Concept Refinement

 

CATEGORY	DETAILS
Film OR Magazine	Film
Genre	Sports film
Target Audience (Be specific)	My target audience Is mainly the swimming community, but it can be shown to audiences of any type of adolescent athlete
What is your concept? (Be thorough & specific. Review the links on Blackboard)	My concept is portraying the story of a nationally recognized club team and the athletes that make it up. Specifically, the journey of one of these athletes [Emma Weyant] and how she is preparing for the 2020 Olympic trials and games. Emma is a National champion in the 400 Individual Medley and posted one of the fastest times in the world last year gearing up for the 2020 Olympic Games. At a mere 18 years old, she is going into the Trials with the hopes of making the 2020 Unites States Olympic Team. This film will show how the next generation of athletes are preparing to take over the professionals that we have grown up idolizing.
How did you conceive the idea for this concept?	This concept came to me when I was brainstorming ideas in my head, and going through all the types of genres and movies I find interesting, while also considering what I know best and have a passion for.
What do you believe is unique about your concept?	I think this concept is not a new one, I’ve seen it myself done with professional athletes. But what makes my concept unique is that it is showing an athlete who has the dream of becoming a professional athlete, actually obtain that goal and the audience gets to see that dream come into fruition, while also taking a look at all the work she is doing to make that dream a reality.
Why do you believe this product will be of interest to your audience?	Within the athletic community, especially the swimming community everyone is obsessed with seeing what the best are doing to stay relevant, along with what people are doing to become the best and reach a new level, if anything this film could be watched not only for entertainment purposes, but also for learning and educating young athletes, by showing someone not far from their age, achieving the same dream many of them have. Audiences today are also extremely willing to watch a film that has an underdog to root for. In todays society, with all the division it seems worthwhile to create a "feel- good" film that if anything, brings together the audience in the theatre by the common admiration and goal of rooting for this underdog young adolescent athlete trying to achieve her dream.
FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM PEERS	-          Try and make this into a narrative -          This can expand viewership -          Expand audience

One of the biggest pieces of feedback that I got was from Ms. Gartland. She suggested that I rework the way I film my idea, instead of going with creating a documentary, that I turn it into more of a narrative piece. I have to admit I was questioning the suggestion in my head when I first heard it, seeing as I was dead set on doing a documentary film. However, as I thought about it more, I realized that not only would this allow me to be more creative with incorporating more characters into the film, but it would expand my audience exponentially.

As I was looking through the data that was provided, it was shown that documentaries were ranked at number 8 for Top-Grossing Genres 1995 to 2020, while drama was ranked at number 3. [The Numbers] Also, for Top-Grossing Sources 1995 to 2020, Based on real life events was already ranked at number 5.[The Numbers] Drama was also ranked number 3 for Favorite film genres in the U.S. 2018, by age group.[Statista] It showed that the age group my film would be geared towards (18-29) already has a 76% watch rate for drama movies.[Statista]  My film could be classified as a feel-good movie. As  Mary Beth Oliver and Tilo Hartmann state in their article “Exploring the role of meaningful experiences in users' appreciation of "good movies"… “Simply put, enjoyment is predicted to be highest when liked or beloved protagonists are shown experiencing positive outcomes”. Alongside that they also state that “At the same time, viewers may gain a better understanding of what really matters in (their) lives. Both the relief from tragic or absurd moments of a person's life and a raised awareness of the good things of human life should be accompanied by positive affect.” Showing the narrative of Emma’s life and all the struggles she has to get through to finally achieve this dream of hers, fits the description of what the viewers want to a tee.  This only boosts my confidence that my selected audience will enjoy my film even more.