Locations

I have been looking at different drug scenes and chases in short films to get ideas for locations;
The shroom scenes in Pick Of Destiny and Skins were both set in forests.

 this is the skins clip

I like the idea of using a forest and have done since I began brainstorming for this film. Forests are seen by many people as magical places (this originates back to fairytales where spirits, fairies and witches live and tree's talk etc) so this is why alot of people take drugs there.  Users take hallucinagetics in forests sometimes in the hope that they can see these mystical creatures. Forests are also seen as scary, eerie places, especially in the dark as there are no lights and therefore lots of places for people to hide. In my film I do not necessarily want to scare my audience, however, I do want to build tension in the chase scene and depict Sam's fear as he runs. The fact he would have a lot of areas to hide is also particularly useful because at some point he does need to escape the man! (It would too, make sense why he went for a walk there... because he is on drugs!!)

 this is the chase scene in Trainspotting, which takes place in the town through the streets. This is effective because you can see that it is not only effecting the two (or however many people involved) running, but also people around them. This subtly giving a moral that your actions affect the people around you too. If I set my film in my local town I imagine it would have a very urban, grungy feel. This is perfect to set the atmosphere for Sam (my youthful, grungy main character) however I think it would be too challenging to film in a busy town where different people are going to be walking around in the background. I have to repeat shots and try different angles etc as they will have moved from one spot to another in the background!

 this is the clip from Pick Of Destiny (which is supposed to be humerous) Here, Jack Black is having hallicinations from eating magic mushrooms. This is set in a forest too, has a very magical vibe.The shot of Jack Black looking at his hand waving slowly made me think of a shot to use. I will have a point of view shot of Sam looking around his room - with everything blurry and slow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR-NNmcgQK4 - this is in due date. Obviously I cannot set my film in a car but I have still found in valuable looking at the acting and the visual effects (to show drug use.) I took the acting techniques and directed my brother to look sleepy. I would have liked to use the starry effect which is shown outside the car window, however I think that would be too complex for me to do!

This is a close up of my brothers face before I applied the makeup to make him look like a drug addict.















As you can hopefully see, I have applied Sam with brown and purple eyeshadow underneath his eyes to make him look very tired!

Lastly, I have positioned him with a fake spliff and a lighter. This photograph was simply taken for me to get an idea of what he will look like in the film - and ofcourse, to prepare him for what I'm going to be asking him to do ;)

 

Costumes

I took a selection of pictures of my brother who is playing the main character in different costumes. Here he is wearing a vintage murky green shirt buttoned up to the top and skinny jeans, this makes him look indie and 'in fashion' - so it would definitly appeal to a teenage audience. However, I think he looks too smart and well dressed for a drug addict. For this reason he won't be wearing this shirt!








This t-shirt looks alot more casual and lazy. The fact it has Bob Marley on the front was a deliberate decision, as alot of people relate Bob Marley to Cannabis. Below that, is the same t-shirt but with a hoody too, to enforce the typical sterotype of a hoodie (yob/criminal/lazy etc) which in this case is completely true!

This is the cotton shirt I mentioned earlier, which is the idea I got from 'Taking Woodstock'. This makes him look very laid-back and careless as it has no shape and is simply worn for comfortablity. I don't think I am going to use this though as it is still clean and well made, not old and rough.         

This is the a plain tshirt with Jim Morrison from The Doors on it, this, I feel is the best tshirt as it looks the most naturlistic and is not smart. I am keeping the skinny jeans and his messy hairstyle.            

FINAL IDEA & CHARACTERS

I HAVE DECIDED ON MY FINAL IDEA.


it is going to be my first idea about the boy on drugs, however, I  have a twist to the story line. At the end when the boy looks back at the media on the camera he could instead, see something disturbing. It'll simply be suggestive, nothing will be shown, the audience can make their minds up for themselves - but it would be something bad.. like a crime, a rape or child pornography etc. The boy then has to make the moral decision whether to tell the police or not, because he too will be in trouble for stealing and may be found out for other things he has stolen and doing drugs.





So I have been thinking about who to use as characters in my film, and have chosen to use my family. This is mainly for convenience and reliability as I live with them and will therefore be able to make sure they do not let down! However, my brother would be perfect for my main character because he looks about 17 (the age I wanted the boy to be) and enjoys acting. My parents will play the couple strolling in the forest - my dad also played the Paramedic in my AS film! For costumes; I have looked at different characters similar to my own (a junkie) in order to see what clothes looked effective.
I first characters I looked at were from 'Taking Woodstock', which is one of my favourite films. It is based on a hippie festival in 1969... in one of the scenes, you see a couple and the main character have an acid trip.. there are also several references to drugs throughout the movie (as a large factor of the hippie culture was drugs).

This is one of the characters in the movie, I feel his long hair and moustache make him look rugged and druggie-like. I like the idea of having an open shirt as it suggests he doesn't really care.





This is the main character, I think his longer hair also looks good... this again shows he is not too bothered about being smart and clean cut. Although I think his jerga looks cool and hip, and would probably exagerate the 'relaxed' look I am going for - I do not think it is rough enough. I could instead use one of the cotton shirts that are very similar. The costume could even have holes in it! That's how rough I want my character to look.

I decided to move away from the hippie druggie look and observe Trainspotting, a heroin based plot, set in Scotland. Below is a picture of Ewan Mcgregor, the main character and total junkie!

Here, he is sitting in his drug den in nothing but a pair of skinny jeans. He is also wearing dark makeup under his eyes to make him look rough and tired. I will definitly put makeup on my brother to help enhance the rough, 'drugged up' look... as will I use skinny jeans, to make him have that slick and cool look.