Film Opening Inspiration

 Week 3




This post's focus is on films that will be used for the story Camila and I are working on. We want to make the main focus of the film about drug addiction and how it affects people involved. The films we picked that portray this message wonderfully are Beautiful Boy by Felix van Groeningen and 28 Days by Betty Thomas. Both films contain characters that are addicted to a substance.




Beautiful Boy is a film based off of reality. It follows the story of Nic Sheff, a young man addicted to crystal meth, and his father David Sheff, who has to deal with Nic's addiction alongside him. The film recounts the experiences the two felt when going through the time in their life. The film does a great job portraying how drug addiction affects not only the addict, but also the people around them. David attempts to help Nic get through his addiction but has trouble as he continuously relapses. The drama film does a great job at capturing these frustrating and somber moments. It goes to show how drugs can turn a talented person into an obsessive addict who puts everything valuable to them at risk for it.






The other film researched was 28 Days, another drama film focused on someone with an addiction. This time, it's Gwen Cummings, a writer from New York City. The film is named 28 days as it is a set amount of days she must spend at a treatment facility for people like her. Gwen slowly learns to accept the treatment, even building relationships with people who are in similar situations as she is. She begins to confront her problem head on and become a more responsible person overall. This aids in helping her restore relationships with friends and family and become a fully functioning person once again. The film, while comedic, helps to display that those who are addicted are not alone, and there are people who can relate with issues that they face







The messages in these movies resonate with those Camila and I are attempting to portray in our film opening. It only makes sense to use successful films as a reference to make a successful film. All this will aid in visualizing our opening and writing up our storyboard before filming.





Sources:
Garcia, Fabian. “Beautiful Boy: An Emotional Rollercoaster with No End In Sight (Review).” Loud And Clear Reviews, 22 Jan. 2021, https://loudandclearreviews.com/beautiful-boy-review/#:~:text=Beautiful%20Boy%20brings%20to%20life,had%20their%20place%20in%20Hollywood.


Ebert, Roger. “28 Days Movie Review & Film Summary (2000): Roger Ebert.” Movie Review & Film Summary (2000) | Roger Ebert, 14 Apr. 2000, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/28-days-2000.

van Groeningen, Felix. Beautiful Boy. (2018)


Thomas, Betty. 28 Days (2000)