Filming - Gym

We used brown eye shadow, bown eyeliner and some dark blushers to make Eve look exhausted and bruised.

For Jermaine's arm, we used the same techniques as we did with Eve's, although we built around the picture of a bruise with red lipsticks rather than powder because we wanted it to pick up the light.

Filming - Gym

Before we went filming at the gym, we worked on the visual effects on my arm. This was done to convey the effects of the Russian drug Krokodil, which rots the flesh and bones of the user. To achieve this look, we first found a picture of rotting flesh and then cut it out so we just had the wound. Next, we glued the picture into place on my arm. After it had dried, me and Casey used different shades of red lipstick, purple eyeshadow, black eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and dark shades of blusher to blend the picture in with my arm, and to make it look realistic. The only issue we encountered with the products we used was that there was some glitter in the eyeshadows we used, however, this did not show up on the footage.

When we went to the gym, we planned to film in the partially built swimming pool, however, the lights in this area were far too bright and as they were on a sensor we couldn't turn them off. However, we found a better area to film; a small, dark room filled with clutter, which we felt made it look abandoned and worthless; our intended environment.

Production Logo

We created this production company logo through Photoshop. The idea of a woman in this position; looking as though she is falling backwards is similar to the idea of the young girl in our production, who throughout the film is involved in out-of-body experiences.

This image shows the woman floating through the nebula; one of the effects that one experiences when under the influence of the illegal drug shown in our production.

The colour scheme is both bold and eye-catching, the pale white skin and dress of the woman contrasts with both the black background, and the multi-coloured nebula that separates the two. The stars are shown through the woman to add a subtle transparency and to make the nebula more prominant in the image; hence the name for our production company; 'Nebula Studios'.

Institutional Information

The film will be made with British money, personnel and resources, and will exhibit social realism; the most 'typically British' of all film genres as it shows our society in a 'real' way.

Therefore, we believe Film 4 would be the perfect producers and distributors for out film, as they have produced successful films such as Trainspotting and This Is England. An ideal director would be Danny Boyle, as he has been involved in many well-known productions in this genre, and also has strong connections with Film4.


As the film is medium to low budget, it would be funded by the British Film Institute (BFI), Figment Films, Stealth Films, and Cipher Films. These companies have all been involved in successful British films, each contributing smaller amount of money than big production companies such as Warner Bros. as they do not have the same spending power.

The planned release date would be in May, as it is cheaper to do and will give our film more market exposure as we will not have to compete with the big summer marquee films. It is to be shown at multiplexes and on social networking sites to gain recognition. Additionally, the trailer would be international as we believe that with the little dialogue demonstrated in the trailer, it would be able to appeal to other nations, such as Russia who has a ferocious drug culture and the public may be interested in seeing the film with subtitles.

Sound

For our soundtrack and sound effects, we are using tracks from the Pro Scores CD, as all pieces are royalty and copyright free.
The song we have picked for opening the production is a four second snippet from a track called 'Together'. We only took this small clip as the sound is very eerie and grabs the audience's attention. The main song we intend to use in the production is called 'Significant'. This is because this track conveys both sadness and happiness and will accompany the voiceover and footage well.

We were influenced to use this kind of song as the trailer for Candy also exhibits a heartfelt and moving song which was very effective in conveying the themes of the film. After filming the injection scene, we knew that the clip had to be accompanied with a piercing sound in order to increase the impact of the scene. Therefore, we chose the 'FX3' sound effect as it is high-pitched and shuddersome.

Animatic

http://vimeo.com/39188101

Key Character Types

The two main characters of Eve and Jermaine could be considered anti-heroes. This is because they are considered the protagonists of the film who differ from the typical hero. For example, the typical hero is brave, clever and charismatic. However, anti-heroes are flawed, they are not villains and they are not heroes. In our film, the characters flaw is drug addiction, exhibiting characteristics opposite to that of the typical hero. They are driven by their own desires and needs, such as funding their drug habit. This is more gritty and relatable to the target audience, as every human has weaknesses, which aren't always shown in traditional protagonists.

This character type can also be seen in the character of Mark Renton of Trainspotting. The traditional hero qualities that are portrayed in him are that he is relatively attractive, intelligent and can fit into society. However, his major flaw, which rules over his life, is his heroin addiction to cope and escape from his depression and hatred towards other people. His acts would be seen as deviant from the norms of society but not evil.

Eve is also very similar to Candy, from the film with the same name. They both exhibit a flawed character type, as she was raised by a strict mother which led her to drug abuse in order to relax her from her hard lifestyle, eventually leading to a dramatic downfall.

In society, a common media portrayal of teenagers is that they are reckless drug and alcohol users. They are often illustrated as selfish, nihilistic pleasure seekers who are drains on society. The emphasis is mainly on male drug users, and that women are influenced into using.

This helps the audience recognise what the genre, tone and characters are like. It also appeals to people interested in this area but also challenges teh stereotypes as it shows the stuggles of both characters which lead to their drug use.

Cast and Costumes

Eve
We decided to have the main character, Eve as an 18 year old. Our reasons for this is because this particular age distinguishes between a 'teenager' and an 'adult', and legally, eighteen is a permissive age whereby a person has far more freedom and life changing choices to make, hence our decision to cast our main character as an 18 year old who does make wrong decisions, but initially choses the right one before it's too late.

We also decided to cast Eve as a slender girl of average height with a pale skin and mousy hair colour, light blue eyes, quite plain coloured and ordinary clothing for a teenager, contrasting with the extraordinary situations she finds herself in within the film; clothing such as jeans, trainers and single coloured tops which become more dirty and dishevelled as the film progresses due to her lifestyle of poverty.

Jermaine
We decided to cast the role of Jermaine as a gaunt-looking 19 year old of average height, with dark skin and black hair. We wanted this character to be more advanced than Eve both through age and through experience with illegal drugs. We also wanted him to be attractive in a charming and unobvious way so that his character becomes more interesting for an audience and the relationship between Jermaine and Eve becomes more obscure and intense.

In terms of costume, we wanted Jermaine to look lethargic by dressing dishevelled and disolute, such as dark colours, denim, and casual t-shirts.

Eve's Dad
We decided to cast Eve's Dad as a stocky man of a height that's slightly below average. Our reasons for this are to to show the difference between the physical appearance of Father and Daughter, and also the emotional by directing him to act agressively towards her as a small child, then later when he smacks her across the face.

We wanted to show the conservative nature of Eve's whole family through this one man, therefore the costume we chose for him is smart/casual, for example, jeans and a collared shirt.

Locations

Burnley - this will provide the trailer with the urban setting, as seen in similar films such as Trainspotting, which is based in the city of Edinburgh.

House - this will be used to film the scenes with the young Eve, conveying a stable environment with her conservative family.

Stubbylee Park - here there is a shelter where we can film the bus stop shot without being interrupted. Additionally, the quiet garden area in the park provides a romantic atmosphere, which is in contrast the lifestyle the drugs create for them.

Gym - the area we will choose to film in is still being built, and looks quite run down as it has been left for a while. The area has no windows, making it easier for us to create chiaroscuro lighting effects with our own lighting.

Waterfoot - the isolated tunnel gives an eerie vibe and will also create silhouettes of the characters.

Props

Bottle of cider
We have chosen to use a plastic bottle of cider as it is one of the cheapest form of alcoholic beverage you can buy, which symbolises the poverty both Eve and Jermaine are going through, and that with the little money they both have, they are wasting it on addictive substances such as drugs and drink. Also, we decided to show the characters drinking this bottle of cider in a park, i.e in a public place, which is both unorthodox and worrying, and brings along with it negative connotations and uses the stereotypical convention of youths drinking in public places.

































Crucufix and Rosary Beads
We decided to include these in our production to capture the religious element, and the conservative, traditional nature of Eve's family. We decided to show Eve throwing these at her house to symbolise rebellion, and the freedom and liberation that this young female character feels once she is rid of this religion, her home, family and initially, her past. It also gives negative connotations to the Church, and shows her becoming detached from a faith that was never really hers to begin with.













Equipment to make Krokodil
We wanted to include these props and show the characters creating the Russian street drug, 'Krokodil' as it's the most important drug being used in our production. We will use flour as the Krokodil, and from researching the drug, we have found that the easiest way to make it is by heating the powder on a spoon with a lighter until it turns into an orange fluid, where you then add lighter fluid and other dangerous substances. We decided to use a pink lighter for Eve, as it connotes femininity and adds a more delicate and personal touch to this illegal act of making Krokodil. We also used a blue lighter for Jermaine as this contrasts with Eve's, and connotes masculinity and also defines the characters by their choice of lighter, both falling within their gender domain. We decided to keep these items as simplistic as possible to show the ease of making this illegal drug.




























Syringe
We decided to use a syringe in our production, and have Eve using it to show a different form of drug use, other than melting the Krokodil on a spoon, and to show the seriousness off her addiction, and how injecting drugs into the body harms the outside of the body aswell as the internal, as it causes damage by flowing into the bloodstream, slowing down the central nervous system, causing the heart rate to slow, blood pressure to drop and initially causing heart and lung failure.













Theatre make-up
Make-up plays a vital part in our production, as we used it to create all of the wounds, briuses and withered looks on Eve's and Jermaine's faces. Make-up was the best possible way we could show the physical effects that Krokodil has on the body, as it could easily blend, build up and be removed. We wanted to emphasise the physical effects, as the rotting flesh is a metaphor for the Eve's life, which too, was rotting away and becoming non-existant. The fake blood we used was particularly for Jermaine's wound on his arm, as it gave more of a shimmer that blood would in dark lighting, and was easier to see against his dark skin. It was also used to convey the brutality of the character's lifestyle. The green eyeshadows and black eyeliner were used for his bruising, again to make it look realistic. The red lipsticks and pink/purple eyeshadows were used for Eve's wound on her arm, acting as different shades of blood and decaying muscle. These were very successful at blending in with the picture of the rotting skin and gradually incorporating the bruising around it. Finally, the brown and black eyeshadows and eyeliners were also used for the faces of the two characters, darkening under the eyes to give a more filthy and exhausted look.

Voiceover

For our trailer, we decided against the conventions of using dialogue for the characters, instead we chose to have a voiceover in the form of a poem play throughout to create mood through a more artistic way, emphasising themes within the trailer such as drug use and the effects of it. Our intentions were to express the thoughts of the main character; Eve, without giving too much of the narrative away, hence our decision to include a rhythmic form of literature to correspond with the jumpy sequence of scenes we have.

"Nobody saw it coming.
This whispering attempt at devotion
At emotion
A sudden drop before our feet
And risky nights us thick as thieves
My great escape to white shores sands
Avoid, evade, your thoughts and plans
Our love, my love, was doomed
To live as like the life in demand

As falling stones
My weary head found your chest
Our timeless love
Our timeless danger

Spent
Closest afternoons in flux
A badly structured dream
That fast
Turns nightmare."

Shot List

1. Medium shot high angle from the side Eve sat on stairs, crying
2. Medium long shot of Eve leaving house, throws rosary beads to the floor
3. Close-up of the beads
4. Medium long shot of Eve's dad at the door shouting for her leaving
5. Medium shot of her crying in the shelter at the park
6. Low angled shot of Jermaine walking up to her
7. Long shot of him brushing hair away from her face, she looks at him
8. Medium long shot of them drinking alcohol in the park on a blanket
9. Close up of Eve waking up - bruises on face
10. Extreme close up of drug equipment: lighter, needle – half a second
11. Two shot of girl laid on boy’s chest
12. Close-up of them making drugs – powder on spoon, lighter under spoon
13. Extreme close-up of Eve injecting
14. Medium shot of her looking at Jermaine
15. Hand held tracking shot played in reverse walking forward; everyone is walking backwards
16. Long shot of boy and girl sat on bench (for a long time, sped up so people walk by quickly)
17. Medium shot of Eve and Jermaine comforting each other
18. Extreme long shot of them walking through the park
19. Medium shot of them sat laughing in the park
20. Two shot of couple arguing and fighting
21. Medium Close-up of girl and boy smoking
22. Medium shot of Eve in pain from her arm
23. Close-up of girls face, make-up smudged – crying/stoned
24. Extreme close-up of the same shot - 1 frame
25. Medium close-up of the same shot - 1 frame
26. Medium close-up of Eve screaming
27. Extreme close-up shot of eye flickering– dissolve into next shot
28. Extreme long shot of girl and boy stood at end of tunnel, pushes him over and runs (shot from middle of tunnel)

Possible Titles and Font Styles

http://www.dafont.com/string-and-wire.font
This font would be suitable for our production title because it is unstable and unattached, representing the main character and how she is not in a safe state from her drug use and how she is distant from her family.

http://www.dafont.com/rupturedsans.font
This represents how the main character is broken emotionally from her strict family and then broken physically and psychologically from the drugs she has taken.

http://www.dafont.com/nervous.font
This 'nervous' font conveys the unsteadiness of the main character, whose reality falls in and out of focus.

http://www.dafont.com/seedy-motel.font
This font embodys the dirty and gritty nature of an addict's lifestyle.

Weightless - the feeling of being high off drugs, the idea that life is meaingless/has no weight;
Lucid Nightmares - drug addiction is a nightmare you can not wake up from;
Distortion - demonstrates how drugs distort your view of reality;
Echoes of Destruction - conveys how the addiction has destroyed their lives;
Out of Body - the feeling that the person has when they are on a high;
Easy Way Out - to get out of her problems, Eve takes drugs and runs away to escape.

We conducted a poll of forty people to determine which font best suited our chosen title.

Result - 8

Result - 16


Result - 7


Result - 2

Genre, Theme and Audience Appeal

The genre of our film trailer is 'Social Realism'. The key genre elements we wish to employ in our trailer are the dramatic effect that drug use has on the body, specifically the Russian street drug, ‘krokodil’.

We also wish to employ the thriller genre element of violence through the two main characters, and we also want to show the overall relationship between those characters, how they have similar life styles but yet have different endings.

The marketing points of our film will be the CD of the soundtrack as the music is mainly contemporary and will appeal to a vast audience of late teens and early twenty year olds. Merchandise such as posters and miscellaneous items will also be sold to promote the film and we shall advertise our film through social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Myspace; as younger people are a large demographic on these sites.

Our trailer will be shown in cinemas and on social networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook. The target audience for our film will be 18 - 30. Our film relates to this group of people in particular because younger people are more likely to be inclined to drug taking and facing addiction and crime.

Synopsis

Our film explores the serious issue of addiction and emphasises the effects of it.

Weightless is the tale of a young girl named Eve, who was brought up into a strict, unloving family. She was raised as the 'black sheep' of the family, both neglected and unloved. She felt something was missing, and so went to seek attention and love elsewhere.
She caught the eye of Jermaine; an impulsive young man who had recently moved into her neighbourhood, although Jermaine was not the best influence for young Eve. After getting her hooked on illegal drugs, the two made a pact to stay together forever, but little did Eve know that meant running away from their families, becoming dependant on drugs and leading a life of addiction and poverty.

Our film is of the social realism genre, due to the dramatic and realistic lifestyles of the main characters, Jermaine and Eve who experience serious issues such as drug addiction and poverty.

Pitch

Title - Lucid Nightmares/Distortion

Psychological thriller
Main character: female - late teens
Setting: to be decided

The main characters family gets murdered
Because of that event, she turns to LSD to get away from reality
She has many hallucinations but she develops severe paranoia and believes that the murderer is after her, watching her all the time - even though he's locked up
Her state slowly deteriorates
She gets sectioned and eventually recovers