2. Treatmentfilmidea1
The Working Title
The WorkingTitle that I have chosenformy idea1 filmis"S.A.Dinthe winter".Ihave chosenthis
because the maincharacter inmy storysuffersfromthisandis whatmy filmisbasedaround. Ithink
that itis a good indicatorasto what myfilmisaboutand is a goodplayon words.I feel thatthis
instantlymakesthe filmmore intriguing
Running Time
As both of my films are short films, they will not have a particularly long running time. I have
decided that I would like my short films to be in the region of around 8 minutes long. This
will give me enough time to tell the story that I am making while not exceeding the time
that a short film usually is expected to be.
Longline/ Tagline
The Tagline for my first idea is, "as the cold comes, so does the sadness". The cold connotes
winter and that is when the main character gets most depressed. It also hints at the fact
that she absolutely dreads the winter coming and the anxiety that she feels as it does.
Synopsis of three clear acts
Act 1- India is sat in her room and we can see her inner thoughts and all of the anxiety that
she feels due to the fact that winter is coming.
She has cut off all contact with her friends. Narrating over the top we can see her sat in her
room in the dark wondering around and looking at all of the memories she has collected
over summer with her friends, feeling very lonely and depressive.
Act 2- We see India go outside to all of the places that she visited in the summer and see
what they look like to her then, in comparison to what they look like to her in the winter.
She visits places such as the beach and the forest. She has a breakdown when she gets back
home that involves her smashing things and screaming loudly and crying.
Act 3- We see her starting to deal with winter better, she is still not fully over S.A.D and she
realises that it is going to take her time, we see her get by in winter but with occasional
breakdowns. We then hear a more positive India as she realises that summer is just around
the corner.
Target Audience
I feel as though my target audience will be mostly teenagers and people in their early
twenties. This is because the main character that my story is based around is in her late
teens. This means that the target audience may be able to identify with some of the traits
that my main character has. This does not necessarily have to mean that they suffer from
seasonal affective disorder but she is still a normal teenage girl so people will relate. People
3. with this order may also relate to some aspects. Therefore, I feel as though the target
audience will be in the social category D and E, in terms of the social demographic scale. In
terms of the 4C's scale I feel as though the target audience would be the aspirer because
they would always be looking for ways to feel better and to improve themselves.
Key Characters
India- For my first filmidea the only real key character is India, who is also the main
character. She suffers from the mental illness SAD. She is very open and extremely happy in
the summer. To her friends, she is a completely different person in the summer, compared
to the winter. In the winter she is very sad and reserved and rarely wants to go out. She
narrates all of her feeling throughout the film. She hates the fact that she feels so depressed
in the winter and every time she tries to shake the feeling even just a little, she finds that
she simply can't. She matches her clothes and her makeup to the way that she feels, in the
winter it is dark makeup and dark clothes but in the summer she wears flowy bright clothes
and bright makeup.
Form/Style
The form and style of my film is very modern and realistic. I am going to use ambient
lighting for my film. This will add to the realistic nature of the film. I want my filmto be
stylistically real as SAD, is a very real issue that many people do suffer from. I feel that
having a realistic style to my film is necessary so that I can fully convey the mental illness but
in a very sensitive manner as this is something that people will be very sensitive to. I will
shoot my film on a digital camera, this will add to the realistic nature that I am trying to
convey throughout my film.
Marketplace
I feel as though my film does have the potential to do well because I do feel as though it is a
topic that not a lot of people know about. Therefore, I feel as though there will be many
people that would be willing and want to educate themselves on the mental health illness. I
also think that people that suffer from this illness may want to watch the film and find it
comforting to know that people are aware of this illness and there are actually
unfortunately a lot of people that do suffer from this.
I think that there is potential for a sequel with this filmbecause I could potentially show
how her life has improved and her mental state is a lot better.
4. Script
The Script is narrated by India and will be in the form of a voice over.
Scene 1
India: Christmas, Halloween and Bonfire night all of which occur in the winter. Events that
are supposed to be happy and exciting. All of which people look forward to and all of which I
dread.
I dread the bitter winds. I dread the harsh rain but most of all I dread the sadness.
The closer I get to it, the worse the depression gets. The more the anxiety kicks in, so I block
everyone out, I turn out the lights and I sit in my room alone. I will go out but only
occasionally. I'll go out but when I do it just brings back good memories. Good memories
that are over. Good memories that only make me sad. Because they are gone, they are over
and I set myself up for another six months of sadness.
I suffer from the, mental illness, S.A.D. Every day in the winter I long for it to go, to leave me
alone. To not feel like I’m trapped in my own mind.
