IDEA:
DRUGS AFFECTING THE MIND
This is not from a personal experience but through research and what I’ve been told by some friends is that it’s “quite a ride” when using drugs. “It’s a colourful, scary mess” said one of them which inspired to do a film about this. From experimenting with food colouring and water I could see some interesting shapes form, including faces which I found both cool and slightly scary. I wanted to play around with surrealism and include a paranoia feel to it.
Originally I wanted to do the film I planned to do in semester 2. This was going to be about dreams and nightmares. I was going to focus on emotions and use actors in my film. The idea for that film maybe taken further into Level 6.
STRUCTURE
Beginning - peaceful mind before drugs enter the body. (I used bubbles and an empty fish tank to represent this)
Middle - the drugs taking effect. Visual craziness follows. The ‘drugs’ will be the food colouring.
Ending - the thrill has come to an end and the mind is peaceful and clear once more.
EQUIPMENT
Before filming I only had a camera and a tripod so I had to buy a list of equipment below.
Food colouring: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black. Fish Tank - Large
Lights
White board
Plasma Ball
Clown Mask (Not Pictured but in film)
Water
Berroca
Bath ball
Water
Berroca
Bath ball
Camera (already had)
Tripod (already had)
Soap
Milk
Milk
Cotton Buds
THE FILMING
The task of filming food colouring in water was more challenging than I thought. It looks easy but it’s really difficult especially if you don’t have the right equipment.
Lighting was my biggest problem and challenge for this film. I filmed each piece differently, varying from natural light to artificial. The food colouring in the tank was filmed both in the day and night whilst the milk piece filmed in the evening. The bubbles were filmed during the day with natural lighting. I tried four lights to light the background but it was always too dark on the camera, with patches of shadow that were difficult to lose. When I brightened the camera settings that then washed out the food colouring to the point where you could barely see it so I had no choice but to leave the background dark. I felt I could have used a couple of LED lights or studio lights.
I ended up using a couple of desk lights. They weren’t great but it was the best I could do with what I had. For the fish tank I filmed several shots inside at night and a couple outside in the sunlight (to see if the sun would lighten the background better) and due to this the shots look different, some are bright whilst others are darker. In the edit I attempted to brighten the image to whiten the background but this only worked with the red and yellow colours. The blue colouring was quite weak and so I used a heavy contrast on a couple of shots.
I ended up using a couple of desk lights. They weren’t great but it was the best I could do with what I had. For the fish tank I filmed several shots inside at night and a couple outside in the sunlight (to see if the sun would lighten the background better) and due to this the shots look different, some are bright whilst others are darker. In the edit I attempted to brighten the image to whiten the background but this only worked with the red and yellow colours. The blue colouring was quite weak and so I used a heavy contrast on a couple of shots.
For the white background I tried using paper and a bed sheet on different occasions but the creases in both of these showed up very clear on the camera. However I carried out a test shoot with each and I managed to get some interesting effects from the food colouring. But I had to crop and use a filter on the footage to cover the creases. Because of these filters, the images have blurred a lot which was very frustrating.
I later bought two white foam core boards and they were very effective with no marks or creases. I thought they would be easier to light but it was still very difficult. The fish tank was also a bit problematic. At first I brought one that was too small and the edges could be seen through the camera. Zooming in didn’t help as the food colouring wouldn’t fit the shot so I exchanged the tank for a bigger one. I wanted to get a glass tank for a clearer image as I feel plastic was difficult to light and film through but glass tanks were very expensive. I opted for a plastic tank and I feel it worked out quite well, although I still feel glass would have been more effective.
I later bought two white foam core boards and they were very effective with no marks or creases. I thought they would be easier to light but it was still very difficult. The fish tank was also a bit problematic. At first I brought one that was too small and the edges could be seen through the camera. Zooming in didn’t help as the food colouring wouldn’t fit the shot so I exchanged the tank for a bigger one. I wanted to get a glass tank for a clearer image as I feel plastic was difficult to light and film through but glass tanks were very expensive. I opted for a plastic tank and I feel it worked out quite well, although I still feel glass would have been more effective.
During filming I realised that filming water and food colouring wasn’t enough and I wanted to include other techniques in my film to spice things up a bit and make the film more visually interesting.
I really could have done with a macro lens for this film. The shots I was trying to achieve just couldn’t be done how I wanted them with the camera I was using. I needed to get right up close to the bubbles. Also, in the edit, to get the look I wanted from some of the shots I needed to crop them quite a bit. By doing this, the images became distorted and fuzzy. The film has a mixture of clear and fuzzy shots which is really disappointing as it doesn’t make the film look so smooth and it’s very frustrating. By using a macro lens I would have been able to get up really closely on the subject matter to get some powerful shots, especially from the bubbles, plasma ball and the milk experiment.
If I had made this film in semester 2, I would have been able to get my hands on a macro lens as my camera man would have been a friend on my course who’s fantastic with cinematography as well as owning a range of lenses. Filming this film by myself was difficult and I feel I could have improved the quality with a crew. It would have been helpful to have had an extra pair of hands such as a DOP, a camera man as well as the use of other camera lenses.
MUSIC
I realised that this film could be seen as more of a music video, which wasn’t the plan at all. I tried experimenting with the sounds but I couldn’t record the sound clearly and I needed a microphone for my camera, plus editing software. Originally the music I used was going to be a test piece but it worked so well and fitted perfectly with not only the images but for the idea and theme of my film that I chose to keep it. I like the classical elements at the beginning and how it represents the clear mind and then how the dupstep completely mixes it up as the drugs take effect. I felt this worked well. I continued to look for an alternative music piece and I managed to find two nice tracks but I would have had to pay a lot of money to download them.
I struggled a lot doing this film alone without any help. I now see the usefulness of personal tutorials at university as well as working with my peers as I had many questions as to what I could change and if what I was doing was working or not. I am pleased with the result of my film however but I feel it would have been better with the support of a crew and correct equipment.
