Genre Research - Trainspotting

After Pulp Fiction we moved our research field back to British movies about drugs, choosing to have a look into Trainspotting (1996) by Danny Boyle: unlike Requiem for a Dream, this film has a protagonist and is focused not only on the purchase, consumption and damages of drugs but gives also space to the abandonment of them and the research of a "detoxified" way of life.

Plot: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. (quote imdb.com)

Like the other two films, Trainspotting is strongly characterized by the power of money and the negotiation that is taking place in the indoor scene of the first picture suggests this feature too.
The dimension of the package tells the audience that the characters are dealing with a huge sum of money.

Finally, an important element of drug-dramas is clearly visible in this movie: characters that deal with drugs are very often presented with a bag or suitcase, supposedly used to carry some illegal substances or cash when a transaction is about to take place.

Genre Research - Pulp Fiction

The second film of our research was Pulp Fiction (1994) by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary: in this movie drugs appear as a subset of crime (together with other aspects such as robberies and illegal bets) and does not have primary importance but the film was nevertheless full of hints that could have been useful for the opening we were working on.

Plot: The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. (quote: imdb.com)

Just like in Requiem for a Dream, the element of the syringe is shown with an extreme close-up: the accurate details of this kind of camera shot help making the scene more real and credible.

Before being consumed, cocaine in movies is reproduced as a white powder in a mall transparent bag and, when the trade happens in a "safe" situation (inside a house instead of hidden in an open space like a park) there is often a negotiation (picture above).

Again, the trade drugs (just like every other illegal transaction) in movies can only take place where the main topic of the scene is money.

Genre Research - Requiem for a Dream

Before starting the actual filming our group started to make some research into films of the same genre in order to find out what elements they have in common and which of these elements might be appropriate for our opening: as a result we found that, even though the theme of drugs in movies often comes together with or after a different main theme (for instance crime), there were several films that satisfied our requirements and among these, we made some research into the most successful ones.

The first movie we looked into was Requiem for a Dream (2000) by Darren Aronofsky.

Plot: The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger. (quote: imdb.com)

These extreme close-ups from the movie show two common examples of different ways of taking drugs: pills for physical treatments and a syringe for heroine. The first looked more appropriate for our purpose since we could simply use some peppermints while we did not have any handy way of faking a syringe.

Unlike the previous two, cocaine is usually shown in films as a white powder and it is usually placed in front of a black background in order to create a contrast.

One theme that always accompanies the one of drugs is obviously money since all movies of this genre deal with different kinds of illegal traffics.

Locations

Once completed the storyboarding, we started looking for the ideal locations which best fitted our idea of drug-drama opening: for each scene we found a place where we could film undisturbed and focus on the details that compose mise-en-scene (e.g. colour and lighting).

Luckily we found all the areas we needed in Impington, as most of the scenes happen between Impington Village College and the house where I am staying at the moment.

Here are some photographs of the locations that we had chosen:

The IVC bus stop is the ideal place to make the audience understand that the main character is a student who decides to play truant and go home while his coevals attend school.

This road is useful to show some credits when the protagonist walks away from college.

My house is where we are going to use the match on action when the boy passes through the door.

Another match on action can be used while he goes up the stairs.

My bedroom, being a bit messy, underlines that the boy is a teenager who does not care much about order and precision; here the most important part happens, i.e. the scenes involving drugs.

Main Task - Storyboarding

After our Preliminary Task we have had to film a two-minutes opening to a movie using the techniques that we have learnt during the year. To do this, the first step was to chose a genre and write down a storyboarding to show what it is going to happen in the different scenes: after many changes of mind our group decided to film an opening for a drug-drama.

In the end, this were the scenes and the possible techniques we opted for:

1) A young boy walks away from a school on a windy day: during his way home it is made clear that the character is carefree person who does not know what is good for himself (establishing shot + zoom in);

2) He reaches his home and goes straight in his bedroom on the first floor (match on action when he passes through the door and goes upstairs);

3) The protagonist shows his frustration when he does not manage to do any of his homework and decides to "have a break" (high-angle shot + camera moving backwards);

4)The boy starts looking for something into his underwear-drawers, he pick a black sock and throws it on the desk (mid-shot + cut-in);

5)From inside the sock, the main character pulls out a small transparent bag containing some cocaine (no worries, it is going to be flour) and some quick shots show the importance of this substance for the bloke (stop-motion technique);

6) Lastly, he will inhale the three lines of coke and drop on his chair (wide shot + 3 zoom-in + whitening screen).