You must generate thoroughly thought-through ideas for a single camera production showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations.
Analysis: The Office (US)
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Clip analysed: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10BsNCtK-hgBI0PsfyfhRD_0HSMLBNnQt/view?usp=sharing
The Office utilizes a fake documentary or mockumentary style in its filmmaking that seemingly creates a type of tragic humor, and actor Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on the show, summaries this perfectly as, "less a comedy of awkwardness and more a comedy of reactivity." The Office often tends to walk a fine line between the absurd and realism with a mixture of pathos, absurdity, truthfulness and whimsical that work together perfectly. The clip I am going to be analysing is from the pilot episode of The Office. This episode follows some conventions of a pilot episode:
The pilot starts off with the show's title sequence showcasing a variety of shots of Scranton and the Dunder Mifflin company building that gives the audience a very good idea of the setting and the atmosphere of the place these characters reside in. The first few establishing shots show some buildings, traffic and a road sign that reads "Scranton Welcomes You", which clues the audience into the predominantly uneventful and small nature of this town's existence, creating a world of mundane dullness which most people live in, thus enabling an audience's identification with the setting and hence the characters - The Office is essentially a piece of satire on the issues that plague actual corporate office in the United States, such as sexism, gender-based, racial and other kinds of discrimination.
33 seconds in introduces us to Jim and a further 56 seconds to the show's protagonist Michael Scott. We get a sense of both of their characters not simply through their dialogue and body language, but also through the camera movement of the lack of it. An example of this is when Michael says "manager to manager" and the camera cuts to a still lower angle of the office, perhaps connoting through its lack of movement the absence of excitement or concern over Michael's statement of authority and simultaneously establishing his so-called reign over this office and all those in it - a place Michael likes to refer to as in his mind as his "kingdom". This sets up his character arc for the rest of the show along with its premise. The show uses its fake documentary style to its advantage by having Michael give the camera, and hence the audience, a tour around the office introducing Pam Beesly, and her reaction to his over-the-top antics give us an idea of her character arc. Furthermore, the talking heads mirror the nature of confessionals, where the characters confess their inner-most thoughts and feelings to the camera and the audience - an aside in Shakespearian terms. This is especially helpful in the pilot as it establishes the characters and where their priorities lie at the moment and how they change and develop with them in time.
The Office utilizes a fake documentary or mockumentary style in its filmmaking that seemingly creates a type of tragic humor, and actor Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on the show, summaries this perfectly as, "less a comedy of awkwardness and more a comedy of reactivity." The Office often tends to walk a fine line between the absurd and realism with a mixture of pathos, absurdity, truthfulness and whimsical that work together perfectly. The clip I am going to be analysing is from the pilot episode of The Office. This episode follows some conventions of a pilot episode:
- Introduction to setting, eg: Dunder Millflin.
- Introduction to characters, eg: Jim and Michael both introduce themselves and their jobs in their talking heads which allows the audience to immediately gain context regarding their characters and story arc throughout the show.
- Introduction to major plot points to be resolved over next several episodes and seasons, eg: Jim and Pam's romance
The pilot starts off with the show's title sequence showcasing a variety of shots of Scranton and the Dunder Mifflin company building that gives the audience a very good idea of the setting and the atmosphere of the place these characters reside in. The first few establishing shots show some buildings, traffic and a road sign that reads "Scranton Welcomes You", which clues the audience into the predominantly uneventful and small nature of this town's existence, creating a world of mundane dullness which most people live in, thus enabling an audience's identification with the setting and hence the characters - The Office is essentially a piece of satire on the issues that plague actual corporate office in the United States, such as sexism, gender-based, racial and other kinds of discrimination.
33 seconds in introduces us to Jim and a further 56 seconds to the show's protagonist Michael Scott. We get a sense of both of their characters not simply through their dialogue and body language, but also through the camera movement of the lack of it. An example of this is when Michael says "manager to manager" and the camera cuts to a still lower angle of the office, perhaps connoting through its lack of movement the absence of excitement or concern over Michael's statement of authority and simultaneously establishing his so-called reign over this office and all those in it - a place Michael likes to refer to as in his mind as his "kingdom". This sets up his character arc for the rest of the show along with its premise. The show uses its fake documentary style to its advantage by having Michael give the camera, and hence the audience, a tour around the office introducing Pam Beesly, and her reaction to his over-the-top antics give us an idea of her character arc. Furthermore, the talking heads mirror the nature of confessionals, where the characters confess their inner-most thoughts and feelings to the camera and the audience - an aside in Shakespearian terms. This is especially helpful in the pilot as it establishes the characters and where their priorities lie at the moment and how they change and develop with them in time.
Screenplay
Despite having written 7 scenes, I decided to only shoot the first 5 due to scheduling conflicts with my actors. This allowed me to direct more of focus towards improving the quality of the first 5 scenes in this opening sequence.
Storyboard
Location Scouting
I scouted three main locations:
- British School Muscat
- My house
- A street on the side of a semi-busy road
British School Muscat, area outside school:
I made this location one of the key locations where my protagonist would have a conversation with the ghost of her dead best friend. I choose it as this location signifies a connection to the outside world and the natural world, connoting the characters' connection with the supernatural. Furthermore, this area, while being situated on the school grounds, is placed away from the classrooms, which might require the protagonist's divided attention, disabling the purpose of the scene 5 that offers the resolution to this opening sequence. This location will also help generate an atmosphere of isolation and the supernatural as the characters interact with each other. |