In an attempt to increase genuinity of our trailer, I felt it would benefit to take inspiration from suitable characters in previous series or films I've seen, none more so than Reginald 'Bubbles' Cousins, played by Andre Royo in the HBO series The Wire. Bubbles sub-plot is that of somebody struggling against their addiction to heroin; living in abandoned houses and making money off selling scrap metal and informant work for the Baltimore Police Department.
The performance of Bubbles is an incredibly vivid and true-to-life depiction of homeless drug addicts in the projects of America, with his character development (something the critically acclaimed Wire is famous for) astounding over the course of 5 series. Whilst such detailed development obviously won't be possible in our trailer, I felt obliged to look more at the character and have identified and analysed some helpful scenes which are available to me on Youtube, as well as the 5 seasons of the show in its entirety, which should be beneficial towards our representation of a similar character.
I see the first of these two as the scene we can get the most from as, although all the clips represent the hardships of leading the life Bubbles does, this one exceeds in it. The beating is graphic yet realistic and comes about simply as a result of being in the wrong place in the wrong time. The mise-en-scene represents the sort of location we need to look for aswell, with Bubbles' temporary squat being basically a desolate, run down garage with a mattress.
The second is much the same in that it just shows Bubbles' daily struggle, but differs in that he's even dismissed by the authority to serve and protect. Again the confrontation with the initial perpetrator is realistic and shot well.
In this scene Detective Sydnor is displaying the mock up junkie-attire that he'll be wearing whilst going undercover, with Bubbles giving feedback on its genuinity. Whilst most of the dialogue of this scene is that of the detectives, it's contributed greatly to how we're going to dress our actress.
Jamie
