Film Pitch Script

Film Pitch- Script

 

(Play: In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Alton Towers theme), Skip to next piece of text in time with music, tempo increase with music, build drama.)

 

("Results" to appear just as music reaches climax. Go to next slide, blank screen.)
What I want to know is, when I google "Last year of A Levels", why do I get nothing but news about results and grades? When you're doing your A Levels, three or four letters make up your future, so obviously those tiny letters are extremely important. However, why does no one focus on how it feels to have that kind of pressure on your shoulders? Right now, we have to juggle family, friends, relationships, work, learning to drive and education at a time in our lives when we don't really know who we are. Just to put our age into perspective, I'm going to take you back not even ten years- just eight years, and you'll be surprised at how long ago it seems.
(Play: Mr Brightside (Karaoke version))

Eight years ago, you were 9 or 10 years old, you were in primary school.



 

 

• The Killers released "Mr Brightside"
• The Rugrats aired its final episode
• McFly released "Five Colours In Her Hair"
• The Incredibles, Shrek 2 and Meet The Fockers were released in cinemas
• The Harry Potter film series was in its third installment: The Prisoner of Azkaban. The film series began in 2006, when we were 5 or 6 years old. The final film was released 2 years ago. We've lived the whole of Harry Potter.
• You weren't old enough to buy a pet. You couldn't buy anything online. Without parental supervision, you couldn't weatch anything rated above PG, so technically, you weren't even old enough to watch The Simpsons.

At the age of 18, you can

• Get a tattoo
• Get married
• Get divorced
• Adopt a child
• Go to prison

(Skip to blank slide)

With so much responsibility on our shoulders, our lives are full of opportunity. Whatever happens to us, is up to us. I have been told so many times, "The decisions you make now will affect you for the..."

(Change slide)

 

 

Rest of your life. This is the title of my documentary film.

(Make each one appear as I talk about them)

In my documentary, we will follow 5 people at the age of 17 or 18.

• The first is a girl who unfortunately fell pregnant during her final year of A Levels. She'll be at 6 months at the time of filming. The cracks are going to show with her family and friends, her home life and her boyfriend. This will be the most emotional story we follow.
• A college drop out. This is someone who went to college and unfortunately fell in with the wrong crowd. They're now on drugs and not doing much else. Hopefully we can break through the sterotypes and get to know the person underneath.
• An Oxford hopeful. Someone who is very smart and focussed on studies, but with pressure from parents, there isn't much time for a social life. We will learn about the responsibility this person has on his shoulders, and how they deal with it. A twist in their story may surprise you.
• An outcast. She keeps herself to herself. Not exactly bullied, not shown a lot of kindness, either. Going to University is a daunting idea as she'll have to meet a whole new group of people and start over again.
• The class clown. A popular guy who likes a laugh and a joke. A good friend. However, he's not sure what he wants to do at university and what he wants to get out of it. We'll follow him as he attempts to discover this.

There will be minor characters such as family and friends, and hopefully a doctor.

 

Costume. For my pregnant teenager, I want to use a slim actress. This is because her slight figure will make the bump stand out more, making it look dramatic. I will use make up to create shadows under her eyes, to make it look as if she doesn't get much sleep. I want her to look quite pale, with her hair scraped back. She will wear basic clothing like jeans or leggings and jumpers. The costume will show an overall lack of care for her appearance.

 

The drop out will wear casual clothes that are very unlike any kind of uniform- most likely jeans and a hoodie with trainers.

 

 

The Oxford hopeful will wear smart clothing such as a shirt and tie for scenes in his sixth form. At home he will still dress in smart t shirts. He will wear glasses- a stereotypical accessory for the studious type.

 

The oucast will wear dark clothing to tie in with the idea of her wanting to hide in the shadows and not be noticed. One of her trademark accessories will be a pair of earphones always round her neck, as she often listens to music to further isolate herself from others.

 

The class clown will wear on-trend clothes for males, in bright colours to give connotations of happiness and positivity. He will often wear patterned clothing that matches his outgoing, unorganised nature.

 

 

I will use a variety of locations when filming my trailer, because we have to show the habitats of 5 very different people. I will use school to film scenes where the characters are studying, as well as local pubs and clubs to show them socialising. I need a very urban scene for my outcast, so local train stations, parks and bus stops will be utilised. I may need a countryside scene where one of the characters goes to relax. If I do, I will use a lane 10 minutes from my house, as it is very picturesque and will contrast nicely with the urban scenes.

 

When researching the budgets of independent documentary films, I couldn't find very much information. I have decided that I will use a minimal budget to create my trailer. I will only need to pay for train and bus fairs, and possibly costumes if my actors do not have anything suitable. I

 

I looked into production companies and found one called "Back2Back Productions", who produce independent films. They have produced documentaries such as "The Changing Face of..." and "The Soham Murder... 10 Years On. Another company that would possibly be interested in my film is "Coffee Films". They specialise in independent films such as “Dealer”, following a  “young drug dealer, combining real life stories with fiction to give a true perspective on suburban drug use

 

The main two inspirations for my idea are the "Up" series and 16 and Pregnant. The Up series is documentary that followed the lives of 10 7 year olds back in the 1960s. Every 7 years, the series revisits the children and monitors their progress since we last saw them. The series aired again this year, as "49 Up" and is extremely successful. I like the element of including people from different social backgrounds. Following this idea, I can create different representations of each character, by conforming to or challenging stereotypes. 16 and Pregnant is also inspiration because the series follows each person in detail, so that audiences get to know their stories and identify with the characters. I want my documentary to have the same personal feel. I also like the editing of 16 and Pregnant, with use of doodle style cartoons to assist scene transitions between characters.





 

I am aiming for a very diverse target audience of both genders and a range of ages. I think that people our age will enjoy the documentary as they may be able to identify with some of the challenges that the characters face. Older audiences will find the documentary insightful. There are a lot of negative stereotypes about our age group, but I think that we are growing up at a strange time when politics are changing, technology is changing, the climate is changing, as we face a lot of pressure. Therefore I hope that my documentary will teach older generations about how we live our lives and be a valuable window into our age group.

 

 (Skip to blank slide)

 

This documentary will make you laugh, it might make you cry. It will make you appreciate where you are right now. The decisions you make now will effect you for the (Skip to next slide) Rest of Your Life.