Homework 3: My Film Pitch

Film Title: Extra Credit

Genre: Action/adventure comedy

Narrative

Equilibrium: Bradly Macintosh (played by Shia Labeouf) is a disobedient highschool student who is on the verge of being expelled. 

Disruption: Meanwhile, his school’s ancient golden crest worth thousands of dollars has gone missing. His headmaster offers him a proposition: if Bradly can find and safely return the school crest, then he won’t be expelled.Along with his two best friends, Bradly investigates the theft. It turns out they are chasing after a powerful, dangerous treasure hunter called Alistair Hanson (played by Christopher Plummer), and the crest is worth much more than they thought. Along the way, Tamara, a girl who Bradly’s always had a crush on (played by Mila Kunis) decides to help as she doesn’t want Bradly to leave the school. After many failed attempts and near death endeavours, Bradly and his friends get the crest back from Alistair thanks to the technical ability of his computer-nerd friend Jonah (played by Justin Long). Before getting to return it to his headmaster, one of Bradly’s friends, Oscar (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) cunningly takes the crest in an attempt to sell it for millions.

 

Resolution: They devise a plan whereby Tamara tricks Oscar that she wants to be in on the illegal selling of the crest. By seducing him, she gets it back and they return it the school. They also frame Oscar as the original thief, getting him expelled and arrested. Bradley gets rewarded and also gets the girl.

Characters

Hero: Bradly- (Shia LaBeouf) is the typical bad-boy high school student.

False Hero: Oscar- (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of Bradly's best friends who turns on him in the end by stealing the crest for himself.

Helper: Jonah- (Jason Long) is Bradly's other close friend who is really nerdy and helps them in their mission with his computer skills.

Princess: Tamara- (Mila Kunis) is the girl Bradly has a crush on, and also helps with the quest, but also needs saving when she's held hostage by the bad guys.

Villain: Alistair- (Christopher Plummer) is the rich, powerful and dangerous treasure hunter who steals the crest to add to his huge collection of ancient artifacts.

Iconography

The highschool theme (i.e. lockers, classrooms etc.) as well as the ancient treasure and historic artifacts which are all part of the iconography. 

Settings 

The school will be set in sunny LA, California, which is unconventional for this genre. This will contrast with the darker, more serious treasure-related settings (e.g. underground lairs and offices). 

Influences: I came up with the search for an artifact theme from National treasure. The main star, Shia Labeouf, is well known for this action/adventure comedy genre from films such as Transformers, Indiana Jones and Disturbia. Finally, the highschool and scheming ideas came from The Girl Next Door.

USP: The theme of treasure hunting isn’t usually associated with highschool, but this makes it more interesting and widens the film’s reach.

Target Audience: The film's core target audience is men aged 16-25. It appeals to women because of Bradley’s love interest and the comedy, but mostly to men because of the adventure and exciting action storyline. 

Marketing Campaign:  As well as the usual websites, posters and trailers, there will be a crest-designing competition, and the winner gets a holiday to California (where the film is set). This will probably appeal to the fun-seeking 16-25 year old target audience. Also, there will be a Youtube channel with weekly videos uploaded of the bad-boy main character (Shia LaBeouf) pulling a prank/breaking the law/doing something bad yet funny, which will be shot in a home-video style. This will display the comedy in the film while raising awareness, as people will send the links to their friends and it should create a fast-spreading viral campaign.