P1 Explain original ideas for a digital media product to fit the client brief

Genre Research
A TV genre is a category of show that
involves certain features that make it
recognisable and gives the audience
an insight into what the show will
entail. Genres help the viewers
distinguish between what sort of
show they do and don’t like as
typically each genre has similar
features. For example, horror dramas
would include lots of suspense
scenes with lots of scary characters
and settings.

It is important that people working in the digital media field do their research into the features of different
genres so they can accurately present a theme in any shows they create. They would have to look at how you
can distinguish the features of each genre from each other so that it is clear to the audience what features
they will find in the show they are watching. Genres need to have different features so the audience can relate
to what is going on in the show. If a producer labelled a show as a comedy and then put lots of horror aspects
in it then the viewers would feel misled and the show would probably get negative reviews. Some genres are
suited for different age groups too so if a show designed at kids had too many scary genre aspects then it
would get bad press.

Initial ideas

Science Fiction Drama – Closure

Closure is a science fiction drama that tells the story of a group of teenagers living in a dystopian future
where they feel the Government is up to no good. The group live in the outskirts of a closed off city,
surrounded by huge fencing, and they are forbidden to leave. The wealth and technology is based in the
city centre, leaving the outskirts in poverty. Life isn’t too bad for the group as they spend their time
skating around their neighbourhood that is until they realise something strange is going on with the
people of the city and they think it’s down to the secretive government. This story follows their mission
to find out what is happening to society and why it suddenly seems so unusual.

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Action Drama – Deception

Deception is an action drama that follows the story of a group of five female assassins. They work
together to complete the assassinations set by their boss, who is a misogynist. The twist in the tale
is that the company they work for doesn’t realise they are women, as they wear disguises and use
code names. The group do their best to keep undercover until growing suspicions arise…

Teen Drama – Adolescence

Adolescence is a teen drama that explores the daily ups and downs of teen life. The show follows the
story of a group of teens who are the unlikeliest of friends. The group is made up of Cole, Issy,
Charlie, Emma, Justin, Brooke and Milo, all of which have their own unique storyline that will be
shown throughout the show.

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Demographics

Demographics are the factors and statistical data that impact the concept of a show and the
audience who are most likely to watch it. These factors are: age, life styles, geography, marital
status, life cycle stage, sex, income and profession.

Age is a demographic that determines the age group that are most likely to watch a show. Every
show has an age rating that is assigned by the BBFC that acts as a guide for who the show is
suitable for. Some shows aren’t suitable for younger viewers and parental guidance may be
advised. Most shows require a high age rating because they include mature content that could
upset or offend young viewers. Age has an impact on the drama genre of a show as certain
genres, such as crime and horror, aren’t suitable to people who are sensitive to violence and
graphic scenes, particularly small children. The client brief states that the show is to be aimed at
people aged 15-21 so more mature themes can be included in my programme than if I were to be
assigned with making a children’s TV show. The watershed allows for topics such as drug usage,
sex, violence and other mature themes to be included in the drama I will pitch.

Lifestyle factors impact who is likely to watch a show depending on what they do throughout their
daily lives. People are generally drawn to shows that involve their interests or shows that tackle
issues they have faced during their lives. Depending on the other demographics that are in a show,
lifestyle factors will differ from show to show. Age is a demographic that will be in the E4 show so
it will have a big impact on lifestyle because as you get older your lifestyle factors change as well
as your priorities. As the show is going to be displayed on E4, it means that I can discuss topics
that would relate to the audience, such as school and work life.

Geography is a demographic that depends on the area you live in and the people who live there.
Statistically people are more likely to watch a show that they can relate to because of the
geographical location it is set in. If a show were to be set in Liverpool, it is unlikely someone who
lives in London would watch it because the people from Liverpool have different lifestyles and
dialogue. For my E4 drama, I want to make sure that the show is easy to follow so I wouldn’t give
the characters dialogue that was hard for Brits to follow.

Marital status is a demographic that relates to a person’s relationship status. People in the audience
will either be married, divorced, in a relationship, single or widowed. If a show discusses any topics,
such as divorce, that the viewer may be sensitive towards, then they might avoid watching the
show. In order for my TV show to be successful, I must include appropriate themes that don’t cause
upset to the viewer. If I am going to include relationships in my show I will make sure the show has a
description before each episode to act as a warning. Most E4 shows tend to include relationships so
I will likely include one but one that has a positive impact on the audience and not a negative one
that will cause upset.

Life cycle stage is a demographic closely related to age. It depends on the age group that are most
likely to watch a show, for example, the E4 show is aimed at people aged 15-21, which would be
classed as young adults. A young adult isn’t going to want to watch a show that has a rating of U or
even a 12 because they won’t find the topics in the show interesting and will have likely outgrown
the topics and characters. It is important to make sure that any topics in the show will be geared
towards the age group; otherwise there won’t be many viewers. E4 is known for having shows that
are aimed at young adults and they always include themes that they know people of the age group
will enjoy and relate to, so I will try to incorporate similar themes into my show.

Sex is the demographic that depends on the gender of a person. A successful TV show has a diverse
cast made up of different genders. If the cast is made up of one gender, an audience of the same
gender are more likely to watch it, meaning there won’t be as many people from the other genders

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watching it. For my E4 drama I will include a diverse group so the show appeals to a larger
audience.

Income is the demographic that relates to how much money a person or group earns. Depending
on if you have a low or high income; you will likely be interested in shows that have characters and
settings that are related to your income. Geography is related to income as some parts of the world
are wealthier or in more poverty than other places. If a show has people from a wealthy
background in then it is more likely to be watched by people who have a high income. My E4 show
features groups that have a low income and groups that have a higher income so that hopefully
there will be a balanced audience.

Profession is the demographic that depends on what you work as. People are generally more drawn
to shows that are related to their role because they will understand it or they may be drawn to a
role that is the opposite of what they do, this could be because they are interested to find out about
other professions. It’s important that producers do their research into different professions so they
give an accurate representation of them in their show. If the show is purely based upon a certain
profession, for example a detective profession, it would be handy for them to do research into the
job and then try and accurately present it.

In order for my show to be successful, I must consider the demographics that are linked with E4.
The demographics that are usually used in the shows shown on E4 are age, geography and life cycle
stage. The shows shown are often aimed at teenage groups so the age group of the characters in
the show is usually about topics that relate to growing up. Geography affects the dialogue spoken
by the characters and shows such as Skins and the Inbetweeners use dialogue that people from the
areas can relate to, so I would like to consider the geography in my show to make a script from the
dialogue spoken in the area the show is set. Life cycle closely links in with age as it affects who will
want to watch the show depending on the stage in their life that they are at.

For my Sci-Fi drama I will consider life cycle stage, geography and lifestyles as my main
demographics. The main characters in the show are young adults and this impacts my storyline
because it’s generally themed around the interests that young people have. The geographical
location of the show is America so I would plan to include dialogue that is frequently used by
Americans and the setting will also closely resemble an American neighbourhood and city. As for
lifestyles, my characters all live quite similar lives as they are nearly always together in the show
and have similar hobbies. As most dramas for young people are typically set in America and are
themed around the lives of young people, I thought I would set my drama there so it appeals to a
wider audience, including people from all around the world. E4 generally have shows that are set in
the UK so this will be a bit different to what they normally air on the channel. Seeing as the show is
animated, the show can still be made in the UK but voice actors who can speak with an American
accent will need to be hired.

The action drama will be themed around the demographics of sex, profession and life styles. Sex
(gender) is important in the plot of this show as the main theme is sexism. The characters are an all-
girl group that are employed as assassins, which you could stereotypically say would be a male
dominated industry. I have mixed action and gender together in the hope that the show will appeal
to everyone, not just one group of people. Profession links into gender as, like I mentioned before,
women typically don’t become a role that involves lots of violence and challenging these
stereotypes makes for an interesting show dynamic. The profession that the group have is quite
exciting and suspenseful and I would hope that this would engage the audience as well as inspire
them. Finally, I will consider life styles as this closely relates to the two other demographics. The
group have quite extraordinary lifestyles that not many regular people would get to experience for
them so by presenting an action packed lifestyle through the characters; I am giving them an insight
into how assassins live. Obviously very few people will relate to this lifestyle but that’s what makes

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the show interesting, because not many people will be educated on what assassins do. I would want
to research into the role of assassins before making the show so that it isn’t made up and gives
some form of an accurate representation. E4 are up for experimenting with topics that aren’t often
presented through the media so assassination would probably be a topic they would consider
exploring based on the fact it’s not talked about often.

The final TV drama concept I have is my teen drama. Teen dramas often pay close attention to
demographics such as age, lifestyles and life cycle stage. The audience of the show will typically be
young adults or teens because the characters are around the same age as them and are going
through the same stages of their life. This closely relates to life cycle stage as the show will cover
issues that teens can relate to because they are going through their teenage years like the
characters. The lifestyles will be similar to the intended audiences because the show evolves around
the characters school lives and the lifestyle choices they make revolve around the problems they
face at school.

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Financial constraints

Financial constraints are the factors that need to be considered when spending a budget on a
show. The constraints I need to consider are: paying actors, buying equipment, hiring a location to
film at, employing extras and paying more well-known actors a high amount of money.

I have considered how I am going to use my budget for my TV pitch so that everything is affordable
and done in the most efficient way possible. Ideally I would want to employ voice actors who I can
pay an equal amount to. If I employed actors who were to be filmed on the camera, it would be
more costly but because it is an animation, I am able to just have voice actors. The fact that these
actors won’t be well known allows for me to save money for other aspects of production, the
audience won’t be able to see the voice actors faces on screen so it makes no difference if they are
famous or not. Another way I could keep the cost down is if I were to ask one voice actor to do
multiple characters voices on the show instead of just sticking to one character, this means the
money that would be spread amongst multiple actors can just be spent on a small amount of actors.
As for extras and famous actors, I would likely just ask the main actors to voice any smaller roles in
the show aside from their main role. I don’t think I would employ any famous actors to do the voice
over because most the budget would go towards employing them and not the creation of the show.
The location, equipment and crew link in together for my drama because I would rent out a studio
for the crew and actors to work in. Typically the budget would need to be spent on hiring out a
place to film or transporting the crew to a location to film the show, but because it is an animation,
the crew will stay in the studio where they can use equipment to make the animation. The show
can be set anywhere in the world and the crew just need to stay put and create an animation based
at the location it is set at. In terms of equipment and props, the crew would just need the suitable
equipment needed for the creation of animation and recording audio. Usually dramas involve lots of
cameras, lighting, microphones, sets and costumes but I am not using these things in my show
seeing as it’s created digitally. As a substitute for filming equipment, the budget will be going
towards high end software and technological equipment that is required for the creation of the
animation. There will be a high demand for drawing tablets and microphones as these are the
pieces of equipment that are required for the creation and recording of the animation.

Seeing as my show isn’t going to be a real life drama, I don’t have to prioritise spending the budget
on certain things that are typically involved in the creation of a show. When filming a show, most
the budget goes into the constraints mentioned above and the producers have to carefully plan out
how they are going to spend their budget wisely. If they run out of money for their show they could
generate more income by considering crowdfunding, advertising, product placement and/or
crowdsourcing. Crowdfunding is where the company sets up a fund raiser that the public can
donate to; the donations go towards paying for the shows production as well as promotion of the
show. Anyone who contributes to the crowdfunding would receive exclusive content and maybe
even be mentioned in the credits. The production team would give early access sneak peaks of clips
from the show as a reward. If the show made a decent profit after the release, the contributors
would receive their money back with a profit, so it acts a bit like an investment. Adverts are the
sponsorships that are shown during the advert breaks during the shows air time. A company
sponsors the show so they have more money and so that their product is advertised to a wider
audience. In my show, product placement could be achieved by displaying certain logos belonging
to any companies who sponsor the show or the characters could be animated interacting with a
product owned by a specific company. Crowdsourcing would be another effective way to advertise
and promote the show through the use of social media. The public could share the adverts posted
by E4 across the internet on various social media sites, allowing for widespread publicity, attracting
a large audience. All of these methods allow for a healthy budget to be maintained as the show
would be funded by sponsors and the public would essentially be doing free advertising for E4.

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Legal Constraints

The legal constraints that apply to TV dramas include: Ofcom, Copyright & Plagiarism, Equal rights,
Health & Safety, BBFC Ratings and the Channel 4 Remit. All of these constraints impact the way a
show is produced in order to ensure that the company isn’t breaking any laws.

Ofcom (The Office of communications) deal with complaints that are made by the public about
broadcasted media, such as TV. If there are a number of complaints held against a show, they have
the authority to tell the show producers that they are breaking the laws set by them and they may
have to make adjustments to the show so it’s not offending a large group of people. If you don’t
apply to Ofcom’s rules, you could be taken to Parliament.

Copyright and Plagiarism is the law that prevents people from stealing other creators ideas. It
applies to all forms of media and gives creators control of how and where their creation is used. If
someone created a TV show that is too similar to one that has already been made, the original
creator can charge the person or even take them to court. To ensure you aren’t stealing someone’s
existing idea, you must do research before planning the concepts for your TV show. Any ideas that
the show creators come up with would have to be researched to ensure that it hadn’t already been
used in an existing show or other digital media product. It is also important that the creators claim
copyright protection on the ideas for their show as they progress through the production stages to
make sure that the ideas aren’t stolen before the release of the show. To find out if material is
copyrighted, the producers would need to visit a website such as www.copyright.gov/records to find
out if an idea has already been used.

The Equal Rights Law ensures that all people in the workplace are treated equally. If someone in the
personnel is discriminated against during the creation of a show, they can take who ever
discriminated against them to court. It also means that all job roles should be accessible for
everyone, not just a group of people, this allows fairness in the workplace.

The Health and Safety law ensures the workplace has suitable, safe conditions to work in. Risk
assessments must take place to ensure there are limited hazards for the work crew whilst they are
working. If a member of the crew feels that their employer hasn’t done sufficient assessments and
they feel they are in danger, they can go as fair as to contacting their local enforcing authority for
health and safety. If someone does become injured due to the working conditions, it will reflect
badly on the employer and they may receive bad press for it. This act would need to be considered
during all the production stages of the show, especially during the main production stage as this will
be when the personnel are using lots of technical equipment that could easily cause them to
become injured (if they, for example, tripped on a wire or a piece of equipment spontaneously
combusted from overheating)

The BBFC Ratings are designed to give the public an insight in to the age group a show is suitable for.
The law is applied to all TV shows and gives an overview of any mature themes involved. If the
producers fail to create a suitable show to be published, the BBFC can decide not to give it a rating,
meaning it can’t be released. The target audience for the E4 drama is ages between 15-21, meaning
that a 15 certificate would be needed for the show in order to prevent younger audiences from
watching it.

The Channel 4 Remit is the standards that Channel 4 lives up to in the production of their shows.
Their channel evolves around taking risks, being diverse, being inspirational and spreading
awareness through their shows. All these points are to be taken into consideration when planning a
show that is going to be released on Channel 4, failing to consider them may mean the show won’t
be aired.

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Because the brief I have been assigned with was set with the intentions of being shown on E4, I
must take into consideration all of the laws mentioned above to ensure that I am not fined or
prevented from releasing the show. These laws have to be considered by all producers otherwise
they won’t be able to release their work to the public.

Glossary

Ofcom - h`ps://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/what-is-ofcom

Copyright and Plagiarism - h`ps://copyrightservice.co.uk/_f/8215/8193/9720/edupack.pdf

Equal Rights - h`ps://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance#overview

Health and Safety - h`ps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/law.pdf

BBFC Ratings - h`ps://www.bbfc.co.uk/industry-services/video-ra@ngs

Channel 4 Remit - h`ps://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channel-4s-remit