Idea development

How our ideas developed after our in-class pitch

My group told the rest of the class our initial idea (of zombies chasing three people around a school and at one point I tell another character that her boyfriend is dead).  The class members suggested that we developed our characters more fully and explore ideas in greater depth.  We went away and thought this through before finally making a decision.   We could come back at a later date and get further feedback on what we have done well and what we could improve.

Director's Cut

When Bruce, a local director, came into our media class he suggested to the whole class that we think ahead of what happens in the opening two minutes of our film. When we told him our idea he further suggested that we should think about whether the camera should be from the zombie’s point of view or whether the tension would be better built up using a hand held camera as if shot by one of the cast in an ‘as it is happening’ style like the film Blair Witch (date). He also suggested that we think through all of our ideas in more detail such as characters and who might play which part.  Furthermore, how each character may develop as the story unfolds.


What would we do next?

• Develop characters more fully, giving the audience a feel for each of their backgrounds and personalities.  Where they have come from and why they are there. We could also see those characters evolve and develop throughout the story.
• We could try using a hand held camera for 'live action' believability.  This would give an air of reality about the film, like it was being shot by one of the cast members rather than on a static tripod as an outsider.  We could also try using different camera shots and angles such as panning or canted to give different effects for the audience.
• Further development of who is going to play which part is something that we could also analyse further as we want to get the right person for the right part.