CHANGES

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TV DRAMA PROPOSAL
WORKING TITLE
CHANGES

SERIES DESCRIPTON

Based in a small fictitious commuter town in Hertfordshire, on the outskirts of

London, Changes follows the fortunes of a group of three friends and how
are altered by a strange occurrence.

PLOT OUTLINES

The audience is first shown a small rock sizzling in a crater, indicating it has
recently fallen from the sky. In the distance, shoes can be seen walking
towards the crater slowly before stopping right in front of it. Left wondering
who the person is, the audience get a closure look at the strange rock before
the title sequence commences.
Three childhood best friends are sat in the home of one of their bedrooms,
staring at the rock as one of them reveals it is from last nights meteor shower
and found it nearby the crash site. They inspect the object and after making
first contact with it, they unknowingly give the rock the power to alter reality
as they enter a parallel world where they have remained unaffected but
begin to notice slow and subtle changes in their own lives, friends and family.

Each of the teenagers experience a change in fortune, some good and some
bad. As the drama continues, the changes become more frequent and
colossal, until they realise all what has happened comes down to the rock
that they found. Ultimately, they are faced with the dilemma of do they
remain in the parallel world or figure out how to correct it.

The immediate subtle changes include family arguments becoming an

everyday occurrence in the Woods family, Harrys mother is diagnosed with a
illness and McKenzies father decides to stop drinking and smoking. These
changes cause friction within the group, and the episodes follow the changes
within their friendships.

CHARACTERS

Grace McKenzie {16} - With her bold, daring and witty personality, Grace is
often the one who makes the decisions, not always the right ones but the
most fun ones and is always looking for an adventure. She lives as a only
child, with her alcoholic father and desperately longs to get his attention the
same way she did when her mother was alive. Through her rebellious acts
and stunts, she wants her father to look at her rather than his beer bottle

Harry Fletcher {16} - Harry has known Grace all his life, and they get on well
together as he has a similar sense of humour, is easy going, has a passion for
sports. His father is a ex-army sergeant, now working as a prison warden and
his older brother is following in his fathers by having joined the army. Harry is
expected to take the same path as his brother, but doesnt want to.

Alex Woods {16} - Alex is more academic of the three, with a greater maturity
and wants to follow the rules rather than break them. However, no matter
how he hard he tries to keep him friends out of trouble, he is always dragged
into their antics. Alex is an A grade student, with career aspirations of being
a scientist like his mother. His father works on the stock exchange and has
one younger sister, who is about to start secondary school.

NARRATIVE THEMES

The most obvious narrative theme in Changes is friendship, as between the

three main characters, their many years of friendship is tested through the
obstacles in the parallel world. Family is a large narrative theme, as the show
explores problems such as divorce, love, hate, trust and learning what
matters most.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Changes targets an audience between the ages of 16 - 45 and above. As the

story follows three teenagers, it directly targets people of that age as the
characters would become relatable, however, I think the show would also
appeal to people older, especially with the darker elements and serious
topics and storylines within the show.

I think one possible channel for Changes to be distributed on is channel E4,

which has a target audience of 16 to 34, which is similar to the age the
drama is targeting. The E in E4 stands for Entertainment, and proves
relevant to Changes, as its main purposes is to entertain, educate and
inform. Some British shows E4 have screened is Skins, Misfits, The
Inbetweeners and Shameless. Skins is a British teen drama, which also
follows the lives of teenagers, but through their years at sixth form. I think
fans of Skins that like the explored controversial storylines, would also like
the topics and events that follow in Changes, as the characters struggle with
dysfunctional families, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other
obstacles they face.

GENRE

The genre of the tv drama is fantasy, with possibly a side of science fiction
depending on the direction the storylines follow. I think the more sub genres
of this tv drama will allow for the show to appeal to a greater audience,
therefore chancing the show to be more of a success.
Codes and conventions often seen in tv dramas are:

Complex storylines and dramatic narrative

Characters have own storylines, with back story
Unresolved issues, cliff hangers
Series of unexpected plots
Conflicts
Several sub genres within the drama
Expressive lighting techniques depending on type of drama

Stranger Things is a successful web series that follows codes and

conventions of a drama, with the genres of science-fiction, horror,
supernatural and historical period drama. There are conflicts between
friends, dramatic storylines and unresolved issues as the show follows the
disappearance of Will Buyers with his friends desperately trying to find him
and having to rely on a a strange girl with supernatural powers and
knowledge to the upside down.

Sherlock is a successful Tv Drama on BBC One, especially with an existing

fan base. With the sub genre of crime, the show follows the codes and
conventions by keeping the audience hooked with unresolved issues,
unexplained clues and large, twisted plots as they watch the infamous
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson solve the unsolvable of crimes.

BUDGET

Studio Hire: 580 per day

Actor: 750 per day x3 = 2,250
Director: 250 per day
Producer: 250 per day
Cameramen: 160 per day x3 = 480
Script Writer/Editor: 256 per day
Vision Mixer: 120 per day
Lighting: 98 per day
Sound: 230 per day

General costs (props, extra equipment, etc.): 200

Pilot Episode: 200,000

In the pilot episode, there may be needs of CGI or visual effects in post
production, where an specialist editor would need to be hired to make the
effects look realistic and professional. This is would increase costs but will
only be needed in specific episodes throughout the season.
Some of these expenses could be paid through sponsorship from brands,
such as bikes, trainers and clothing that the main characters wear or the food
or drink products that feature. This therefore could benefit, with cross-
promotion.

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

I would predict the rating given by the BBFC would be a 12 for the tv drama,
as it revolves around teenagers in their school years, where people 12 and
above can relate to. However, the show would also tell the lives of the
parents of the teens and other villagers involved in the plot, which is where
the content will appeal to the older audiences. Violence, and strong
language would most likely occur in the show but to follow the BBFC
guidelines, it would be infrequent and not glamourised or dwelled upon.
Another legal issue would be child protection, where cast members
under 18 are exposed to certain content, which is where only actors over
18 will be involved.

The show will avoid any current affairs, including political content or
religious views which could offend audience members. With no
involvement in current affairs, this will remove the risk of libel and slander
legal issues, as nothing will be scripted or indicated in the show that will
cause a defamation of character or any misrepresentations of a group of
people or company with false statements.