Story Telling Unit-Television Drama Review: Life on Mars
Television Drama Review- BBC Drama Life on Mars
Title: Life on Mars
Director(s):
| S.J. Clarkson...(6 episodes, 2006-2007) John Alexander...(2 episodes, 2006) John McKay...(2 episodes, 2006) Bharat Nalluri...(2 episodes, 2006) Richard Clark...(2 episodes, 2007) Andrew Gunn...(2 episodes, 2007) |
Writer(s):
Matthew Graham
Tony Jordan
Ashley Pharoah
Chris Chibnall
Mark GreigGuy Jenkin
Julie Rutterford
In Life on Mars, Sam is detached from the other characters even in the world he creates in his mind; he doesn't know the people, but builds up this relationship with them. The show itself was very much based on 70s cop shows like The Sweeney , Starsky and Hutch and Get Carter which were very character driven shows.
This lead me onto thinking about detaching my character from reality. Sam seems to have occasional flashbacks to his past, with puzzles the progressive unfold. An example of this was at the start of the series where he has these flashbacks of walking in the woods.
As time progresses the flashback gets gradually longer where he sees a woman in a red dress screaming. When the unfold it turns out that it was his dad attacking his colleague and close friend Annie. These flashbacks really intrigued me and I feel they were written in well. They would be quite random, especially when Sam hears noises in his head from the ‘real world’. This impacted the audience because they're obviously significant events. Likewise, I would like to give William flashbacks of significant events in his life, to then be pieced together by the end. Rather than my flashbacks being so random, I decided to associate them with whats actually happening, so certain things he sees trigger his flashbacks.
When watching Life on Mars theres the ultimate debate was about how Sam Tyler's strange fate would unravel. This final result of course would ultimately be judged on how successfully its writers wrapped it up. I therefore needed to write my piece in such a clever way that my story puzzles together.
I feel what really helped in the making of Life on Mars was Kudos’ approach to screenwriting. They sent their screenwriters Tony Jordan, Mathew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh to Blackpool with bags of cash to enjoy themselves to however they saw fit, but at the same time they had to come up with with series ideas based on anything they saw there. They were unable to return unless they had at least 5 ideas for a running series. Their initial ideas started with all these fanciful notions about a drama thats going to change the world but they ended up realising kudos would want a police drama, despite however many times audiences are sick of seeing them. The three writers talked about shows they enjoyed as teenagers in the 70s such asThe Sweetie and films such as Get Carter, which gave them a lot of inspiration.
In Get Carter, the streets are very drab and dirty with very few people around. Our expectations of the 70s are challenged a lot in Life on Mars. The 70s are perceived as the era of bright clothes and habitat nostalgia when in reality they were tough times. Everyone had rough and minimal clothing for work and people with the ‘bling’ and money were villains. The costume here is therefore plays a significant part in capturing this realism. This has inspired me for my piece because its made me realise how much of an influence costume can have on a piece of film. It can determine the character, setting and social background of where and when it is set. When it came to writing my script I wanted to write down the costumes of the two characters so for William I said to have a smart shirt with jogging bottoms. This is because of their elastic waste makes them easier to put on as well as keeping him warm (older people tend to get colder). It's out of the ordinary too, a mixed up outfit which reflects his mind. This was was a very important element to recognise in my character as a small ‘giveaway’ that he isn’t of a stable mind and all isn't as normal as it seems. Get Carter is about a man from London which is the equivalent of the future in Life on Mars. Sam comes from Manchester in 2006 and arrives in 1973 and carter is from London which is this cosmopolitan world that outsiders don't really know and he arrives in 1973 in Newcastle. Very strong influence in terms of filming from director Bharat Nalluri.
Director (2006) Bharat Nalluri’s side of the family were from India with this Bollywood influence . He therefore likes glamorous images and people which inspires him when filming. When watching this series its easy to notice some of this influence with high end cinematography. The colour saturation changes from when Sam is in 1973 to being in 2006. The colours have a much more orange tint to them, a much warmer feel in contrast to the blue tint used in 2006 which is cold, suggesting his reality is cold. I feel this was intentional given the connotations each of the colours suggest. Blue is also associated with the future and orange was a prominent colour for the nostalgia of the 1970s. This has inspired my piece; when William has flashbacks to the past, I was thinking of adjusting the colour saturation to really define the difference in time.
In terms of screenwriting characterisation, Life on Mars has taught me to think about how your characters would react in different situations. Once you know how they would react in these situations you throw them in, you know the character well, Moral and emotional dilemmas for sam as a result for being thrown back into 1973. Sam becomes more cynical, he's forgot how to become one with his environment., so rather than adjusting to their ways, he try to change them. His character is very rational and often head over heart.
In conclusion I would say Life on Mars is a very successful television drama, and one that has inspired my writing. This series challenges a lot of nostalgia people reminisce today; the question of whether or not things were actually better in the past. People today often think that things were much better in the past and the series asks the question were they better. Throwing someone from the present into the past really makes us question how we might cope if we were in Sam’s position, being thrown back into 1973. If my writing comes across as clever and thought provoking as Life on Mars I’ll feel it will have been successful. The concept and writing ideas contribute to its overall success making it one of the most popular BBC television drama’s of our time. I have taken a lot from both the script and cinematography of this piece. It inspired my use of flashbacks, and to some extent my plot. A masterpiece.
Tony Jordan
Ashley Pharoah
Chris Chibnall
Mark GreigGuy Jenkin
Julie Rutterford
“Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time” Life on Mars is a BBC television drama set back in time to 1973, after Police Sargent Sam Tyler suffers a severe car accident in the present. After watching the entire series back to back, I discovered that this enthralling piece has been an inspiration to my own project in multiple ways.
The most important thing to note about this series has to be the characters/actors and how well they bounce off each other. The relationship between Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt is one of love/hate, with a begrudging admiration. Given policing in the 70s wasn't policing at its best, it becomes Sam’s mission to stop corruption and take on full investigations into crimes rather than Genes method of going on a ‘hunch’. After watching this series I moved onto the sequel ‘Ashes to Ashes’ which involves the life of a female police detective who gets taken back to 1985, meeting Gene Hunt after reading Sam’s story. Their relationship is equally as good, but again completely different. The ‘banter’ the two share isn't as full on given that she’s female, but the love/hate admiration is still present.
When writing my own short film I would too, like to show a strong bond between the characters; although they haven't seen each other in a while, and Williams personality has dramatically changed, their closeness can still be reflected in both my writing and filming. I did find this rather difficult given my protagonist suffers dementia, and would find it difficult to rememberer his past friendship with George, thus making their present relationship weaker. However, if I was to make both actors comfortable with each other, or two that know each other well then it could work out.
In Life on Mars, Sam is detached from the other characters even in the world he creates in his mind; he doesn't know the people, but builds up this relationship with them. The show itself was very much based on 70s cop shows like The Sweeney , Starsky and Hutch and Get Carter which were very character driven shows.
This lead me onto thinking about detaching my character from reality. Sam seems to have occasional flashbacks to his past, with puzzles the progressive unfold. An example of this was at the start of the series where he has these flashbacks of walking in the woods.
As time progresses the flashback gets gradually longer where he sees a woman in a red dress screaming. When the unfold it turns out that it was his dad attacking his colleague and close friend Annie. These flashbacks really intrigued me and I feel they were written in well. They would be quite random, especially when Sam hears noises in his head from the ‘real world’. This impacted the audience because they're obviously significant events. Likewise, I would like to give William flashbacks of significant events in his life, to then be pieced together by the end. Rather than my flashbacks being so random, I decided to associate them with whats actually happening, so certain things he sees trigger his flashbacks.
When watching Life on Mars theres the ultimate debate was about how Sam Tyler's strange fate would unravel. This final result of course would ultimately be judged on how successfully its writers wrapped it up. I therefore needed to write my piece in such a clever way that my story puzzles together.
I feel what really helped in the making of Life on Mars was Kudos’ approach to screenwriting. They sent their screenwriters Tony Jordan, Mathew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh to Blackpool with bags of cash to enjoy themselves to however they saw fit, but at the same time they had to come up with with series ideas based on anything they saw there. They were unable to return unless they had at least 5 ideas for a running series. Their initial ideas started with all these fanciful notions about a drama thats going to change the world but they ended up realising kudos would want a police drama, despite however many times audiences are sick of seeing them. The three writers talked about shows they enjoyed as teenagers in the 70s such asThe Sweetie and films such as Get Carter, which gave them a lot of inspiration.
In Get Carter, the streets are very drab and dirty with very few people around. Our expectations of the 70s are challenged a lot in Life on Mars. The 70s are perceived as the era of bright clothes and habitat nostalgia when in reality they were tough times. Everyone had rough and minimal clothing for work and people with the ‘bling’ and money were villains. The costume here is therefore plays a significant part in capturing this realism. This has inspired me for my piece because its made me realise how much of an influence costume can have on a piece of film. It can determine the character, setting and social background of where and when it is set. When it came to writing my script I wanted to write down the costumes of the two characters so for William I said to have a smart shirt with jogging bottoms. This is because of their elastic waste makes them easier to put on as well as keeping him warm (older people tend to get colder). It's out of the ordinary too, a mixed up outfit which reflects his mind. This was was a very important element to recognise in my character as a small ‘giveaway’ that he isn’t of a stable mind and all isn't as normal as it seems. Get Carter is about a man from London which is the equivalent of the future in Life on Mars. Sam comes from Manchester in 2006 and arrives in 1973 and carter is from London which is this cosmopolitan world that outsiders don't really know and he arrives in 1973 in Newcastle. Very strong influence in terms of filming from director Bharat Nalluri.
 |
| The streets in Life on Mars are very similar to Get Carter with the industrial look, and demolition of old buildings |
Director (2006) Bharat Nalluri’s side of the family were from India with this Bollywood influence . He therefore likes glamorous images and people which inspires him when filming. When watching this series its easy to notice some of this influence with high end cinematography. The colour saturation changes from when Sam is in 1973 to being in 2006. The colours have a much more orange tint to them, a much warmer feel in contrast to the blue tint used in 2006 which is cold, suggesting his reality is cold. I feel this was intentional given the connotations each of the colours suggest. Blue is also associated with the future and orange was a prominent colour for the nostalgia of the 1970s. This has inspired my piece; when William has flashbacks to the past, I was thinking of adjusting the colour saturation to really define the difference in time.
In terms of screenwriting characterisation, Life on Mars has taught me to think about how your characters would react in different situations. Once you know how they would react in these situations you throw them in, you know the character well, Moral and emotional dilemmas for sam as a result for being thrown back into 1973. Sam becomes more cynical, he's forgot how to become one with his environment., so rather than adjusting to their ways, he try to change them. His character is very rational and often head over heart.
Comments
Post a Comment