Task 1:- Sit-com
Analysis
I will be analysing the following two sit-coms, they are:-
I will be analysing the following two sit-coms, they are:-
- The Inbetweeners (2008)
- Friends (1994)
Situation comedy’s also known as sit-coms are
TV shows that have an amount of series withepisodes of the show filling that
series, they have a set cast of characters who appear in every episode of the
sit-com who of which always end up in a strange situation which causes a
comedic reaction from the audience. Situation comedies have a set of codes and
conventions that make a sit-com a sit-com. These are things such as the
duration of each episode, a normal sit-com usually runs for around 20-25
minutes per episode. They also have more of a realistic storyline compared to
something like a drama which is usually more farfetched. The audience can
relate to sit-coms in their real-life as they may have been in similar
situations to the characters.
Sit-coms also have a set narrative when
watching so the audience can know that there is going to be a beginning where
everything is in equilibrium meaning everything is normal and how it should be
and then in the middle of the episode there will be a moment of disequilibria
where something dramatic happens and the characters are faced with a challenge
or situation which is comedic to viewers. And then to finish the episode there
will be a resolution where everything returns to the characters ‘normal’.
One of the main codes and conventions you
will notice when watching a sit-com is the canned laughter that is included in
the edit, this is used to show that the audience should be laughing at certain
parts of the show. This dates back to the early days of TV where sit-coms were
performed in front of an actual live audience. The canned laughter recreates
the feeling of an audience sitting and watching the sit-com play out at it
happens.
I will need to follow these codes and
conventions when working on my sit-com to ensure that an audience knows that it
is a situation comedy.
Both sitcoms ‘Friends’ and ‘The Inbetweeners’
follow these codes and conventions which led them to their success. For example
the cast always stays the same in each episode, it being Jay, Simon, Will and
Neil in the Inbetweeners and it being Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler
and Ross in ‘Friends’. In ‘The Inbetweeners’ the cast are boys in sixth form so
they are younger then the cast in ‘Friends’ who are set to be in their
mid-twenties. This means that the two sit-coms appeal to two different
audiences ‘The Inbetweeners’ targets a more younger 16-20 years old audience
while ‘Friends’ targets a little older audience of people ages around 18-30.
Both media texts attract their target
audience by including things that the audience can relate to such as the boys
being in sixth form, the target audience would also be in sixth form at that
age so would relate more. The friends target audience could also relate to the
friends living together as many people around that age live with friends.
The two sit-coms use very different styles of
cinematography, ‘The Inbetweeners’ uses a lot of handheld camera shots, these
shaky shots give the whole series a very realistic feel as the shot looks like
you are stood watching the characters instead of using something like a tripod
which gives a very still shot. While they do use steady and still shots in some
scenes handheld shots seem to be the go to shot in ‘The Inbetweeners’ to keep
the realistic feel. On the other hand, In ‘Friends’ the cinematography seems to
be a lot more studio based with most shots being filmed on a tripod or slider.
Classic sit-com over the shoulder shots are used when characters are having
conversations. This gives ‘Friends’ a much more professional studio
feel compared to the realistic feel of the ‘The Inbetweeners’.
Both sit-coms follow in the codes and
conventions of sit-com by having a set where most of the show is shot with the
characters, in ‘The inbetweeners’ this is the sixth form building. We see them
doing things such as going to class, talking to girls and arguing with each
other, while in ‘Friends’ the main set is a coffee shop called central perk.
Both sets have been designed to represent the type of sit-com the audience is
watching. For example, in ‘Friends’ the coffee shop has a more relaxed feel
with sofas and pillows. In contrast the set of ‘The inbetweeners’ is designed
as a classroom and common room. The set includes things such as desks and
chairs, which gives a more professional and tense feeling to the audience as
sixth form is meant to be a time filled with stress and exams.
Sound is a major part that makes a sit-com,
making sure that the audio and dialogue is clear is important for the audience.
Both sit-coms have very good and clear audio, this is probably the result of
using a directional boom mic. Sit-coms also use various sound tracks and
jingles. Jingles are one of the main conventions used in sit-coms, they are
used as a transition and played when switching from one scene to another. For
example, the scene with people talking about going to a shop finishes and the
jingle plays the characters would then be in the shop. In ‘Friends’ they use a
jingle sequence between scenes which is made on a guitar, ‘The inbetweeners’
doesn’t do this exactly the same, instead of using a common jingle, they have
one of the main characters will be the narrator of the episode. He talks over
the split in scenes to create a transition. This gets rid of the need for a
sound effect.
The two sit-coms have quite different editing
styles, in ‘Friends’ they have a lot of cuts and use of multi-camera set ups.
Whereas on ‘The inbetweeners’ they use more longer shots with less cuts and
sometimes only one camera in some scenes.
Overall while both shows follow nearly all of
the codes and conventions of sit-coms, they both have their own unique style
which sets them apart. One sit-com could be very different to another even
though they are both technically situation comedies.
Task 4:- Evaluation
Sit-com Evaluation –
‘The Followers’ & ‘Hardly Students’
The aim of this assignment
was to produce a situation comedy show, as a production team we did this in the
form of ‘The Followers’ and ‘Hardly Students’. These were our two sit-coms that
we worked on for this assignment.
We planned and
produced these sit coms from an initial idea and pitch to a fully edited one 9
minute and one 20 minute long pilot episodes.
Before getting
put into production groups we had to first plan and pitch to an audience our
own sit-com idea. Mine was about a couple that live in the city but the twist
is that their families hate each other, my pitch went well and I explained
clearly my idea to an audience. Though my idea wasn’t picked, the feedback I
received was good.
One of the
first step in creating our sit-coms was learning and researching about the
codes and conventions of what makes a sit-com a sit-com. We needed to
understand these in order to make the show feel like a situation comedy to the
audience.
I researched
sitcoms by watching popular sit-coms shown on TV and analysing them and also by
reading up on the codes and conventions and what it takes for a show to be a
sit-com.
We then
decided as a team the different job roles that we were going to take upon
ourselves. We decided that I would be first assistant director and editor of
both sit-coms. This was going to be a huge task as the first assistant director
is the person who manages the running of the production and the editor makes
the final product a reality. Overall, I believe that I handled these roles very
well. I manged to run the productions and solve many difficult problems when
they occurred. Problems such as actors dropping out, changing locations in the
middle of a shooting day and many other things. I think that I helped direct
the crew without coming across as bossy or angry. Through this assignment I
have learnt what it would take to be a 1ST AD in a real world
production job. By using my experience of directing on previous projects I used
this to my advantage to help me this time.
I also learnt
many new skills while working on this project and being first assistant
director and editor, skills such as scheduling and putting together multi-cam
footage. This was all new to me but I have now learnt these skills and can use
them in the future.
After
completing the necessary pre-production paperwork, I created a shooting
schedule with timings and dates of when we were going to shoot the sit-coms.
Even though that was one of the most stressful parts of production because I
had to try and plan to film when everyone was free and when we had access to
equipment, I think that I did a good job at this seeing as it was the first
time I had ever done a shooting schedule. I did however have to make edits to
the original schedule but this was due to problems out of my control.
Overall
shooting of the sit-com went okay, we had a few issues but we did end up with
what I feel like is a good quality product at the end. As a team we dealt with
major issues such as actors dropping out an hour before shooting was meant to
begin. Instead of stressing and panicking we stayed calm and had a meeting,
changed the script and then re-casted. I think that our quick problem solving
helped to keep the production on track.
Despite the
problems that we faced, we all really enjoyed being on set and the whole
production stage of the assignment. All team
members got on well but when there was problems between crew members they were
fixed quickly before they could get any worse.
We all worked
together well to create a good final product we took each other’s changes and
ideas on set and used them all together to make the production better.
Shooting took
2 weeks and we only had to change the schedule a few times. This meant we were
able to hand in our finish project at the correct deadline date.
Health and
safety was an important factor onset of the sit-coms, to make sure that the
crew was safe we made risk assessments outlining the risks to crew when we are
on location and using equipment. We also just made sure everyone was acting
profession and treated the set like a real show, this stopped people messing
around.
After shooting
it was now my job to put all the footage together and edit it into a final
piece, editing went well and I used my skills to put all the footage which
included over 200 clips together. I added music and Foley sound effects as this
was a requirement of the assignment which had to be met. I also had to edit the
sit-com to the style that is known as sit-com this means including things like
canned laughter Something that I had not done much of before was edit together
multi-camera footage, I took this as a personal challenge to improve my skills
in this. I think that I did a great job at editing and I am happy with how the
final edit looks.
Audio was also
a huge part of this assignment, this was quite new to all of us as all of our
previous projects to this one had either been silent or had music playing over
the top of them which resulted in us not using audio. It was good to learn how
hard it can be to get good, clear audio. In our productions we used a mic on a
boom pole to get audio as it was the easiest way to capture what actors were
saying when they were moving. The audio turned out better than expected and
sounded quite good. We had some issues with audio on set such as a buzzing
noise in the background but we quickly realized that this was because the mic
being too close to the overhead lights which were making an interference noise.
When the final
edit was finished we screened our sit-com to an audience, we asked them for
feedback through the use of a questionnaire. We asked:-
What did you like about the sit-com?
Viewers in the
audience said that they enjoyed the storyline about the teens wanting to be
popular but failing as it was relatable to them.
Does it fit the genre?
The audience
agreed that the show fit the genre of sitcom as it included nearly all of the
codes and conventions of a situation comedy. They could also compare it to
sit-coms that have been released for years.
What would you change?
The audience
said they would like to of seen more comedic moments in the show but apart from
that they enjoyed it.
Can you understand the storyline?
The viewers of
the screening said that the storyline was clear and they understood that the
sitcom was about teens in the later years of school trying to be popular,
throwing a party and it all failing.
Can you hear the audio okay?
Nearly all of
the audience said they could hear the dialogue clearly but there was a little
of background noise in just some of the scenes but overall the audio sounded
good.
Overall I am
happy with the feedback we received from the audience as it was better than my
expectations. I will take the points raised into consideration on my next
project to make sure I improve on areas that weren’t as good as others.
For next time
I would improve things like the schedule to make sure that we plan ahead and
add more time to the schedule as we now know how long things like
makeup will take as we have learnt this from this project.
