CASE STUDY RESEARCH:
THE OFFICE US
The Office is an American comedy series that aired from 2005 until 2013. Its about a the everyday lives of office employes at a paper company.
As The Office is a mockumentary comedy series, it will probably have a heavy influence on the decisions I make throughout this project. The main thing I will take from this example is its visual style and use of interviews to help guide the stories in each episode. This is common with mockumentaries, as they are basically fake documentaries.
In terms of visual style, The Office is very handheld and uses zooms a lot during scenes to highlight looks to camera from characters, and their facial expressions. This is something I would like to incorporate into Pleasure Park as I feel it will add to the comedy of the series, and it will fit with the current themes and styles I am thinking about.
Another element I would like to use in Pleasure Park is their use of interviews with the characters during most of the scenes. They will often be used as an opportunity for the character to express their opinion of something, usually what's happening in the scene, which often adds to the comedy, and does so in a better way than if they had just said it during the actual scene they are referring to.
MODERN FAMILY
Modern Family is an American comedy series that has aired since 2009. It follows the lives of three different, but linked, families living in Los Angeles.
The main thing I will take from Modern Family, like The Office, is it's uses of zooms to highlight character expressions, and looks to camera to achieve the same effect. I feel this techniques adds to the comedy of a scene, and is something you can only get away with in a mockumentary.
As well as this, I also like how Modern Family uses interviews as a form of cut scene, or a way to go into a cut scene. The characters will sometimes speak of an event we've never seen, and it will then cut to it before cutting back to the original scene. I would like to use cutscenes in Pleasure Park, and using interviews as a way to throw them seems like a good technique.
BENIDORM
Benidorm is a British TV comedy series that has aired since 2007. It follows the staff and guests of the fictional Solana hotel in Benidorm. One of the directors I am considering has directed many episodes of Benidorm.
This programme uses establishing shots before almost every scene, something which I like. Establishing shots help the audience understand the location and geography of a scene before it begins, which can help audiences enjoy a scene more. I think it would fit well for Pleasure Park to use sequences or montages of different shots of the park to establish each scene.
Below are some examples of the establishing shots I was referring to:
ADVENTURELAND
My final case study is a film which I have chosen because of it's similarity to my idea.
Adventureland is an American comedy drama released in 2009. It is set during the summer of 1987, and follows a recent Uni graduate who is forced to work a summer job at his local amusement park because of financial problems.
It wasn't until I began to research this film, and watch it again, that I began to realise the similarities in my idea and this one, mostly to do with my characters. Like my show, this film has two bosses that are married, an awkward, young main male character who has a crush on a strong minded main female character, a geeky best friend, a bully, and a gossip girl. I will use what I have learnt about the character development in this film to help aid the character development of my similar characters in Pleasure Park.
As well as this, I will also use some of the elements of dark humour in this film to aid my storyline develops and my visual style ideas. Overall, Adventureland will probably end up being a strong influence on some of my final decisions because of it's similarities. I want to draw on themes in the film, but I don't want Pleasure Park to be to similar to it.
Overall all of this case study research will help aid some of my decisions regarding:
- Characters
- Shot types
- Visual style
- Director choice
- Editing style
- Common techniques used in mockumentaries.
*UPDATE*
Pleasure Park is no longer a comedy series, however there are certain mockumentary style elements which I will still be able to apply to the show, for example the use of zooms to highlight character expressions, and the handheld look.
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