Cheap and chirpy
It has been a while since my last post, which is largely because I haven't had anything much to say. However, earlier this week I was invited to give a couple of talks to a Comedy North/Writersroom North writing workshop taking place in Ted Hughes's old house near Hebden Bridge (he had a good eye for a view, did Ted), with a particular focus on low cost comedy.
Low cost is a phrase which has gained massive currency over the past year or so as budgets are being reduced, so it might be helpful to pass on some thoughts. While high end comedy will continue, it needs to be balanced with cheaper shows within the overall comedy budget.
So what is low cost or, indeed, high cost?
The BBC currently has three comedy tariffs. The most expensive is £250,000 to £300,000 per half hour. Mid-range is £170,000 to £250,000, and the lowest tariff is £50,000 to £170,000.
Low cost, therefore, equates to a maximum of £170,000, and while it can just be possible to make an audience sitcom for the top end of that range, low cost effectively means single camera.
In essence, money buys time, people and facilities. Audience sitcom works on a weekly schedule in a pattern which hasn't changed for over 50 years. The production week begins by reading the episode, continues with rehearsals in a rehearsal room over three days, then moves to the studio for camera and dress rehearsals, culminating in the show being recorded in front of the audience. Very occasionally British sitcom operates on the American model in which a studio is booked for the entire run, and rehearsals take place in the sets, but that's the very top end.
It's a pattern which allows time for actors to learn the lines, and a director to block the actors' movements, develop their performances and visualise his shots. It's difficult to see how things might work differently, given that acting, moving and capturing are all essential, as are the people who do necessary jobs in a studio.
Also, and most important, it allows a writer to hear a script and amend it over the week to make it funnier, better for the actors, and the right length.
But if you're planning a low cost audience show, my advice would be to have a core cast of no more than five, contain it to three sets and don't expect star names.
Equally, if it's a low cost single camera project, the same applies - a contained environment, a core cast of no more than five, and a straightforward narrative style.
By a contained environment, I don't mean a single set, thought that's feasible if possibly claustrophobic. I mean two or at the most three regular and recurring sets or locations, which doesn't rule out going elsewhere occasionally, but going elsewhere has to be significant.
Since single camera shooting is like making a film. A contained approach makes it possible to shoot all the scenes which take place in one location or set, and then move on to another.
The two things which take up most time on location shoots are first moving from location to location, involving de-rigging, packing up, driving, and setting up; and second, lighting the new location. So the more that can be done in one place, the more effective the use of time.
A core cast of no more than five should offer enough permutations for story-telling and attitude. That's not to say there would be five leads - that could be a bit unwieldy. Many successful shows have been based on two leads, surrounded by subsidiary characters. In Two Pints, until Ralf Little left, the show was based on two pairs with one additional main character in Louise. My Family was based on two parents and three children when it began. Father Ted was effectively a pair, with two subsidiary 'main' characters, as was Fawlty Towers. So five as a maximum number, with odd guest parts, feels manageable and sensible in sitcom, and many sketch slash entertainment shows have been based on duos - Mitchell and Webb, Armstrong and Miller, Harry and Paul, Vic and Bob, the Boosh, and so on.
And finally, straightforward story-telling is important. By straightforward I mean no flashbacks and no montages. Both flashbacks and montages call for set-ups separate to the main narrative, needing costume, make-up and lighting changes. They add to time and thus to cost. Achieving cheapness means telling a story moving forward.
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Dear Michael,
Thanks for posting those really useful comments about budgets for comedy. As a playwright, I'm used to the luxury of a couple of weeks in the rehearsal room, where actors, director and writer explore, hone, edit and have fun with the script. You've brought into sharp focus the need to think pragmatically not just creatively, even before the writing starts.
Eschewing montage, flashback, multiple scene locations and superfluous characters can get to the heart of what the writer wants to say. I immediately think of The Royle Family, where the 'claustrophobia' works in its favour.
I'm sure small budget shows can be successful as long as the writing is sharp, the characters 'real', the cast skilled at running with a script, the director imaginative with set/location.
For me, I was postponing writing my proposed sitcom. Now though, I feel more confident, knowing that it's not essential to attempt a big budget, technically complex production.
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Micheal,
Very useful insight into another aspect of sitcom writing - and one perhaps not usually taken on board by the aspiring writer.
IMHO, the comedies that have stood the test of time seem to have come from the lower budget end of production - their success emanating from sharp writing, storytelling and characterisation, eg Porridge. Two leads (the great Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale) who rarely left the confines of the prison cell, each episode managing to be both claustrophobic yet self contained and fresh, additional characters turning up to add an extra dimension as and when necessary.
I'm currently working on a sitcom with a similar theme - the leads are two ex football managers, one called Rafa (Spanish) and the other Luiz (er, Brasilian) accidentally locked in the changing rooms at Wembley Stadium, struggling to cope with life, football, and an alien culture in another country. Haven't thought of a name for the sitcom yet but have an interesting bunch of extra characters - Fergie (Scottish), Arsene (French) and Martin (from Northern Ireland) to add a bit of jollity and extra atmosphere to the proceedings, whilst a Portuguese called Jose snipes at them from the sidelines....
Does it have legs though? Answers on a Champions League Final ticket please....
Mrs M
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Hebden Bridge..? Thought Ted Hughes lived in North Tawton. Seem to remember much gnashing of teeth by the production team for Jam and Jerusalem, over a lawn mower running in the background... Its Mrs Hughes again... without realising it was Ted Hughes widow.
Re: It's difficult to see how things might work differently, given that .....
Hhm, possibly explains a few things.
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@Rumplefish
It doesn't seem that Ted lived there a lot. If you Google Lumb Bank you'll find a bit of history on the Arvon Foundation site.
@Mrs M
Nice to hear from you as ever. I'm not sure Porridge was all that cheap, actually. We saw quite a lot of other parts of the prison than the cell, and there was quite a large cast.
The thought of Martin being locked in a room with Rafa and Luis is very entertaining. The ghost of Brian would add another frisson.
@notStoppard
The name puts me in mind of one of my favourite Marks and Gran lines from Get Back. John Bardon says: According to Dr Miriam Stoppard - which mine still does, thankfully...
That aside, I think it's a matter of focusing on character in containable settings which allow them to function. Low cost shouldn't mean any dilution of creativity, because all it demands is concentrating on the basics, which one should anyway.
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Good to see you're still alive, Michael. We lose a lot of elderly people over the Christmas period and I'm pleased you weren't one. ;)
As for cheap, wasn't Armando Ianucci given the money to make one episode of The Thick Of It, and he went away and made three for the same price?
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@Aspie
Very droll, young man. I was actually serving as incontinence consultant on The Old Guys.
I believe that's true about the first series of The Thick of It.
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Michael,
And talking of the ghost of Brian, I hardly recommend The Damned United. Not sure if it's a comedy or tragedy but a film well worth seeing. Clough makes Jose look like a shrinking violet who's taken a vow of silence.
Mrs M
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@) Micheal
That was the incontinuity advisor! Or were you just taking the P?
:)
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@MrsM
What, you've seen it already? Did Jose have a screening?
I'm a big fan of David Peace and thought the book was great, so I'm very much looking forward to the film, and to the TV adaptation of his Ripper quartet. Not many laughs there.
@MisterP
I can't decide whether that joke was worthy of you...or unworthy.
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@Micheal
Worthy unfortunately.
And have you read any other good books lately. I have a recommendation for you... recently out... if not!
;)
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@MisterP
Strangely, I've just ordered what sounds like an exciting new crime book by a promising young writer new to the genre.
I wonder if it might be the one you mention?
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@) Micheal
It might indeed sir!
:)
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Micheal,
My enthusiasm ran away with me there, much like our dog when Jose was searching the streets for it last year.
I've read the brilliant David Peace book but only seen a few preliminary clips of the film thus far - release date is, I think, in March sometime. But well worth looking out for.
Mr P,
I take it you are the new Ian Rankin then?
Mrs M
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@Mrs M
AllI can say on that note is that Mark Pearson is the new Marc Peirson apparently. :)
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Just to step back from stroking Marc's steadily expanding ego (!) and return to the original topic, will the recession have a tangible effect on comedy in Britain, in the same way it's affecting the businesses and the high street?
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@Aspie
Indeed. Enough promotion.
I think it's certain that the recession will have a tangible effect on television comedy, or at least narrative comedy, which is an expensive form as outlined above. With redundancies and cut-backs across the industry, and the pressure to make money go further, getting narrative shows commissioned is bound to be harder, particularly in the commercial sector.
But since everyone is now seeking lower cost ideas and innovative production methods to balance the high end stuff, there could be a new wave which may well invigorate the genre, as was the case with the cinema's nouvelle vague.
A personal hobby horse is that we spend a lot of time aiming for perfection which I think is less important to the audience than appealing content. Though not everyone would agree.
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Michael,
A really informative and interesting blog. Thanks for that. I agree with your idea that an audience just craves decent content. I think too many get bogged down in the intricacies and technicalities of comedy when all they need to remember is – is it funny?
An audience wants to laugh and if you achieve that, the rest will fall into place.
Wooderbeen
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Hi Micheal,
My question is to do with originality of an idea. I'm currently working on an idea which has been done before in terms of setting, but the characters and general setup is different.
Do the BBC tend to stay away from scripts where the setting is the same/similar to that which has gone before?
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@LordM
Since there are very few original settings that shouldn't be a problem. But if it's the setting of a classic show, then the script has to be really good to wipe out memories of the prison or hotel or whatever went before.
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@MichealJacob
Thanks for that. I think their are several settings that can't be bettered, you named two of them.
My setting is a shop with my main concern being Open All Hours. However, characters and setup is obviously going to be very different to that. Plus, I think their have been several 'shop' sitcoms since then any way.
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@LordM
You should be s-s-s-s-safe with a shop.
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@ MichealJacob
:-) I did wonder whether you would put some Arkwright reference in your reply. I was right.
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@LordMeldrum
We aim to please.
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@ MichealJacob
I amy have missed this piece of info somewhere, but will the Comedy College be running this year?
If so, when?
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@LordM
This year's scheme ends with a showcase on 25 March, and I hope to be able to make an announcement around that time.
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@ Micheal Jacob
Okey doke, thanks!
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Some very useful information there Micheal, thanks.
The note about montages was particularly welcome. As someone who's just written their first comedy montage, I must confess it wasn't foremost in my mind that each two-second location shot would have to be individually scouted, hired, lit etc.
Good insight, cheers.
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On the subject of Open All Hours, could you have a comedy nowadays in which much of the humour derived from his stutter? Funny as the show is, and masterful as Ronnie Barker's performance is, we are essentially laughing at somebody's disability.
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@Texturbation
I'm haunted by the memory of more than half a day spent doing a montage, which we then cut out of the show, time which could have been better spent.
@AspieBoy
No we couldn't. Making fun of someone's disability is out.
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@ MichealJacob
As somebody who has been writing for four years, so far without much success, I wonder whether you could let me know the process of how things happen i.e. I send you or someone at the BBC my script, you like it, what would happen from there?
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@LordM
Briefly, if I like a script, I'll develop it with the writer to the point where I'll show it to the head of comedy. If he likes it, we'll talk to the comedy commissioner about it. If she likes it, we'll talk to a channel controller about it. The controller will decide whether he or she wants it on their channel.
At each stage there will be notes. The commissioner or controller may want to see a second script, attend a readthrough, or ask to see a DVD of sample scenes, or we may shoot some scenes to demo the project at the meeting the commissioner stage.
If a series is commissioned, we will agree a writing schedule working towards a delivery date for the completed series.
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@ MichealJacob
Thanks for that. I look forward to all that happening to me.
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Seinfeld was a very cost-effective show in the early days. One episode is set entirely on one set (a Chinese restaurant) - and another episode set in a parking lot, (although they had to build that set specially so I suppose it ain't that cheap).
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Sorry to double post, but I was intrigued by the revelation that something like Arkwright's stutter could not be used anymore as laughing at disability is 'out'.
Fair enough, but how come Open All Hours is still repeated then?
Either it's acceptable or unacceptable, surely? When it was made is a side issue.
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What do you think Bloof?
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Well, if we're going to keep repeating Open All Hours, then stutters in modern sitcoms should be acceptable.
That makes sense, shurely?
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Not really.
I imagine if enough people complained it wouldn't be shown. Ronnie Barker doesn't become the butt of the joke because he stutters which is important I feel. Barker is the strong central character and his stutter is never seen as a weakness or a disability. If Clarke had given Granvle the stutter, for example, it would be a different thing. I am sure you could have a stuttering character on TV today, in fact you can because I recently (is) wrote one, and it can be funny, but like anything else it has to be contextualised. As it is it wouldn't be allowed as MJ says, but if we're not laughing at the chatacter with the stutter, but with him, as it were, I am sure it it would be fine. Otherwise we would be excluding people on the basis of a perceived disabilty within our popular culture which isn't on either.
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So we more or less agree then.... you can have stutters in modern sitcoms.
Arkwright's stutter was really an excuse for Barker's wordplay and imaginative innuendo, it wasn't the stutter itself which was funny.
As for modern stutter-comedy, there is the Gareth Gates impression on Bo Selecta! - although that's not the BBC.
So, Mr P - If you were in charge at the Beeb and a lot of people *did* complain about OAH - would you take it off the air?
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@bloofs
Hmmm
Don't know. If I am honest I am pontificating on something I haven't seen for a while. I don't think anyone really would complain because in my analysis the stutter doesn't make the Stutterer the butt of the joke - so I would let it play. I might be wrong but in the end I have as much chance of taking over at Chelsea as I have of being in charge at the BBC - and I really only watch the football game with the proper shaped ball, which isn't round!
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I think in OAH Arkwright's stutter - and his inability to get out words - does make him the butt of jokes. I like the show, but personally feel slightly uncomfortable with that aspect of it.
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@Bloofs/MisterP
Sorry not be here, back now, though you seem quite happy talking amongst yourselves.
What used to be acceptable but isn't acceptable now is a lively area for discussion, particularly when it comes to repeats.
In shorthand, current thinking is that laughing at a disability is out, but having comic characters with disabilities is fine, particularly since this offers casting opportunities for actors with disabilities.
I can't actually think that I've ever seen a script with a stuttering character, actually.
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'I can't actually think that I've ever seen a script with a stuttering character, actually.'
I'd send you a funny one Micheal but you've probaly had enough of my writing this week!
:)
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Just this week?
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"I can't actually think that I've ever seen a script with a stuttering character, actually"
-The Gareth Gates character on Bo Selecta! is one.
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@Bloofs
But I haven't seen a Bo Selecta! script. To be precise, I have not had a script submitted to me for possible production which involved a character with a speech impediment. Doubtless MisterP will be remedying that in due course.
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@Micheal
Lol. I wouldn't be so artful as to try to jump into your blog and try to flog my own wares. It was actually a DOCTORS script went out a couple of years ago - and one of my all time favourites.
But... come to think of it maybe there is spin off potential!
:)
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@MisterP
Others have tried...
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@Michael
Quick question before this thread disappears into the ether: What happens to old sitcom sets? After a show has finished shooting are they just dismantled and destroyed? Or are they saved?
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@Aspie
Some are stored for future use or adaptation and some are destroyed. It makes sense to reuse a sitting room set, for example, or a bedroom, or a bar. We're quite big on recycling and economy, but if some sets are closely identified with a show which isn't returning, then they go.
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@Michael
Great blog, Michael. Very interesting stuff.
The examples in the 'read scripts' section are a big help too but a few more wouldn't go amiss? Conversely, since they're all the flawless, finished product, would it be possible to see a sample of a script as it was submitted that actually went on to became a sitcom?
Finally, I've written a script using Celtx but I can't help wondering about the first ten pages rule. Celtx generates a PDF file. Can I take it that the first ten pages of that file will be the segment that's reviewed or do you use some other rule of thumb if it's not written using script smart?
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@dewatshang
Thank you for the compliment.
You need to address your other comments to the writersroom rather than me, since I have nothing to do with the site or their policies.
However, I'd be surprised if a writer would be happy to put a first draft on public display. A number of people have things to say about scripts as they move through development to pitching and into production, and the only way to do it would be to post the different drafts of the same script with annotations covering each step.
Speaking personally, I take 10 pages to be 10 pages, irrespective of format, though 10 pages of 8point type would just be irritating.
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Cheers Michael.
Sorry, I only recently came across this part of the site and since you refer to posting regularly and are so knowledgeable about shoots, I jumped to the conclusion that you're part of writersroom crowd.
In any case, I'll keep an eye out for you around here, in future!
Ta.
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@Mr-P
What do you think of South Park - which regularly makes fun of people's disabilities?
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dewatshang: As Michael says, most writers wouldn't want to put their first drafts out in the world. Which is not to say it might not happen in the future, but I wouldn't expect it to be soon.
In answer to your other question, we only accept scripts in hard copy at the BBC writersroom, and we read the first ten pages of the script that's sent in (so not including the title page, if you've added one). So yes, if you're printing out the PDF to send to us, it's the first ten pages of that we'll read.
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