Research: Pitching A Film

Well i have to admit, the idea of officially starting the research phase has been a daunting idea for a few days now... I didn't have the foggiest idea where I should really start. 

Then it dawned on me, I don't actually know what is expected of a movie pitch, at least not at a professional level, which is what I'd like to achieve for my final years work! so my first port of call for research is going to be how to pitch a film. Ooo I like that font in bold... I should point out now, I am writing this live; I'm going to be switching to and from writing this blog as I actually write it and do the research... Let's see how this goes!

So, first thing I'd like to know is what a professional level company such as Pixar expect from a pitch.

http://www.pixar.com/howwedoit/index.html# is very informative! It's a little vague on the specifics of what they expect from a pitch though, let's dig deeper.

Ok, I couldn't find any details on the Pixar site about the specifics of a pitch, but a little venture into google and I quickly came across this. Which looks very promising, written by Michael (Mike) Vogel - Director of Animated Programming at Sony Pictures. (I'm still reading it).

This article is officially a god-send! So many questions that I wanted answered are answered. It's very easy when trying to get your idea across, to lose your sense of perspective. Making sure that you keep the pitch relevant to your character(s) is important. 

I was surprised on the section about the artwork when I read it, but with a little thought it makes total sense... Why would you show any artwork that isn't as you'd like it in the film. A producer isn't going to be interested in seeing sketches of characters, they're going to want to see exactly how the character is going to look. Showing anything that isn't finished is only going to mislead.

Another point he makes, that makes total sense, is knowing what role you want to have in the actual making of the film. Although not entirely relevant for me as a student, but in the professional world, I'm going to have to start really thinking about what I see myself doing... Be it writing, directing,  ideas, character design or the animation itself...

The length of the pitch this is something that I had been wondering for a while... "Make it just long enough to cover the important bits" is great advice, the details will be worked out in storyboarding and script writing. You only need outlines, ideas, characters. For a series, he also recommends having a few fleshed out ideas for 2 or 3 episodes; fleshed out meaning that it will have a beginning, middle and end. Also some vague ideas of other episodes, which shouldn't be more than a sentence or 2, just to show the directions you can go with on this idea.

Very helpful stuff indeed, so overall I have to remember that the story is key, leading with the story and using images / research to support the idea, rather than having images play the largest part. The idea itself is what you are pitching, not the characters, or the world etc... An important thing to keep in mind!

I think this has been a good start to my research, at least I know what I should be aiming to show in my presentations now (at least better than before). I think actually getting to making the presentation will be a better learning experience though! Until next time, Matty out!