Hello! I’m back! I just got done with my mid-terms and after a day of rest, I am back to work! My mid-terms went pretty well. I’m satisfied. About time I get back to working on the Advanced-Portfolio now. The first thing I will be writing is the script, today onwards, then I will start storyboarding and later work on props, shoot etc.
PROGRESS I MADE DURING THE BREAK
While I was studying and looking for economics lectures on YouTube, I did get kind of distracted and started looking for how to make a DIY snorricam rig, since I asked around and also went to my nearby shops and they did not have one of those in stock, for purchase or available to rent. I did find an excellent video that solves all my problems. The creator of the video makes a snorricam rig using two belts and a tripod. It wouldn’t work as perfectly or efficiently as a snorricam but it would do the job just right for an amateur filmmaking project. Now that I know I can execute all the shots that I had planned, I am going to write the script.
The A-Level mid-term exams are soon approaching and in this situation, I have to divert my time onto my other two subjects which are Psychology and Economics, as well as the Paper 4 of Media Studies since that is a written exam and I will have to study for it. I will start working on the main process of my Advanced Portfolio, which is the writing, storyboard and everything further, in the winter vacations after these exams i. end of December. I really do not like leaving my project on halt like this but I have to. I am really excited to hop back onto this project in a couple weeks. Adios!
I have been looking for the equipment in my own social circle, for the past one week. Thankfully, I do not need to rent out anything for this project, since I have found everything I was looking for. I asked two of my friends, Kazim Ali Husnain and Raahim Masood(who is also a media studies student, in AS-Level), if they could let me borrow any of the things I had in my equipment list. Thankfully, Raahim owns an entire GoPro kit which includes extra batteries and all kinds of mounts, and Kazim is letting me borrow his Canon 600D DSLR Camera along with a 50mm lens, and a steadicam and extra tripod(just in case I need it). What I did about the lighting was that I asked my father if we had any of those coloured light bulbs lying around at home. Turns out, we did. So I picked those up.
Before I would write down the script, I need to write down the equipment I would need for this project, apart from a camera and a standard tripod which I do own, with a standard 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. I would need to look for the other pieces of equipment in the market, for rent purposes at reasonable prices. If I do find the things, I would start writing the script and add those scenes which require the extra equipment. If I do not find the things, I would just have to work with what I have. I will also be asking around my schoolmates and other friends if some of them have any of this equipment. If yes, I will ask if I can borrow it from them for a couple days.
I think this would be enough to carry out the shoot.
Now that having lip sync scenes of the actor and the lyrics of the song is off the cards, I had to work harder on writing enough scenes that they are able to cover the duration of the song, and I had to write scenes well enough that the audience does not get bored in the middle of the video. Here is the shot list I have written so far. I might or might not make more changes to this going forward with this project.
These are some of the rough shot ideas I have. I need to convert these into actual scenes.
BREAKDOWN OF THE SCENES: 1. Since the video is about drug abuse, I have noted down the kinds of drugs I want to show in my video. I have noted down one each type, in terms of how they are consumed. Alcohol is what which my character would be drinking, heroin can be showed as a drug used through injecting, cocaine is a drug that is most often consumed by snorting and marijuana is consumed through smoking. Lsd, which is a psychedelic drug, is consumed orally. 2. There is a shot I have planned, which is inspired by the movie “Dev D”. The shot is executed by making the actor sit on a chair doing any action and moving the camera 360 degrees around him multiple times, and later edited with some visual effects. It makes for a great drug consumption scene. 3. A shot where he’s smoking while laying down on the floor. 4. Snorricam shots, like I have mentioned before on the blog itself. 5. Another shot where he is spitting out blood while coughing since he is a chainsmoker. This would show the negative effects of smoking. 6. There’s another shot where he’s sitting in between the trash scattered all over his room. He is so messy that he can not even find his remaining drugs. This would show the desperation of a drug abuser and how they lose control over themselves. 7. A point of view shot of him snorting cocaine, or doing any other drugs, or collapsing(we might do this with a GoPro strapped to his head) 8. Another shot where he is under the sheets in his bed and the camera is also in there, recording him. In this scene, the character would be having severe paranoia that there is someone or something out there to attack him. This is a very common side effect of drug withdrawal. 9. A shot where he is so paranoid that there’s someone following him, that he starts running from it. 10. Another scene where I would be directly shaking the camera to show paranoia and how hes walking in such a wobbly, shaky, uncontrollable way when he’s intoxicated by alcohol. 11. Another shot of him banging the door trying to get out, thinking someone has locked him from the outside.
Since the resources and budget for this project is very limited, it would not be possible to write down a script first, and plan scenes that may not be possible to execute given the location and resources. I was not even sure where we would shoot the entire video. So I started asking around my friends and family if they have any extra space where we could come shoot for a day or two. One of my friends, Muhammad Ashar, said he could let us shoot in an empty room he has available at his place.
This is the perfect scenario since we would not have to move out furniture that we think does not suit the script. I am planning to have the room as empty as it is right now, adding nothing significant. However, since it is a story of a drug addict who lives a messy, uncoordinated lifestyle, I am planning to pollute the room with as much trash as possible, e.g things like food packets, syringes which he has previously used for drug consumption, a lot of cigarette butts, ash etc. I asked Ashar if I could do it and he has allowed me.
I asked him for some pictures of the room, which I have really liked. It works really well with my ideas.
I have finally recruited an actor to portray the character of my protagonist. The reason I wanted to find an actor before I would write down the scenes and story-board them is because the shoot involves scenes of drug consumption e.g smoking and snorting, and not everybody is comfortable doing those. It would waste time if I worked on those scenes only to find out that my actor does not want to do it. I could not even recruit someone else since nobody that I know in my social circle or school matched the appearance of the protagonist I have written.
Thankfully though, I recruited my actor and found out he is fine with doing any drug consumption scenes. However, he did note that he may not be able to do lip sync scenes since he does not feel confident with it and does not have much acting experience. I don’t think I mind it. I can make it work without the lip sync too. I don’t feel that my video would fall short without lip syncing. The topic of my video would work fine just without it. In fact, without lip sync, it would serve my narrative even better since a lip sync in a music video as a way of the actor interacting with the camera and establishing a connection with the audience. If we take the lip sync out, the character and the audience are disconnected, which is exactly what drugs do to a person. They disconnect the abuser from the outside world. Maybe I am thinking too much into this, but I think I can manage to make it work without the lip sync. I would have to work harder on writing the scenes, shooting and editing so the audience does not get bored and is captivated. I am ready to take this challenge.
Tarawish Javaid Chhatari
The actor I have recruited. I could not be more glad with the way his appearance is exactly what I imagined my protagonist to have. My protagonist also has a beard, which Tarawish said he would grow again for the shoot. He is the perfect choice I have made for my actor since he really is that impulsive kind of person which my protagonist is too. I’m looking forward to working with him. So excited.
Since I have gathered a couple inspirations now, I think it is the perfect time to write down a character sketch of my protagonist. I want to do this so I can look for an actor who, by nature, fits the same personality traits as the character I have in mind so he does not face any hassle portraying it. I can not ask for too much from my actors since I do not have the resources to look for anybody who does acting professionally. I will have to recruit someone from my social circle.
I do not think my character needs a specific name because my music video will not be focusing on that, so I am going to refer to him as “PROTAGONIST”
PROTAGONIST a. He is the living version of the general impression of a “rock star”, portrayed by the mainstream media, which is a drug-taking, heavy-alcohol drinking party animal. b. Does not have any other motives in life like a job, marriage, family, social life, or anything that makes us part of society or inherently human. His day starts and ends on drugs. c. Has extremely short hair. d. Bearded. e. Has been a drug abuser for long enough that his health and appearance has been deteriorating.
INSPIRATIONS FOR THE CHARACTER
Jesse Pinkman, a character from the TV series “Breaking Bad”
Ozzy Osbourne, lead vocalist of the band “Black Sabbath”
Marilyn Manson, also a rock singer and musician.
Philip Anselmo, the lead vocalist of the band “Pantera”
These are all personalities that my character is a mixture of. He has an appearance similar to Jesse Pinkman and is living the lives similar to the three heavy metal vocalists I have mentioned.
I think I will be able to portray a character who goes through drug addiction and withdrawal symptoms. I would love to include his past-story which has made him turn to psychoactive drugs to cope with his problems but I do not think I will be able to fit that in such a short duration, hence I did not bother thinking of a past-story in the character sketch, since it really does not matter.
Another inspiration, although not a major one, is the film “Enter The Void”. I personally love the way that the film looks. It makes heavy use of neon lights and saturated colours. I will not be able to afford similar lighting setups, ofcourse, due to my limited budget for this project, but I might be able to put my own ideas and work it out for cheap, by buying small sized light bulbs, I guess.
Another film of the same topic I watched today was a British film, “Trainspotting”, directed by Danny Boyle, who is one of my favourite directors. The film is based on a group of friends whose lives have only one meaning – drugs, primarily heroin, out of which one is trying to quit but just is not able to, constantly coming back for one last hit. At the end of the film however, he finally breaks out of his usual life and leaves his friends and starts a new life.
There are quite a few things I got inspired by and would want to portray it in my music video. The film conveyed the withdrawal symptoms of psychoactive drugs such as heroin, really well. The protagonist is left locked in a room and forced to go cold-turkey by his parents when he came back from the hospital after his overdosing. The protagonist goes through hallucinations and other physical withdrawal symptoms which I will take inspiration from to show in my music video.
sober 