Check Out Kevin Tancharoen’s Pitch Reel For His Vision Of ‘The Hunger Games’
Posted by eelyajekiM | September 6th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
There’s nothing entirely new about the idea of pitch reels or sizzle reels. Often times these tools are used by filmmakers to pitch their ideas to studio execs. Essentially the videos give some insight on what the hopeful director wants to accomplish. Joe Carnahan’s pitch for Daredevil gave us the impression that he would of brought a gritty real world feel for The Man without Fear. Unfortunately, we may never be able to see Carnahan’s take on Daredevil since Fox is choosing to let that property go.
These visual pitches are usually put together by a director to show studio execs, what he has planned for a certain film. Whether or not they get the job depends on how well the reel is received and how well the pitch is thrown. Now we are getting look at Kevin Tancharoen’s pitch for The Hunger Games, and it looks a bit different from what Gary Ross has given us back in March.
Check it here out below.
Sure the Fame remake wasn’t exactly the spectacular hit that Tancharoen hoped it would be, but when Mortal Kombat: Rebirth went viral, Tancharoen’s name was put on the map. That short trailer was later developed into a successful web series and is now in the process of being made into a film. /Film got the exclusive look at what might have been The Hunger Games if Tancharoen would have directed it.
Now the significant differences between the pitch and the actual film is the use of visuals and the amount of violence. While Ross did use visual effects to bring the Capitol to life, a majority of the fight sequences took place in a real world setting. Looking at Tancharoen’s pitch, The Hunger Games might have been produced entirely on a lot.
The violence in this pitch reel shows that Tancharoen would have amped up the violence factor that would have probably teetered between PG-13 and R. However, Ross went with a more toned down version to play it safe.
Here’s what Tancharoen told /Film about the idea of a pitch reel:
The idea of a “pitch reel” has been around for awhile and is very common practice for any director. Trying to pitch a vision to a room full of people is always very difficult verbally. In the past two years, the pitch reel has significantly become more demanding since technology allows for people to make mini movies in their own homes. It’s almost expected for a director to show some visual materials, but the need to impress has become elevated. At first, it was just some concept art, some storyboards and possibly a treatment. Then the rip-o-matic (a visual reel using clips from other movies to portray a visual style) became really popular. I even know some directors who do a full animatic at their expense just to take into a meeting.
On why we may be seeing more and more mash up trailers as pitch reels:
Yeah I think before taking the big leap into investing in a short film, filmmakers are attracted to the idea of creating a mash up trailer because it essentially visualizes the scope of the whole movie rather than just the first ten minutes.
On how a mash up trailer influenced his pitch reel for The Hunger Games:
There is an epic feeling about trailers, and when done right, they are extremely gratifying. It’s also much cheaper if you have the hard drive space haha. The first mash up trailer I saw was in 2006. Ever since then, everyone I know makes one for a pitch to complement other materials. I also think the idea of making a trailer is very attractive because when you watch it, you have the feeling that this is what the movie will be like when it’s done. Some things that make trailers hard however are pacing, music and sound fx. Because when you rip a movie, all that stuff is tied together. You don’t have the luxury of stripping the music away from the dialogue, and that can be limiting sometimes.
Starting to get a better understanding of how Carnahan mashed up his selection of clips for his vision of Daredevil. It also shows that it’s not easy creating these pitch reels, as they have to be able to convey the right tone and your vision, instead of it looking like a stitched-up mess.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
