Pitch for my short film

1. My pitch for my short film
By Jordon Clifton

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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’

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.