An exciting visit from two members of the BBC led to a very interesting and useful talk regarding pitching, what ideas work well and why, and how much work and effort is needed in order to put a pitch together. Sarah Muller participated in much of the talking, expressing how without a script an animation idea usually won't be considered as a script allows for clear and concise presentation that the audience can easily read through and understand.
We haven't done anything on script writing yet, but having this talk inspired me to look into script writing as I do have a book by Paul Wells on this and may have to have a read of it at some point. Sarah went on to talk about how the BBC asked children what their favourite animated shows were, and much to my surprise most of them answered such things as 'Family Guy', 'South Park' and 'The Simpsons'. Now, although I was allowed to watch The Simpsons, the other two were completely off limits for me as a child and I was only really allowed to start watching South Park when I was about 16! It was suggested that because parents see an animated, bright and cheerful-looking cartoon, they automatically assume that it is suitable for children in all aspects. This is not the case and can be quite misleading and in my opinion ignorant for parents to assume all animated shows are aimed at a young audience.
The BBC wanted an approach that allowed for the humour that was featured in such American shows, but on a more suitable level. Strange Hill High, a show aired by the BBC, is predominantly aimed at older children and contains appropriate humour for that audience. However, it is still entertaining for adults. Such things as Lego, Minecraft, and YouTube shows were all very popular with the kids they had asked. I completely see why, as the idea of creativity and unusual worlds must appeal to them.
Sarah mentioned that Cbeebies and the BBC weren't after any cynicism, which seemed like a good thing to mention as you don't really want innocent children who see the world very optimistically to be polluted with such cynicism that many American animated shows (such as the ones mentioned above) contain. It was also discussed that shows like Adventure Time aren't usually liked by the BBC in terms of content. 'The weirder the world, the simpler the story' was the phrase used. I completely understand this and to a degree, Adventure Time isn't really that great in comparison with some of the old classics that focus heavily around story which in turn allows the characters and world to become successful. However, with the rise of kids wanting to be 'different', 'weird' and 'cool', Adventure Time's approach on using a modernised character approach seems effective on a young audience.
CBBC, according to Sarah and Andrew, is the number one children's channel in the UK. I highly believe this and understand why, as home-grown content and British-made animation is very successful with children. It was said that 50% of the BBC's audience watches CBBC. This is an astonishing amount so it is important for the company to keep using successful British animation.
The BBC have also focused highly on thinking about context and where their shows will, well, be shown! Tablets and smartphones have had a sharp increase in popularity in 2014. With the likes of BBC iPlayer, their audience is able to keep up to date with the latest shows, on catchup, using the latest technology. Not many other popular channels have done this. I am an avid user of BBC iPlayer and definitely think my television experience wouldn't be as good without it.
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