22.02.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

 GETTING ORGANISED

This week, we got everything organised for our filming, which starts next week.  In order to get everything together, these are things we completed:

• Rehearsal schedule
• Filming schedule
• Rehearsals
• Props list & who will bring in what
• Costumes for each character
• Assigned videographer and director for each scene

This was the schedule:

15.02.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

SERIES RESEARCH

Cuckoo is a British sitcom which first aired in 2012.  It is set in Lichfield, Staffordshire (North of Birmingham).  The Thompson family consist of Ken (Greg Davies), Lorna (Helen Baxendale), Rachel (Tamla Kari) and Dylan (Tyger Drew-Honey).  Rachel was a very smart, well-behaving child and decides to go to Thailand on her gap year.  She comes back with a husband, Cuckoo (Andy Samberg).  Cuckoo is an American hippie with different values to the Thompson family, yet he moves in with them.  Ken isn't happy with Cuckoo invading his household, but Cuckoo is oblivious and naïve to it.  

Outline to Series 1, Episode 2; Family Meeting

Ken is annoyed at Cuckoo being naked in the house, so he tells Cuckoo to wear clothes, with the exception of when he is in the bathroom or in his and Rachel's bedroom.

At Rachel's coming home party, Ken's best friend Steve is horrified to see photos of his 16-year-old daughter, Zoe, on Ken's digital camera. Ken explains that Dylan - who is attracted to her - took them.

08.02.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

SCRIPT READ-THROUGH

As the episode we wanted to create didn't have a script, I had to watch the episode and write it out.  This took a very long time.  When we were in the lesson today, we did a read-through (without the year 12's initially & then another one with them).  It was quite static and didn't have much flow, which is expected for the first time.  As time goes on, I expect us to get smoother and get better comedic timing as the rehearsals progress.  It was a lot of fun, though, and we are all very happy with the show and episode we have chosen.

01.02.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

We had a meeting today to discuss our pre-production roles.  These are things we have to get done before we start filming in order to be prepared for filming.  The tasks we need to get done are:

• Production manager
• Storyboard
• Costume, props, set, hair and makeup
• Script writing

James was assigned as the production manager which means that he is going to be in charge of the pre-production and will organise and plan meetings, rehearsals and will lead discussions and sessions.

Amelie and Tristan are both creating the storyboard.  Storyboarding is a long task to do, so they've split it in half.  Amelie will do the first half of the episode and Tristan will do the last half of the episode.

Hugo and Silvana are taking care of the costume, props, set, hair and makeup.  They will organise which set and props we will need for each scene.  They will also let us know which hair, costume and makeup we should have.

I am going to be writing the script.  The episode we chose doesn't have a script available online, so I will be writing it so we can rehearse and learn the lines.  

28.01.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

RACHEL

CHARACTER PROFILE:

Name: Rachel

Age: Roughly 19

Job:  No job, lives at home with the parents

Role within family: Wife to Cuckoo, daughter to Ken and Lorna, sister to Dylan

In the show, Rachel is played by Tamla Kari in series 1 and Esther Smith from series 2 onwards.  I will be focusing my research on Tamla Kari as she played Rachel in the episode that we will be recreating.  Tamla is roughly 1m70, has brown hair, blue/green eyes and pale skin.  I fit that description pretty well besides my hair being lighter and I don't have bangs.  She has a bit more of a northern accent than myself, which I'm not the best at doing so I will practice it.

CIRCUMSTANCES:

Today we created a document with implied and given circumstances.  This helps us figure out more about our character.  Here are the results for my character, Rachel.

She’s gone away for a gap year & is married –
"I can’t wait to see people’s faces!  I go away for my gap year and I come back married. "

- Rachel

She kissed a French exchange -
"Dad, did you know about my kiss with the French exchange? "
- Rachel

Rachel has a bad taste in men -
"I always imagined Rachel would marry someone educated, someone with ambition.  I’d respect his opinions and, most importantly, and I think this is the key here, never ever see his wang or nuts. "
- Ken

She makes fun of Dylan - 
"Ha-ha, Dylan! "
- Rachel

"Ah, dude, have you still not made a move on Zoe Chance?  Mum, you know the only reason he started lifeguarding was so he could perve on Zoe in her swimming costume. "
- Rachel

"Desperation Pour Homme?"
- Rachel

She thinks of other people -
"No!  We could live on the street and be just as happy.  We only stay here so you and Mum don’t worry. "
- Rachel

She thinks Cuckoo is sweet -
"If Dad starts complaining, just… be strong, don’t let him exploit your sweet nature, okay? "
- Rachel

She’s in love with Cuckoo -
"How did I ever get you? "
- Rachel

"Okay.  Yeah.  I got married, er… to the most inspirational person I have ever met.  His name is Cuckoo. "
- Rachel

She’s sexually attracted to Cuckoo -
"And what about when I’m making love to Rachel?"
- Cuckoo

"What about when I’m making love to Rachel in the shower? "
- Cuckoo

She tries to be fair -

"Okay, well, here’s an idea.  Why don’t we vote?"
- Rachel

"Dad, if Cuckoo isn’t gonna be naked in the house, I really think you should put your books in the garage."
- Rachel

She’s quite outspoken/headstrong -
"No!  No!  No, Dad!  You’re not getting away with this.  You’re always going on about how the strong shouldn’t impose on the weak, and here you are in your own house lording it over everyone.  You’re like a dictator.  In fact, you’re like Hitler. "
- Rachel

She’s quite naïve into thinking that Ken was fair -
"But it was so meaningful, how you let us have that vote.  Letting us decide as a family in a fair way, just showed you respected me, you know. "
- Rachel

She loves her dad -
"I love you, Dad. "
- Rachel

She doesn’t trust her mum not to tell -

"Mum, you promise you haven’t told any of the guests about Cuckoo? "

- Rachel

27.01.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

In this lesson, we discussed which TV show we would use for this unit.  We all decided that a sitcom would be our type of show of choice as it's light hearted and fun.  We watched an example from a couple years ago where they did Brooklyn 99.  This is definitely very funny and it was in our options.  We were discussing between:

• Brooklyn 99
• Parks and Recreation
• Friends
• The Office (US)
• Modern Family

We all liked Brooklyn 99 and Modern Family, but we didn't have enough people to play the characters.  We wanted the main characters to be in our year and we wanted to use the year below for extras.  The Office (US) was our initial idea which we all thought was very funny, however, we have 3 girls and 4 boys and there isn't enough characters for the genders.  Although Friends would be a good option, none of us were that excited about it.  

We eventually decided to go with Cuckoo.  We looked at some episodes which we all found very funny.  The amount of characters work as well which is important.  The other less major characters will be played by the year below.  The episode we found didn't have a script so we will have to write it out.  

The characters we will have are:

• Cuckoo: Hugo
• Rachel: Emma
• Lorna: Amelie
• Ken: James
• Dylan: Louis
• Connie: Silvana
• Steve: Tristan

Our extras are:

• Zoe: Olivia
• Charlie: Alessandro
• Kelly: Maddy
• Kelly's Husband: James
• Toby: Alan
• Toby's Girlfriend: Ella

25.01.2021 - Film and TV acting - Mrs Williams

FILM TERMS

Shot Types

Establishing shot: Establishes the setting and scene

Extreme long shot: Shows the whole subject with space above and/or below

Long shot: Shows the whole subject with head at the top of the frame and feet at the bottom

Medium long shot: Shows subject from knees to head

Medium shot: Shows subject from waist to head

Medium close-up: Shows subject from chest to head

Close-up: Shows subject's head

Extreme close-up: Shows a detail of the subject like the eyes

Over-the-shoulder shot: Shot over the shoulder to show another subject

Point-of-view shot: Shot to look like it's from a character's eyes

Camera Angles

Medium angle: Straight on

High angle: From above, makes subject look small/scared

Low angle: From below, makes subject look intimidating/big

Bird's eye view: From directly above

Worm's eye view: From the ground

Focus

Deep focus: Subjects in foreground and background are in focus

Shallow focus: Subjects in foreground are in focus but background is out of focus

Sharp focus: Good clarity and definition

Soft focus: Edge of subject looks softer to give romantic feel

Movements

Tracking: Following the subject

Panning: Camera moving horizontally from a fixed position

Tilting: Camera moving vertically from a fixed position

Zooming: Camera getting closer or further away from a subject

Handheld: Not on a tripod, gives the sense of action