The Pitch

Today was the day of our pitch to Luke, where each of the class's separate devising groups had to stand up and pitch their two ideas, via the Prezi's they had made previously in the week. This, as we know,  is an absolutely key stage of the process as it is decisions made in this time period that will really make a difference to the project in the long run. This was a slightly nerve racking process as we all knew about Luke's knowledge of the subject, and were keen to hear his feedback.

We managed to film around half of Luke's extended response to our pitch, including the immediate discussion we had with him at the time;

 

 Furthermore, I was able to note down his key points regarding the concepts and create a summary;

'Girls' - The 1975

- Luke immediately understood the star image of an indie rock boy band with attitude.

- Raised the point that stickmen are used to communicate things everywhere in the world (e.g. toilet signs) and you can play on that in the video.

- To continue the theme the band could possible wear stickmen costumes.

- Luke responded well to the idea of possibly carrying the stickmen narrative into filmed footage of real people where the story is continued.

- Suggested that throughout the video the drawings could become more worldly and real before making this step to real footage, in order to give it some gradual development.

- He mentioned that almost everyone plays on a 'love story' in some way, but liked how we have approached it in an original way.

- He went into detail regarding the technical practicalities of creating animation, and how long a process that is.

- He then continued by saying that despite having an understanding of the principles, he is not an animator. Therefore, an animator may have to be sourced in order to help us learn the art.

- He suggested we should also search the internet for digital software that allows you to animate as an alternate solution.

- Showed some concerns that the stickmen may become boring and might need something else to sustain the viewers interest.

'Bang Bang' - Wil.i.Am

- Bought into the image we planned to create for the artist.

- Liked the dancing ideas in combination with authentic costumes.

- Was really interested by the idea of the cartoon clips.

- However, he raised legal issues about relaying other peoples footage. It can be worked around but it means that you have to display the footage you are using in an original way (e.g. Projected onto someone, through a prop television.)

- Furthermore, questioned the video quality of the clips we would be able to find.

- He said that the tracks for both the first and the second concept are fairly well know, which could be a problem.

- Openly said he liked both ideas, but preferred the first as he saw more potential problems in the second.

Having a comprehensive list like this can help us summarise ideas in a very structured way that includes the input of someone with industry experience. Due to Luke stressing that the first of the ideas ('Girls' The 1975) was his favourite, and considering that we as a group largely agreed with the points that he made - we have decided to continue our development with this idea. Without doubt the concept still needs to be developed further and we need a better visual image in our heads of what it will look like. Furthermore, we need to make a conclusive decision on song choice for the video and whether our current proposition is viable. These are decisions that need discussion, creativity and a good group ethic. Most importantly however, is that the pitch gained a positive response meaning we move forward with confidence.