Is That Real: Smoke, Shoot & SnoRt

Thinking about the logistics of our upcoming film, Stopover City, an important question is how will we show the marijuana. Although in Ithaca smoking weed seems to be a very common occurrence among students and locals alike, it still is illegal. So I took to the internet to find out how they fake actors using drugs.

Of course alcohol has a very easy solution; you can just make non-alcoholic drinks for your actors to slug down. But in thinking about how many films or television shows show their actors smoking weed, snorting lines of cocaine or even shooting up heroine, there are a variety of solutions.

                                                             Marijuana Alternatives:

If at first you don't succeed, try to replicate illegal drugs again. Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, the creators of High Maintenance, first tried using herbal cigarettes. They would slice the props open and pack it into bowls. The fake cigarettes they use are notorious for being very unpleasant, so they switched to an alternative. Once they tried using legal smokable herb blends, it became their choice alternative. For the baggies the dealer doles out they actually used cotton balls soaked in glue and covered with dried parsley, cilantro and rosemary.

Trying to get a catepillar high in Pineapple Express. 

Jenji Kohan's hit show Weeds, has an entire art department to create fake marijuana. The huge quantities of weed needed in that show called for a very realistic looking substitute. They custom made their supply using moss and other plants. Then they spray-painted and bound them together while also painting individual tiny hairs. As for the grow houses, they actually just use fake plastic plants.

Basically a (very good) movie about a bunch of drugs. 

I'm sure our solution will be more low-budget like the first. In reading a few different articles about substituting drugs for film, here's a quick bullet list of alternatives.

• Cocaine: powdered lactose for snorting, a mix of cornstarch and baby powder as a prop

(Sometimes they will even coat the inside of the straw with vaseline so most of the powder doesn't go up the actor's nose.)

• Heroin: milk and vitamin powder blend, when it needs to be heated they use sugar and baking soda

• Ecstasy Pills: sugar placebos

• Magic Mushrooms: freeze dried fungus

• Crack Rocks: "created by dropping globs of krazy glue into a pile of baking soda

Enough about drugs, have a fun weekend kids.

Catch the "Big C"

If you are a fan of anything on Showtime—especially “Weeds” then you should definitely be watching “The Big C.”



“The Big C,” currently on its second season is about 40-something Cathy Jamison, played by the lovely and Emmy nominated actress, Laura Linney who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? Well, if you tune in you can expect just as many, if not more laughs than tears. Although the show deals with a heavy subject and themes of life and loss, the writers skillfully turn most of the tear-jerker scenes into something you can smile about. Cathy is far from a victim—she responds to cancer with nothing but her strong-no-bullshit-attitude that makes her healthy from within—no matter how sick she actually is. Her character is what gives the show its edge—she doesn’t want to die and so she is using all of her strength to fight for her life.

The series, still relatively new, follows Cathy from the beginning of her diagnosis, to finally informing her family and friends about her illness to her actual treatments and everything in between.

Oliver Platt plays her quirky and concerned husband, Paul with whom she has marital issues in the first season, while newcomer Gabriel Brasso plays her troublesome and temperamental teenage son, Adam. John Benjamin Hickey plays Sean, Cathy’s bipolar, homeless and radical brother who chooses to “live of the land.” While Cynthia Nixon and Hugh Dancy guest star for several episodes, Gabourey Sidibe, the Oscar-nominated actress plays Andrea, one of Cathy’s students.

The writers of the show are outrageous—consistently creating crazy situations that no cancer patient should ever have to deal with, keeping the audience emotionally involved and entertained simultaneously (without overly sentimental.)The characters create their own dilemmas and they often find themselves faced with unfortunate yet hilarious circumstances such as an unexpected pregnancy, racy love affairs and even several deaths. The storylines not only moving the story forward but challenge the characters’ outlooks on life.

The show explores what it means to really live and enjoy your life while you are still lucky enough to have it. And while you all have time, I would highly recommend watching this fantastiC show!

The second season's finale airs Monday, September 26th at 10:30pm on Showtime.

WEEDS

Well, given that Dave already posted about Dexter... (rude) I'm making my post about my second favorite showtime show, Weeds. Weeds is currently on its seventh and probably final season . The first 3 seasons of Weeds are just amazing. The story is great, and the built up in the story arc is both interesting and fresh. I honestly can say that the season 2 series finale is one of the best season finale's I've seen on TV, because the climax reaches a point where all of the story lines crash together, raising the stakes for the lead character (Nancy).

One of the things that make this show pretty special is that it's a dark comedy, meaning that it combines both drama and comedy. So, If you are into both of these genres this is the show for you. Seasons 4 and 5 and 6 are not the best, given that the show takes a different direction which in my opinion, is not that smart to do in a Tv show. So you might wonder why I'm still watching this show if the first 3 seasons are the best, well by this point I feel really attached to its characters. As a viewer I am interested in knowing if they are going to make it at the end of the day, Plus I think the show it's funny. Also, I feel that this season of Weeds improved from its predecessors.

I love the characters of this show, and the casting for it is excellent. For example, Nancy Botwin (played by Mary Louise Parker) is the strongest character. She is the leader, and the one who decides how things are going to be. The decisions that Nancy makes put her, and her family in either funny or atrocious situations. I think it's entertaining watching these characters trying to clean Nancy's mess ups.