My pitch for my short film

By Jordon Clifton

My favourite genres I enjoy the narrative of this genre

and the relationship of the man and the woman. I like that romance can

have a gradual build up to the romantic ending, and most of the

time it leaves you feeling happy. As the ending is normally happy and the characters end up together.

This genre is appealing to me as it’s fiction and futuristic

meaning it is more entertaining to watch, as it doesn't’t seem realistic and hasn’t happened before. I also just enjoy fiction based films where they seem

realistic but are set in the future.

Short films are a very different genre I enjoy to

watch a little less frequently. This is

because they can have clever underlining

meanings and morals. While some have funny or bleak endings which

are entertaining to watch how the film sets

this up in a small amount of time. I also enjoy how short films

are in themselves short, as they can be watched

frequently.

I enjoy this genre a lot as I like the build up to parts of the narrative e.g. the killer is behind the door waiting for the victim. I also enjoy the fact I know it is fiction,

but still makes you jump and tense when you watch it. You can also experience what it would be like if

something like that happened. E.g. seeing a ghost.

My favourite genres

Romance

Comedy

Sci-Fi

Drama Short Horror/Thriller

I find the way humorous parts of the film are created and emphasized entertaining to watch. While I enjoy

being made to laugh and to have a light heated narrative during a film.

This genre is interesting in terms

of narrative as it focuses on real life

emotional struggles of characters, while

showing their development and

how they deal with it. I find the realism

portrayed in this genre engaging and intriguing to watch.

Especially when humor is cleverly

incorporated within the narrative.

My chosen genre: Dramatic short

Drama

Melodrama

Comedy drama

Psychodrama

Docudrama

Horror drama

Historical drama

Crime drama/legal

drama

Romantic drama

Tragedy

The genre for my short film is dramatic short, which dominantly is the genre of drama. Below is a spider diagram of the different subgenres of drama, showing how there are many different types of

drama.

Why I’ve chosen this genre The reason I have chosen this genre is because:• I find it interesting as a genre as it portrays realism or gritty

realism generally. • I watch quite a few drama’s on television and films and enjoy

watching them as they have interesting and engaging narratives. • I believe the way drama’s are produced and conveyed are always

inventive and clever such as a camera shot to portray dominance.• The genre conveys realism in many different ways for instance

social realism, which is a refreshing and raw/honest.• Drama isn’t ‘sugar-coated’ on how its portrayed and doesn't’t feel

like your watching a piece of media but feels like your actually there or experiencing it.

• The genre will allow me to use different aspects such as camera shots and locations to create specific and purposeful meanings.

Inspiration for my genre and narrative After choosing my genre and looking at the different subgenres that are included, I started to think of my narrative for my short film with this in mind. I watched lots of different short films and drama’s to decide what my film could be about. I took inspiration from the drama Sherlock and soap opera EastEnders. Although EastEnders is a soap opera it portrays aspects of drama as gritty realism of the East End of London is shown. While there are dramatic scenes and stereotypical drama subgenres portrayed throughout the series. On the other hand Sherlock while being a TV series, is a crime drama and focuses on realistic dramatic situations such as murder and drug addiction. This gave me inspiration for my narrative as Sherlock’s narrative and characters were entertaining and engaging in terms of being a drama. Therefore I wanted my narrative to be similar to this, as Sherlock is face-paced, inventive and makes the audience think and work out what’s going on.

Inspiration for my genre and narrative Additionally, after watching short films called Echo and Butterfly as part of my 6 week online

course at FutureLearn. This also gave me inspiration to centre my short film on the concept of loss, grief and friendship as these films touched upon these aspects effectively. Echo’s narrative showed how a girl deals with her dad’s death through repeating the day she found out about it in her life today. I thought this was an interesting way to represent the theme of grief through repetition in the narrative. Giving me inspiration to use this technique in my narrative to make

the audience wonder what’s happening in my film at first, but then to understand and be further engaged in my narrative. In terms of the film Butterfly this mainly sparked my

inspiration for my genre and narrative. As this showed a grieving boy who lost his brother in a accidental car crash. His mother drank, his dad isn't mentioned and his uncle was too heavily religious. He then is lost and has nothing and alienates himself from the world, seeing others and God as bad people who have disowned him. He then receives messages giving him hope where he later sees his brother who encourages him to live his life. I thought this was a very

meaningful and inventive way to show grief and loss, as it highlights key themes such as alienation and isolation in the narrative. I therefore took inspiration for my narrative to convey

ideas similar to this through mise-en-scene, camera shots and dialogue.

My plot outline/narrative of my short film • The opening shows the character Willow writing a letter and walking to the

grave/shrine of her best friend Jasmine. With the letter written to Jasmine where she puts the letter on the grave. Showing the audience that Jasmine has died and Willow knew her.

• Shows a nightmare of Willow’s which is actually meant to be a flashback of how Jasmine died. As Willow was there when it happened and then feels guilty about it.

• Willow then wakes up and different shots show her getting ready for school, going to school, at school, writing a letter to Jasmine, going to her shrine, having dinner and then going to bed. A voiceover will be of the character Willow reading a letter to Jasmine.

• The next day shows all the same shots to signify repetition and boredom without Jasmine, but in class they learn about the topic of death, and Willow has a argument with her friends at school.

• Willow is then angry because Jasmine isn't there and writes a letter saying ‘Where are you?’ where she then goes to the grave and puts it there.

• In the night she gets a message from Jasmine in her dream telling her to go to her grave in the morning.

• Willow goes in the morning and see’s a letter addressed to her saying ‘I’m right here’

My plot outline/narrative of my short film • Willow then seems happier and writes back to Jasmine.• She then visits the grave once more and there’s another letter addressed to Willow.• Jasmine says that she needs to live her life and move on, encouraging Willow to be

happy.• Willow understands and starts to move on showing her looking happier and making

up with her friends.• Shows a montage of her being happier and with her friends more, voiceover on top

of Willow explaining that this is the last letter to Jasmine and her saying goodbye. • Last shot of the film starts the same as the first shot of Willow writing a letter to

Jasmine at her desk Camera shot zooms up at the letter and at the word ‘goodbye’ as Willow walks away from the desk.

Why will this narrative work/appeal?I believe that my narrative will work as it has a unique storyline which will appeal to a wide female audience. I think that it also

has relatable themes or issues of teenagers, and can convey underlining meanings or themes throughout. I think it will appeal

dominantly to female teenagers due to its dominant female characters. However would appeal to teenagers and potentially older audiences due to its mature narrative. I think the themes

and ideas of grief, guilt and loss is also a narrative that isn’t explored as frequently, and can be a challenging idea to portray.

Therefore I think with careful planning and research into the concept of grief and female friendships. I will be able to my

narrative work when I put it all together. While being able to appeal to the right audience and be a desirable film to watch due

to its narrative, themes and mise-en-scene.

My potential target audience • Female teenagers aged 16-18 as most of the characters are female and the

main characters are female so this audience could relate to them. As well as my narrative focuses on the two female characters friendship which teenage females could connect with.

• My target audience would be working class- lower middle class people who can afford to go and watch my film if it was released in a cinema, or showcased at a film festival due to their social class and income.

• In terms of race, religion and sexuality these would be generic as my short film wouldn't be specifically aimed at certain races, religions or sexes.

• In terms of education my target audience would be in high school/upper school, sixth form or college as they would still be in primary education.

• My target audience would lead the lifestyle of a mainstreamer, who are people who lead a settled, fairly ordinary life, who don’t wish to rock the boat or stand out in any way. Therefore they may seek to watch short films or films that portray realism and allows them to see real emotional situations, without having to experience it.