Fear and loathing in las vegas (1991) terry gillam

Fear and loathing is basically one big trip of a film about a journalist (Johnny Depp) and his lawyer (Benicio Del Toro). They travel to Vegas and consume every drug under the sun. Gilliam allows the viewer to experience these trips with the characters with his huge color palette, wacky visuals, delirious sounds and uncanny music with extreme erratic cinematic techniques that allows us to be immersed by the whole experience. It was a film that made me feel like i was on drugs that just got more and more weird as the film went on... which i wasn't complaining about. The extreme low angle shots, intense colored lighting and circus acts provided a mind blowing experience.

During the scene of the first hotel they visit in Las Vages, as Depp walks through a big crowd of people he can hear some conversations clearer than others, the intense flashing lights and mirrored pillars made me feel disorientated. To add to this, the floor patterns were moving like snakes and the receptionist's face was morphing and eventually turned into a dinosaur.

I was able to connect with their trippy journey and ride along with them in a sense. The aim of my extended practice is for the audience to connect and feel what my character is going through. To do this, i need to be able to have a gripping story, and if that fails then i need stunning visuals. Gilliam may not have the most compelling story going on to the wider audience but he has mastered the effects here.