Planning

Notes:

Choose simular show example 

example: 6pm on I.T.V ___________ my thoughts are 

Secondary research and find the review, data (stats) Newspaper, channel stats.  

how does this apply to my live project. 

Online research:

The prize round:

Using the link above, on 'den of geek' on the 22/10/18, I went through what was different in the two different countries. I personally saw many differences in the shows and this site shows that I wasn't the only one. This website shows that the show overall is shorter and has less of the original content in it. The US version has only 3 tasks over the whole show whereas the UK show has 5. They also took out the prize round, or the opening round that happens in the original UK version, 'in the UK version, the prize task is the first of each week, in which all five contestants each bring in a themed item (most unusual, meaningful, surprisingly expensive) to create that episode's prize collection.' Then they go on to say... 'That's been scrapped for the US show, which instead has one contestant an episode bring in an item they own that they really don't want to lose. Early examples of this include a laptop and a cherished childhood toy.' This to me doesn't make sense or is a strange change to make the shows differ. I think the first show has more of a balance, making all of the contestants every episode feel more at risk at losing something they cherish. The UK version of the show makes more sense even if the US has each contestant bring in an item the same amount of times as each other as the UK version makes it part of the show, ranking the items on the theme. However, the US version makes it more out of the show onto the side and not really making it feel as relevant to the show. This is one reason why I liked the format of the UK vision better.

The Tasks:

Another reason why I chose to make my show more like the original UK vision rather than the copycat US vision was that it feels like just that, a copycat of the original using the same tasks and setting it out slightly different. For example, in this article, they said 'The US tasks are so far a repeat of the UK tasks. Get the basketball through the hoop without touching it, do something backwards that looks impressive in reverse' My conclusion is that I am better looking at the original to see the original content and how it was presented to get the original way the show should feel and look to make my piece more genuine and not feel like a copy of a copy of the original show.

View rates:

It was really hard for me to find any information on either of the shows and in the end, I couldn't find anything about the US views but there has only been one series and 8 episodes so that kind of information may have not been released to the public eye yet. However, for the British Taskmaster, I could only find the approximated view rate on Wikipedia, even though an unreliable web page this information didn't have any links outside of it and was the only views counts I could locate. Below are the by season (tables) by episode (by column) charts that I found on the 10/11/18 

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Author Name: 

Emily Morgan

Title of Show:

Deconstruction of Taskmaster

The format of Show:

Comedy Game Show

 Log-line:

4 contestants take on a simple task to see who can come up with the bests solution to then be judged by the host, the task lord. 3 task to determine who will win. The show is made up of 3 pre-recorded tasks, made up of 2 individual tasks and a team task; and a live task that they all do within 60 seconds. Then the host will judge the contestant.

Treatment: 

Starts with a title opening sequence of an overview of the episode, funny moments and making it something that draws the audience in. For example of the show, season one took things like smashing watermelons and the contestants in positive moods (smiling at the camera and laughing) to provoke the audience's interests in what they were doing. 

Then go into a wide to mid shot of the host, they give the introduction that will last around 15 to 30 seconds then they will introduce the contestants to the show one by one, each contestant will get around 15 to 30 seconds to introduce themselves. Saying things like where they are from and a comment on what they think about how they did, this is led by the host of the show. 

Then we go onto the first pre-recorded task, they explain in the studio what the task is in a brief summary and then show a short opener, lasting around 30-60 seconds this consists of the consistency reading the challenge and their first thoughts. Then the host will go over what they have to do in a little more detail, lasting around another 30-60 seconds. Then it will cut to either 1 person doing the task or a combo of a few of them doing the task or all of them doing the task depending if some of them or all of them came up with the same solution or if someone came up with a unique solution. These VT's will last however long the tasks did when they are quick if a long task/ solution they will be cut to last around 2-3 minutes each. 

This format is the same for the other 2 pre-recorded tasks and the pre-recorded team task. There are 2 breaks, signified with sting and a bumper. These breaks will happen after the second task and after the team task. The bumper will begin with a string of the host saying it is the end of what 1 or 2 then cut to the bumper card sequence that will have the host holding something saying end of part one or two and then another bumper will appear with a similar sequence with part two on it after end of part one and part three will be after end of part two. 

 After the second break there will be the live task that they will have 60- 100 seconds to complete, live together. There will be a wide shot of all the contestants this will be filmed as a lock on Panasonic camera and two locks off Panasonic camera as mid shots of  

After that they will sit back down and they will see who was the winner of the show, then the host will say their closing statement on the show and this will be around 15-20 seconds then they will thank the contestants for coming on the show and thank the audience for watching, this will add another 20-30 second to the ending of the show. 

 Finally, the camera will pull back, muting all microphones as the camera pulls out and roll credits over the footage of the contestants and host talking. This will last for around 15-30 seconds before dipping to black. 

Character Breakdown:

host personality- ENTJ -A

This personality type is overall outgoing and self-confident. I want a personality like this for the host as I am looking for a personality type like Greg Davies. He has a 'don't care what people think' personality, especially on the show I am basing my show off taskmaster, that would add to the show. 

Contestants personality- 

Overall I would sum up the personality types as the following- INTP to ESPF

meaning there are varied extroverts or introverts to show interesting to see how different people deal with the situation. 

Target Audience-

My target audience is based in England as I am deconstructing the British show not the American version. 
They are male and their age range is 18- late 20s. 
They are either living at home with their parents, at uni or renting or thinking about buying their first time home with their spouse. 
They are people who are average to above average in intelligence. 

Visual Elements:

Lighting- 

Most of the VT's lighting will be all natural as we will be filming in and out and moving around places. In the studio when reacting to the VT's I will try to use as much natural lighting as possible and use soft lights if need be to slightly amplify the lighting. I would do this by having a soft three-point lighting system using 2 lights as the backing and main light and using a warm (gold) reflector as the filler light to give the softest look to the lighting as possible. I am doing this very different from the show as I want the mood of the studio-based shots to feel more open and warm rather than a harsh light on the contestants and the host. This is a big contrast to the actual show as they use hash lighting, the reason I have gone agents this because I want the studio and VT transitions to look seamless. 

Camera Movement-

Studio:

There will be 2-3 cameras at all times, I will have two Panasonic camera locked on filming a wide shot when filming the studio things and the other on the host. There will also be a lock off Panasonic cameras focused on the contestants. 

Task (VT's):

Most stand still tasks will be filmed with a wide lock on Panasonic camera and a DSLR camera as a lock off camera so it is easier to film with and move if the talent moves out of shot of the wide shot or leaves the room for something and the camera needs to follow them. 

Editing-

I am not filming using vision mixer as I am not filming in the studio. I am not going to use the studio because I need to be in different places for different things, for example, there is a public task so I will have to film somewhere with a lot of people i.e. in the hub or outside the tower block. I will be recording the studio multi-camera in the library booking room, I am hoping to get it as a double room to do so I will book it weeks in advance. 

Setting-

I want the setting to be open and light, I will be filming inside and out. So the setting will vary. For the studio, I will be using the library so I can project the VT's and make clean cuts within editing. The setting will be simple but effective. This is one of the differences I had to make from the actual show for the convenience of time restraints

Props-

The props I need are in the following list:

- Alphabet spaghetti 
-Paper
-Scissors
-Can opener
-Tape
-paint/pens
-dies game
-4 toilet roll  
-4 packs of skittles 
-4 pairs of chopsticks
- Minion 
- Picture of the Task Master 
-Box

Costumes-

Host:

The host will wear something Smart Casual, smart top and jeans. 

Contestants:

For tasks, the contestants can wear whatever they would like to wear and in the studio they to will wear a smart casual look. 

Audio Elements:

Soundtrack:

The soundtrack that I am using is the same as taskmaster which was made by one of the co-hosts Alex Horne called 'The Horne Section'. 

Rationale:

The reason I chose to create a deconstruction of taskmaster is that I enjoy the show and I wanted to get a better idea of how much work went into the show. I also saw how it could be fun and fairly simple to film if I put my personal spin on it, also making sightly simpler tasks as I didn't have as much time as they do to create the show. I think that this would make a good multi-camera idea for this project because it is a lot of improvements and one shot takes so it would be fairly simple to film, then when filming the studio there are a few things we can re-take but other than that it is, again, one shot filming. This makes it easier and quicker and I feel like that will be a strong pro for this project as it is really strict on the time restraints. 

Primary and Secondary Research:

Requirements and Resources:

Crew: 

Emily Morgan- 

Director, Creator, Producer, Editor, Camera Operator lock off camera 1 for tasks and Co-Host of the show when in the studio. She will be on the lock off camera that focuses on Courtney and Tom in the live task but when sitting down and the contestants are not performing the live task she will be sat next to Caitlin Explaining the Tasks.

Cat Barns/ Chris/ Kira and James- 

Camera Operator . They will be focusing on the contestants when filming the studio shoot. They will be in control of the tracking camera of the task VT shoots and will be filming Dylan and Dean/ Courtney and Dylan in the Live Task. 

Talent:

Caitlin Groves: 

The host of the show she will be reacting and judging the contestants giving them points for what they achieved within the task. 

Tom Sparrow:

Contestant One will be doing the tasks and reacting to the other contestant's way of doing tasks. I also have given him some 'special' tasks, that he alone will do. Including being the person doing the tasks the other people will create for him. He is Courtney's partner for the team tasks. 

Dean Watts:

Contestant Two, he will be doing the set tasks and reacting to how the others complete them too. He will create a task for Tom to do and also have a few tasks of his own, he alone will do, too. He is Dylan's partner for the team tasks. 

Courtney Beckett:

Contestant Three, she is the only female contestant within the show, like the show taskmaster of the first 4 series having only one female contestant. She will be reacting to how the others perform the tasks and she will be creating a task for Tom and is his partner in the team tasks. 

Dylan Murphy:  

Contestant Four the last contestant of the show, he will react to how the others will be doing the tasks,  completing tasks and creating a task for Tom and he is Dean's partner for the team tasks. 

Constraints and Considerations:

Budget:

- Alphabet spaghetti- x5 20p= £1

-Paper- 50p

-Scissors- 0p

-Tape- £1

-paint/pens- £2

-dies game- 0p

-4 toilet roll - £1

-10 fun size packs of skittles- £1

-4 pairs of chopsticks-0p

- Minion-0p

- Picture of the Task Master-2p

-Box-0p

Total-£6.52 I am rounding up the budget up to £10 to have some extra in case of needing to replace or get a substitute of something else.

Paperwork-

I am putting all of my paperwork in a folder on Onedrive as it has information that I don't want public, ie, Personal phone numbers of my talent, crew and myself. Postal Codes est. Here is the link.