Film Idea

Our film is called Numb and is based on the 2006 film Half Nelson. Half Nelson is a film about a school teacher who leads two different lives and has to cope with his struggles. Outside school he is a drug addict that causes him to live a dangerous secret life, but in school he gets on well with all of his students eventhough they are all from a rough neighbourhood. We have reversed that idea however, with a school student playing the main role instead of an adult. This is because we found it more common to hear about teenagers taking drugs than teachers in London, and so people would relate to it much more. To show a clear contrast between both sides of the student in the opening, different filming and editing techniques will be used which are similar to the ones in the film.

Dan's drug life is shown through a dark and gloomy filter which represents a darker habit outside of his colourful school life. These dark colours also make the scenes appear to be intimidating and secretive. Music plays in some scenes such as when we see him taking drugs for the first time. This was rock music which was fast, loud and dramatic which can be related to his drug habits that contrast his calm school life.

His life as a teacher is shown to be surprisingly positive and although he receives sarcastic comments from the class, he responds with equally sarcastic remarks which earn him respect. However, the camera is always swaying to show slight annoyance with having to share two different lives, but also to show his unstable state of mind. There are also a lot of close ups to establish his mood and the moods of his students.

A key difference between this film and our opening is that our one does not rely on several actors to show a difference between the character's lifestyles. In Half Nelson, several shots of students in the classroom show that Dan Dunne, the main character is in fact a teacher and has the important ability to get on with these students. However, our opening will only be using two actors and so it will be harder to show him leading two different lives as he will not be reacting with anybody else.