2nd Pitch – Formative Pitch + Greenlight Progress
Final Year Project ResearchDevelopments for Formative Pitch – Script Meetings
Mark-Antony and I had several meetings about the script and story development following the writer’s pitch. Mark-Antony joined Affliction as the writer once I had decided to focus solely on directing for my final year project.
Below are an example of notes for the script for the 2nd draft which I shared with Mark-Antony.
I would either type up notes for Mark-Antony or hop on a call to discuss my thoughts in more detail and have an ongoing conversation about the characters and story in real time.
Pitch Presentation
Below is the pitch deck I created for the formative pitch. The other HODs added to their sections. Overall, I was happy with the progress of Affliction by the formative pitch and was working towards finding a second external Edinburgh-based creative producer and an external director of photography.
Pitch Feedback
Our main feedback from the formative pitch was regarding the research and story of Affliction. Below are my feedback notes from the pitch.
- Historical accuracy – in the Church of Scotland, ministers were not referred to as Father; instead, they were called Reverend or another Protestant term of address.
- Blair’s character arc is flat. Things within Affliction are happening to her, and she has no sense of agency. How does she change?
- Sociopolitical context – why does Reverend Sherman hunt witches? How does he identify them? We need to do some more research here.
- How is the folk/religious horror element explored? At the pitch, we overemphasised this aspect of Affliction, which is more of a period drama with elements of religious horror and the folklore of witches and the witch trials. This will be clarified at the next pitch.
- Clarify the story and characters. There is too much going on and not enough characterisation and active characters.
- Include the full story in the pitch – ending, characters, relationships between characters, etc. This was an oversight at the formative pitch and will be addressed for the summative pitch.
- Fact check the historical accuracy of Blair as a name.
Next Steps for Affliction
The feedback from the formative pitch was incredibly helpful in identifying areas that needed to be addressed as I was preoccupied with sourcing producers and exploring options for a DP, so my focus shifted away from the story and more towards production feasibility. This showed in our pitch. I knew we needed further historical research to create accurate and believable worldbuilding, develop active characters and character relations, and hone our narrative and each character’s arc.
Greenlight Progress
Mark-Antony, Nikola, and I met with Paul to discuss where Affliction was in the greenlight process. Below are my notes from the meeting to inform our next steps and the summative pitch.
Similar to the formative pitch, our main feedback to get greenlit was to clarify the characters and story. This was valid feedback, as Mark-Antony and I were adjusting to working together and figuring out the story through each draft.
Meeting with Mia – Creative Producer
I met with Mia, our Edinburgh-based producer, following the greenlight meeting. Below are the notes from my meeting with Mia, in which we covered the story, production, test shoot development and preparation, etc.
Kate and Mia had creative input during the screenwriting process, as we would periodically send them drafts to get feedback on both the story and feasibility for production. Their feedback helped shape the script and highlighted areas that needed further clarification or development.