162MC Developing a Narrative

162MC Narrative

• Pitching a writing short script• Producing a/the short• Editing the short film

• The first 5 sessions cover the progressive aspects of screenwriting

• These are….

162MC Narrative

• The Pitch• From the Pitch to the Outline• From Outline to Treatment• From the Treatment to the Screenplay• And…..Rewrites….

The Pitch

• Each week we will deal with one of these aspects.

• This week……

• Pitching!

Familiar?

• Don’t go in the water…

• In Space no one can hear you scream

• A long time ago in a galaxy far far away

Familiar?

Familiar?

Pitch these movies

The Pitch

• Beware, these are Taglines not Pitches, a tagline only exists after a movie is made and is often devised by the marketing department not the writer or even production team.

• A tagline is the poster sentence to ‘sell’ the movie

The Pitch

• The Pitch is important because it is the first time you tell someone your idea.

• It is also the only time a verbal presentation of your idea is made.

• It I also often made to a complete stranger • Occasionally to a panel of complete strangers

162MC Narrative

• The Pitch is important as it can save you a lot of time later.

• If you have already written a complete screenplay be wary of telling a producer this is the case.

• Why do you think this is?

The Pitch

• How long is a pitch?• Really you should be able to condense a pitch

for your screenplay idea into a minute or so.• After this, if a Producer or Commissioning

Editor is interested you will/can elaborate for much longer

• It is not easy to pitch to complete strangers• …..for anyone regardless of their career

The Pitch

The Pitch

• Two movie clips form the Industry

• The Producers perspective

• The Writers perspective

The Producer

• Insert video clip

The Writer

The Pitch

• Try to think about what your movie idea is about and then encompass the idea into only a few short statements.

• Make it engaging and intriguing, after all you want people to invest time and money and talent into your ideas.

Pilgrim

• Below is a pitch for a short film:

• A stranger in an unknown land braves many dangers as he strives to fulfill his function.

• What story does the above Pitch suggest?

The Mild Bunch• Three men, unknown to each other, try to rob

the same bank at the same time.

• What kind of movie does this suggest?

• The film was made based on the above pitch and has screened all over the World in Cinemas at film festivals on TV and even on airlines

Pitching

• Because not all of you have script writing experience we are going to give you the scenarios that we want you to develop through each stage into a script.

• Some will be made but not all but you all have to write a script

• And an individual edit of a film that is made.

• Based on the Assignment handout scenario

• Devise and develop your Pitch and post it on your blog

• Get feedback from your peers, practice verbal pitching

• When you feel it is ready email it to me:• c.stewart@coventry.ac.uk

The Pitch

• In the UK writing is predominantly a solitary activity

• We do not have team writing like they do in the USA

• There are over 70 people on this module, there will be 70 different interpretations of the Assignment