I will not produce this film for my A level as i feel this is a quite difficult idea to film.

1. Short film idea 2
By Katie McQuillan

2. The working title
• For my short film title I have chosen ‘Side Effects’ as the film focuses
on the effects after losing someone close to you as well as literally
promoting the ‘side effects’ of drug abuse. Therefore, this subtle title
focuses on different issues while also hinting to the audience what
the film may be about.
• While this title is quite short I feel it does link to the genre of Drama
as it hints to the audience that the film may be focusing on drugs as
side effects of drugs is a big issue which leads to drug abuse and
addiction being so common.

3. Tagline
“Drugs are never the answer,
Just say no.”
• I have chosen this tagline in order to clearly and simply
bring forward the message, at the end of my short film,
that drugs should never be a means of escape or for
solving your problems.
• By making the tagline relatively simple, I am bringing more
attention to the short film to show the audience the
effects of drug abuse and provide a clear reason for why
drugs should not be a way out for anyone because the
after effects could be dire.
• The use of “Just say no” promotes the idea that young
people do not need to give in to peer pressure as there are
other ways of dealing with traumatic experiences, which
will be portrayed in my short film.
Film length: My film
will probably be
around 8 minutes in
order to include the
character mourning
their dead sister as
well as including
enough time at the
party so the audience
will not be confused by
the change of setting.

4. Key Characters
• Maddie – protagonist
• Caitlin – the sister
• Veronica – the peer pressuring friend
• Jake – the reassuring friend
• There will also be extras, of all genders, aged between 16-20.

5. Synopsis
• Act 1 – Maddie will be at her house after arriving back from her sister’s funeral and the opening shot will be of her
looking at a picture of Caitlin (her sister) and she will begin to cry. However, this will quickly be cut off by her phone
ringing as she is invited to a party by Veronica (the friend) who will peer pressure her in to going to the party.
• Act 2 – Maddie arrives at the party and instantly there will be a change in style within the film as she becomes
overwhelmed by the volume of people at the house. Veronica will soon find her and take Maddie outside for some fresh
air. Outside there will be a small group of people sat by a table partaking in the use of drugs and Veronica peer pressures
Maddie into trying a tablet. Maddie begins to see her sister around the party and tries another tablet which makes her
see her sister even more, almost to the extent to which she can talk to her.
• Act 3 – Maddie ends up having a very bad high, resulting with her on the floor, having really hurt herself. However, the
film will flash back to another one of her friends (Jake) telling her she doesn't have to give in to the peer pressure and
the film ends with a very different result to how it could have happened if she had taken the drugs and given in to the
peer pressure from her other friends. As the director of the film, I want to make it clear to young adults and teenagers
that they don’t always have to give in to peer pressure and that drugs do not need to be the way out for them.

6. Target audience
• It is likely the target audience would be aged 15+ due to the prominent drug
misuse and the gender majority would be stereo-typically female due to the
majority of the characters being female. However, I believe this film will
appeal to all genders as drug abuse is common among males and females.
• Additionally, regarding the 4C's scale, it is likely the target audience would be
the struggler as they would be able to relate with the protagonist who is
trying to look for an escape from the reality of everyday.
• Due to most of the target audience being teenagers (due to the cast being
young) this would mean they would mostly be on the D or E of the NRS scale
as they would be unemployed or part-time due to them mostly being in full-
time education.

7. Form and style
• In order to make it clear to the audience that the genre of my film is
Drama I would use realist shots and use quite simple editing to make it
more relatable for the audience in order to make the message of the film
more successful. This will be achieved through having realistic colour and
lighting throughout the majority of the film in order to stress realism,
however as the protagonist is on drugs there would be a shift in editing as
the music would change and the style and colour of the film would be
slightly distorted to infer to the audience that the character is ‘high’.
• Additionally, as the protagonist enters the new setting (the house party)
the colours in the shots will be slightly brighter to contrast the previous
setting (at Maddie’s house) in order to stress how out of place Maddie
feels within this environment and make it more relatable for the audience
in order to emphasise the drama genre.

8. Marketplace
• Regarding my films position among other films that have already
been released my film would be an amateur, independent film which
would be likely to be exhibited on the YouTube platform. This would
be in order to increase publicity by gaining a number of views from
audiences who may be considering using drugs or those who have
already partaken in drug abuse. Moreover, some of my audience
members may be watching my film in order to gain further insight for
research purposes on the effects of drug abuse.
• Additionally, my competition for this genre of film would specifically
be films which already stress the risk of drug abuse.