Feedback from the pitch

This week I had to create and present a pitch to my peers of my progress so far. I created a two part pitch, the first consisting of an explanation as to why I selected the genre of horror and the sub-genre of supernatural, as well as including information about my target audience and the ideas for the basic plotline of my film. I created a second pitch because I had developed my ideas deciding to create a supernatural horror set in the 1940’s era. In case my peers thought that the concept would be too difficult I presented examples from an art project I did last year which focused on ‘Women Throughout Time’ where I chose suitable models, styled them according to the appropriate era and photographed them. I used these images in my pitch to show my peers that I can successfully achieve the old fashion look I want.

Allow us now to reflect upon the feedback...

The idea of setting my narrative in an entirely different time period stunned my peers, literally leaving them speechless! They considered it to be a highly original and unique concept, appreciating the fact that it is a different type of horror film. This piece of feedback is interesting as I feel as if I can appeal to a specific market in which not many horror films can. The narrative was said to be “well constructed and thought about”, at the end of presentation very little discussion went into ‘tying up the loose ends’ as everything had already been considered. My pitch was very well received and everyone found it an interesting and intriguing way of approaching the course.

I was told I must consider mise-en-scene and ensure that everything in the frame is relevant, especially to the time period. I assured them that I would not have chosen to pursue this further if I didn’t think I could accurately construct the perfect image of the beautiful 1940’s aura. I have always had an admiration for the fashion, culture and etiquette of the decade, I collect vintage household items and have watched numerous films set in and created during the WWII. It was said during the presentation that someone can see why I am so inspired by the epoch and that they too share my appreciation.

I was asked what age I had considered my ghost to be and up until then I assumed she would be in her late teens. It was suggested that perhaps I should make the spirit of the girl slightly younger to recreate this image of a creepy war child ghost. Also, the narrative would be considered more plausible for the girl to actually live in an orphanage if she is below the age of 15. The next question was whether I had considered the outfit of the ghost and I decided that I would quite like her to be dressed in a long white chiffon nightgown. The current focus being on the ghost’s age and costume, I procrastinated as to how I was going to make the character look like a young girl and I suggested her wearing her hair in ‘cutsie’ pigtails held in place with satin ribbons.

There was also the question of how the orphanage shut down; initially I thought that the reason being was due to the murder. Someone suggested that the murder of the girl should remain a secret, as it’s more suspenseful and exciting having the protagonist discover this mystery herself.

 After a group discussion we came to the conclusion that the simplest and most plausible solution would be that it shut down due to money shortages during the war and that the owner had to go off a fight for his country. I also needed to construct some kind of plausible excuse as to why a young woman in this decade would move into a house in the country by herself. I came to the conclusion that the house is her uncles, who is now an officer in the war. He asks his niece to look after it whilst he is away. She is aware that it used to be a children’s home that unfortunately shut down due to insufficient funds. Yet, she does not know when she moves in that there was a murder there. The protagonist is from London, and also moves to the country to escape the dangers of bombing. Yet also, moves there to start a new-life, as she is a depressive who cannot escape the torment of her past. She believes that moving into a new home will help her seek inner peace, allowing her to ‘find herself’.

Seeing as my narrative is based upon a character who experienced abuse as child, It was suggested that during my research I watch the BBC’s adaptation of ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ and also re-read the book, in order to find out more about young children having experienced separation from their parents and child abuse during the war. I thought this was an intriguing idea, by reading such a moving novel I can place myself in the shoes of these young characters and accurately and tastefully incorporate the sheer emotion into my narrative.

From taking onboard the suggestions of my peers, I believe it’d be a good idea to use colour symbolism within my trailer, for example the colour red: Having the protagonist wear red lipstick, the ghost girl wearing red ribbons in her hair, etc. I must also consider what sorts of things my ghost is going to do to haunt the main character.