Monday 1/2/21 - Bottle Episodes

A bottle episode is one produced in a cheap manner where they limit non regular cast members, sets and other props / equipment to as few as possible. They also rarely have any special preparation. This often is done because they need to make a script on short notice to fill the gaps between episodes or they lack the budget to make a regular episode. They tend to heavily focus on dialogue due to these contraints but they aren't necessarily always done due to budget. Sometimes a show will do these for the sake of plot and drama, the limits on set and cast members means the episode can have a slower pace and explore the characters and their depth.

I wanted to research the concept of bottle episodes because it's very similar to the situation I am in with this project, I am limited to only my room and myself in terms of cast. I feel that the best way to create this is to base my idea entirely around the limited space. Because the space is my own room I feel it really plays into the whole Memento and Identity theme, it's a space that's personal to me and contains a lot of mementos from my life. Whilst I do have a storyboard and some initial ideas prepared I wanted to develop and change the ideas into something that fits the theme better. That's why I wanted to look at how filmmakers / showrunners worked to create work within very tight restrictions.

Two shows that I've seen make use of a bottle episode are Community and Brooklyn Nine Nine, both have a different take to the episode. Community uses it in a very meta way where they often feature the characters refering to the plot as a bottle episode. Brooklyn Nine Nine uses it to create a very dramatic and intense, dialologue filled episode which has been rated as one of the best in the series. In "The Box" two of the main characters are racing against the clock to find enough evidence and get a confession out of a man who is a suspected murderer, it is a very heated episode because it focuses on the tension through dialogue and little action. Alongside the limited time for the characters it makes for a surpsingly exciting episode that I also agree is one of the best. The respective episodes are Season 2, Episode 8, "Cooperative Calligraphy" for Community and Season 5, Episode 14, "The Box" for Brooklyn Nine Nine.

In terms of film Reservoir Dogs is another good example, whilst it features multiple sets the majority of the film takes place in one warehouse building. As it was Tarantino's first film he lacked the funding his later work had, it meant this film had to be made on a budget. Much like Bottle Episodes it helped to slow down the pacing and create a good plot. One of the aspects of the film that made it so unique was that it was a heist film that took place after the heist. Whilst this was initially down to budgetary reasons, it quickly became liked by Tarantino so stayed as a main aspect of the film. It's easily an instant classic.