M3: Show an understanding of feedback and be able to respond to questions
From watching my pitch back, I am able to understand the feedback given, and see how I need to respond to this in order to meet the client brief. My pitch definitely went better than I anticipated. This is due to me getting through the whole presentation remaining professional and informative throughout, and I showed a clear passion and understanding for the show itself.
I think it definitely would have improved the overall presentation if I was more confident, and actually learnt my notes of by heart, so that I could engage more with the audience making eye contact etc. instead of keep looking down at my notebook. If these things were improved it would mean that I sell the product better, as it shows the client I am a good partner to work with. Another thing I noticed whilst watching my pitch back is that I could have spoken with more volume, so that the audience can here me more clearly and so there is no danger of misinterpretation etc. I noticed that I definitely stubbled quite a few times on my words. This is down to a couple of things, the first being that I was very nervous. This could have been helped by practising the presentation in front of others to eliminate that feeling of 'stage fright'. It was also down to the fact that I simply hadn't familiarised myself with the lines enough, so I hadn't established a good flow.
I believe I dealt relatively well with spontaneous questions from the client, but I do think it would have been beneficial to maybe think of potential questions I could have been asked before hand, so that I had even better answers to them.
I'm really happy with how the physical presentation actually turned out. I think it looked quite professional, and covered pretty much everything it needed to. It was detailed yet concise, and my speaker notes that went along side it meant that it was very easy for the client and audience to engage as it required little effort on their part.
I received positive feedback about the fact I said I was excited to develop a product for this brief, and that I gave some excellent information on title connotations to the audience.
Questions raised by the client during the pitch 'Do you think the series should be released one episode per week, or do you think we should follow a current trend and release the whole series at once as BBC 3 is an online channel?' I believe I was asked this as it wasn't something I disclosed in my pitch, and is quite an important thing to consider. I started to answer this question by saying it is of generic BBC standard to release one episode per week. I think it is important to reiterate this as brand identity is important, and so although this show is for the younger audience, it is still a BBC production and should fit the format they tend to follow. I then went on to make a very valid point, that if all of the episodes come out at once, teenagers of all people are most likely to sit there and binge watch them. This is quite an issue in the sense that it means spoilers come out online potentially deterring people from continuing to watch the series. Not only this, but also if all of the episodes come out at once, the hype for the show will die down a lot quicker, which obviously is not ideal when trying to create a successful product. To conclude this question, I explained I believed it to be detrimental to the viewing figures to release all episodes at once.
'Do you have any recommendations as to how we could promote and market this show to it's target audience, bearing in mind it is a BBC production so costs must be kept low?' This is why I believe social media is really key, because not only is it very relatable and accessible to the target audience, but it also means that it doesn't necessarily cost anything to actually have social media channels or platforms for this programme. Just by posting a few things, it will start a chain reaction and before you know it the target audience will be promoting it for you; sharing things and liking things etc.
'Could you tell me how this programme is conforming to the BBC remit?' The BBC remit is to inform, educate, and entertain, and because of the raw relatability of this programme it tackles real issues that teenagers face these days. Therefore it informs teenagers on how and how not to deal with certain situations, it educates them on what real life is actually like and what is going on in the world, and it entertains as well giving the audience an insight into the lives of these crazy, interesting, and fun characters.
D1: Discuss the client considerations for the creation of the product from the pitch
I was asked by the client was 'How my programme meets the BBC Remit?'. This question is incredibly important because the client must know whether the product meets the BBC remit or not as this is the company it is for. If the product does not meet the remit it won't be able to be aired and so the whole production will have been wasted. I was asked this question because it is not something I covered in my pitch. This is very foolish of me because when creating something for the BBC this is one thing that should be a primary thought. However being asked this question means that I am now aware that it is something I need to include in my pitch before it goes any further.
'Do you think the series should be released one episode per week, or do you think we should follow a current trend and release the whole series at once as BBC 3 is an online channel?' This is another question I was asked by the client. I think again that this is an important consideration that the client brought up that I had not actually considered. It is important because as I mentioned in the pitch it is important when creating a product for the BBC that you follow certain traditions, and it is very common that a BBC programme shall have one episode released per week, regardless of whether it is online or not. I also digressed that releasing an entire series at once could prove detrimental to viewing figures as spoilers will ruin the show for others and they will cease to continue watching. Shows that are released in series as opposed to episode by episode also lose their hype a lot quicker which isn't idea when trying to market a new show.
Another question that was raised by the client that I don't think is very important/ relevant for the creation of the programme is 'How do we differentiate between primary and non primary characters?' I really don't think this is particularly important as i discussed how the show follows a group of friends and they each have their individual personalities and issues etc. It is for the audience to determine the character that sticks out most to them, and not knowing this isn't really something that the client needs to consider for the creation of the product.