Research into main idea

Hollyoaks: Anorexia Storyline











Short film: Planning

• Idea: Pressure to be thin in modern-day society.

• Purpose/ message of the short film: beauty being skin deep/ you can be beautiful whatever shape or size you are.


• Genre: Non-fiction

• Plot:

- A girl between 15-17 years of age
- Importance of image and reputation
- Peer pressure
- P.E.= low confidence/ self esteem
- Extreme lengths to alter image
- Ambitions to be glamorous, e
- e.g. looking up to celebrities
- Magazines
- Continual reminder of what it means to be slim or beautiful

• Potential endings

- Hospital, by bedside
- Rehab
- Giving a speech to a group of women about overcoming anorexia (SATC style)
- “Weight loss is viewed as a way to achieve happiness”.



• Characters

- Main character= teenage girl
- Mother= in denial
- Friends= obsessed with image
- Family= concerned

• Quotes from short films about the issue of anorexia

- “I feel like I’ve been kidnapped”- Hannah/ Hollyoaks
- “Looking at bony models in magazines”.

• Camera

- Long shot/ extreme long shots used to isolate character
- Close ups used to highlight painful facial expressions

• Props

- Old family pictures
- Computer
- Camera
- Typical settings in a house/ school environment

• Setting

- Shops
- London
- School
- Party

• Potential openings

- Pre- recorded catwalks
- Montage of magazine images/ photoshoots
- Voice over of main character,
- childhood voice


Research into the actual disease, anorexia

Eating and food behaviour signs and symptoms

• Dieting despite being thin – Follows a severely restricted diet. Eats only certain low-calorie foods. Bans “bad” foods such as carbohydrates and fats.
• Obsession with calories, fat grams, and nutrition – Reads food labels, measures and weighs portions, keeps a food diary, reads diet books.
• Pretending to eat or lying about eating – Hides, plays with, or throws away food to avoid eating. Makes excuses to get out of meals (“I had a huge lunch” or “My stomach isn’t feeling good.”).
• Preoccupation with food – Eats very little, but constantly thinks about food. May cook for others, collect recipes, read food magazines, or make meal plans.
• Strange or secretive food rituals – Often refuses to eat around others or in public places. May eat in rigid, ritualistic ways (e.g. cutting food “just so”, chewing food and spitting it out, using a specific plate).
Appearance and body image signs and symptoms
• Dramatic weight loss – Rapid, drastic weight loss with no medical cause.
• Feeling fat, despite being underweight – May complain about being overweight in general or just “too fat” in certain places such as the stomach, hips, or thighs.
• Fixation on body image – Obsessed with weight, body shape, or clothing size. Frequent weigh-ins and concern over tiny fluctuations in weight.
• Harshly critical of appearance – Spends a lot of time in front of the mirror checking for flaws. There’s always something to criticize. They’re never thin enough.
• Denies being too thin – Refuses to believe that his or her low body weight is a problem, but may try to conceal it (drinking a lot of water before being weighed, wearing baggy or oversized clothes).


Purging signs and symptoms

• Using diet pills, laxatives, or diuretics – Abuses water pills, herbal appetite suppressants, prescription stimulants, ipecac syrup, and other drugs for weight loss.
• Throwing up after eating – Frequently disappears after meals or goes to the bathroom. May run the water to disguise sounds of vomiting or reappear smelling like mouthwash or mints.
• Compulsive exercising – Follows a punishing exercise regimen aimed at burning calories. Will exercise through injuries, illness, and bad weather. Works out extra hard after bingeing or eating something “bad.”


The first physical signs and effects of anorexia are:
• Lack of energy and weakness
• Feeling cold all the time
• Dry, yellowish skin • Restlessness and insomnia
• Dizziness, fainting, and headaches
• Growth of fine hair all over the body



Healthy Dieting Anorexia

Weight loss is viewed as a way to improve health and appearance.

Weight loss is viewed as a way to achieve happiness.

Self-esteem is based on more than just weight and body image.

Self-esteem is based entirely on how much you weigh and how thin you are.

Is an attempt to control weight

Is an attempt to control your life and emotions

The goal is to lose weight in a healthy way.

Becoming thin is all that matters; health is not a concern.

Brainstorm of ideas

Brainstorm Of Ideas

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