By Aimee Lister
Treatment
Blurb
A homeless girls fight for
survival on the streets
Character Bio
Ella Quinn (principle character) is a 17 year old girl from
Southend. She was a good pupil in school, with above average grades. Ella was
very quiet and often spent time on her own. Her parents split up when she was
very young, she lives with her mum who she doesn’t have a good relationship
with, often arguing as she never listens to Ella. Her grades deteriorate as her
relationship with her mum gets worse and worse and she ends up dropping out of
school. After an extreme argument with her mum, Ella decides she cant take it
anymore. She packed a small bad including only £30 of savings and runs away.
Being unable to afford a place and get a job because of her circumstances she ends
up sleeping around, stealing and busking for money. She occasionally finds a
bed for the night but more often ends up sleeping rough. She hasn’t had any
communication with her friends or family since she ran away and is finding life
harder on the street than she thought.
Sally Quinn (Secondary character) is a 44 year old divorced mum
from Southend. She married her husband when she was 25, had Ella when she was
28 and split up with her husband when she was 32. She raised Ella all by
herself with no financial or social support
but has come depressed though working long shifts and started drinking.
She has a very poor relationship with her teenage daughter and rarely see’s
her. Ella is always arguing with her but Sally is often too intoxicated to be
aware of the conversation. One day Sally discovered that Ella has runaway. It
takes her over a week to tell the police because she is scared of being deemed
and unfit mother. When she finally contacts the police she also discovers that
Ella has dropped out of school. The police hold a search for Ella in the
surrounding areas but they’ve had no sight or contact with her. Sally has been
drinking more and more, forced to quit her job and is still waiting for her
only daughter to come home
Jay Harper (Secondary character) is a 42 year old man
from Southend. He has never married or had kids, he works in a factory on
minium wage and often goes out drinking. On one night out he bumps into a
vulnerable girl, he offers her money to take her back to his. He
doesn’t remember much of the night but wakes up in an empty bed in the morning
to discover the girl from the night before has stolen his phone, watch and
money and dissapeard.
Adam John (Secondary character) is a 22 year old man from Southend. Adam has always been in the wrong crowd at school and gotten trouble with the police before. He often steals for quick money fixes. One night he is walking along the road to find a girl asleep on a bench, he spots a guitar beneath her and quickly picks it up and walks off with it.
Statement of Intent
The main purpose of our short film is to raise awareness about the severity of homeless people, especially young people. We were in London one day and saw a homeless girl streets begging for money. She was around the same age as us and it had a real effect on us seeing someone our age in those conditions. We didn't expect to see someone a young as that, we hear about older people on the streets every day but not teenagers so we knew it was something that more people needed to know about. We think we are the right people to make this film because we are younger so more able to put ourselves in the position of teenage runaways to give the film a more realistic effect. It is important that although it is fictional to still make believable so we can raise awareness
Storyline
Ella is shouting and shouting at her mum as she sits there blankly. She screams at her saying that she's leaving and her mum still sits their, emotionless. Walking out of the room, she turns back one last time then exits, her mum looks up as an empty doorway. Ella is in her room, furiously packing items into a rucksack. She grabs her guitar and walks out of the house. Heading down towards the beach she sits down under the pier, keeping warm under blanket and sleeps there over night. For a few days she wanders round the local town, trying to find sheltered places to sleep in or even a sofa or the night. She decides to busk for a day and earns a bit of money to get her a hot meal. She goes to sleep that night on a bench with her guitar underneath her, when she wakes up in the morning it is missing and she feels that all the progress she made yesterday has gone and she's giving up hope. Over the next few weeks she sleeps rough, sometimes finding a sofa to sleep for the night. One days she's walking down the arcade, seeing all the bright lights gives her aspirations of what her life could be. She bumps into a man who offers her money to take her home, desperate, she accepts. When she wakes up in the morning she quietly packs her bag, stuffing in money she's found on the side and digs through draws finding a watch and phone, she leaves before the man in the bed wakes up. *
Adam John (Secondary character) is a 22 year old man from Southend. Adam has always been in the wrong crowd at school and gotten trouble with the police before. He often steals for quick money fixes. One night he is walking along the road to find a girl asleep on a bench, he spots a guitar beneath her and quickly picks it up and walks off with it.
Statement of Intent
The main purpose of our short film is to raise awareness about the severity of homeless people, especially young people. We were in London one day and saw a homeless girl streets begging for money. She was around the same age as us and it had a real effect on us seeing someone our age in those conditions. We didn't expect to see someone a young as that, we hear about older people on the streets every day but not teenagers so we knew it was something that more people needed to know about. We think we are the right people to make this film because we are younger so more able to put ourselves in the position of teenage runaways to give the film a more realistic effect. It is important that although it is fictional to still make believable so we can raise awareness
Storyline
Ella is shouting and shouting at her mum as she sits there blankly. She screams at her saying that she's leaving and her mum still sits their, emotionless. Walking out of the room, she turns back one last time then exits, her mum looks up as an empty doorway. Ella is in her room, furiously packing items into a rucksack. She grabs her guitar and walks out of the house. Heading down towards the beach she sits down under the pier, keeping warm under blanket and sleeps there over night. For a few days she wanders round the local town, trying to find sheltered places to sleep in or even a sofa or the night. She decides to busk for a day and earns a bit of money to get her a hot meal. She goes to sleep that night on a bench with her guitar underneath her, when she wakes up in the morning it is missing and she feels that all the progress she made yesterday has gone and she's giving up hope. Over the next few weeks she sleeps rough, sometimes finding a sofa to sleep for the night. One days she's walking down the arcade, seeing all the bright lights gives her aspirations of what her life could be. She bumps into a man who offers her money to take her home, desperate, she accepts. When she wakes up in the morning she quietly packs her bag, stuffing in money she's found on the side and digs through draws finding a watch and phone, she leaves before the man in the bed wakes up. *
