general interests?

What magazines do they read?

What TV shows do they watch?

Who do they live with?

What do they get up to, in their everyday life?

Are they technology literate? Can they use iPhones, etc?

Asking questions like that, will help us work out exactly who the target audience of that chosen station are. 

Group Workings

During the project, it may be called upon to help out other members of the group, with interviews, ideas, editing and whatnot. 

If before the 1-hour show, for some reason, a member of the group hasn’t completed their work, a member of another group may need to step in; this would mean finding someone who we believe, fits in well with our packages. Alternatively, if that happens, the group could work out another way to fill the time, instead of borrowing a member from a different group.

It’s up to us, as a group, to keep each and every member updated about what stage we’re at, and how we’re getting on. And if a member of the group is struggling, they can completely ask the other members of the group for help.
We can also help each other set up interviews, if we have contacts that may be able to help them out.

Planning

To keep on top of everything, some form of timeline has to be made; this can be a gantt chart, or just a list of dates. Pre-production followed by Production of the actual package, and then Post-Production to end it all.

Hardware/Software

In terms of hardware, we have a lot of equipment available to us, for creating these packages. Condenser microphones can be used in the studio, which is what the presenter’s voice would be recorded on, if it’s a presenter-led package. The Zoom H2 mics are also available for taking out and about; they’re especially useful for conducting interviews outside of the college.

On the software side of things, we have Pro Tools for audio editing, accompanied by an M Box.

Health & Safety

When creating the package, health and safety must be looked at carefully. For example, if recording with a condenser mic there may be some wires lying about, so before doing so, these wires must be wrapped around the microphone stand to keep them out of the way. 

Ethics

In my package, I have to make sure that during the creation of it, I remain impartial; I cannot be bias, especially if the work is of a controversial topic. I might not necessarily have the same views as the listener, but I have to come across as being impartial. I can put facts in there obviously, but not so much my opinion; though opinion is relevant.

I must also let my interviewees know what I’m going to be using the interviews for, and let them know why I have chosen them to be part of my package. If there are any big changes to the programme, and I have to edit the interviews in any way, I must let them know what I’m doing with it; so as not to change their original point in to something they never really said.

Legality

In the package, I need to abide by the Ofcom broadcasting rules. I also need to get interviewees sign a consent form, allowing me to broadcast the package on the stations I mention to them/are in the consent form.

Costings

When making the package, I must take in to account the costings eg. How much it would cost if I was making this package outside of college. So that means how much it would cost to hire the studio for however long it’s needed for, how much it would cost to hire a voice actor for the work needed, how much it would cost to use certain music tracks in packages, etc.