Study Task 2: Extended Practice - Pitch Presentation

I decided pretty early on that I wanted my final film to be based on lucid dreaming, since this is something I know quite a lot about, having been a lucid dreamer since I was young. To begin with, there were many ideas swirling around in my mind as to what what dream this final film could be based on.

First Idea

To begin with, I had the idea of somebody falling through different, familiar dreams in stages, however after a discussion with my tutor, I soon realised that this was too much to squeeze into a 2 minuet film! I then decided to narrow it down, to allow me to strive for something more realistic & achievable.

Documentary Animation

During my pitch, the idea of a documentary animation was suggested to me. There was the possibility of taking stories from different lucid dreamers. Although this seemed like a good idea, I had the urge to create a short film that wasn't a documentary, since I had done this for my final film last year. Plus, taking my own dreams into this film would allow me to see exactly what I wanted to create.

Refined Idea 

Due to the fact that I remember most dreams I have very clearly, it took a little while for me to decide which story to go with.

After much thought, I decided to focus this animation around a very vivid lucid dream I had when I was about five, combining it with one of the more serious & emotional lucid dreams I frequently have nowadays. The entire narrative will be based with in the dream, so there won't be any falling asleep or waking up. I want to keep this as close to my original dreams as possible. Also, all characters, including the dreamer, will not be named, as I don't want this to be something that is linked directly back to me. I just want to create something that is visually intriguing & even a bit strange to an audience.

I knew that I didn't want everything in this film to be justified, or t come with an explanation. Unlike previous animation I have made, I felt happy leaving some mystery in this story. I have planned for there to be certain elements to this story that offer some uncertainty, such as:

• None of the characters that appear are named, or formally introduced. 
• The entire narrative, from beginning to end, will be set with in the dream.  
• Environments & people could change suddenly & without explanation. 

These are things which are quite common in dreams, and I didn't want to change this just to add clarity. The whole point of this animation is to be a representation of something that is fragmented & dream-like.



Outcome of presentation 

Having the opportunity to present this pitch to the class & tutors, allowed me to gain feedback on my ideas that I hadn't thought of previously. It made me aware of the importance of keeping this film achievable in the time available, and to reign it in, to avoid giving myself too much to do in a short space of time.