Amber Delshadian's Blog

 Short film research  Story focus Protagonist: 45-year-old female therapist living alone in South London. Midlife pressure - career expectations.  The Patient - men's mental health as a focus too, this is something I want to draw attention to as well.  Theme: the emotional toll of therapy work, the hidden struggles of those we go to for help - how do they manage taking on the problems of others when battling issues themselves?  Genre: Psychological drama/character study Tone: Subtle, emotionally raw, realist tone.  Mental Health and Therapists  As I am going into a Nursing Degree, I am interested in how those who we go to for help and support care for themselves.  Therapist burnout: emotional exhaustion from empathic engagement with clients Compassion fatigue: It is common among mental health professionals - when they absorb their patients' trauma  Stigma around therapists: Expected to be "mentally stro...

Film Treatment Draft Act 1  Begins in the protagonist's chaotic, cluttered home, we learn about her living environment and watch her getting ready to leave her house (her routine). We see pill boxes scattered across surfaces, plates and cooking equipment left out, clothes everywhere - a life far from organised, conveying her struggle. A secondary purpose of this beginning sequence is that there is a sense of her being watched.  The camera acts as a person watching – we feel like we are spying on her, and this is how she feels all the time. As she goes through her routine (preparing a cup of tea, getting ready to leave), the camera lingers on her in a way that feels intrusive. Through this glimpse of her environment, we establish that she is living alone, which emphasises the feelings of fear later on in the short film. Act 1 demonstrates both The Therapist's inner turmoil and her vulnerability.  Act 2  We follow The Therapist on an uncertain, tense walk down the stre...

  Short Film Treatment  I want to create a psychological drama short film that explores the lived experience of anxiety and distorted perception. The story follows Jess, a 30-year-old woman living in South London, whose walk to her therapist’s appointment becomes an overwhelming ordeal as her anxiety intensifies, causing her to misinterpret those around her. What begins as a normal journey, quickly turns into a sensory and emotional assault, where every sound and glance feels threatening. The idea for my short film, stemmed from my interest in mental health disorders and how the world can be perceived differently for those who   suffer from them. Tyler Perry’s film Straw influenced me significantly. In the film the protagonist is consumed with grief, and this causes her to imagine the presence of her daughter. We watch her imagined day, and then we see what really happened - from where my idea for restarting the same day originated.  Act 1 Begins in the protagonist's...

Short Film: Characters, Costumes & Props (initial ideas) Characters The Therapist : The main protagonist of the film. A 45 year old woman living alone in South London. Jess is struggling with mental illness, making it difficult for her to leave her home. She has few friends and has trouble in social settings. However, it is later revealed that Jess is a therapist. She hides her struggles from her workplace, no one would know what she is going through and what her home life is like.  Dale: Dale is a patient, a 50 years old man, he confides in Jess. He is finding it difficult to go to work due to his mental illness, without knowing he is a lot like Jess.  Costumes/makeup & hair The Therapist : She dresses between smart and casual, making her job less obvious. Her hair is tied up and she has light makeup on - maybe we watch her apply her makeup during the first Act where she prepares herself for the day ahead. Dale : Simple, casual clothing - shirt and trousers. His hair ...