Introducing Characters & Symbolism | Tutorial #3

We recently had a third tutorial with Simon, however, Laura wasn't available to attend this tutorial due to a work placement. So this tutorial had just me, Nisserin and Simon attending.

To help me and Laura write our sitcom script, he mentioned the tip to introduce the characters quickly. Within a film, the characters are introduced slowly, as the scenes unfold and as the problems occur, and due to the length there's more time to learn about the character. However, within a TV sitcom, the characters are introduced within the first few minutes of the episode. This is because the duration isn't as long as a film and the story progresses at a much quicker pace.
He suggested that I research into introducing characters quickly, before I start writing, and he also told me to look into 'Spaced' which is a Channel 4 show. Specifically I will look at the 1st episode of this show to see how they've introduced the character as Simon said it's a good show for that aspect.
He also said that I should look at a variety of opening scenes in sitcoms to get a good idea on how to introduce the characters, and how I can make the bold traits appear early, as this is how it should be.

Another aspect of pre-production that we talked about was location. It was previously discussed by myself, Nisserin and Laura, that we will be filming in Laura's house and her house will be the location of Annie & Dean's house. When we told Simon this, he wasn't 100% happy with this choice, and wanted us to reconsider. Not because he didn't like the idea, but because of the type of house.
Laura's house is a detached house, however, Simon said that he could see Annie & Dean loving in a normal semi-detached house that looked quite ordinary.
He mentioned that, in terms of symbolism, semi-detached houses potentially give the impression of someone striving for wealth and striving to get a detached house. This was something me and Nisserin agreed on, and we liked the idea. This is obviously something we have to talk to Laura about and we'll see what we can find. He said that the simple details make all the difference and add personality to the characters.

A few extra points he mentioned were that casting is a big priority and we need to remind Laura of that. Also, we both - Nisserin and I - need to research into Multicam, and for me I need to look into the directing of a Multicam. Multicam is something that we want to try out for our show, so we need to research into it to make sure we know what we are doing.