Imogen Polycarpou TV Production Blog

Cyps and Chips Cyps and Brits Cyps in Brit British born cypriots a.k.a bbc Mana mou  Its all greek to me  Greek all the way

1. Main point of sitcom?  The main theme of the sitcom is to show the struggles of Hara in pursuing a normal university students life with her family surrounding her. But it is also about the close relationship she has with her family. 2. Is it about Hara's single life? Is the sub plot the taverna life or other members of the family? Is it about how she copes with London and uni and different places or about emotions of the family? The main character is not just Hara but her mother and grandmother (Maria and Andy). The rest are minor characters buts till play an important part of the sitcom. 3. What locations are being used? The main locations of the sitcom is the house kitchen, Andys restaurant in London and their bedrooms (Haras bedroom, Tzimis bedroom and Cotch's bedroom). Occasionally we will see the living room when Andreas the grandfather spends his entire time - throughout the sitcom he will be heard shouting orders from the living room which no one pays attention

When looking at Channel 4's schedule we can see that slots for UK or US entertainment programs are available between Tuesday - Thursday between 10pm - 11pm. Also, they show The Simpsons Monday-Friday at 6pm. As for audience E4 performs the best for ages 16-34 with comments saying that in comparison to other channels it is 40% provocative, 36% covering grounds that other channels have not, 31% trend setting and 33& taking a different approach. In general E4 majority audience is 16-24 (31%) and 25-34 (24%). Furthermore, the majority of the viewers are female at 62%  and the social class is C2DE (working class) at 53%. Viewers are also able to connect with the channel on an emotional level (61%) meaning they are able to relate to what they watch. What does this mean for my sitcom?  1. the majority female audience and the target audience of 16-34is perfect as my sitcom will focus around the life of a Cypriot girl, university student, about to graduate and her struggles

Channel 4 Commissioning requirements - returnable sitcom scripts for 10pm slots, half hour shows (defining and distinctive setting, conceptual look) - E4 looking for performer/writer led ideas DO NOT WANT SOMETHING THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE - they want to make hit shows and launch stars therefore looking for groundbreaking ideas and best of new wave talent 360 degrees diversity charter: - show leadership in diversity at every level such as commissioners, writers directors, HR management, interns, casting agents, viewers, business managers, indie managers, on screen talent, TV executives lawyers, headhunters, career advisors... - they believe that what they do matters more than what they say - "to include and nurture talent and to reflect contemporary Britain on and off screen" - "challenge established views and promote alternative views and new perspectives" - diversity of thought is important to them - as they don't produce their own work, channel 4

My original idea for the pilot episode was to introduce my characters and what their personalities are like. My first idea was: It open with Chara at the airport to check in for her flight London. The hostess wishes her good luck for uni as she is handing her her tickets, then the camera zooms out to show the entire family standing behind her with their suitcases as well. It then cuts to the house in London with the family walking in through the front door. Uncle Panny is there welcoming them, along with the entire extended family in the house as well throwing a party (souvla, arguments and greek music is playing in the background). After the party finishes everybody disappears to their bedrooms to unpack and Pappou Andrea is left on the arm chair sleeping. Giagia Maria unpacks her poker games, greek coffee, Chivas whiskey and cigarettes, along with her religious icons, Pappou Andrea unloads sweets, chocolates and his insulin shots, Stav unloads Zivania, nescafe and cigarett

Big Bang Theory Open with hearing Sheldon's voice before we see him. Then the two characters come into view (Sheldon and Leonard) in a hallway. We can tell that these two characters are not you usual guy next door though the terminology that they use. Also, they are at a high IQ sperm donor facility. We then see them going up their stairs after bailing on donating their sperm and we are introduced to a new character Penny (the perfect girl next door) and the boys don't know how to act around her (well Leonard, Sheldon is always himself as he doesn't have good social skills). We then have the opening titles which goes through the timeline since the Big Bang. The nerdiness is further shown when the boys are competing for Penny compliments and attention by showing off their scientific boards. Then we are introduced to the other two main characters; Raj and Howard. Raj cannot speak to women and Howard thinks he's the most amazing ladies man (but just makes a fool of hims

Dialogue  The need to speak - contemporary screenwriters often justify dialogue as the only means of telling the story but this argument neglects the history of the moving image. The beginning of moving image was expressed through mise-en-scene ad through action. Audiences recognised and understood the actions of characters and were able to interpret the story from these. Thus becoming confident in structure, visual storytelling and characterisation. Characters did not need to be heard in order to express what they needed to express. The dialogue has two roles in a screenplay: the character function (offering insight into characters, backgrounds, thoughts, emotions an behaviour) and the story function (offering exposition, explanation or telling of the story). Bad writing forgoes character development in favour of excessive exposition, good writing is able to deliver both without over compromising one another too much and great writing switches between the two seamlessly an