EVALUATION

Evaluation

The key features of my TV Show are evolved around the characters and location that I have chosen my plot to follow. The characters are key features as they represent a diverse range of people and the audience follow their progression and journey through adulthood. Adulthood is a key feature because it allows the target audience to reach people of all ages, because the audience can relate and empathise with the characters stories and experiences. This feature brings success to the series, as it is attractive and enticing to those watching, no matter their age. Representation is a key feature too as race and gender representation is largely dominated by the characters as all four of the protagonists represent a different and unique expression of themselves to the world. For example, Phoenix is a character who identifies as non-binary, this is appealing to audiences as she has no label and therefore represents those who may feel silenced and isolated by their gender. Having a character that the audience can feel connected to emotionally brings success to the show as they want to continue following that character’s journey.

Another key feature of the TV Show is the location, I wanted to have the series to repeatedly explore pressure through an academic setting. Pressure is a theme that links both the protagonists and location of the series. The decision for the location to be in Cambridge University was an ideal, as it one of the top universities in the world, where pressure is at its highest rank. As well as it being incredibly well known across the globe.  One of the ways I wanted to attract an audience and have the show be successful was by using a known location. This would gather a large audience as it’s prestigious location within itself brings its own audience. Pressure draws in in young adult audiences too, as many people in society attend University and would be able to relate to the academic struggles it brings, especially Cambridge.

Representation in The Apartment (1960) is very limited and explores nothing but white male heterosexual middle class men in 1960s society, which only represents a minority of people in comparison to the world, and present day. My TV Show differs incredibly from the Apartments original representations as it explores race, gender, stereotypes, disability, religion in a much broader, equal and accessible way. The protagonists within my series each represent themselves uniquely and break stereotypes of the 1960 Apartment film.  For example, the protagonist Aible is a representation of Catholicism, as he is catholic. One of the ways in which my TV Show represented this was through his childhood and strict upbringing. Although the series represents the strictness of Catholicism in comparison to society, we wanted to capture it in a positive light by approaching religion as something that brings people and families together, by doing this we had Aible travel every weekend to see his family in order for them to share their sacred time with one another. This breaks the stereotype of religion being confrontational and isolating as we represented to be something special and collaborative that is important to those who practise in it.

Another way in which my show differs from the Apartment is the representation of women and gender. This was very important as I wanted to capture present day society and exclude the ‘damsel in distress’ stereotype of women (that is represented in the Apartment), and instead use gender and women as something to feel confident and proud of. To represent these two crucial themes, I decided to have a non-binary character Phoenix and a female protagonist Jocelyn. Both contrastingly different in their personalities and traits but both give a voice for gender as a whole. Phoenix also as an independent character expresses herself confidently and is an activist for people in the LGBTQ community. The idea for Phoenix to be an activist was also crucial as not only does Phoenix as a character represent gender but is a voice and supporter for the LGBTQ as a whole. Which in contrast to the Apartment 1960 film, brings more representation to gender dramatically.

Representation of disability is also seen in the character Jocelyn, as she is partially blind. One of the ways in which the Apartment film differs from my series is that I represent disability through the eyes of a protagonist, whereas the Apartment gives no representation for it at all. I felt that having a disabled character brings more diversity and representation to the show as society is still lacking in present day, a voice for disabled characters. 

The representation of sexuality in the Apartment is only heterosexual men. I wanted to break the stereotype that was represented in the 1960s and represent sexuality in a more realistic and equal view. One of the ways in which I did this was by having the protagonist Caleb be both mixed race and gay. By exploring two representations in one character, it allowed me to break more stereotypes. During the period the Apartment was set and filmed, many black actors were type casted in minor roles and were seen as 'slaves' to the privileged white middle class. I wanted to differ from this stereotype with Caleb's character and have a protagonist that represented those silenced in the past and have him as a character that was likable, independent and give no difference between people of colour. 
Caleb and Phoenix as characters bond a friendship and both are representations of the LGBTQ community. I wanted to represent the LGBTQ community as community that brings people together, by doing so I chose for the two protagonist to bond over it and represent it.

The current political state has slightly influenced my pitch, as I have used the location as a way for politics to be intertwined subtly around the setting of the series. For example, I have used representation within my series as a way for politics to be raised. Social and political influence is seen when the University is given cuts, this causes the characters to become more against the government as it is their future at stake, which raises a political issue. Social is seen through the reaction from the people attending University and how they cope with this issue. For example, three of the protagonists devise a plan to use their apartment as an Air BnB. This causes conflict between all of the characters, both new and old. The social influence causes the audience to question the characters actions and whether they are positive or negative. It also gives a view of how they characters cope during desperate time.

The genre's that I have used for my show are drama with aspects of comedy. To capture the dramatic atmosphere of the drama genre I used genre convection's. One of the genre convection's I used was lighting, to express the heavy emotions throughout the series I used colours as a way for expressing the characters inner emotions. For example, red is related the the emotion anger and purple is related to the emotion to mystery and frustration. I used red and purple lighting subtly in my title sequence to foreshadow the characters thoughts and feelings. This convection is very useful when portraying a drama genre as it tells the audience the issues and emotions that will be raised within the show. A theme that I used to portray the aspects of the comedy genre was using the protagonists different reactions to the characters staying in their Air BnB apartment. This allows the audience to react with the protagonists and have a humorous connection to them. To create a consistency when using the comedy genre, I wanted to repeatedly introduce new characters to the story and have guests re visit the Air BnB to create a familiarity with the audience. This would bring pleasure to the audience as they will have an understanding of how that guest will treat the protagonists and the state they will keep the apartment in.

An original idea that has been written into the series is the Air BnB apartment. By having the Air BnB apartment, it allows the audience to see a modernised way of letting rooms out, but through the eyes and life of a Cambridge University student. Another way in which originality was shown in the series, was through the characters themselves. As each one breaks a certain stereotype brought upon by society. This is original as instead of having one character break a stereotype its all. For example, Phoenix breaks gender social stereotypes as she is non-binary.

 Narrative structure has helped me plan the plot of my TV Show and focus on how the progression of the characters and setting around them change. Narrative structure is provident in the series as the characters are constantly facing new challenges and struggles in each episode. One of the way I used narrative structure was using a chain of events as a way to explore the characters personalities to do this I had each episode gradually cover the back stories of each protagonist and give reason to who they are in present day. The narrative structure's story arc of my show starts a low point and gradually dips in and out of positive and negative actions/moods, until the lowest point, in the last episode. I wanted to show the dramatic genre through the narrative structure as it tends to fluctuate in moods, depending on the protagonists emotions in that episode.  Th conflict and confrontation is most provident in the beginning and the end of the series to give a constant hook throughout the plot.

The narrative structure of the Apartment did influence my TV Show as I used a climax nearer the end of the series, just like the end of the Apartment. For example, in the end of my series the protagonist Jocelyn falls down the stairs and ends up in a coma. In comparison, the Apartment's ending has it's protagonist's punched. I used the parallels to create a disruption in my plot and to cause a rising action in the narrative structure.

For my title sequence, I used many visuals as each one has a particular meaning behind it. For example when using the text, I wanted to have a bold modern style to reflect the shows captivating and daring tone, as well as it hints that the show is set in present day. The white iconography also has a meaning as the colour represents innocence, the idea for the characters names to be in white foreshadows how they may be perceived on paper as innocent, but not all are in reality. This idea entices audiences as they are left questioning the characters true self. The symbolism of colour in my title sequence is important as each character has a different colour, reflecting a different trait/emotion. For example, Caleb's character I used a purple blurred visual, this was important as the colour purple represents frustration, this is attractive to the audience as it gives them some understanding of how he is as a character and makes them question why he feels frustrated. Another way in which I used symbolism was through the subtle butterflies in Jocelyn's visual. The butterflies represent emotions of deep hope and change, as the show progresses the audience see Jocelyn face challenges and changes to her new environment (University). I wanted to foreshadow Jocelyn's progression as a character through the title sequence, as it attracts them to Jocelyn's character and makes them intrigued as to what changes she may face.