This document provides details for a short film idea called "Side Effects" about the impacts of losing someone close and drug abuse. The 8-minute film would focus on a protagonist, Maddie, who is peer pressured into taking drugs at a party by her friend Veronica after the death of her sister, Caitlin. The film would show Maddie having a bad reaction to the drugs and hallucinating her sister. However, it would then flashback to her friend Jake reassuring her that she doesn't have to give into peer pressure. The target audience would be 15+ to convey the dangers of drug use and show that peers pressure is not necessary to cope with trauma. Realistic cinematography would

1. Short film idea 1 – “Side Effects”
By Katie McQuillan

2. The working title
“Side Effects”
• The filmfocusesonthe effectsafterlosingsomeone closetoyouas well asliterally
promotingthe ‘side effects’of drugabuse.Therefore,thissubtle titlefocusesondifferent
issueswhilealsohintingtothe audience whatthe filmmaybe about.
• While thistitle isquite shortIfeel itdoeslinktothe genre of Drama as it hintstothe
audience thatthe filmmaybe focusingondrugs as side effectsof drugsisa bigissue which
leadstodrug abuse and addictionbeingsocommon.
Tagline
“Drugs are neverthe answer.
Just say no.”
 I believethistaglinewill clearlyandsimplybringforwardthe message thatdrugsshould
neverbe a meansof escape or for solvingyourproblems.
 By makingthe tagline relativelysimple,Iambringingmore attentiontothe shortfilmto
showthe audience the effectsof drugabuse andprovide aclearreasonfor whydrugs
shouldnotbe a wayout foranyone because the aftereffectscouldbe dire.
 The use of “Just sayno” promotesthe ideathatyoungpeople donotneedto give intopeer
pressure asthere are otherwaysof dealingwithtraumaticexperiences.
Filmlength
 My filmwill probablybe around8minutesinorderto include the charactermourningtheir
deadsisteras well asincludingenoughtime atthe partyso the audience will notbe
confusedbythe change of setting.
Key Characters
• Maddie – protagonist
• Caitlin– the sister
• Veronica– the peerpressuringfriend
• Jake – the reassuringfriend
• There will alsobe extras,of all genders,aged16-20.

3. Synopsis
• Act 1 – Maddie will be at herhouse afterarrivingbackfrom hersister’sfuneral andthe
openingshotwill be of herlookingata picture of Caitlin(hersister) andshe willbegintocry.
However,thiswill quicklybe cutoff byherphone ringingasshe is invitedtoaparty by
Veronica(the friend) whowillpeerpressure herintogoingto the party.
• Act 2 – Maddie arrivesat the party and instantlythere will be achange instyle withinthe
filmasshe becomesoverwhelmedbythe volume of people atthe house.Veronicawill soon
findherand take Maddie outside forsome freshair.Outside there will be asmall groupof
people satbya table partakinginthe use of drugs andVeronicapeerpressuresMaddie into
tryinga tablet.Maddie beginstosee hersisteraroundthe partyand triesanothertablet
whichmakeshersee hersisterevenmore,almosttothe extenttowhichshe can talkto her.
• Act 3 – Maddie endsup havinga verybad high,resultingwithheronthe floor,havingreally
hurt herself.However,the filmwill flashbacktoanotherone of herfriends(Jake) tellingher
she doesn'thave to give into the peerpressure andthe filmendswithaverydifferentresult
to howit couldhave happenedif she hadtakenthe drugsand givenintothe peerpressure
fromher otherfriends.Asthe directorof the film, Iwantto make it clearto youngadults
and teenagersthattheydon’talwayshave togive into peerpressure andthatdrugs donot
needtobe the wayout for them.
Target audience
• The target audience wouldbe aged15+ due to the prominentdrugmisuse andthe gender
majoritywouldbe stereo-typicallyfemale due tothe majorityof the charactersbeing
female.However,Ibelievethisfilmwillappeal toall gendersasdrugabuse iscommon
amongmalesand females.
• Additionally,regardingthe 4C'sscale; itis likelythe targetaudience wouldbe the struggler
as theywouldbe able torelate withthe protagonistwhoistryingto lookforan escape from
the realityof everyday.
• Due to most of the targetaudience beingteenagersthiswouldmeantheywouldmostlybe
on the D or E of the NRSscale as theywouldbe unemployedorpart-time due tothem
mostlybeinginfull-timeeducation.
Formand style
• I woulduse realistshotsanduse quite simpleeditingtomake itmore relatable forthe
audience inordertomake the message of the filmmore successful.Thiswillbe achieved
throughhavingrealisticcolourandlightingthroughoutthe majorityof the filminorderto
stressrealism,howeverasthe protagonistisondrugs there wouldbe a shiftineditingasthe
musicwouldchange andthe style andcolourof the filmwouldbe slightlydistortedtoinfer
to the audience thatthe character is‘high’.
• Additionally,asthe protagonistentersthe new setting(the house party) the coloursinthe
shotswill be slightlybrightertocontrastthe previoussetting(atMaddie’shouse) inorderto
stresshowout of place Maddie feelswithinthisenvironmentandmake itmore relatable for
the audience inorderto emphasisethe dramagenre.

4. Marketplace
• My filmwouldbe anamateur,independentfilmwhichwouldbe likelytobe exhibitedonthe
YouTube platform.Thiswouldbe inordertoincrease publicitybygaininganumberof views
fromaudienceswhomaybe consideringusingdrugsorthose whohave alreadypartakenin
drug abuse.Moreover,some of myaudience membersmaybe watchingmyfilminorderto
gainfurtherinsightforresearchpurposesonthe effectsof drugabuse.
• Additionally,mycompetitionforthisgenre of filmwouldspecificallybe filmswhichalready
stressthe riskof drug abuse.

5. Storyboardof key scenes

7. Script for Side Effects
Scene 1
[Daytime]
Fade in
Establishing shot of MADDIE as she enters through the front door
into her house
Cut to close up shot of a picture
MADDIE will reach for the picture and pick it up with a pan shot
following the photograph
Cut to close up shot of MADDIE as she looks distressed
Cut to close up shot of a mobile phone ringing
Cut to a mid-shot of MADDIE picking up her mobile phone
Maddie
“Hey Veronica.”
Maddie
“Yeah I’m sorry I’m just not feeling it.”
Maddie
“Ok, I’ll come for a couple of hours.”
Cut to close up of the table as MADDIE places it down
Fade out
Scene 6
[Evening]
Fade in
Muffled sound of [chosen music 1] fades in
Over the shoulder shot of MADDIE as someone places their hand on her
back.
Pan shot to a close up shot of JAKE’s face
Jake
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t feel comfortable”
Cut to a close up shot of MADDIE’s face
Maddie
“Thanks, I might not today. I’m just not feeling like it.”
Zoom out to an establishing shot of the party scene

8. [Chosen music 1] fades out
Fade out