Major Project - Ideas and Inspiration

.

Poppy

(The title of our film will be used as a metaphor for Heroin and our female lead's name)

It looks like we are well on our way to getting this project off the ground, we have firmly assigned roles and started thinking about webdesign and platforms for our piece.

This project so far has really ignited my passion for art house and world cinema again.  I have revisted two films that had a very powerful effect on me a few years ago, and have taken elements and ideas that I want to incorporate into our piece....

THE CITY OF GOD

I first viewed this film in 2007 as part of my Film Studies A Level, and it has stayed with me ever since. I decided to watch it again the other night, through the eyes of a Broadcast Media student, and it simply blew me away, again.

City of God, 2002, directed by Fernando Meirelles, is a powerful drama, set in the Favellas of Rio, Brazil. The story is based on real events, occurring between the 1960's and 1980's, when gangland crime started a brutal turf war between two drug dealers. 

The film employs a number of visual techniques to help tell the story, with use of colour temperature to show the change in mood and descend into hell, as well as clever use of split screen, to show simultaneous events unfolding. Both elements I would like to use in our film. There are also incredible moments the director has created with use of simple, but extremely effective, lighting and editing, to show powerfully violent scenes. The use of on screen text, also helps the story unfold well, with a a clever narration from "Rocket" as he guides us through the events.

There is a scene half way through, involving two very young children (Please watch the film, I don't want to spoil it), that I find extremely uncomfortable watching. It fascinates me, that something so powerful can be conveyed through film,  and I have often thought this about other pieces of cinema that have stirred strong emotions from me. It's not really a morbid fascination, just one of appreciation, and I would like to develop these skills in my story telling, to create this among the viewers of our piece. I'm not saying that we need to be quite as graphic, but it is these uncomfortable and thought provoking moments in cinema, that really etch a film on to my skin. 

CANDY - quite possibly the most harrowing and desperate film I have ever watched. 

Candy, Australia 2002, the debut film by director Neil Armfield, is an Australian drama, focusing on love and addiction, staring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.  

Dan and Candy, are utterly addicted to each other and heroin. The two are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. The story follows them on the inevitable crash to earth and cruelly guides them all the way to hell. 

Addiction has always fascinated me. The emotions, pain and helplessness that addicts go through is so raw and extremely powerful, especially on screen. It is very rare, unless you are a close family member of friend, to truly understand the spectrum of addiction, with most people the attitude is "they only have themselves to blame".  However, to really see it, is a very scary thing. 

 To have no control over repeatedly using something, that is destroying your life in every possible way, and to lose everything, but still have the need to use, is one of the most harrowing things a human can go through or watch, no matter the drug ( Heroin, gambling, alcohol, sex, food, self harm etc) . I also feel that when it is displayed on screen, and told truthfully and effectively, it also creates a unique feeling among viewers, one that stays with them far longer than any gory scene. 

This story really isn't one for the faint hearted, and will leave you feeling numb, but in a way inspired.     

I want to use some of the narrative techniques in our piece, especially the use of recurring imagery to reinforce what got them to where they are in the first place. I also like the idea of a soft, poetic narration, which I may script in the later stages.  I thought the use of over head shots were very effective and I know Lauren is keen to try those out too.

I am now planning to watch Requiem for a dream, which I have heard is "scarier than any horror film you will ever see", not sure I will have the stomach for this one, I'm just hoping it has a good story like Candy as well as graphic drug use. 

In the meantime, I'm going to start writing out some more ideas, and play with the structure of our three episodes,  Air, Water and Fire