STORY-TELLING WORKSHOP: How The Workshops Affected My Ideas

How speed-pitching affected my idea

- helped me to think of a more concise pitch

- helped me to realise the pitch doesn't need to include the whole story, just enough to entice the audience and make them interested about the idea

How the short story workshop affected my idea

- helped me to realise I need to use the characters and their personalities/occupations etc to my advantage.

- need to create characters that can be put in any situation and be able to know how they'll react

How my ideas have changed
- the party idea will not work as there seems to be no goal, conflict or change.

The initial idea: [2 characters meet at a halloween party (both characters planned to go with friends who then can't make it. Leads to the two main characters meeting.)]
- a potential goal could be: instead of their friends not being able to make it, their friends go missing and they have to find them.
- a potential conflict could be: they keep getting in each others' ways / they don't like each other but they need to use each other to find their friends.
- a potential change could be: they realise they need to work together to find their friends (the characters therefore become friends and begin to like each other because of this)

Developed idea:
2 groups of friends (1 group of boys & 1 group of girls) go to a halloween party. Whilst the 2 main characters are getting drinks from the drink table, the rest of the group vanishes. Despite getting on each others' nerves, the two have to work together in order to find their friends.

Opinion of idea:
I really don't like the idea, it doesn't feel strong enough and I feel like I will keep coming across problems with the idea. Therefore, I will stick with my other idea as I feel like the story has more strength and direction.

- the suicide attempt idea will probably work as it does have a goal and a conflict. There doesn't appear to be a massive change but I hope to develop that part of the story.

The initial idea: [2 characters meet on the pier as one stops the other from a suicide attempt.]
- the goal is: to save 1 of the main characters from a suicide attempt.
- the conflict is: the character's internal / emotional conflict and his mental condition. 
- the potential change could be: the character's schizophrenia goes into remission meaning that he is temporarily better. You find out that the person they meet is actually a hallucination.

Developed idea:
A man rushes out of a psychological analysis after learning that he has schizophrenia. He goes to the pier and is ready to jump, however, a seemingly friendly stranger intervenes. The two bond, but the 'friendly' stranger starts to become manipulative / destructive. The character is undergoing therapy / treatment all through the short film. Eventually he is discharged from his psychologist with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in remission. The manipulative friend disappears as we find out that they were just a hallucination (positive symptom) of his schizophrenia. 

Opinion of idea:
I like the idea as it feels like it has strength and direction. Having studied schizophrenia in depth, I can use my knowledge of this to add strength and depth to the story. As I like the idea, the writing / filming / making of the short film should be much smoother.