This treatment outlines a short film about a young man named Sam struggling with drug addiction and recovery. The film will have three acts: Act 1 introduces Sam's addiction and rocky recovery process over the past year. In Act 2, Sam has a flashback and destroys memories while contemplating his life alone. Act 3 sees Sam happy and drug-free until his long-missing father returns, triggering Sam and causing him to destroy his room. The film aims to spread an anti-drug message to its target teenage/young adult audience through Sam's story and cinematic style.
1. Treatment– FilmIdea1
Max Cheshire
18/09/2018
This will all depend on a partnership with the Amy Winehouse Foundation, they are known for their work in and
around schools, aiming their speeches and talks at the same demographic as mine. My intentions are to
interview someone who hasspoken within school and ask them questions that will shape the story, this is so I
get a real life perspective on drugs, allowing me to portray a strong message that could potentially be used to
help others.
Workingtitle – MissinginAddiction
Length– Anywhere betweenfive totenminutes,thisallowsenoughtime toportraymymessage as
well astell a storywithhighqualitycinematicshots.
Tagline – Appreciate whoandwhatyouhave.
KeyCharacters – There isone keycharacter, Sam.The whole filmisbasedaroundSam’slifeandhow
it hasbeeneffectedbythe use of drugs.Narrationwill be keytothe film, itwill dictate the shotsand
entire storyline. Myintentionsare tohave cameoappearancesthatare involvedwithinthe
reflectionsof Sam’slife. Samisa youngadult,male,andhasbeeneffectedbydrugsforthe past few
years.He ishas beendrugfree fora year and we thensee the contrastbetweenhow drugscan
affectpeople butalsothe recoverystages.
Synopsis(Breakdownof three clearacts)
Act 1 – IntroductionofSam, This will be the whole filmedplayedin a spedup sequence, this
allowsus to get a feel of the roller coaster ride Sam hasbeen on. However this shouldshowthe
dark side to hislife that hasbeen affected by drugs. We do not see full body shotsof Sam,these
shotswill be elongatedas the narrationwill set the outlinefor what we are aboutto watch. Its
2017 and Sam ison a rocky ride tryingto recoverfroma hard addictiontodrugs, thishas been
impactedbythe missingof hisfather. Imagesonhiswall anddeskare there torepresentpast
memories.Samthenpicksuphis phone andstaresat hislock screen,the backgroundimage isthe
same as one of the picturesonhisdesk, he says nothingandputshisphone down. Cutaway scenes
will be accompaniedby narration,however scenes in hisbedroomwill be speech straightfrom
Sam. The large displayof imagesstare at Sam, he thengoesto pick upa picture of hisfamily,he
thengetsinterruptedbyhismum“whatwouldyoulike forlunch”ThisbreaksSam’sthoughtprocess
and he doesn’tpickupthe picture.
A fewmonthsdownthe line andSamis out witha friend theyspeakaboutlife. Theyare satoutside
on a park benchisolated, Samimmediatelyfeelsuncomfortable,twitchingandavoidinganswering
any questions,Sam’sfriendthenasks“how’sall withthe recovery”Samlooksathisfriendwith
silence,he goestoanswerbut hiswordsare now trembling,he speechisslurring,he startsfeeling
lightinthe headthe editingtakes over as everything isdisplaced and thenitgoesto black.
Act 2– Sam isall alone inhisroom contemplatinglife,listeningtosadmusic.he picksupa few of
hispicturesandlooksat themstrangely,placingthembackonthe shelf,he startsto twitchagain
and goes intoa small flashbackof the eventsthathadjustoccurred and hispast life of beingan
addictthisthenprovokesanoutrage from himdestroyingthe memorieshe hasjustbeen
reminiscingover. He isthrowingthe picturesatthe wall,destroyingthe frames.There isone
remainingpicture of inthe middle of the desk,the same one he waspickingupmonthsagobefore
hismum interruptedhim.
2. Treatment– FilmIdea1
Max Cheshire
18/09/2018
Act 3 – Sat inside, Sam is relaxing in his room, the pictures have been restored. He is now
happy and content with life, there is a knock at the door, Sam waits as he wants his mum to
answer, she doesn’t, there is then another knock at the door Sam sighs but goes to answer
it, as he walks down the stairs there is one final knock. Sam now rushes to answer. As he
goes to open the door his mum shouts ‘who is it’ ‘I don’t know’ Sam replies, he opens the
door and greets the man at the door, ‘Hello son’ this is the voice of Sam’s father, the same
man who’s been missing for all this time, the one who caused Sam’s issues and problems, As
Sam stairs at him, his mother quickly interrupts and pushes Sam to the side. Sam is having a
flashback to the smashing of the pictures, we then see him open the picture that remained
on his desk. His father his folded behind this picture he unfolds this picture, in the meantime
his mother and father are arguing outside, Sam rips up this picture with them all in, he runs
outside looks at his father hands him the ripped picture and then walks back inside. Sam
looks at his phone sees the picture of the three as his background, he then throws his phone
at the floor, stomps into his room and destroys his room. This is where the film ends.
Target Audience– Asa teenagermyself Ifeel thatthe message of usingdrugsneedstobe
spread,schoolsare tryingto pushthe message aboutsupportingyoungadultswithdrugaddictions,
because of these reasonsmytargetaudience isyoungadults,hopefullythe filmwouldportraya
message thatallowsolderpeople tosee itandtheywouldshow theirchildren,orschoolsthatcould
use thisfilmtoshowstudents,Withinthe primarydemographic,we’dseethe ‘aspirers’type thisis
the type of people whoare orientedaroundapersonaandappearance.Inaddition,the filmwill be
shownon YouTube,meaningit’safree filmtowatch.This thenalsomakesadvertisingeasieron
social mediasuchas Instagramand snapchat,theirsimple ‘swipe up’featurehasbecome very
popularinrecentmonths,allowingyoutoview the advertbysimplyswipinguponthe post.
Formand style – I will be filmingthisonahighspecDSLR, usinga highspec setof lenses
allowingme tocapture clean,professional shots. Iwill be lookingtoshare asimilarstyle tothatseen
inshirosstory,the reasonI have basedmy case studyonshirosstory isbecause the formand style
withinthatfilmissomethingthatappealedtome massively.Itisshotwitha lotof movement,alot
of cutsand many differentcameraangles,thisissomethingIhope toportraywithinmyfilm
3. Treatment– FilmIdea1
Max Cheshire
18/09/2018
Marketplace
I can see thisfilmheavilyfeaturingonYouTube,Idoubtheavyitwouldreach the big screens,
YouTube isverymuch a platformwhichallowspeople toshowcase theirworkwhetheritbe highor
lowbudget.ThistiesintoYouTube’ssloganof ‘broadcastyourself’andalsoitallowsmyprimary
demographictoeasily accessthe film,the free platformwillallow audiencestowatchthe filmson
repeatandas manytimesastheylike.Inadditiontothis,videosthatare publishedontoYouTube
are a loteasierto share aroundthan say a filmthat’sinthe cinema.
I feel myfilmwouldbe better shownattalksandwithinschoolsratherthanfestivals,thisisdue to
itsmessage andactual storyline,festivalswouldbe betterif Iwere creatingthisfilmtowinawards
and boosta directingportfolio,howeverthat’snotthe missionwiththe film.I aimtospreada
message toteenagersandyoungadults.
For the same reasonI am not worriedaboutfestivalsisthe same reasonthere isnointentionsfora
sequel/prequelorspinoff. If Iwantto deliveramessage thenIshoulddoit inone film.There’s no
pointelongatingamessage overprequelsandspinoffstorake inmoneyor winawards,portrayinga
message shouldbe concise andstraighttothe point.
Storyboard
Thisstoryboardisdisplayingthe
mainsceneswithinthe film,this
isall one sequence,we seeSam’s
deskwithhispicturesand
memorieson,the camerarotates
to show he is feelingweirdabout
the picture that isevidentlyinthe
centre of the frame,the longshot
allowsusto see all of Sam’s
memoriesandthese are what
Sam isreflectinguponwithin
these scenes
The rotatingthe cameraacts as a
transitionintoSamand hisfriend
sat down. Thisisjust before Sam
tripsout and blacksout.The third
box showsthe duplicationand
trippyvision,thiswillbe done in
post-production,howeverto
enhance the effectIam thinking
of filmingthe same shotfrom
manydifferentangles,thiswill
allow me to cut between
differentshotswhichwill really
intensifythe effect.
4. Treatment– FilmIdea1
Max Cheshire
18/09/2018
SCRIPT
SCENE 2
SHOT 1
LONG SHOT (5 SECONDS)
ZOOMINGINTO THE PICTURE WHICH ISIN THE CENTRE OFTHE DESK
MUSIC PLAYING
ECHOES OUT TO CREATE ILLUSIONAL
EFFECT.
ROTATE AT THE END OFTHE SHOT TO CUT INTOTHE NEXT SCENE.
SHOT 2
LONG SHOT (6 SECONDS)
SAMANDFRIENDSAT ON THE BENCH
NOCAMERA MOVEMENT, STATIONAIRYON TRIPOD
FRIEND
HOW'S THE RECOVERYGOING?
5. Treatment– FilmIdea1
Max Cheshire
18/09/2018
SAM
I'D RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT IT
SHOT 3
MEDIUM SHOT/POV SHOT (4 SECONDS)
VIEWINGFROMSAM'S PERSPECTIVE,DUPLICATION OFHIS
SURROUNDINGS
FRIEND
HOW COME?
(ECHOOF 'HOW COME' REPETITION)
SHOT 4
MEDIUM SHOT/POV SHOT (3 SECONDS)
CONTINUINGFROMPREVIOUSSHOT, SAM'S EYES BLINKHEAVILYAND
IT CUTS TO BLACK
END OF SCENE 2