Imogen Polycarpou TV Production Blog

EPISODES 2-6  Thoughts on episode after read through: (drafts number in brackets is the draft that was read during read through) After the read through, I was able to get a much better understanding of how the script flowed and what it actually sounds like. Even though, I read the description, Hara's bits and some minor characters, I still got an understanding of what it was like. Truthfully some dialogue for characters was too long and the episodes where not as risky as episode 6, therefore in all episodes I added more risky description and dialogue to other characters. Likewise, I added easter eggs that hinted Mr Conrad was the guy Hara was going to meet. As you will see below, I got rid of chunks of dialogue as well as some scenes that is because they were not benefitting the story in any way, and weren't particularly funny either. For my older characters, there reading was not so good as English is not their strongest point, so there were chun...

Episode 2 3 Stories: 1. Hara things she gets a date with Mr Conrad but makes a fool of herself 2. Andy goes yoga and ends up being invited to a swingers party 3. Uncle Panny and Pappou Andrea make home made Zivania, sell it at Swingers party but everyone reacts badly to it Structure of Stories: Issue 1: Hara wants to get a date with Mr Conrad Event: Ends up over dressing for the house gathering and humiliates herself by getting drunk Conclusion: Hara ends up getting drunk and throws up on Mr Conrad as she confesses her love for him Issue 2: Andy goes to a swingers party to reignite her love life Event: whilst there they sell the home made Zivania where they all begin to hallucinate Conclusion: They run away from the party before people release what is happening Issue 3: Pappou Andrea and Uncle Panny want to make proper Zivania Event: They set up a 'lab' in the basement to make it Conclusion: They sell it at the swingers party Episode 3 3 stories:  1. Yiayi...

To prepare for my script read through, I research a bit on what it is that has to be done and how you do it. Please scrolls to the bottom to see what I did to prepare for my read through.                                                                                                                                                                     With my research I understood that a read through should be done when you are in the final stages of writing. "If you've tackled structure, plot and character issues in earlier drafts then your table read will be an ideal environment...

One of the obstacles writing my scripts was the length of my scenes. To get a better understanding of how long a scene should be and when is a good time to cut a scene off. My method of doing this is watching the episode with a stopwatch and each time a scene changes/a location I, time it. * (Please scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see what I have understood and how my research has effected my script). Friday Night Diner Season 1 Episode 5 - 21 minutes Sc Hallway - 1m 9s , Sc Dining Room - 1m 48s , Sc Hallway - 11s , Sc Kitchen - 11s , Sc Hallway - 26s , Sc Dining Room - 1m 55s , Sc Hallway - 12s , Sc at door - 2m 10s , Sc Dining Room - 1m 31s , Sc Pavement - 24s , Sc Chinese - 30s , Sc Outside Chinese - 1s , Sc Chinese - 2m 9s , Sc outside house- 1s , Sc in car - 1m 23s , Sc outside house - 47s , Sc in car - 50s , Sc hallway - 39s , Sc kitchen - 5s , Sc stairs - 4s , Sc car 9s , Sc stairs -  8s , Sc living room - 8s , Sc door - 11s What happens in this epis...

Needing some inspirations for writing my scenes I decided to do some research into movie or sitcom scenes, to get an understanding of how they presented their humour and comedy. Below are a few scenes which inspired me and I will discuss why I chose them.  Ben Stiller's character, Tommy, is introduced at the theatre when Ross and his girlfriend, and Rachel and Tommy go to watch Joe's play. At first glance, Tommy seems like your normal, average guy. When Ross and Tommy go to grab their seats at the theatre there is an older couple sitting in their seats. the contrast is shown when Ross politely asks them to get them because they are sitting in their seats, then Tommy begins to shout at them and call them 'idiots'. It's humorous and makes this character stand and create a moment. It's also funny because Ross is the only one who witnesses it, but also Tommy goes back to behaving as if nothing ever happened. When Ross tries to warn Rachel about Tomm...

Cougar Town  IMDB Rating: 7.0/10 Creator: Kevin Biegel and Bill Lawrence Brief Synopsis: Follows the escapades and relationships of a group of neighbours living in Florida. How are characters introduced (Pilot Episode)? The first character we are introduced to is Jules as she come out of the shower and checks her reflection in the mirror and plays with the 'flabby' bits on her body. Next we are introduced to her friend Laurie who is portrayed as her younger tart of a friend, where they play a game judging people, whilst Jules son, Travis keeps track of their score. The next character that is introduced is Grayson who in the beginning is portrayed as your typical playboy but by the end of the season is perceived as a sweet, guitar playing man. Next is Jules best friend, Ellie, who is her neighbour. Ellie and her husband, Andy, are going to have sex and Ellie is acting mean and lazy while Andy is over excited. The last main character introduced is Bobby, who is Jules...

In this blog post I will highlight the changes to the story lines and the general feedback received from Simon as well as the choices I made regarding to feedback. General feedback on Scripts up to 23.03.2018:  Episode 2 --> actions don't need to be in brackets (even if they are small) --> be harshier with my humour, especially Uncle Panny --> ending should be bigger Episode 3 --> didn't have a clear sense of where it was going in first draft --> balance is off; too much time on Birmingham scenes (what are we getting out of these scenes? make it obvious on the amount of food Yiayia Maria has) --> emphasise the ridiculousness of it --> so far it feels more like a drama --> make the taxi driver more interesting (maybe he is Turkish Cypriot) --> the script over all could be funnier --> Kotchy - make more of him, he's supposed to be the smart one. Scene at the friends house is not funny --> night out: Gina and Stella don't r...