Short Film Idea - Pitch

Rachael Sampson and Talia Smith

The film targets issues involving teenagers, looking over common topic issues of self esteem/self worth and appearance.

Name of Film TBC

Initial Idea

Shows girls life feels not worth it, no friends etc.

Hit by a car

Shows life without her

Shows life if she hadn’t died, things turned good

Turns out she actually did die and it was too late for all the good things to happen

Summary of plot 1

The film will be about a teenage girl who is also the narrator. She is unpopular, but we see her interesting personality through the narration but it is clear that she is misunderstood and not accepted within society. Keeping to herself in school and not really having friends, and with people making sly comments. However there is a boy who ‘likes’ her but doesn’t act upon his feelings due to his friends thinking she is odd. When she arrives home from school we see her parents arguing and she just isolates herself in her room. However her bedroom is full of art and posters, showing her personality. The next day she voices this aloneness in her narration and when she crosses the road she says “I bet nobody would care if I…” then she is hit by a car. Then as the film goes on, we see peoples reaction to her death. There are scenes of her classmates saying that they are devastated and that she was a beloved student. She is finally noticed in society once she is dead (when it’s too late). We then see the boy who noticed her and we see him tell his friends that he liked her and never had the guts to say anything and that he wishes he could just go back in time. At this point, the film rewinds to the moment she crosses the road and she stops to tie her shoelace. This delay means the car goes past and she gets to school. Her life is still the same. People make comments, she keeps to herself, and the friends of the boy who notices her, encourage him to cut a hole in her bag, when she leaves school, all her books fall out and she is the joke of the class. The film ends with her leaving school with her books in her hand walking home up a hill and she ends the film with the line “nobody cares unless you’re pretty or dead”

Outline of the plot (1)

We thought about our first plot and came to the conclusion a moral or change needs to be apparent, the character has to learn something and progress for the short film to have a purpose.

The protagonist can realise how she didn’t value her life and how lucky she is to have all that she has.

The realisation of this will teach her life is too short to be complaining and moping around and take advantage of opportunities life gives you.

Evaluation of first plot idea

Average girl picked on not popular at school

Picked last for teams

Loves a boy but he doesn’t know it

Low self esteem looking in mirror – negative words on mirror

Parents argue

Hit by car

goes to school realises she’s a ghost, named called for register they cant hear her answer

Friend blanks her

Walks past newspaper article of girl hit by car

Sees parents crying at home

Goes back to spot and theres police tape where she ‘died’

Sees friend being told shes dead

(sees mum and dad buying her gravestone plot/organising her funeral)

Crying realisation, screaming wants to go back

Wakes up on pavement woken up by driver

Goes into school

Not shy anymore

Walks up to guy she likes says hi

Plot idea – revisited (2)

Scene 1 *opening dialogue* – “There are 7,240,477,753 people on the planet, 63,234,957 people in the UK, 53,122,391 in England, 531,834 in my hometown, 86 people on my street, and then there’s me’.

Make this visual with numbers on screen, flipping like an old fashioned digital clock.

More scenes in depth

Classroom Scene 1: The teacher asks her to hand out some sheets to the class. When she approaches a group of girls, she hands them the sheet and they give her a glare and laugh once she’s gone away. She then sits down and we see her look at a couple who are keeping to themselves and are talking and showing their happiness. The main character then looks at them in awe.

More scenes in depth

Main Girl ‘Olive’ Driver Main Boy Boy’s Mates Main Girls 1 friend Bitchy Girls Mum Dad PE Teacher English Teacher Students Vicar Church Congregation

Characters Actors

• Will be decided through an audition process

Titus Salt School (classrooms and PE area)

Rachael’s bedroom

Streets in Baildon

Talia’s house

Holy Trinity Church and Graveyard

Locations