The Drug 2.0

We received some feedback on our drug, and we were told it looked too much like a Nurofen tablet- and not extreme enough for the deep sense of addiction we wanted to present.

We took this advice on board and subsequently decided to cut these shots from our trailer, and replace them with something more professional looking. For the new shots, we used a collection of drugs instead of just one- to present the concept of addiction on a wider scale.

These are the drugs we used and we placed them on to the camera lens in order to get an extreme close up shot of them. 

The bright colourful drugs mixed in with the more typical white and brown tablets create a strong sense of absolute loss of control which we felt was important to depict. 

We also used them in a shot of the protagonist's hand as it falls to the floor. We layered the shot with a red-lit shot of her face, reminiscing the audience of the first time she takes the drug at the party while displaying the extreme effects it can have on someone. 

Judge Dredd Drug Scene Deconstruction

Within the narrative of this 2012 drug fuelled film Judge Dredd a new drug has been created causing everything appear to the consumer to be happening at 1% of its normal speed. Therefore within these drug using scenes an incredibly effective slow motion edit is utilised in order to depict the drug usage.

In addition to this, another post-production effect is used, where the colours are greatly enhanced and saturation of the shots is highly increased. It is interesting to note the contrast between the dull colours used to convey the rest of the film, for example the grey-tinted establishing shots at the start of the official trailer, and the enhanced colours used to portray these drug induced shots. It can be suggested that this drug usage presents the characters a sense of escapism, as they can leave their dull, crime-filled lives, and be lit up in the vivid, colourful and enjoyable life of drugs. The colour usage present a physical contrast between the life they have and the life they desire.

The fade from vivid to dull used in this shot demonstrates as the effects of the drugs wear off and reality of the situation sets in:


via GIPHY

The colours  switch from very saturated and bright, to dark and dull, the most prominent colour changing from yellow to grey.

The use of extreme close ups demonstrate the importance of this drug and the significant effect that it has on its users, in this shot the focus is on the drug, even though it is not the centre of the scene, as everything in the background in blurred ad faded, this really depicts the strong effect the drug has, and how it takes control of the person and the situation.

Filming the Drug-taking Scene

To film these shots, we placed Bethan in front of a black curtain and shone a bright red light at her.

We are using this lighting for the drug-taking scene because of the connotations of the colour red- anger, passion and sin. These emotions foreshadow the events later in the film.

Having such a bright light meant we could play around with it, filming silhouettes of Bethan and in many of the close up shots- half of her face is lit while the other half is much darker. This represents the split personality a drug as powerful as this one, can bring out in someone if they get addicted.

Although we filmed Bethan before and after taking the drug, we feel that the actual digestion of the drug should be the most dramatic shot and should be the focus of the audience's attention. We attempted to film this from many angles, in a few different ways. One of which was filming Bethan's shadow on the curtain.

Bethan was wearing a dark grey jumper which symbolises the normality of our protagonist's life. While all the people around her at the party are dressed up, in masks and makeup, Bethan is natural and wearing casual clothes. The effect drugs have on the brain and the way they alter your memory, is presented by this.