M3 - Understanding Feedback

 Final Pitch Delivery:

Transcription of Pitch (Not Directly Quoted):

15:55

Q: Which drugs is he taking? 

A: Erm.

Q: You don't have to answer, you just have to know it for future. As there are very different types of drugs and very different arcs in terms of what happens to people on them.

Added Points: Originally, I had never actually thought about which specific drugs he would be taking, the story in my show was simply: his father dies, he takes drugs, he gets help. But after consideration and after my client's feedback I have realised that this factor is actually very critical and important. I understand that I need to know which drugs are included in my TV show, this is for many different reasons as it is a very sensitive topic. One of the reasons is that it can't be too explicit for my target audience as there are a couple young ages included from 15-17 and the consumption of hard drugs will not be appropriate for those members of the target audience. Another reason is that different drugs have different effects. The possibilities of drugs which could be included in my show could differ  which have very differ enormously and have different effects so I need to make it clear. Therefore, the client and audience will have a greater understanding of the struggles the protagonist is having. For example, if he was struggling with a Cannabis addiction, the effects would not be as great and impacting as a Heroin addiction.

17:06

Q: Why are you making it in 2005? It's not that far ago, but it's far enough that you have to get it right.

A: I feel like it will be slightly old school, I feel like a lot of TV dramas are set around that time and it's quite interesting to see what life was like recently but not too long ago; and because that will be around the time the target audience would have been born, they might not quite know what it would have been like.

Added Points: At a further point during my feedback, my client also stated that he believes I should keep it modern and contemporary as there may be a struggle with music and costumes. Originally, I wanted my show to be set in 2005 which included indie-rock music as this genre isn't typically modern as it first became popular in the 1980s, however, there is a difference between modern indie-rock, and early indie-rock which can create a clash. I understand and agree with this as I hadn't thought about the link between time period, and when music included in my show has bee released. If the time periods are different, it may create a bit of a clash and take away the feel that it is set just under 20 years ago if the music is from around today. In order to execute this properly, I need to either have music which was released just before, or in the same year of 2005 - or, have my show set more contemporary so I can include these examples of songs I wanted to use in my presentation. If I do not decide on one of these options, the target audience will be confused whilst watching the show and will not know when it is set and therefore, will not enjoy it as much. Therefore, I need to decide on one of these options in order to make this TV Drama the best I can.

17:53

Q: I think the other thing is that you should have some moral ambiguity about drugs. For example, in Breaking Bad, drugs aren't bad - people are bad and they're just interacting with drugs.

A: In the show you do see his friends taking drugs, but it's not because something bad has happened.

Q: I also don't think you should have that cause-and-effect, like his dad dies so he takes drugs, he should already be around people who take drugs.

Added Points: Originally, my show would include the protagonist's friends taking part in drug consumption, along with them even offering him to have some which is strongly declines. After consideration, I have realised that this could paint the friends as bad, low-life people which is not the case. Whilst coming up with the idea for my TV show, I never thought about the fact that a very large sum of teenagers consume drugs recreationally and do not struggle with addiction, nor is it caused by a traumatic even which has caused them to use drugs as a coping mechanism - it is simply for pleasure and joy and they do not consume them to the fact they are addicted. If I were to have this dramatic cause-and-effect relationship, many of my target audience may be offended and become un-interested in my TV show as they feel their personality has been attacked by the media and therefore, may cause some controversy. Using the Uses and Gratifications theory, my target audience is consuming this media for personal identity as they will be able to relate to the protagonist with their drug and mental health issues, however, if they are relating to the character and the theme has a bad name on drugs, it will not allow them to relate to the character and instead, like I stated before, feel personally attacked. Instead, my client has advised that he believes my protagonist should already be consuming drugs recreationally, however, when his father dies, the level of drugs he was consuming before doesn't seem to give the same effect, so he has a little more, then more, then more until he relies on them to be able to be happy. I understand the feedback and agree with this  possible, new approach.