OTHER: Escape plan c - uk pilot episode

jpbankesmercer

jpbankesmercer

Director Mod
http://vimeo.com/54096794

Thanks for watching the original pilot for 'Escape Plan C' - We hope to make it into a television series (Paul Abbott told us to!) and have now attached Clint Boon, Gillian Hardie, John Thomson, Roxanne Pallett, Harris & Day, Steve Evets, Joe Pasquale, Bez. Come to our Facebook page for more info. facebook.com/escapeplanc

J.P.x
 
If this gets picked up the first person to go will be your DP.
Besides that I rather liked it :-) The actors do a great job
 
jpbankesmercer said:
The framing?
Click to expand...
The framing, the angles and the static camera. It felt like hidden camera show where you only had 3 static cameras to cut between.
Lighting-wise I liked it, and everything else I enjoyed very much - I could definitely picture myself watching it on TV, but not with that camera work- It's the one thing that didn't speak 'professional production' to me.
 
To be honest Ben Oliver stepped up and helped me out at the last minute, he works as a pro Focus Puller. Maybe some of the shots are down to my choice. It's interesting that it felt like a hidden camera show to you, I sort of like that as a lot of comedy sitcom are trying to get the angst out of the situation and can be claustrophobic content style. Its a pilot at the end of the day (no budget) so Im more than happy with your comments and the results. Thank you.x
 
I thought the cinematography was fine, especially for an independent pilot. Some of the limitations were there on the screen, shot in a house, domestic power supply limits lighting etc. If a tv production went ahead, access to studio space and lighting would fix all of those. Some of the framing wasn't perfect but it was close. I think those involved could definitely step up with access to budget and support crew.

My only concern would be the story, which works fine as a short but does it contain enough to develop into six half hour or 22 minute episodes? I mean go for it anyway if it gets greenlit but the story is pretty self-contained and resolves neatly. The nagging wife/downtrodden husband element has been done to death on uk tv. The element that lets this rise above is the kooky scifi/fantasy angle, the eccentric working class man working in the shed. A series would need to develop that aspect. It would need more distinct comedy sections to balance the unrelenting tone during the nagging scenes, in the longer format.

A key problem would be, does he launch the wife in the first episode (meaning you'll need to introduce a new offsider for your lead every ep) or build up to it in the last episode (the problem being the lack of focus may cause the idea to run out of steam by then). How long could you sustain the mystery of what he's building? When do various characters find out? Will he have other projects in episodes along the way?

Hope you get it, good luck.
 
Egg Born Son, you hit upon every problem we had turned the writing of the other six scripts! Noreen comes back (fixed by Aliens) to terrorize Colin as the Noreenator, Colin does invent different things like a time machine (he goes back to Victorian Manchester) The key to writing the other episodes came from his inability to change his whole ouutlook on relationships, he gets himself deeper and deeper into the **** by always escaping into fantasy worlds until everything vomes crashing down on him. You obviously write to have spotted all our challenges, thanks for watching.

Jp.
 
Ah, nice. I'm getting vibes everywhere from Metal Mickey to Goodnight, Sweetheart on this one. This could really work, I can see why you've got some interest. I hope the offer's from the beebs. I particularly like your angle of focussing on his inability to change his outlook to tie it together. That's a thematic hub totally suited to this project. I can instantly see how that would work when you mention that. And it's always interesting when the focus is more on how someone gets into trouble than how they get out of it. I'll be very interested to see how it goes.
 
this is grade a awesome! great acting! framing still was a bit off. wow! what cheek in the last scene.
cant wait to see more.

top marks
 
yay you got Bez.... friend used to live opposite him, a good man.
Anyway this was great, a few genuine laugh out loud moments, can see this working with episodes of this length - good luck with it all
 
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