Coursework: Film pitch

Our first bit of planning for our Film website production is to come up with a new, original horror movie concept.

This is the creative side of Media Studies that we all love but it's not easy! We need to come up with our own, original idea that we can turn into a brilliant independent horror film website. You need to work through several steps...

Original independent horror

We need to come up with an idea for an independent film that would appeal to fans of independent movies. What does this mean?

• Low budget
• Creative or unusual ideas
• No star names or directors
• May challenge ideas in mainstream movies

Title and tagline

What makes a good horror film title?

• Simple
• Memorable
• Suggestive of narrative/story
• Immediately identifiable as HORROR

The tagline is like a slogan for the film and will appear on the poster, website, trailer etc. Let’s look at some classic horror taglines…

• “Be afraid, be very afraid.” (The Fly)
• “In space, no one can hear your scream.” (Alien)
• “Sometimes dead is better.” (Pet Sematary)
• “Heads Will Roll.” (Sleepy Hollow)
• “I Warned You Not To Go Out Tonight” (Maniac)
• “He’ll Tear Your Soul Apart.” (Hellraiser)

Logline

The logline is a one-sentence summary of the story of the film. It’s designed to immediately tell a studio or distributor what kind of film it is and what happens in the story. Let’s look at some examples…

Titanic: A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard an ill-fated voyage on the most famous ship of all time…

What about some example horror loglines? These are from the Screenwriting Staffing website...

Fallout: When two women awake to find themselves trapped by a madman in adjoining rooms with only half the information needed to escape, they soon discover that only one of them can make it out alive and that working together will be very dangerous.

Demon: Five teenagers take shelter in an abandoned slaughterhouse which is haunted by a malevolent poltergeist. Overcome by an incredible rage, one of them seeks to destroy the others.

Narrative and character

Your logline should give you a basic overview of your film. Next, plan a few more details:

• Narrative – what happens in the story?
• Character – who is the main character? Who is the villain or threat? Are there any other important characters?

Here, it might be helpful to think of your film as a combination of existing horror films (“Like a cross between Scream and Paranormal Activity”)

Plan what you'll need for your website...

Once you have a basic plan for your low-budget independent horror film, plan a few more details that will help you with your media production work:

• Come up with a name for your director (it can be your name!) as you’ll need this for the interview
• Plan your photos for the website/interview
• Plan any costume/make-up/lighting/location you’ll need for your photos
• Plan the font/typography or branding you will use for your film title. Examples on next slide…

Font/typography

Horror film branding is usually created using particular font/typography and colour (black/white/red):

Film pitch planning: blog tasks

You may want to start the process of planning your film by scribbling ideas on a blank piece of paper - possibly storylines, scary villains, main character names, locations etc. Then, create a blogpost called 'Coursework film pitch' and answer the questions below:

1) What will be the title for your own original NEW horror film? If you're not sure, write down two or three possible titles and you can choose later.

2) Write a tagline for your film – it's effectively a slogan for the movie:

3) Write a logline – this is like a longer version of the tagline. It's one sentence that sums up the film and hooks the audience in under 25 words: 

4) Write down any existing horror films that are similar to yours ("My film idea is like a cross between Scream and Contagion"):

5) What is your narrative/storyline? Write a short paragraph that explains what happens in your film:

6) What is your main character’s name and what happens to them? You can also mention other characters if your wish.

7) Who or what will be the villain or threat in your horror movie?  

8) What is the name of your film's director? You can use your own name here if you wish.

9) What costume/make-up/props will you need for your photographs for your website?

10) What font/typography/colour you will use to create a brand for your film’s title and branding?  

By completing these tasks, you will have the basic structure to create your photography, website and interview with the director or member of the production team.

Due date: on Google Classroom.