FILM: Developing a pitch

Within the film industry, a ‘pitch’ is usually created by a director or screenwriter to a producer or studio executive. Once the film idea is presented, they hope for it to be accepted so that a screenplay can be written and produced. A short film lasts for a small duration of time; however, it still expresses a meaning within its concise storyline. This has to be inventive and conventional for it to be triumphant. It should provide the audience with what they expect but also, contain a climax because this would surprise them. Therefore, this would make it interesting and challenging. Once we had decided the genre of the short film, my partner and I started to think of different ideas that would relate to what we had chosen.

Original Idea: "Consequences" - A group of teenagers arrive at a park, along with drink and music. Consequences are learnt when they decide to have their own party. One of their friends seems distant from the rest, as she doesn't want to drink alcohol and be a part of it. As she leaves the park, alone, she is attacked. We thought that the idea was interesting and would have allowed us to use camera shots effectively, such as close ups to create tension.

Second Idea: "Emotional Effects" - We thought of another plot, using some of the ideas from our original one. We wanted to include a climax into our main storyline, so we took the idea of a girl getting attacked and the fact that it was a mystery, and adapted it into a college environment. However, we thought that it would be a good idea to make the attacker one of her friends. We continued to develop our ideas, thinking of ways we could enhance the climax. Our character, Lacey, looks popular as she walks down the corridor which shows her everyday life, with people constantly waving, saying hello and hugging her. All of sudden she is attacked, which creates the questions - why? Is she really the victim or the cause? Is this jealousy? The audience will have to decide for themselves, which leaves a cliffhanger to the short film.

We thought that 'Emotional Effects' would be a good title as it suited the plot. We liked the alliteration, as it would remain in peoples mind because it flows and rolls off the tongue. This creates a connection between the two words. However, we came to a decision to change the title, as it doesn't sound interesting. The vowel 'E' is a soft sound, which therefore wouldn't catch the audiences eye. As a result of this, we had to think of a different idea. We came up with the word 'Twisted', as during the film, we see that the girl's life, including personality and appearance, changes dramatically. It would also represent how people can actually become 'twisted'. Therefore this title can relate to everyone in the film and not just Lacey. The consonant 'T' contains a much more harsher sound, which would grab the audienes attention and relates to the climax, which is the attack. We also liked the fact that it was only one word, which creates a short and sharpness to the title. This links to how quickly Lacey's life has changed.

Through a more simple and compact storyline, we are able to tell the story effectively through:

• Camera techniques
• Sound: diegetic or non-digetic {soundtrack},voice/language
• Mise en scene: costume, setting, props etc
• Acting: facial expressions, body language, actions/gestures