New Pitch(The Lucky Pencil) Self-Critique

1. The Lucky Pencil

2. The main character is desperately searching for a pencil she considers lucky and refuses to study without it. With the help of some friends they search for it, only to discover it was in the main character's pocket.

3. I got the idea from the saying "If it was a snake, it would've bitten you." Sometimes when people are searching for something they need, they sometimes get frustrated and/or desperate that they fail to realize that sometimes what they are looking for is either right in front of them or close by or just misplaced. I also remember seeing tv show episodes where a character is looking for something they consider important and go far to find it with help of other characters then at the very end, they either had it in their pocket or in a bag they're carrying and they feel somewhat embarrassed, but also think it's kind of funny, but most likely the character that helped them look is either frustrated or ticked off. I find that situation or idea amusing and I thought I could try making my own version with that theme.

4. I would like the audience to be amused and entertained and I thought they can get that by seeing how the characters go about finding the pencil and their reactions to the situations and I plan to make those themes dramatic and amusing.

5. The film's main character is desperately trying to find her lucky pencil believing that without it, she can't study well for her upcoming test. While still searching, two of her friends arrive and ask what's going on. The main character explains(dramatically and desperately) what's going on and asks for help. Her friends agree even though they think it's pointless. After searching two other areas, the characters are ready to give up when one of the friends sees something sticking out of the main character's back pocket. She checks and it turns out to be her lucky pencil. While the main character is embarrassed and yet thinks it's kind of funny, her friends are frustrated at the idea that they went through so much trouble for pretty much nothing.

6. The theme idea is really that sometimes when people lose something they consider important and they get freaked out over it, they tend to likely become oblivious or dramatic about the situation don't think straight, in which they sometimes fail to realize that more than likely what they're looking for is close by or right in front of them. Plus sometimes people can get this way if they lose something they lose something they take for granted, but is something they'd need later like a cell phone charger or a school supply. Some think they're superstitious without what they lost, when they really want to find it because the object is like a security blanket to them. Feeling desperate, worried or stressed can cloud a person's judgement and they worry about something needlessly. Plus in the end when they realize that they worried over something small or not worth getting all worked up about, they can feel really silly or upset that they wasted all the time worrying and searching, that they became distracted of what was really important.

7. The class did ask what the character is like and who is she, so I need to go into more depth and description in the characters. I just need to think more about what the characters should be like. I've been also told I should raise the stakes in the film and make my main character like really desperate in searching for her pencil. Plus I've been told that the film needs more development, but I just need to go back and think about how I want the characters to act and also that except for the ending scene, the rest doesn't sound as funny as intended and that it needs more wit to it, but I aim to make it that way by using how the characters search for the pencil, their responses and just the dramatic appeal to the search.

8. Journal notes

• Consider the 6 stages of grief: denial, depression, mourning etc.
• Make a bigger statement of the pencil. Maybe make it unique like very large or colorful or used or maybe even magical.
• Maybe put it so that the main character doesn't find the pencil until right before the test or maybe one of her friends has it.
• Even consider that she never finds it and does the test without it and ends up doing well or put it so that she spent so much time worrying and searching for the pencil that she doesn't study well and doesn't do well on the test.
• Consider the relationship or value of the pencil to the main character.