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Unit 13
The idea for my final major project is a boy who abuses drugs, they then start to take a drug called Lean and OD on it. Lean is a codeine promethazine mixed with sprite and jolly ranchers (American sweet/candy). Ski is slang for Lean/Codeine. Lean is a B class drug that is easily accessible due to the fact that it is just a mixture of Cough syrup and sprite.
Rational:
Rationale: Throughout the units, 1-7, I think I could have worked to a better standard. During units 1 and 2 I did not do very well with planning research or pre-production as writing is not my strong point, however, I gradually got better as we went through the units. I also saw myself get better and more comfortable with editing. Before joining I was not very comfortable with using photoshop or premiere pro but now I am able to use both to a decent standard. Throughout the course of units 9-12 I have been focusing mostly on editing and using transitions/effects to make my videos look better and feel more fast pace so that it does not drag on longer than needed. From units 9-12 I became more knowledgeable with Premiere pro and how to properly use certain effects and transitions, I have also become more accustom to using colour correction rather than a simple overlay. This has influenced my discipline as it has made me focus on more on the outcome of my projects and how I can make them look pleasing the more and more I worked on something. This has had an influence on the path I choose to pursue; I now want to become a professional editor.
Lean
Project concept:
The concept of this film is, a person that drink large amounts of a drug known as lean, Sizzurp or Purple drank. The concept of anti drug abuse is what I aim to promote as many people (mostly teenagers) in the USA are dying due to an over-dose of Lean. To help develop this I will look at different promotional videos about anti drug abuse as well as watching movies/documentaries which features drugs in them. Whilst under the influence of drugs I will add a dream affect to signify the high and I may add some gifs or video's to add to the tripping/high effect. I anticipate to make something that represents a anti drug film I will add the number of deaths due to over-dose of drugs at the end of the video to push what I am trying to promote. Our final major project is due in 24 of May; I will have a timetable for the recording sessions so I can edit and upload the video on time a day before the due date.
Evaluation:
I will use an audio recording as well as writing out what progress I made each day. I will be sure to pay attention to detail so that I can give detailed description of my progression as well as anything that happened during the filming process, with actors and such, that may impact the outcome of the filming. After one day of filming or research I will do an audio recording of what I have found out or changed, I will do a analysis of what I have accomplished in that day of work . Due to the need of actors for my final major project, I will need to record how the collaboration with the actors had played out for example; If an actor had to cancel on a certain day due to their work timetable or other issues, then I will have to reschedule the recording session and film on a later date. If this does happen I will try and minimize the risks of this happening again by having a back up actor ready and make sure that the next session does not combat with work timetables.
Production log
Synopsis:
My film is about a person that uses drugs but has started to abuse a drug known as Lean, they'd drink it anytime and anywhere. My film is about a person that uses drugs but has started to abuse the use of Lean. My target audience for this are teenagers and young adults ages 17-24 who are typically vulnerable to the use of drugs. The genre I chose for the film is Drama, I thought it would better suit the theme of the film better than another genre would.
Week1: This week I managed to complete the whole of section one and two of our unit 13 checklist for our final major project. On Wednesday I managed to complete the rational and initial idea for my final major project, then I began writing up the project concept. On Thursday I finished writing the project concept as well as writing the Synopsis, I later began working on the primary research and sent it out to everyone
Primary research:
Survey results:
From This I know that people are interested in a film about drugs and would expect to see drugs such as weed and pills. The type of effects people want to see for the high/tripping scene, is both a dreamy effect and visual animations, as well as having the scene filmed in both POV and third person.
From the results of the survey I know that people do enjoy watching drama movies which tells me that the genre of drama is a good choice. Because my short film is about a drug called Lean, I wanted to know if any other drug should be featured in my short film, most people said that Xanax/pills should be featured in it, for this I will use Trebor mints. I asked where the film should be shot (In a open space or a area with a lot of night clubs and bars) Majority voted for a place with a lot of nightclubs and bars, for this I will have to look into locations that have a lot of clubs around London although I wont be able to film inside I can use the colleges studio to help me film the scene where the character is at a nightclub with their friends. When the character is high/tripping I wanted to know whether or not I should use a Point of view shot or a third person shot or both, majority voted for both with will allow me to have a diversity of shots to help build up on the scene. I asked people how the high/tripping scene should be edited, majority said they'd like to see both a dreaming overlay with some green screen effects. This is will correlate well with the change in POV to third person shot with this scene as I can use green screen effects for the POV shot and use a dreaming overlay for the third person shot. For some of my scenes I want to have music playing in the background (The high/tripping scene, the party scene too) I wanted to know what kind of music I should use at it will help give these scenes more of an effect. half of the voters wanted music that makes them feel happy and makes them want to get up and dance to it, whilst the other half want it to be a mixed of music that makes them feel calm and music that makes them feel happy and energetic. From these results I can help structure how the scenes in my short film will play out as the requirement for certain music , editing style and camera shots are needed to help build the scenes in order to make the audience feel like they're apart of the movie.
video interview: From this I learned that not a lot of people watch drama movies or if they have, they're really old movies that use the genre. When asked if they've seen any drama's that use the theme of drugs all three of them had said no but the second person had said that they've only seen documentary's with this theme this means it may be a little harder for me to create this as I will not have anything to help me structure how it should be. For the third question the candidates said that they were would watch a drama movie that uses the theme of Lean to learn more about it, from this is know I will have to include some facts so that people feel like they've learned something form the film. I asked where a movie about drug abuse should be filmed in order to get an idea of where I should film mine, two of them had said it should be done in bars and clubs due to drugs being mostly used in those places, however one person said it should be done in an open space so then you'll know nothing shady is about to happen, from this I could try to implement both suggestions but for different scenes. I asked what kind of effects would the candidates expect to see in the movie; One person said they'd expect to see a a dreamy effect where things look hazy with some impaired movement, whilst another person said they'd expect something similar to flash backs since and the final person said they'd expect to see a dizzy effect with a kind of blurred effect. During the editing process I could use all of these to help me create the effect that the character is in this drunk/high state. for the scene in which the character is tripping I asked the candidates if it should be filmed in 3rd person, as a POV or both one person said it should be shot as a POV to help people with experiencing what the character feels whilst the other two said I should use both but have them at certain timings. I think I will go for both as it would help people to feel the same way as the character but also using a third person shot will help give the scene more impact
Audio interview:
Person 1: This person said they watch drama movies, this helps because I know that their are a percentage that are interested the in Drama genre. With the second question I got the same reply from most people in the interview "if its good, then yes" Although this is a somewhat serious movie I will still have to try to make it entertaining for people whilst maintaining the drama genre. For the third question the person said the film should be shot in a place with closed space so that it is harder to get caught in the act. For the style in which the tripping scene should be filmed, the person said that it should be fast pace and nothing should drag on for too long, just nothing flashy since drama doesn't have anything flashy, just psychedelic type of effects. For the beginning of the film I was thinking of using the ending then going from beginning to end, when I asked about this the candidate said this was a good idea, from this I know that starting with the end is a good/safe idea.
Person 2: This person said they sometimes watch drama movies, however they have not seen drama movies that use the theme of drugs. I asked if he'd watch a film that uses the theme of drugs the main one being lean, the candidate was not familiar with Lean but, however, they are willing to watch a film that uses the theme of drugs. For effects this person said they'd like the background to have a wavy and blurry effect to show the character is tripping. For the Tripping/drunk scene the interviewee said it should be done with both pov and third person. When asked if starting with the ending was a good idea the interviewee said it was because it can help captivate the audience.
Person 3: This person said they do watch drama movies and said that drama movies that use the theme of drugs where their favorite. I asked the interviewee if they'd watch a drama movie that uses the theme of drugs and the main drug being lean, they said they'd watch something like that because now days a lot of famous artists are using the drug and popularising it even though its dangerous. When asked about where it should be filmed the interviewee said that location doesn't matter as much since anyone could take drugs and do it anywhere as long as they're not caught with that being said I could potentially use a combination of both open space and closed areas such as bars and clubs. When asked about the effects that I should use, the interviewee said that before the character goes into the trip I could use light filters to create a build up but once the high/trip starts to kick in I could use more aggressive colours ( i.e red) and as it gets more intense I could use more vibrant colours but as the character is coming out of it I could go back to using clam colours (i.e blue). When asked how the high/drunk scene should be shot the interviewee said it should be a mix of both a POV and third person, however they also suggested using a fish eye lens to help amplify the view and give more effect to the tripping scene. I asked if starting with the ending would be a good idea and the interviewee said that it would ruin the surprise so it would be better if I just went from start to finish rather than show a teaser of the ending
From these interview I know that at least half of the people watch drama movies and that majority have not seen any drama's that use the theme of drugs. I also know that from this people are willing to watch a drama with the theme of drug abuse the main drug being lean which is good as my short film is based on this. A lot of people suggested a closed space when filming a movie about drugs, with that in mind I will have to think about where I could film and make it look like a club or a bar. For the effects majority of people suggested using a somewhat dreamy effect with blurriness, however, I will still take into consideration the person that suggested using a colours to help show the progression of the tripping/drunk scene. Majority of people said that it would be better for me to film the drunk/high scene as both pov and third person, however, I will still take into consideration the person that said using a fish eye lens would help to amplify the effect of feeling drunk/high. And finally majority of the interviewees said that starting with the end of the film would be a good idea and help the build up of the film although one person said they did not like this idea I will still follow through with it but, I will not give away too much of the ending just a smaller portion of it.
Week 3: This week I had finished completed my Primary research. I had interviewed 6 people and asked them question that relate to my short film. I had done an interview with some friends, asking them a series of questions. A lot of people said that they would watch a movie about Lean depending on whether it is a good one, which suggest I would need to use a lot of aesthetic shots to help build on the film so that it looks pleasing and will make people want to keep watching, not only that but I will need to take effects into account as many people have suggested using a different variety of effects that could help set the scene. I asked some of the people who had taken part in the interview whether or not it was a good idea to start with the ending scene and then go from beginning to end, most of people like the idea and thought I should use it whilst one person thought it would ruin the element of surprise, however, from the feedback I got majority liked the idea and believe I should use it, therefore I will go ahead with the idea and have the beginning be the opening for the short film. My thought process behind this is if I start with the ending, then the beginning and build it up from there, I would have both ending and beginning figured out so I would have something to build up to during the middle of the film
Initial ideas mind map
Secondary research:
This documentary from the BBC explains why Lean (Codeine promethazine) is used. It is mostly use in the music industry to help create certain flows to songs, the calm vibe given off by the effects of Lean is what helps to get the music to sound the way it does. The BGP worker (Bristol drugs project) who is interviewed in this explains that when people are drinking lean, they're taking 20 times the amount of a normal prescribed does which can easily cause an overdoes to the victim, she later explains that using this codeine mixture, Alcohol and other drugs such as Xanax can easily come into the mix and then it becomes an "overdoes triangle". Due the the mass amount of attention it gets from the new generation of music and musicians, it's cause a lot of young people to start drinking Lean which has lead to multiple police reports of death by overdoes. The BDP worker later goes on to say that "once the hype around lean begins to die down people will find that its harder to stop drinking and then they'll begin to see the issues of drinking it". People generally do drugs such as lean because they feel pressured during social events, If people are passing around some weed in a social environment you're are 90% more likely to say yes rather than no because we feel pressured. We are more likely to do things such as Lean, Weed or Xanax in parties and night clubs, in these social situations you want to have as much fun as the next person on top of that when their is alcohol in our system we are more likely to try things that we wouldn't do if we were sober.
The reason I have picked Dunkirk is because it is a drama movie, although it is historical it still has the bases of drama and can help me with building my short film. Also, some of the shots used in Dunkirk are quite dramatical which will help me with deciding how to film my scenes so that I can get the most out of them and so that the short film feels like a drama.
The location for this film is set in Las Vegas USA in 1998. They use costume that are typically worn during the 1990's; The Hawaiian shirt, Fisherman hats Aviator Sunglasses and light denim jeans. This is the usual clothing in the 1990's especially in places such as Las Vegas, that are seen as the center of all good parties, gambling and other activities. The style of the film is quite fast paced and over exaggerated which helps to build the scenes where both characters are tripping as well as the normal comedic scenes. The overall narrative of this, is two guys going on a road trip to Las Vegas to have fun. Once they arrive at Vegas the two end up taking a drug that causes them to trip and see things that aren't there.
This is a good example of a tripping scene/effect it adds to the comedic side of the movie. The scene in which the characters are tripping uses a variety of different effects that help build up on how far the trip has gone for example; In the scene where the characters are booking a room then suddenly the plant design on the carpet moves another example would be when the characters are seated at the bar and the floor a giant red puddle. These help the audience to get a taste of what the characters are feeling/seeing.
This will help me with creating the scene where my character is tripping/high. I could use different types of colours to show the character getting high then coming down. I could also use the magnify effect that was used when the characters met with the receptionist or I could use a fish eye effect to create a somewhat similar effect but over exaggerating it so that the audience feels like they're also experiencing it with the character
Week 2: I got the results of my primary research,I took a screen shot of each answer and then began to write an evaluation. After that I started my secondary research, I searched youtube for videos on Lean. I found a BBC documentary on Lean, I later came across a video which explains what lean is and the effects it. To help me build an idea for my short film, I decided to use the trailer for Dunkirk as it is a historical drama movie and the trailer would be able to help me build on the genre of drama. Another trailer that I came across is, fear and loathing in Las Vegas.
Harvard reference
Planning:
Props list
The reason I'm using sprite and Food colouring is because Lean is usually made with sprite/7up and codeine promethazine, to try and recreate this, I will be using food colouring as codeine promethazine and mix it with sprite to try and make it look like Lean. Because my short film is about drug abuse, you would expect to see other drugs being showcased in this, to represent cocaine and Xanax I will use Trebor mints and crush them so that they look like Coke.
Sound: In my film I will have some music playing during different scenes to help build up on the scene and give it some effect, I will also be using ambient noise such as: busses car's and doors closing. The audience will hear different types of music, it'll be a mixture of calm and relaxing music with music that is typically played at clubs, this will help me set the scene and build upon the party atmosphere.
Light: I will be using natural lighting for scenes shot outside but for the scenes inside I will use a small LED light on the camera.
Script:
Moodboard:
Pre-production:
Location report
Risk assessment
Budget list
Week 4: This week I had finished making a mind map for my initial ideas for this I looked at conventions of Drama movies and wrote a list under the different conventions then I underlined who my target audience is as well as what my movies about and what lean is. From this I found different conventions of Drama which will help me with making my film as I can use and manipulate the conventions to suite my needs making my film look dramatical whilst keeping the message.
I've decided to change my idea from a short film to a podcast where I will sit with three two other people and talk to them about drugs and drug addiction. This will be similar to a podcast on youtube called Baited podcast. I will use A gif and have some music running in the background for the beginning of the podcast. The reason I decided to change my idea is because it will allow me to work in a different area that I'm typically use to working in, we've done one project that involved a podcast during our first year, however, it was not similar to my idea of filming the people that are talking as well as using a images in the video.
Baited Podcast
The bases of the Baited podcast is to talk about recent events/ news that has happened lately on the internet regarding some influential people on youtube or another social media platform.
For record the podcast I will use a small room in the college to record audio, I will speak into the microphone about a certain topic. I will stick with my initial idea of making a film about drug abuse but instead of it being a film it will be a podcast.
Week 5: This week I decided to change my idea and instead of making a short film I will be doing a podcast instead. The reason this took place is due to me being unable to find people to play a role in my short film. Initially my plan was to make a short film on drug abuse and the dangers that come with drugs however, I've decided to do a podcast on drug abuse instead.
Week 6: This week I recorded 3 different takes for my podcast and I decided to settle with the third recording as it was less repetitive and it was shorter than the others. I had found some posters of websites that are against drug abuse and some light music to have running in the background. Initially the podcast was too long so I had to shorten it by cutting certain parts of the podcast and making them episodes which means redoing the beginning and end of the podcast.
Podcast test
Final major project
I made a demo/test of my final major project to get some feedback on what I have so far. From the feedback I know that the podcast is too long and, although it has good information behind it, after a while it begins to drag on for just too long I also had not added any images at this point as well which is something I changed in the final cut of the project.
During the process of making this, I used After effects to create a introduction for the podcast. I used a gif and a coloured background for the base of the introduction, then I used the shape tool to make two shapes and key-framed the two shapes to act as a swipe transition. In Premiere pro I created a timecode using a transparent video layer and the time code effect, I change the Timecode source from media to generate and unchecked the field symbol mark. Finally I nest the file and then I went into speed/duration and reversed the footage to create the countdown effect. I had also added images to the podcast and key-framed them so that they faded in and out similar to a slide show. As for sound, I edited the sound in Auditions Initially what I had done was add an amplify effect so that the audio was louder, although it was as loud as It needed to be there was a issue of some background noise being amplified as well so I went into noise reduction and I removed the background noise I then increased the level of the audio track to 6 and listen over it to see if the background audio was gone (It was luckily removed) and finally I used the amplifier and increased the level of audio.
week 7: This week I had made a demo of my final major project and I had gotten feedback from it. From the feedback I decided to cut my podcast into segments/chapters rather than have one long podcast talking about drug abuse and the problems that come with using certain drugs I also record start and redid the start and the ending for my podcast
Week 8: Today I went over all my weekly evaluations and added more to them (What went well, what I learned and what went wrong) in order to improve them. I also write a script, because I changed to a podcast I thought I wouldn't need a script however it is still apart of pre-production, so I quickly wrote the script. Next week I will be screening my final project and I will record feedback to evaluate.
Week 9: this week we screened our final major projects and I had gotten feedback I also worked on Audience theory. During the screening of the podcast their is one point were I tell you how to make lean, that was a small error as it was meant to highlight how easily accessible it is which is why people do it. I will have to keep that in mind next time and be sure to mention "it's easily accessible"
Feedback:
At 7:08 Instead of saying "a lot of people have died to lean related deaths" I should have given actual figures to make it more credible such as "from years 2000-2018 the amount of deaths, due to a lean overdoes has grown by 0.5 per million per year, in 2009 it had gone up from 0.5 to 3.5 deaths" and "That codeine promethazine/Lean is responsible for 100 deaths a year" this would have helped add more credibility to what I was saying. For the most part the music was good and matched the tone of, however, as it went on and I began to talk about Lil Wayne's experience the music began to get too upbeat which took away from the seriousness of what I was saying. Another thing that was said was, I could have used a script to help me instead of going off the top of my head, other than the research, everything was not scripted and It would have been better to have had it scripted so their wont be parts where I pause for long periods of time, this would have also help to cut the length of the podcast down to 5 minutes to make it more impactful. Initially the podcast was 24 minutes which is too long, so I decided to cut it up into chapters that would be from 1-10 minutes long, however 1-5 minutes would have been more favorable. I had a good use of found images, however, one person said I could have used more images rather than have them playing like a slide show. And finally A few people had said I have a good voice for radio and with the music it had made it comforting to listen to which helped with being able to get my point across.
Evaluation: Over the course of this project I ran into a issue a few times with getting people who would be willing to act/play a role in my project which lead me to change the idea of my project a twice. My initial idea was to do a short film on drug abuse more notably the drug known as lean, However, it would have been hard to film every aspect of my short film as it would have required being in a place that has a lot of clubs and bars during the night time which would have been difficult due to the lack of light. After coming across these issues I decided to change my idea and make a podcast rather than a short film but the plan for the podcast was to have me and one other person talking in a small room and have three different cameras to change the view of the audience depending on who is talking, but again, I could not find anyone that was able to help me with the podcast so I change my idea again and settled on a podcast without a video of me talking in the background, instead it would have pictures of the drug I am talking about running in the background, some images of famous people that have stopped using it and three organizations that help with battling drug abuse, initially the podcast was too long so I had to cut it down what it is now.
Evaluation: Through this experience I have learned how to edit audio using adobe auditions as well as working on a podcast. I feel that I was able to get my point across and raise awareness of the drug called Lean another thing I believe I did successful was being able to keep my podcast short and punchy, initially my podcast was too long being 24 minutes, however, I decided to turn my podcast into episodes the first episode being about Lean. In the future I will make a script for my podcast so that the pauses I take are not too long and the podcast would still feel natural it would also shorten the length of the podcast it needed to be no more than 5 minutes. I will also need to add statistics from a research instead of saying "Many people" which gives me less credibility. Another thing I will make sure to change in the future is not fully completing the podcast, After finishing the first episode I should have carried on and completed the second and third episode where I talk about Weed, the effects it has and why its possibly one of the worst drugs due to the fact it opens you to other more dangerous drugs as well as Xanax and Cocaine and there effects. Initially I was going to do a short film about drug abuse and the dangers of it, however, I was unable to fin people that were willing to act in my short film so I decided to change my idea and make a podcast, I was thinking about making a radio play rather than a podcast, however, it would have required more than one person and I felt it would not be able to get my message across as well as a podcast would.
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