Film Pitch

Genre of the film is a psychological or horror thriller based on the concept of an imaginary friend gone wrong, set in a normal neighbourhood in London with an ordinary family. I would start the opening sequence with narration of a girls voice and an eerily slow children's lullaby playing. The narration and shots would explain the story line of a little girl who had an imaginary friend no one else could see, like many children do, but something went wrong with hers. She started doing alarming things endangering her life and possibly injuring a family pet. Her mother decided to seek help and got her a therapist who taught her to "lock" her friend away in a box, so that she couldn't talk to her anymore, as an attempt to help her develop more normally and keep her safe. This worked and she has grown up living a normal life; until today. A disturbing children's drawing of the two of them has arrived in the post, her younger sibling and/or her mother is missing, she is back.

My age certificate would be a 15, as it would become increasingly disturbing as the film went on and would feature violence. My target audience would be teenagers and adults who enjoy horror films.

The imaginary friend returns seeking vengence for being locked away for over ten years, and wrecks havoc on this girl's life, tormenting her, making her think she is insane and hurting those around her. She is eventually beaten when confronted with a young child, who has done nothing wrong and confronted with this feels the urge to protect instead of destroy. She leaves, so in a way the protagonist wins, but she takes the child with her.

I would create an atmosphere of fear and suspense, by having the imaginary friend just out of sight right up until the end of the film. I would make the film atmospheric by using dulled colours, giving it an almost black and white feeling, to reflect the protagonist's feelings of hopelessness and contrast the bright colours usually associated with childhood. I would also make it creepy by featuring typical images of childhood made disturbing, such as drawings, toys, and by playing children's lullabies, slowed down and ominous. I'm interested in films that inverted childhood imagery to create a sense of fear within the story, such as the Woman In Black.

The characters that would feature in the opening would be the girl as a small child, her as a teenager, her mother, and the imaginary friend. The girl as a young child would appear to exude happiness, in a way that many children do, but here I would use this as a bad omen as she would be happy and laughing in disconcerting circumstances, such as while endangering her life or in suspicious circumstances. She would be dressed in bright colours and look like a typical child.
For the older version of the girl, she would wear only monochrome colours, possibly have dark hair and pale skin, so her character would visually lack colour, as a representation of her emotional state. This paleness could become exaggerated throughout the film as she goes slowly mad not knowing if what is happening to her is real or not, so she looks visibly sickly.
The mother would not feature heavily in the opening, but should look ordinary, pleasant, and appear caring.
I picture the imaginary friend as dressed head to toe in black with trailing skirts and a veil, like traditional victorian mourning dress. She would be a dark, mysterious figure, reserved and slow moving due to her attire, and a constant omen of death, with her actions and the mourning clothes. This old fashioned looks would create a creepy, ghostly vibe, and would also hide her face from the audience to add to the fear and strangeness of her.