Pitches

Here's the pitch for both:

Pitch #1: TREATMENT By Jackie Chang
Topic: Family & Nature
Summary: Family man is dedicated to his mountain farm and keeping it chemical-free but not a single apple grows. After years of ridicule, he gets pushed over the edge. But little does he know, all the nurture may be worth it.
Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Abstract/Environmental/Slight Humour
Story:
Based on a true story: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071004f3.html
A man promises to never use chemicals, fertilizers or anything unnatural to care for his apple farm because his wife is allergic. Years and years of hard work go by without a single apple on his farm. His children are all grown up with their own lives while his wife is not happy. She leaves him, encouraging him to continue his passion and it will be easier without her because then he can use chemicals. After she leaves, the man feeling rash, miserable and ashamed, grabs a rope in a bucket and goes to the top of the mountain to end his life on a tree branch. Crying with the rope to his neck, he takes one last look around and realizes something: the trees up here in the mountain don’t need anything but water, yet they can grow and produce just fine. He surveys the land and finds out the ground is deeply rooted and soft. He drops the rope, rushes back to his home and from then on, he’s filled with great optimism, patience and continues cultivating his land. In a year, the apples grow and they are incredible – immune to pests, last for half a year and taste the best. It’s a miracle! Now, his apples are a delicacy all over the world. He sends one to his wife with a note saying.

Visually speaking, I would like to keep an organic and hand-drawn style with focus on the characters’ psyche rather than dialogue. The environment will play a large role as well. Set in countryside Japan, I want to make spaces vast and peaceful with a somewhat abstract feel stressing on composition and interesting transitions. The sounds would be sound effects, no lip-syncing. A mellow soundtrack that compliments the patient visual style.

To research, I’ll get more specific details on the real story and watch interviews with him. I want it to be stylized, so I’ll look at art by artists I am inspired by. This film is intended for a general public, for them to learn the importance of nurture and nature, avoiding shortcuts cause in the end, it’ll be much more rewarding. A subliminal environmental statement.

IMAGERY:
Starts with him climbing the mountain with the bucket and rope, all distraught. He trips and turns around to see the vast mountain side and beautiful apple farm he’s cared so much for. He thinks about his wife and when they met, they biked through the valley together. He said: One day I’m gonna make all of these my apples! Come with me?
Cuts to a decade later, they’re married and he’s farming and finds out his wife is allergic to pesticides. Promises never to use them. An apple hits him on the head.
Cuts back to him sitting on the mountain. He sets up the bucket and wraps the rope around his head. Then thinks about when his wife leaves him. He looks around and sees all the birds and life and trees. An apple hits him on the head again. He accidentally trips on the bucket and the rope is tightened. He fortunately has his hands blocking the choke. He frantically flips over onto a branch of the tree and saves himself. He’s within the tree and sees many apples and creatures and ponders about life. He wonders why there are apples up here without anyone caring for them. He jumps down to analyze the ground and a there’s a shot of the tree revealing all the roots like the tip of an iceberg. He takes a bite of an apple on the ground and smiles with a determined face. Next is a montage of his hard work for the next few years. Eventually, there are apples on his farm. He sends one to his wife saying “The best ones always need time.” Wife smiles. Shots of birds flying, a birds eye view of the farm.

**** suggestions: The man won't marry the woman unless he's financially stable. Thus, she leaves him. But once he grows the apples, he proposes with an apple.

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Pitch #2: A kid is doing show and tell in class and tells stories of his great grandmother…. Aka Grandma Chang’s Bad Ass Adventures – Clips of her crazy life including being a town butcher, arranged marriage with a army general, riding a motorcycle, getting stabbed etc.
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy
Paragraph Synopsis:
Based on a true story again: I admire my grandmother and it’d be fun to tell her tales in animated form because she is a strong character.
I want the film to seem like it’s being told from her great children’s point of view (my future kid) as a legendary tale. Animated like a kid’s cartoon – bright colours, fast-paced, a lot of energy. Set in countryside Taiwan with mountains, farm life, many references to Taiwanese culture. Exaggerated emotions and character gestures. It would feature traditional Taiwanese music spun in a quirky simpler way.