Initital Responses to the Brief

I will say that something I decided on instantly after being given the brief was that I wanted to pursue a fictional production, and would only really consider the alternative if my brain simply could not concoct a story that when transferred to paper wouldn't immediately take a one-way trip to the nearest bin. As of now, I am unsure which fictional world I wish to dive into; the brief does not specify a genre, although the channels (neither ITV or Channel 5 are particularly famous for their dramatic achievements) and their remits arguably do somewhat limit my options. Initial contemplations have steered me in the direction a crime drama - for I find it difficult to think of ITV drama without the word "Broadchurch" springing to mind - but I am yet to sit down and engage with a blank sheet of paper, known enemy of creativity though it is.

Upon initially reading the brief set, most of my attention went to the fact that the programme we're tasked with producing has to fit into the schedules and remits of either ITV or Channel, neither of which are television channels I tune into on an average day. My response to this fact involved finding myself simultaneously excited and slightly disheartened, the former because I'm going to be looking into an area of the TV schedule that experience has previously conditioned my eyes to gloss over when reading my TV Guide at home, and the latter for much the same reason: I know very little about ITV and Channel 5 because their remits generally don't synchronise with my tastes. This leads me to a position where I will be exploring new ground, which is something that does interest me, but ground that's littered with reality shows, drowning in soaps and altogether not my cup of tea.

With regard to the print section of my project, I think that perhaps I ought to wait until I have some solid ideas before I begin even to consider considering what my magazine extracts will look like/contain. For now, I'm going to focus on establishing ideas, themes, styles, and, if I'm lucky, a narrative. Fingers crossed.