Launch Night

Armed with my notebook, pen and a pint of Cornish Rattler Cyder I went to observe the sounds of the Petite Debauche Launch Night.

I made a list of a few of the songs I'd like them to prioritise recording which they were happy to do. The addition of the drummer, Symon Owers, really brought the band together and gave them in an even darker edge. I was really impressed and I look forward to using their music.

While watching them play I tried to visualise the film alongside particular tracks and I have to say i feel very positive that it will work very well.

On my search for the perfect soundtrack I came across a band fronted by an old friend of mine, Kattie Rosser. 'Petite Debauche' blend folky acoustic rock with painfully beautiful lyrics creating an air of satisfying discomfort. A theme that, I feel, bodes well with the tragic yet passionate story of "Poppy".

I listened to their music online and really liked what I heard. In particular the track "Arch of a Sole" Containing the following apt lyrics:

"Fables Gasp

In Velvet Throes

Fables Gasp

I Can Hear Everything Now".

I feel that music in film is incredibly important and the lyrics of a song can really amplify the story you're trying to tell. I feel that I will always be passionate in sourcing the perfect music, lyrically and also regarding genre. I like having the ability to use music and film hand-in hand, which when I conversed with Kattie, she agreed. Happy to lend the songs, she invited me to their up-coming launch gig at the Studio Bar in Penzance as a 4-piece outfit. She suggested that I could listen to the music and write down particular songs I would like to use. As they were going to be doing recordings over the next couple of weeks she said that they could prioritise getting those particular tracks done.

I am really pleased with how this is all panning out and I love being able to use local, unsigned bands as I feel that the medium of film is a great way to get a bands name out there.

Just a quick bit of musical inspiration...

One of the main influences on me during the pre-production of this film has been music, in particular that of The Velvet Underground. The song Venus in Furs, I feel really captures the ambiance of Poppy and how provocative she needs to be.

This song represents how powerful the female form is in a masochistic way and I feel that that is how I would like Poppy to be. The man needs her and she is totally in control.

Also another Velvet Underground song I have found to be a big influence is the song, Heroin. Obviously as the title suggests it is about heroin.



I love how the tempo changes in this song and I think that if I manage to get someone to do a musical score for this film I would like something like that to happen. The lyrics in this are very poignant too. "Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life" "I have made the big decision, I'm gonna try to nullify my life". I am also considering having the main character called Jim because the lyrics from this song say "I really don't care anymore about all the Jim-Jims in this town".

I have also been listening to other bands and artists to try and get a wider perspective on how the film should look and feel. The song "Poor Edward" by Tom Waits struck me as an incredibly sombre and powerful track. Based on a 17th century legend about a young man who had the face of a woman on his hand that drove him to suicide, this can also be related to "Poppy" in that, she has driven him to death.

I may even call the main character Edward after this song. I like how as legend tells it, he tried to have the face removed but was told that he would die as a result. However, by committing suicide his death was already imminent. It is a very morbid and melancholy song that I think fits my film very well. Although I do want there to be a slight glimmer of hope in the character of Poppy.

Also, the track "The White Lady Loves You More" by Elliott Smith is a direct reference to the white lady and the love of the drug heroin.



And the track "Elegie" by Patti Smith.




I also love the eeriness and melancholy feel of this track for an Adidas advert by Karen O.

The Twistaroo...

So the major twist in the plot of 'Poppy' is that Poppy doesn't actually exist. She is the drug heroin but personified. I am going to use a series of quick extreme close-ups to show how Poppy relates to heroin, for example:

• The guy is going to light a cigarette for Poppy but this will cut to somebody lighting heroin on a spoon
• She is going to tie him to the bed using belts, which will cut to shots of him tightening a belt around his arm to find a vein.
• As she unzips a knee length boot I will cut to a shot of heroin being drawn up through a syringe.

The name 'Poppy' itself is derived from the opium poppy which is used to make heroin. I am also going to have her dressed in white because 'The White Lady' is street slang for heroin.

My aim is to show the desperation of a guy who has really hit rock-bottom. He has made a lot of mistakes that he can't go back on, thus ending up on the streets. His one glimmer of hope to detach himself from reality is a hit of heroin. His one night with the white lady. His pursuit has him begging and stealing, the typical habits of a user. I want to capture the euphoria of his hit. Like the best sex he's ever had, but even better.

A great quote from Trainspotting: "People think it's all about misery and desperation and death and all that shite, which is not to be ignored. But what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not fucking stupid. At least we're not that fucking stupid. Take the best orgasm you had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it."

Life's a pitch...

Thursday 2nd December

Today we made our pitches for our short films to a panel containing our lecturers, Phil Purves, Tim Tarrent and Lesley Gittens. Overall I feel that the pitch went very well. They all seemed very positive in terms of the twist and said that they had not seen this done before.

Philip Purves recommended that I research the film 'All That Jazz' and the character Angelique, who is a kind of Angel of Death to the character Gideon. A bit like the character of 'Poppy' to my main character.

One concern was whether or not the audience will feel empathy for my protagonist. Was there any way that he doesn't have to be homeless? Is it stereotyping the homeless in saying that they all hit rock-bottom so wind up doing heroin?

I started to think of any other ways that I could portray him. Maybe I could show his downfall into drugs, but start him off as a reasonably successful man.

I racked my brains to try and come up with a different scenario, which was incredibly difficult when you already have an image of what the film will look like in your head. I decided to draft a script portraying the main guy as a reasonably successful businessman and his downfall into drugs. This seemed to be going well but then it seemed somewhat long-winded and a bit difficult to portray someones downfall into such a hard drug so quickly. Our time limit is 12 minutes and it seems like a lot to tell an audience in such a short space of time.

So I am going to stick with my idea of having him as a homeless guy, but I want it to seem like he is incredibly vulnerable and very new to this. I am going to have him take out a picture of him with either a girlfriend or a family portrait, reminiscing on better times. Making the audience realise that he has made mistakes but he still has a family that loves him, but he feels he cannot return to them. I'd like to leave a bit of a question mark on his family background though so I don't want to focus too much on that but feel it will be good to start off on.

Proposal and Treatment

“Poppy” is a short drama that follows a young male street-sleeper who has reached an all-time-low. Turning his back on his conventional needs he turns his attention to a beautiful, high-end call girl named Poppy. The more he obsesses about her, the more risks he is willing to take to spend just one night alone with her. He begs, he steals. He goes to any length to get the right amount of money. When he finally gets to her, the object of his desires take a turn for the worst, resulting in tragic consequences. The film is going to follow a theme of obsession, addiction and desperation. The target audience will be 18+ due to the nature of the film.

This is going to be aimed at an audience of 18+ due to the dark subject matter. The general theme of the film is going to be along the lines of Danny Boyle’s "Trainspotting" and Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream”. In terms of the aesthetics of the film, I want it to have quite low lighting to capture the grittiness of being on the streets. I would also like to use montages of extreme close-up, quick shots that are used in movies like ‘Requiem for a Dream’ to show certain aspects of life on the streets in a chaotic fashion.

This is not going to have any dialogue and I am going to try and tell the story through the images alone. With there being no dialogue I would like to over exaggerate natural sounds and perhaps have music to accompany the film, to build up tension. I will be looking to film in and around Bath and maybe in Bristol because I feel that Bristol has the ability to look grittier than Bath.

Philip Wall, to play the main character.