Peer Pitch & Concept Refinement Chart

CATEGORY	DETAILS
FILM OR MAGAZINE	Film
GENRE	Dramedy
TARGET AUDIENCE (BE SPECIFIC)	People within the age range of 17-23, who like comedies and dramas
WHAT IS YOUR CONCEPT? (BE THOUROUGH AND SPECIFIC. REVIEW THE LINKS ON BLACKBOARD)	Our concept of the film is to highlight the reality of being a female in high school. Although there is a lot of drama, most of it could be considered comical. We would take inspiration from the movie Mean Girls, but make the drama more similar to the drama we face in school (more comical and realistic).
HOW DID YOU CONCIEVE THE IDEA FOR THE CONCEPT?	We conceived the idea for the topic because when watching Mean Girls or other dramedies I took into consideration how those movies made us feel. When watching a movie similar to this, you get to experience the reality of high school and the drama that comes with it in a comical way.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE CONCEPT?	A lot of people only do a comedy or only do a drama, a lot of film writes do not try to combine both only some go out of their way to create that film.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THIS CONCEPT WILL BE OF INTEREST TO YOUR AUDIENCE?	I believe this concept will be in interest of the audience I chose because people of their late teens and early 20s are always looking to laugh but they also want something more serious, being a 17-year-old myself I choose to lean towards more comedies and dramas.

 

After our pitch to the class, we were given a few suggestions and concerns. One of the peer concerns was who the main characters were going to be. The main characters will be us, the three teenage girls navigating through life. Another question was how we were going to fit the idea into the two-minute introduction. In our introduction, we will highlight main ideas of the film while introducing the main characters and giving a look into their lives. Lastly, one suggestion was to ensure that we support the dramedy genre. We plan to do this by making sure the film is both comical and dramatic in different aspects. We plan to model it after movies like Mean Girls, with more of a realistic modern twist to make it relatable to teenage girls that may be facing the same challenges. Overall, I feel more confident about our concept because we didn’t get much negative feedback and we were able to answers the questions we were asked.  

I am confident in our decision to make a dramedy because on the website Statista, it gives statistics of the most popular movie genres and drama was found favorable by 77% of 18-29 year olds and comedy was found favorable by 91% of 18-29 year olds. This is ideal for us because our target audience is young adults and teenagers that can relate to our movie. Also, in the article by Motion Pictures, they explain that in 2019 the home/mobile entertainment marked surpassed $100 billion for the first time, which proves that films are still very popular. This is an eight percent increase since 2018, explaining that the popularity is still growing. In the same article, they state, “The global box office market for all films released in each country around the world reached $42.2 billion in 2019, up one percent over 2018’s total.” This statement proves that people are still going to the movies despite all the new technology, if not more now than ever. In the article written by Mary Beth Oliver and Tilo Hartmann they state, “Appreciation seems to be associated with genres such as dramas, sad films, and even documentaries rather than comedies, romances, or thrillers (Oliver and Bartsch 2010).” which relates to our concept because we are doing a dramedy, so viewers will have that appreciation for the film from the drama perspective but will also enjoy the humor throughout it. They also explain, “including the idea that sad content may be gratifying because it provides the opportunity to enact empathy (Mills 1993), is ultimately cathartic (Cornelius 1997), allows viewers to enhance feelings of self-worth via comparison with others in more tragic situations (Mares and Cantor 1992), or helps individuals to cope with their problems (Grodal 2007; Nabi et al. 2006; Zillmann 2000).” This quote relates to our concept as well because we are trying to incorporate parts of the movie where people will be able to relate and feel as if they aren’t alone, which will give them the ability to cope with their problems and relate to the characters in the movie.