Off the Record Footage

Here is a small 5 minuet long clip from the film. This clip is from the first 10 minuets of the film where Mick and Simon are at a party. Mick attempts to 'chat up' a girl but before he can he i swept away by Ringo who has just got his hands on a new type of LSD. The two go into a bathroom and take the drug before tripping so hard that your left wondering if Mick is alive or dead...
Again the main purpose of this film is not to advocate drugs. Its also not to glamorise them. The purpose of the film is to show what rally happens when you take drugs. Yes, it can give you extreme highs and make you fell awesome and make you popular amougst young people, yet equally its as addictive as it is harmful to your body. Like one of the films I researched for this, "The Wolf of Wall Street" it is not biased in terms of advocating or shunning drug use, it simply is a character driven story with drugs being a stimulous for their rise/ downfall.
Here it is: https://youtu.be/8zrEmG3XqAY

Bibliography

Drug Culture in film- Realism or Glamour?
Wolf of Wall Street- Scorsese, 2013, Paramount Pictures
Sid and Nancy- Cox, 1986, Palace Pictures
Pineapple Express- Green, 2008, Colombia Pictures
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- Gilliam, 1998, Universal

Syd Barrett- Case Study
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett

Music of 1973
http://www.retrowaste.com/1970s/music-in-the-1970s/

Films of 1973
http://www.imdb.com/search/title/?release_date=1970,1979&title_type=feature

Hunter S. Thompson- Case Study
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson

Fashion of the 70's
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/1970s-fashion-moments-that-defined-seventies-style-96107

Prop Drugs
http://www.looper.com/16677/actors-really-use-taking-drugs-movies/

Effects of Drugs
The Doors of Perception- Aldous Huxley

Off the Record: Posters

 For these posters I didn't want to dwell too much on drug use or drug imagery due to censorship laws, so I had to revolve the theme of the poster around the tittle of the film itself. By using various iconic vinyl record covers of the 60's and 70's on a bed while the main character lays on top holding one specific cover (a necessary cover for plot purposes), it creates a sense of mess as if somethings just happened that caused it. equally it exaggerates the importance of the the record in his arms (Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon).

Some of the covers however hold very subtle references to drugs. Such as; "The Beatles", "Pink Floyd", "The Doors" and "The Velvet Underground". These are all bands heavily associated with heavy drug use throughout the period of time when they were prominent in pop culture.

For the three versions you see on the left I experimented with different colored light to see if it gave some kind of trip effect. However I don't think any of the three are particularly impressive. The final poster I do like is the one at the bottom. It uses white light and is angled better. the expression on the face is more neutral yet at the same time shows an adequate amount of expression. One of the only things I don't like about it though is the font used for the tittle. In my opinion its not decade defining and quite generic. Having said that it does do the job, and anything more elaborate could make the poster look messy. Its use of natural light also keeps the poster in a neutral state; as with the three colored posters each color has various connotations of different things that might not have anything to do with what the film is about, so keeping the natural light helps keeps the poster simple and not over complicated
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Also as a side note, there is a vague reference to Hunter S. Thompson in the poster. As he was someone I did a lot of research on for this project and was one of the main inspirations for the film, I pay homage to him by wearing the same yellow tinted sunglasses that his is normally associated with wearing.

Off the Record: Theories and Practices

For creating "Off the Record", I used a theory I developed, called The Frankenstein's Monster Theory. This involves a number of various aspects of a diverse selection of films being spliced together to create an new and unique story. This can include subtle referencing in the dialogue to its source/inspiration, or sequences taken directly from other films but adapted to fit the new story. In terms of "Off the Record", its inspiration came from:

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• The Inbetweeners (2008-2010)
• This is the End (2013)
• Pineapple Express (2008)
• Trainspotting (1996)

Some of the things that you will see in "Off the Record" will/might remind you of some scenes of these films listed above.
Off the record also uses Todorovs 'Equilibrium' theory to establish a well balanced and linear plot. The drugs being the source of the disequilibrium and Ringo's death restoring the equilibrium. This theory helps us to make the plot easy to follow and understand for the spectator.
Props character theory will also be applied to the film but not so much in the tradition sense. Mick would not be the hero but the Heroine as he needs help to get out of the drug addiction. This makes Simon the hero whos journey is to rescue Mick from Ringos (The Villain) bad influence. Again this a tradition story telling technique which conveys a simple understanding of the films premise and gets across the message of the film to an audience.

Off the Record: Press

This is an interview with BBC News featuring Rick White and Sam Osborne: