blakwaterpitch-blog

[blakwaterpitch-blog]

Blak Water Pitch

Online proposal for Blak Water.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxqBBnL3MnQxRm9wd1Z5a25ZN00

1. Logline

In the middle of a big money, charity scam job, con man Ernest Blak is informed the man he is impersonating’s wife has died and he must inform the man of this horrific news, but this doesn’t go to plan.

2. Description of your creative approach to the film

As a creative producer, I imagine this short film to be a faced paced, tense, action film. Through narrative, camera and sound techniques, the film will focus on the protagonist Ernest. Although he is a con man and supposedly a ‘villain’, he will be presented as a charismatic, yet irritating character; a handsome, tall, charming, glamorous, rich (supposedly) charity worker - irritatingly perfect. The reasoning for this is that the audience will be envious of the character and want to be him, but also feel pleased when his plan is ruined when he is informed that Patrick’s wife has died.

Ernest will be presented as confident and charismatic through high angle shots to connote he is powerful and in charge. The costume design will be very smart, wealthy looking and he will appear well groomed.

However the camera techniques will soon change in the later part of the script, where the tables turn and Ernest realises he was actually being tested and failed. He will be denoted through low angle shots, and long shots making him appear small in the frame - to denote his power being taken away. In terms of his appearance, his clothes will become dirty and untucked, and his hair will be messy.

In terms of the production design, the location of the grand building and ballroom will be richly decorated, for example big white drapes and props such as tables full of champagne bottles. There will also be extras dressed smartly in ball gowns and suits, with waitresses serving them.

The colour pallet of the film will be dull, eerie colours such as blues and yellows which will connote that something isn’t right, as auctions full of wealthy people should usually be colourful and upbeat.

3. Choice of proposed cast

Cop: Simon Pegg Despite the Cop only having two lines in the script, for this role I’ve chosen Simon Pegg, due to his character Nicholas Angel in Hott Fuzz (2007) – a comical, yet serious Sargent at the Sandford Police Service. Audiences will be surprised when they recognise Simon Pegg as the Cop.

Ernest Blak: Leonardo DiCaprio For the character of Ernest Blak I have chosen Leonardo DiCaprio. The reason for choosing him for the main protagonist is due to his incredible acting ability that has been established over his career; playing all sorts of different characters. From Arnie Grape in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Romeo in Romeo + Juliet (1996), Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Hugh Glass in The Revenant (2015).

DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street – a successful, cocky, hateful yet enviable businessman. He is confident within himself and is excellent at making speeches which can be seen during his inspirational speech scene.

The characteristics of the character Jordan Belfort and the way DiCaprio acts, is the way I imagine Ernest to be in the first half of the script. He also looks the part – a middle-aged, smart, well kept, white man.

However, my further reasoning of choosing DiCaprio for the character of Ernest is DiCaprio’s amazing ability to act a range of characters. His Oscar-winning performance in The Revenant was also why I chose him, particularly the scene where he takes on a bear. Although DiCaprio triumphs over the bear, and in Blak Water he ends up being shot by Patrick, the ability of DiCaprio to change from acting as a cocky business man, to a weak man being attacked is the reasoning for choosing him.

Maitre D’: Benedict Shaw (NFS casting database) I have chosen Benedict for this role as I have seen him act in a short film and I think he looks the part. He will also keep production costs down.

Announcer: Bevan Mullineux (NFS casting database) I have chosen Bevan to play this role as I have seen him audition and he looks the part I imagine – tall, well groomed and charming. As a less experienced actor, hiring him will keep the production budget down.

Tony: young Matt Damon For the role of Tony, I have chosen young Matt Damon. The reason for choosing him for this role was for the character of Tom Ripley he played in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). Tom is a young, quiet, smart, seemingly lovely man who agrees to help track down Herbert Greenleaf’s son. However, Tom soon becomes an angry, dangerous psychopath when Dickie becomes annoyed with Tom’s persistent presence, which causes Dickie to reject him, causing Tom to turn into a psychopathic killer.

I chose Matt Damon to play Tony because of this unsuspecting twist of character traits. Tony appears to be Ernest’s good friend by helping him. However the twist is that Tony isn’t actually a good friend to Ernest, and is instead working for Patrick who is testing Ernest. Patrick even clarifies this when he says “your Tony is really my Tony”.  

Waitress: Rhiannon Canoville-Ord I have chosen Rhiannon for this role as I have worked with her before and she is a brilliant actress and fits the part of a young, pretty, flirty woman. She will also keep production costs down.

Patrick Water: Gary Oldman I have chosen Gary Oldman because he is typically known to play villains. For example he played a terrorist in Air Force One (1997) and a corrupt cop in Leon (1994). The audience are likely to pick up on the fact he is usually a villain and this foreshadows the plot twist in the script.

Unknown caller: David Fincher I have chosen the proposed director’s voice for the unknown caller as it saves production costs of hiring a voice actor, and it will be amusing for the audience if they realise it’s his voice.

Audience in auction hall: extras sourced from the NFS database/NFS who will work for low wage.

4. Choice of proposed director

The director I have chosen for this script is David Fincher. Fincher started his career in commercials and music videos, working with some of the world’s most influential artists including Madonna and Michael Jackson. He then went onto directing feature films and has several Oscar nominations including, Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007) and The Social Network (2010). (Academy Films, n.d.)

Fincher’s films all have similar themes in; “unhappy endings, betrayals and often feature a lack of closure for the audience.” (Walker, 2017) An example of this is the killer in Zodiac isn’t caught. (Walker, 2017)

I have chosen David Fincher for his visual style and camera work. Fincher uses the colour pallet of a film to express conflict affecting the characters, both internally and externally. His colour palettes in his films are recognisable; “hazy, muted and dark” with black being the dominant colour (Walker, 2017). This is the colour pallet I want in Blak Water. Fincher uses everything in a shot as an “extension of the characters” and it reflects their dilemmas (Vasiliauskas, 2017).

For example, the colour pallet of blues and oranges in the final scene in Fight Club represents conflict in the characters. Fincher aims to make the audience “feel the same way the characters do. This is achieved not only through performances but through a film colour palette that will heighten the emotional weight of the scenes.” (Vasiliauskas, 2017). This would work well in Blak Water as the audience will feel sorry for Ernest when he gets betrayed by Tony and shot by Patrick.

Fincher also uses discordant colour pallets which draws our attention to “out of place elements” which connotes to the audience that something is wrong in the narrative. This technique will work well in Blak Water, as I want to connote to the audience that something is wrong in the first half of the film at the auction, to foreshadow the twist.

Fincher’s camera technique is also the reason why I chose him. Fincher moves the camera by either tilting, panning or tracking along with the character’s emotions and movements. For example, when Tyler Durden in Fight Club walks down the stairs, the camera follows his movement by tracking, panning and tilting. This technique engages the audience will the character’s emotions.

5. How I will exploit the film – distribution campaign

The first step in my distribution campaign is identifying my audience. Due to the four famous actors and the film being directed by David Fincher, the film already attracts a wide mainstream audience, as the actors and characters are very famous and recognisable. My target audience is male and female young adults aged 16-35 who are a fan of the action genre. The film may also attract fans of the actors, for example Leonardo DiCaprio fans will see a film purely because he is starring in it.

I will test my target audience by calling other filmmakers to get an opinion, sharing the trailer on relevant blogs and internet pages. From here I will ask for opinions and ask if the film excites them. If not, I will look into a different target audience.

I will also start a marking campaign on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I will create a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page for the film. From here I will post regular countdowns to the film’s release date with the hashtags #BlakWater #LeonardoDiCaprio #MattDamon #DavidFincher. This will create a bigger audience and spread the information for people who search these hashtags. The countdown will also get the audience excited for the release. I will also create a YouTube account for the film where I will be uploading a trailer. The link to the trailer will be contained in the social media posts.

I will enter the film into film festivals and attend the festivals to create awareness of the film, using this opportunity to network with other filmmakers to get advice and opinions.

As the film is only short, it won’t make it into cinemas. Therefore I’m going to have to rely on purchases of the film to make money. Due to the huge stars in the film, I will look into selling the licence to Netflix and Amazon. Netflix has just under 99 million subscribers and is the leading competitor against Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video. Netflix spent nearly “$200 million in 2011 for access to Disney films and TV programming for a one year period.” (Investopedia, n.d.). The series “Lost” cost the company $45 million. (Investopedia, n.d.)

I will also sell the film on Amazon and iTunes for audiences to make a one off purchase to buy or rent the film. I think this will be more effective than putting it on DVD in this digital age. I could try and negotiate an “exclusive to Netflix” deal which will benefit the company and hopefully gain me a higher licencing price.

I think these marketing techniques are the best approach to making money on my short film. As it will be under 20 minutes long, it won’t be released in cinemas so I can’t make money from the box office.

6. Planning for production

Location

The script requires three locations; the auction hall, shady car park and inside the van.

For the auction hall and car park I will use Orton Hall in Peterborough. (The Village, Orton Longueville, Peterborough PE2 7DN). This is a 17th Century Manor House, former home of the Marquess of Huntly, set in 20 acres of parkland.

This is an example of the interior; however a stage will be built by the art department to hold the auction on.

I am basing the pricing of this location on the wedding packages they offer which includes the day hire of the hall. I need the location for 4 days. Hiring the venue for a wedding day is £5395. However, as we won’t be needing any of the services and just the venue, I think I could negotiate a much lower price of around £1000 per day, due to the cast.

The location also has a car park in the woods. This would also serve for the ‘shady parking lot’ for the van to be set in.

In order to secure this location and negotiate a price, I will visit the location and speak to the manager. I will arrange this visit through a telephone call - 01733 391111.

The second location needs to be a studio to build the interior of the van. For this I would use the Prime 1 studio in Leeds. I will need this location for 3 days.

Floor plan in Prime 1 studio, 94 – 96 KIRKSTALL RD, LEEDS, LS3 1HD

Budget

For the budget I have estimated costs of the actors based on films they have been paid for previously and taken into account the short shooting schedule. For example, Leonardo DiCapro made $20,000 for The Great Gatsby (2013) but only $2,000,000 for J.Edgar (2011). (Quora, n.d.)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s7V2I3bCsQ7tzWBLgt2S698H7HpKfmBh

Schedule

I have planned the schedule on my knowledge of no more than 2 pages per day, and using my judgement to estimate scenes that will take longer.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XWPEwtE88w-zrY_aGUjmOF66C2fxaDX8

Word count: 2184

Bibliography

Academy Films. (n.d.). David Fincher. [online] Available at: http://www.academyfilms.com/david-fincher [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Investopedia (n.d.). Netflix's Billion-Dollar Content Licensing Budget. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/062515/how-netflix-pays-movie-and-tv-show-licensing.asp [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Quora. (n.d.). How much does Leonardo DiCaprio make per movie?. [online] Available at: https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-Leonardo-DiCaprio-make-per-movie [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Vasiliauskas, M. (2017). Mastering the Movie Color Palette: How David Fincher Uses Color in Film. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/movie-color-palette-david-fincher/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Walker, A. (2017). Auteur: David Fincher. [online] So The Theory Goes. Available at: https://www.sothetheorygoes.com/auteur-david-fincher/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Filmography

Air Force One. (2018). [film] Directed by W. Petersen. United States: Beacon Pictures.

Fight Club. (1999). [film] Directed by D. Fincher. United States: Fox 2000 Pictures.

The Great Gatsby. (2013). [film] Directed by B. Luhrmann. United States: Bazmark Productions.

Hot Fuzz. (2007). [film] Directed by E. Wright. United Kingdom: StudioCanal.

J. Edgar. (2011). [film] Directed by C. Eastwood. United States: Imagine Entertainment.

Leon. (1994). [film] Directed by L. Besson. France: Gaumont.

The Revenant. (2015). [film] Directed by A. Iñárritu. United States: Regency Enterprises.

Romeo + Juliet. (1996). [film] Directed by B. Luhrmann. United States: Bazmark Productions.

Seven. (1995). [film] Directed by D. Fincher. United States: New Line Cinema.

The Social Network. (2010). [film] Directed by D. Fincher. United States: Relativity Media.

The Talented Mr. Ripley. (1999). [film] Directed by A. Minghella. United States: Mirage Enterprises.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape. (1993). [film] Directed by L. Hallström. United States: Matalon Teper Ohlsson.

The Wolf of Wall Street. (2013). [film] Directed by M. Scorsese. United States: Red Granite Pictures.

Zodiac. (2007). [film] Directed by D. Fincher. United States: Phoenix Pictures.