Thursday 20 December 2012
Film Analysis - Short Film "Right Place"
This is a short film which I decided to look into as research for my psychoanalytical study, it concerns a young man with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) working at a small supermarket. The film focuses on his condition as it renders him unable to leave anything out of place or unordered and shows various quick shots of him constantly checking and rearranging shelves, even if customers are in his way. This also leads him to follow a few customers rearranging the shelves as they go along, such as making sure every item is facing outwards and is a set distance apart from each other and appears tidy. This continues until he comes across a female shoplifter in which he grabs the item she was about to try and steal and places it back on the shelf and sets about in rearranging the shelf it's on, then when he turns to reprimand the woman he notices the woman has socks that are uneven so without even thinking he kneels down to straighten them out to make them both the same height. This event leads him to be slammed against a wall by his supervisor in which even as he is being yelled at he cannot stop himself from straightening his bosses glasses as they are slipping down his face, which ends in him being fired and forced to look for work elsewhere, and he ends up seeing an advert for a bonesetter at a museum which could actually make use of his obsessive tendencies.
The film focuses heavily on the characters obsession to keep things ordered and perfect, his obsessive drive to try and control his environment and keep it in order. This is shown constantly thought he quickly edited close up shots of the man rearranging shelves and items within the supermarket, and shots of his face reveal his annoyance when things are taken out of place and are not properly replaced. His obsessive drive also leads him to perform actions that would be considered socially abnormal such as him almost instinctively reaching down to adjust someones socks if they were uneven, and also even when he is being punished his obsession takes over his actions as he adjust his bosses glasses for him. The film also uses a non diegetic music soundtrack that seems very rhythmic and is timed well with the quick close ups while the character indulges in his obsession, although the music does seem clunky and doesn't really fit well with the setting of the film even though it does fit with the character as the music seems very ordered and repeats itself.
Monday 17 December 2012
Psychoanalytical Film Ideas
Idea 1
Taking inspiration from films like the Machinist and Memento, I thought of a short narrative about a person who is constantly over planning/ thinking the things he does in his daily life, leaving notes and lists for himself everywhere either in their room or house to remind them to do things everyday, to the extent where the leaving of the notes becomes obsessive and they start noting down everything that they do and need to do. It could centre on just a few moments of his life or even a full day if condensed down enough as I would only have 5 minutes to film, I could use rapid quick shots to show all of the notes, reminders that the character leaves themselves. One of the things to consider is available space because if the entirety of the film will take place in one room then the size of the room must be taken into account, if the space available is larger however then this won't need to be considered as much. Another thing is what would be written on the reminders, it could either be simple mundane things like "go to work" or it could be incredibly specific things and these specific notes could mention minute details such as perhaps the exact amount of pages to read in a book, to show the obsession of planning and organising the characters life. The thing about this idea is that it would be very achievable as it could only use 1 actor and only more if needed also it would be focused in a single area so locations would only be a problem if it was somewhere where I would need permission in which case I would need release forms to be signed, although I would be able to get all of my footage from that one location if I'm choosing to centre it on one characters life and how they organise it so the location would only need to be their place of work or home. Also this idea could give me the opportunity to use various kinds of editing techniques to make the film more interesting or give it a sense of pacing e.g. by using long shots and slow cuts, the film would seem to run quite slowly but then I could speed up the pace by making faster and faster cuts and editing showing more different shots of the subjects to give the film a faster pace. As for dialogue options I thought that if I went through with this Idea I would mainly use a voice over to describe the situation when needed and would probably just use the visuals to tell the story, the voice over could just be used as a backup means of describing the narrative.
Idea 2
Again taking inspiration from the Machinist but also partly from Fight Club as well I thought of an alternate idea for my psychoanalytical film, it would mostly focus on Freud's theory of the ego, id and super-ego where the character would have a split personality as his id or super ego would manifest itself. The narrative could revolve around the character slowly losing his mind through insomnia such as in Fight Club and the Machinist, the character could be facing some personal guilt after possibly committing a crime and is repressing his memory of it, causing his id or super-ego to surface and manifest itself. The narrative could become circular such as in Memento, where the character is in a constant cycle that they can't break due to their unconscious preventing them from doing so until they have realised their guilt. In terms of actors I would most likely need to recruit at least 2 characters one to play the main character (ego) and another to play their id or super-ego, also I may need to have sub characters included as well to possibly add to the narrative structure, although at least two actors would be needed to play the main roles, possibly people who look like each other or perhaps the complete opposite for a better effect and comparison between the ego and id. One difficulty might be managing to complete this within a 5 minute run time as I would need to make the narrative progress very quickly, also locations may be a problem as there is the possibility I may need a location that requires permission such as a bar which would prevent me from filming in that location. As for dialogue options it would be easier to use a voice over to tell the story and also use the visuals to my advantage as the dialogue would need to be very scripted in order to give it meaning and the actors would need to be able to deliver it without any problems, so either the use of a voice over or simply using non diegetic music and letting the visuals show the narrative would be a more effective approach.
Taking inspiration from films like the Machinist and Memento, I thought of a short narrative about a person who is constantly over planning/ thinking the things he does in his daily life, leaving notes and lists for himself everywhere either in their room or house to remind them to do things everyday, to the extent where the leaving of the notes becomes obsessive and they start noting down everything that they do and need to do. It could centre on just a few moments of his life or even a full day if condensed down enough as I would only have 5 minutes to film, I could use rapid quick shots to show all of the notes, reminders that the character leaves themselves. One of the things to consider is available space because if the entirety of the film will take place in one room then the size of the room must be taken into account, if the space available is larger however then this won't need to be considered as much. Another thing is what would be written on the reminders, it could either be simple mundane things like "go to work" or it could be incredibly specific things and these specific notes could mention minute details such as perhaps the exact amount of pages to read in a book, to show the obsession of planning and organising the characters life. The thing about this idea is that it would be very achievable as it could only use 1 actor and only more if needed also it would be focused in a single area so locations would only be a problem if it was somewhere where I would need permission in which case I would need release forms to be signed, although I would be able to get all of my footage from that one location if I'm choosing to centre it on one characters life and how they organise it so the location would only need to be their place of work or home. Also this idea could give me the opportunity to use various kinds of editing techniques to make the film more interesting or give it a sense of pacing e.g. by using long shots and slow cuts, the film would seem to run quite slowly but then I could speed up the pace by making faster and faster cuts and editing showing more different shots of the subjects to give the film a faster pace. As for dialogue options I thought that if I went through with this Idea I would mainly use a voice over to describe the situation when needed and would probably just use the visuals to tell the story, the voice over could just be used as a backup means of describing the narrative.
Idea 2
Again taking inspiration from the Machinist but also partly from Fight Club as well I thought of an alternate idea for my psychoanalytical film, it would mostly focus on Freud's theory of the ego, id and super-ego where the character would have a split personality as his id or super ego would manifest itself. The narrative could revolve around the character slowly losing his mind through insomnia such as in Fight Club and the Machinist, the character could be facing some personal guilt after possibly committing a crime and is repressing his memory of it, causing his id or super-ego to surface and manifest itself. The narrative could become circular such as in Memento, where the character is in a constant cycle that they can't break due to their unconscious preventing them from doing so until they have realised their guilt. In terms of actors I would most likely need to recruit at least 2 characters one to play the main character (ego) and another to play their id or super-ego, also I may need to have sub characters included as well to possibly add to the narrative structure, although at least two actors would be needed to play the main roles, possibly people who look like each other or perhaps the complete opposite for a better effect and comparison between the ego and id. One difficulty might be managing to complete this within a 5 minute run time as I would need to make the narrative progress very quickly, also locations may be a problem as there is the possibility I may need a location that requires permission such as a bar which would prevent me from filming in that location. As for dialogue options it would be easier to use a voice over to tell the story and also use the visuals to my advantage as the dialogue would need to be very scripted in order to give it meaning and the actors would need to be able to deliver it without any problems, so either the use of a voice over or simply using non diegetic music and letting the visuals show the narrative would be a more effective approach.
Film Analysis: Memento
Memento (2000) Director - Christopher Nolan
Memento is a Thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan that I decided to watch as added research into how Psychoanalytical theories can be applied to film. The film features a non linear narrative that focuses on the themes of memory and self deception, Since its narrative is non linear it has a major focus on the theme of memory as the film consists of two story lines, one shot in black and white which is played in chronological order and one shot in colour which is played in reverse and at the end of the film the two narratives converge on each other to conclude the narrative as a complete story.
The narrative follows Leonard Shelby who suffers from anterograde amnesia which impairs his ability to create new memories and lives his life based on a recollection system using hand written notes, tattoos on his body and polaroid photos so he can remember new events, the most important events needed to remember he tattoos on his body. Leonard is trying to find and murder the man who raped and killed his wife as an act of vengeance, simply known as "John G" which he has tattooed on his chest to remind himself of his purpose, he tries to connect a series of clues which he discovers from various people, including an undercover cop known as "Teddy" and Natalie a barmaid working in the town where he is staying. Throughout the film Leonard is constantly telling the people around him about his condition as he can't remember telling them before, which leads people to take advantage of him in certain situations, which adds a bit of humour to an otherwise serious film. The use of the converging story lines in this film are a very interesting form of narration as the start of the film turns out to actually be the end of the film, as it is being played in reverse, the events that are occurring happen due to what happened previously, which are then shown afterwards in the next sequence, so everything is being shown in reverse order. Whereas the sequences in black and white are shown in chronological order, so the sequences in colour are being played in reverse, the black and white sequences are being played from the start and as the film goes on these two narrative sequences eventually converge to create the whole story so that all the events link together. Over the course of the film during the sequences in black and white, Leonard is constantly talking about a man named Sammy Jankins, he is recounting the story about how Sammy suffered with Anterograde amnesia the same condition Leonard now suffers with, who he met when Leonard supposedly worked at an insurance company and was investigating a claim made by Sammy's wife, he recounts how he could not offer them any insurance as his condition was not psychical and so couldn't help them. Which according to Leonard led Sammy's wife who was diabetic to test him by making Sammy inject her daily insulin more than once resulting in lethal levels of insulin, since he couldn't form new memories he didn't realise what he was doing and subsequently killed her through overdose, and he was later put in a mental institute, Leonard is constantly telling this story to people and even has "remember Sammy Jankins" tattooed on his wrist, as it reminds him of how this condition affects him, and also helps him manage his recollection system as he recalls that Sammy didn't have one and that's what went wrong.
The most prominent psychoanalytical aspect of this film is the theme of memory and drive, Leonard's condition causes him to lose all recollection of recent events and cannot process new memories which leads him to go to sometimes extreme lengths to remember important facts by tattooing them on his body. Leonard's condition causes him to need to develop a system of recollection techniques, such as tattooing himself, taking pictures of the people he meets and the locations he visits and also obsessively writing down notes, these actions take over the role of his memory as due to his condition he cannot remember the most recent events so these notes and pictures take over that aspect, he even states that "you can't trust your memory", as he thinks memories can be unreliable and can be mislead whereas his notes,images and tattoos are facts that are solid proof to him, so he cannot forget them. Another theme within the film that can apply psychoanalytical theory is the theme of drive and desire, Leonard feels that his purpose in life is to avenge his wife and kill her murderer so he is driven to hunt them down, using his recollection system by gathering information about her killer to help him search. However as we discover later in the film Leonard has already succeeded in hunting down and killing the man who attacked his wife, although without the desire to murder his wife's attacker anymore he would have nothing to drive him forward and have no purpose in life, so Leonard burns the picture he took after he killed his wife's attacker, as an attempt to give him a sense of purpose in life, to continuously hunt down a man who had already died. Due to his condition he would forget that he had ever killed anyone once he burned the evidence of him doing so, meaning he would continue to pursue "John G" even though he had already succeeded, even Teddy states that "John G" is a very common name and that even his real name was John G, so Leonard could continue hunting forever, although he would be killing innocent men because of his amnesia he would forget he had ever done anything wrong, and every time he succeeded he would feel momentarily at ease and happy, but then he would forget and continue to pursue a now non existent enemy.
I feel that this film ultimately focuses on a much more varied and common theme than other films I've studied, as the theory concerning drive and desire can apply to various things and can involve peoples obsessions, fantasies and inner most thoughts and this makes for a more interesting film. Whilst watching this it was initially quite difficult to understand the narrative due to the converging story lines, but as it all linked together in the end I felt that once it reached its conclusion the narrative made sense to me, the use of the non linear narrative sequences being mixed with the chronological black and white sequences made the film a very different experience, as I found it was hard to determine which section of the film came first, which I think adds to the films atmosphere as it was certainly interesting to discover the chain of events as they unfolded.
Memento is a Thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan that I decided to watch as added research into how Psychoanalytical theories can be applied to film. The film features a non linear narrative that focuses on the themes of memory and self deception, Since its narrative is non linear it has a major focus on the theme of memory as the film consists of two story lines, one shot in black and white which is played in chronological order and one shot in colour which is played in reverse and at the end of the film the two narratives converge on each other to conclude the narrative as a complete story.
The narrative follows Leonard Shelby who suffers from anterograde amnesia which impairs his ability to create new memories and lives his life based on a recollection system using hand written notes, tattoos on his body and polaroid photos so he can remember new events, the most important events needed to remember he tattoos on his body. Leonard is trying to find and murder the man who raped and killed his wife as an act of vengeance, simply known as "John G" which he has tattooed on his chest to remind himself of his purpose, he tries to connect a series of clues which he discovers from various people, including an undercover cop known as "Teddy" and Natalie a barmaid working in the town where he is staying. Throughout the film Leonard is constantly telling the people around him about his condition as he can't remember telling them before, which leads people to take advantage of him in certain situations, which adds a bit of humour to an otherwise serious film. The use of the converging story lines in this film are a very interesting form of narration as the start of the film turns out to actually be the end of the film, as it is being played in reverse, the events that are occurring happen due to what happened previously, which are then shown afterwards in the next sequence, so everything is being shown in reverse order. Whereas the sequences in black and white are shown in chronological order, so the sequences in colour are being played in reverse, the black and white sequences are being played from the start and as the film goes on these two narrative sequences eventually converge to create the whole story so that all the events link together. Over the course of the film during the sequences in black and white, Leonard is constantly talking about a man named Sammy Jankins, he is recounting the story about how Sammy suffered with Anterograde amnesia the same condition Leonard now suffers with, who he met when Leonard supposedly worked at an insurance company and was investigating a claim made by Sammy's wife, he recounts how he could not offer them any insurance as his condition was not psychical and so couldn't help them. Which according to Leonard led Sammy's wife who was diabetic to test him by making Sammy inject her daily insulin more than once resulting in lethal levels of insulin, since he couldn't form new memories he didn't realise what he was doing and subsequently killed her through overdose, and he was later put in a mental institute, Leonard is constantly telling this story to people and even has "remember Sammy Jankins" tattooed on his wrist, as it reminds him of how this condition affects him, and also helps him manage his recollection system as he recalls that Sammy didn't have one and that's what went wrong.
The most prominent psychoanalytical aspect of this film is the theme of memory and drive, Leonard's condition causes him to lose all recollection of recent events and cannot process new memories which leads him to go to sometimes extreme lengths to remember important facts by tattooing them on his body. Leonard's condition causes him to need to develop a system of recollection techniques, such as tattooing himself, taking pictures of the people he meets and the locations he visits and also obsessively writing down notes, these actions take over the role of his memory as due to his condition he cannot remember the most recent events so these notes and pictures take over that aspect, he even states that "you can't trust your memory", as he thinks memories can be unreliable and can be mislead whereas his notes,images and tattoos are facts that are solid proof to him, so he cannot forget them. Another theme within the film that can apply psychoanalytical theory is the theme of drive and desire, Leonard feels that his purpose in life is to avenge his wife and kill her murderer so he is driven to hunt them down, using his recollection system by gathering information about her killer to help him search. However as we discover later in the film Leonard has already succeeded in hunting down and killing the man who attacked his wife, although without the desire to murder his wife's attacker anymore he would have nothing to drive him forward and have no purpose in life, so Leonard burns the picture he took after he killed his wife's attacker, as an attempt to give him a sense of purpose in life, to continuously hunt down a man who had already died. Due to his condition he would forget that he had ever killed anyone once he burned the evidence of him doing so, meaning he would continue to pursue "John G" even though he had already succeeded, even Teddy states that "John G" is a very common name and that even his real name was John G, so Leonard could continue hunting forever, although he would be killing innocent men because of his amnesia he would forget he had ever done anything wrong, and every time he succeeded he would feel momentarily at ease and happy, but then he would forget and continue to pursue a now non existent enemy.
I feel that this film ultimately focuses on a much more varied and common theme than other films I've studied, as the theory concerning drive and desire can apply to various things and can involve peoples obsessions, fantasies and inner most thoughts and this makes for a more interesting film. Whilst watching this it was initially quite difficult to understand the narrative due to the converging story lines, but as it all linked together in the end I felt that once it reached its conclusion the narrative made sense to me, the use of the non linear narrative sequences being mixed with the chronological black and white sequences made the film a very different experience, as I found it was hard to determine which section of the film came first, which I think adds to the films atmosphere as it was certainly interesting to discover the chain of events as they unfolded.
Monday 10 December 2012
Film Analysis: The Machinist
The Machinist (2004) Director- Brad Anderson
Another of the films we viewed as part of our research into how psychoanalytical theory could be applied to film was The Machinist, which follows Trevor Reznik(Christian Bale) a factory machinist who has been suffering chronic insomnia for the past year and has become severely emaciated because of it. His factory co-workers begin to treat him as the outcast at work due to his alarming appearance and even more so when he in involved with an accident causing a fellow machinist, Miller to lose his arm, Trevor taking the blame for the accident claims he was distracted by a strange worker named Ivan but his employers say there is no record of him working there, to Trevor's disbelief. His only source of peace and comfort seems to be in the arms of Stevie, a prostitute who develops feelings for him and Maria a waitress at an airport cafe where Trevor spends most of his sleepless nights.
Over the course of the film Trevor is haunted by flashes of recurring imagery, and everyday objects seem to become threatening, such as his car cigarette lighter, the time on clocks being at 1.30 and constantly appearing post-it notes with a game of hangman drawn on them. These constant flashes of imagery threaten to send Trevor into state of paranoia. Despite this Trevor tries to establish relationship with Maria and accompanies her to an amusement park with her son Nicholas, Trevor takes him on a horrific funhouse ride called "Route 666" where the rides shows Trevor disturbing, suggestive images that seem to disgust him and the flashing lights cause Nicholas to suffer an epileptic seizure. After the incident at the amusement park, unable to think clearly anymore Trevor begins to suspect that all of these circumstances and bizarre events are a collective effort by the people around him to drive him insane, this is fed to him in small clues such as a picture of Ivan and Reynolds a co-worker at the factory that Trevor finds in Ivan's wallet after it was left in a bar, becoming even more alienated Trevor is almost in a similar accident at work to what Miller went through and almost loses his arm, believing his co-workers had set it up he lashes out and is subsequently fired.
Becoming increasingly distressed Trevor goes to confront Miller believing he tried to set up the accident as an act of revenge, after an argument he is thrown out and sees Ivan driving away from Millers house, Trevor tries to follow him but his car breaks down after a short chase but manages to read his licence plates before Ivan's car disappears. In the hopes of tracing the license plates on Ivan's car he asks at the DMV but is told he cannot request information unless its to report a crime, so Trevor desperately throws himself in front of an oncoming car and returns to the DMV beaten and bloody to ask again, only to be told that the car belonged to him a year previous. After a few more failed confrontation attempts with Ivan, Trevor sees him enter his apartment with Nicholas, believing him to be kidnapped Trevor sneaks in to confront Ivan, With Nicholas nowhere in sight Trevor kills Ivan and drags him out of the apartment. It then cuts to the opening scene of the film with Trevor throwing the body of Ivan who is rolled up in a carpet, off a cliff as someone approaches him, As the carpet unfurls Trevor is horrified as the body of Ivan has disappeared, the voice approaching him turns out to be a very alive Ivan. Back at Trevor's apartment he is staring into a mirror with Ivan behind him repeating to himself "I know who you are", Trevor then remembers the year before, he was driving and was distracted by his cars cigarette lighter and at 1.30pm he ran over and killed a young boy who resembled Nicholas, he drove away and disposed of his car, it seems his guilt was the cause of his insomnia and subsequent weight loss. He then goes to turn himself into the police to report his hit and run, with a now sympathetic Ivan beside him, the film concludes with Trevor in a cell falling to sleep for the first time in a year.
After watching this film I felt quite shocked as the entire lead up to its conclusion was both intriguing and disturbing, the film often gave small narrative clues such as the flashes of imagery like the cigarette lighter, the clocks at 1.30PM and the small post it notes being left in Trevor's apartment, all came together in the conclusion of the film to bring the narrative to a close, explaining why he suffered from insomnia, how he became emaciated and the people who he interacts with. Freud's theories of the id,ego and super ego can be applied to the Machinist as the role of Ivan could be seen as Trevor's id, the repressed part of his personality, he is instinctive and primal and he can't be reasoned with or satisfied, who is created through Trevor's insomnia as he is out of balance and can no longer think rationally, so Ivan was made as a means to act out his desires, Ivan acts like Trevor did, as we see before he hits and kills the child he is dressed exactly like Ivan, so he could be a representation of Trevor's repressed self. Where as the waitress Marie and Nicholas could be seen as Trevor's Super-ego as a means to place guilt on Trevor, and as it is revealed at the end of the film the child he hit and killed with his car resembled Nicholas and the mother resembles Marie, while he never actually knew the two of them, he can interact with them as if he knew them, as they are a manifestation of his guilt over his actions, and may possibly act as a form of repentance as a way to end his insomnia and balance out his life again. The film was constantly offering clues to the narrative, which I found quite interesting as it was enjoyable for me as a viewer to try and piece together the film as it went along only to be shocked by the reveal during the films conclusion, the use of certain imagery and objects was interesting as it helped develop the narrative e.g. the post it notes that Trevor slowly fills in, until they finally spell "Killer" causing a revelation as he remembers the cause of his insomnia and realises his guilt. Overall the film was interesting and was constantly trying to confuse the audience with the enigma of Ivan's character and why Trevor was going through all of the bizarre events that occurred, and also the constant imagery trying to link up the narrative and subtle hints as to what exactly happened to Trevor the year before as the main point of the narrative adds to the mystery of the film.
Over the course of the film Trevor is haunted by flashes of recurring imagery, and everyday objects seem to become threatening, such as his car cigarette lighter, the time on clocks being at 1.30 and constantly appearing post-it notes with a game of hangman drawn on them. These constant flashes of imagery threaten to send Trevor into state of paranoia. Despite this Trevor tries to establish relationship with Maria and accompanies her to an amusement park with her son Nicholas, Trevor takes him on a horrific funhouse ride called "Route 666" where the rides shows Trevor disturbing, suggestive images that seem to disgust him and the flashing lights cause Nicholas to suffer an epileptic seizure. After the incident at the amusement park, unable to think clearly anymore Trevor begins to suspect that all of these circumstances and bizarre events are a collective effort by the people around him to drive him insane, this is fed to him in small clues such as a picture of Ivan and Reynolds a co-worker at the factory that Trevor finds in Ivan's wallet after it was left in a bar, becoming even more alienated Trevor is almost in a similar accident at work to what Miller went through and almost loses his arm, believing his co-workers had set it up he lashes out and is subsequently fired.
Becoming increasingly distressed Trevor goes to confront Miller believing he tried to set up the accident as an act of revenge, after an argument he is thrown out and sees Ivan driving away from Millers house, Trevor tries to follow him but his car breaks down after a short chase but manages to read his licence plates before Ivan's car disappears. In the hopes of tracing the license plates on Ivan's car he asks at the DMV but is told he cannot request information unless its to report a crime, so Trevor desperately throws himself in front of an oncoming car and returns to the DMV beaten and bloody to ask again, only to be told that the car belonged to him a year previous. After a few more failed confrontation attempts with Ivan, Trevor sees him enter his apartment with Nicholas, believing him to be kidnapped Trevor sneaks in to confront Ivan, With Nicholas nowhere in sight Trevor kills Ivan and drags him out of the apartment. It then cuts to the opening scene of the film with Trevor throwing the body of Ivan who is rolled up in a carpet, off a cliff as someone approaches him, As the carpet unfurls Trevor is horrified as the body of Ivan has disappeared, the voice approaching him turns out to be a very alive Ivan. Back at Trevor's apartment he is staring into a mirror with Ivan behind him repeating to himself "I know who you are", Trevor then remembers the year before, he was driving and was distracted by his cars cigarette lighter and at 1.30pm he ran over and killed a young boy who resembled Nicholas, he drove away and disposed of his car, it seems his guilt was the cause of his insomnia and subsequent weight loss. He then goes to turn himself into the police to report his hit and run, with a now sympathetic Ivan beside him, the film concludes with Trevor in a cell falling to sleep for the first time in a year.
After watching this film I felt quite shocked as the entire lead up to its conclusion was both intriguing and disturbing, the film often gave small narrative clues such as the flashes of imagery like the cigarette lighter, the clocks at 1.30PM and the small post it notes being left in Trevor's apartment, all came together in the conclusion of the film to bring the narrative to a close, explaining why he suffered from insomnia, how he became emaciated and the people who he interacts with. Freud's theories of the id,ego and super ego can be applied to the Machinist as the role of Ivan could be seen as Trevor's id, the repressed part of his personality, he is instinctive and primal and he can't be reasoned with or satisfied, who is created through Trevor's insomnia as he is out of balance and can no longer think rationally, so Ivan was made as a means to act out his desires, Ivan acts like Trevor did, as we see before he hits and kills the child he is dressed exactly like Ivan, so he could be a representation of Trevor's repressed self. Where as the waitress Marie and Nicholas could be seen as Trevor's Super-ego as a means to place guilt on Trevor, and as it is revealed at the end of the film the child he hit and killed with his car resembled Nicholas and the mother resembles Marie, while he never actually knew the two of them, he can interact with them as if he knew them, as they are a manifestation of his guilt over his actions, and may possibly act as a form of repentance as a way to end his insomnia and balance out his life again. The film was constantly offering clues to the narrative, which I found quite interesting as it was enjoyable for me as a viewer to try and piece together the film as it went along only to be shocked by the reveal during the films conclusion, the use of certain imagery and objects was interesting as it helped develop the narrative e.g. the post it notes that Trevor slowly fills in, until they finally spell "Killer" causing a revelation as he remembers the cause of his insomnia and realises his guilt. Overall the film was interesting and was constantly trying to confuse the audience with the enigma of Ivan's character and why Trevor was going through all of the bizarre events that occurred, and also the constant imagery trying to link up the narrative and subtle hints as to what exactly happened to Trevor the year before as the main point of the narrative adds to the mystery of the film.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Documentary: Married to the Eiffel Tower
The documentary explores the lives of these women and discovers that they completely reject relationships with other humans in favour of objects, the first woman interviewed, Erika La Tour Eiffel is an ex soldier living in San Francisco who in 2007 pledged her love to and married the Eiffel Tower in Paris, with her previous relationships being "Lance" a bow which she used to become a world class archer, a samurai katana sword from when she was in the army, a piece of a wooden fence which she has intimate relations with that she keeps in her bedroom and she is also very fond of the Berlin Wall in Germany. Throughout the documentary she explains that she was abandoned by her parents and was transferred from foster home to foster home during her childhood and was also molested by her step-brother, as well as suffering some abuse from when she was in the army. She blames her condition on this troubled upbringing as she states "who could bring a child into the world, an object, and not love it" and she also claims that on of the main reasons she rejects human relationships is because objects can't hurt her, and that they would always accept her, she then states that she wouldn't change the way she is now even in spite of her upbringing. Over the course of the documentary it follows Erika all over the world as she meets up with 2 other women known to have the same "condition" that she does, she visits a Swedish woman who is in love with the Berlin Wall and also a large suspension bridge, the woman has many small models of the Berlin wall and also a few small fragments of it herself, the woman is also the one who coined the term "Objectum-sexual" as name for what to call herself. The documentary then takes us back to America where Erika meets another woman who has three major loves, a fairground ride, a church banister and the Empire State building, she is also a sufferer of Aspergers syndrome which makes it difficult for her to maintain social relationships which could partially or wholly be the reason behind her attraction to objects, in addition to this her mother has a large collection of dolls which she collected after her husband left which could be partial reason for her loving objects instead of humans, this leads to the question of what factors cause this condition and how it affects people psychologically.
This documentary proved to be very difficult to watch as it concerned something I had no previous knowledge of and it was quite shocking during some moments, especially during scenes where the women were supposedly having intimate relations with the objects/structures. This was rather disturbing and unsettling for me because it is something I didn't understand, according to the documentary only 40 people in the world call themselves obectum-sexuals and all of them seem to be women, so the "condition" is quite rare so it was the first time I was seeing something such as this. It was difficult to quite grasp why these women are attracted to objects although the relationship between the "condition" and previous psychological stress or symptoms seems plausible, as in the documentary Erika states she was abandoned by her parents, moved from foster home to foster home, and was psychical abused, this would of had major negative psychological effects that could of led her to her distrust in human relationships and turned to objects. In comparison the other 2 women interviewed were sufferers of Aspergers syndrome which makes human interaction difficult as they have anti-social tendencies which would make it likely that they take solace in objects as it would be easier than forming human relations. This documentary was somewhat disturbing but it did reveal how past psychological stress or existing conditions can lead to something as extraordinary as this, It certainly offered a few possibilities for further things we could research and to possibly make our own documentaries concerning psychological aspects such as this, or to perhaps include something like this as a theme in our film production.
Film Analysis: Vertigo
Vertigo (1958) Director-Alfred Hitchcock
One of the first films we viewed in order to research and understand how psychoanalytical theory can be applied to cinema was Vertigo which is a psychological thriller by renowned director Alfred Hitchcock. The narrative revolves around John "Scotty" Ferguson, a retired San Francisco detective who suffers from a crippling fear of heights, who is tasked with following his friends wife Madeline at his friends request because she has been acting strange. John begins following her and quickly becomes obsessed with her and subsequently falls in love with her. However the reason Madeline is acting strange is because she is supposedly possessed by the spirit of an ancestor from the 1800's, fearing she is going insane John attempts to try and care for her and make her remember what happens when she is "possessed", although some time after meeting John she attempts to commit suicide by jumping from a bell tower of a church, and unable to save her due to his fear of heights she dies. Not long after John, distraught and in despair, begins to see her everywhere and even begins following strangers who faintly resemble her to fuel his obsession. A few months later John runs into a mysterious woman named Judy who is the spitting image of Madeline, after spending a short time with her, he forces her to dress like Madeline and even to the extent of wearing the same kind of shoes and dying her hair. Towards the end of the film John discovers that Judy was hired by Madeline's husband to pretend to be her and act as if she was being possessed by an ancestor. This was all due to the making up of an elaborate story so that John would believe her and would be preoccupied while the real Madeline was murdered by her husband, Judy being paid to go along with the plan to fake Madeline's suicide so that John would most likely take the blame for not stopping her and suffer the guilt. Realising this John takes Judy to the exact same church where Madeline "died" and tells her that this time it will be different, he drags her up the tower in an attempt to "save" Madeline and conquer his guilt, as she protests Judy claims that she fell in love with John however the sudden appearance of a nun startles her and she falls from the tower, at which point the film ends with John looking down in despair at the same dead woman for a second time.
After watching this film I felt slightly disturbed as it ended so suddenly and the lead up to the films conclusion was a twisted and most often uncertain path. I didn't know what to think about this film as the extent to which the character of John became obsessed with Madeline, following her everywhere seemed strange, almost stalker-like behaviour, which actually seems to highlight the theme of obsession and desire within the film. Once John begins following Madeline he becomes completely obsessed and even after she dies he still sees her everywhere in all of the locations he used to frequent and places he visited with her, and even after meeting Judy he even forces her to dress like Madeline due to his obsession running so deep within his mind. The theory concerning drive and desire could be applied to this film as Johns obsession with Madeline seems to be the only thing that keeps him going, he is driven to follow Madeline everywhere, to find out who she is and why she behaves in the way she does. After her death the only reason driving him forward is his obsession with Madeline as he sees her wherever he goes and when he meets Judy that obsession fully comes to the surface, as he forces her to dress like Madeline, to be identical to a dead woman simply so he can fuel his obsessive desires to be with her again. I found this film rather disturbing in that aspect as this wouldn't be considered normal behaviour, and as the film progresses you can see Johns slow psychological breakdown as he becomes more involved with Madeline. This film was however quite intriguing as the way in which near the end when all of the key narrative points all came together and took an unexpected twist to find out that Johns obsession was all for nothing, since he never knew the real Madeline. It made me feel rather confused as it made watching all of the events that led up to the point John realised he had been played in a convoluted plot by his friend, rather revealing and twisted as the narrative had included so many different aspects all leading up to the big reveal at the end, all so Johns psychological state would deteriorate and he would be blamed for Madeline's death, so the end to the film seemed rather sudden and unexpected.
Lacan- The Mirror Phase
The Mirror Phase is a theory formed during the 1950's by French Psychoanalyst Jacques Marie Emile Lacan that he describes as being formative in the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytical experience. The Mirror Phase describes the formation of the ego through a process of objectification, the Ego being the result of a conflict between the subjects physical appearance and emotional experience. Lacan referred to this identification of the self as alienation. Lacan states that the Mirror base first occurs as an infant, at six months the child still has no physical co-ordination, yet they are able to recognise themselves in a mirror prior to their attainment of this control over their bodily movements. The child sees this image of themselves as a whole and the synthesis of this image produces a sense of contrast with their lack of physical control, which is perceived as being a fragmented body. The child experiences this contrast initially as a rivalry with the image as its "wholeness" threatens the child with fragmentation, so the Mirror Phase gives rise to an aggressive tension between the subject and the image. The subject will then try to identify with the image to resolve the aggressive tension and this primary identification with the counterpart forms the Ego. Lacan describes this as a moment of jubilation as it gives the subject a false sense of mastery over the image, yet when the child compares its own sense of mastery to the omnipotence of the mother a feeling of depression may also accompany the jubilation of he child.
Monday 3 December 2012
The Ego, id and Super Ego
A psychoanalytical theory which we have been researching is Freud's theory of the id, ego and superego, which is the three theoretical constructs of the psyche as defined by Freud. The id is the unorganised part of the personality that contains a humans basic, instinctual drives such as the libido which is the primary force of instinctual force that is unresponsive to the demands of reality, and it acts according to the pleasure principle which seeks to avoid pain or unpleasure caused by increases in instinctual tension. By definition the id is the "dark, inaccessible part of our personalities that contains mostly negative characteristics, it is approached with analogies: being called a chaos, a cauldron of seething excitations and energy reaching from the instincts, it has no organisation, produces no collective will and seeks only to bring about the satisfaction of instinctual needs in observance with the pleasure principle" the id can thus be seen as the instinctual, repressed part of our personalities.
The ego is in contrast to the id, the rational aspect of the psyche. The ego acts according to the reality principle, meaning it seeks to please the id's instinctual drives in realistic ways that benefit in the long term, Freud states that the ego "attempts to mediate between the id and reality, it is often obliged to cloak and suppress the unconscious demands of the id with its own preconscious rationalisations, to conceal the ids conflicts with reality". The ego comprises the organised part of the personality structure which includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive and executive functions. The ego is where conscious awareness resides, although not all operations performed by the ego are conscious. Freud claims that the ego is a set of psychic functions such as judgement, tolerance, reality testing, defence, synthesis of information and memory.
According to Freud the super-ego is the part of the psyche that aims for perfection. It comprises that
organised part of the personality structure, mainly but not entirely unconscious, that includes the ego's ideals, spiritual goals and the psychic agency (conscious) that prohibits the individuals fantasies, drives, feelings and actions. The super-ego is thought to be a type of conscious that punishes misbehaviour with feelings of guilt and anxiety. The super-ego works in contradiction to the id, it strives to behave in an appropriate manner whereas the id only wants instant self gratification. The super-ego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt, it helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways, due to this the super-egos demands oppose the id's which puts strain on the ego as it needs to reconcile the two. Freud's theory implies that the super-ego is the symbolic internalisation of the father figure and cultural regulations, The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the id because of their conflicting objectives, and its aggressiveness towards the ego, the super-ego acts as the conscious maintaining our sense of morality and proscription from social taboo's.
Unit 11: Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytical Film Theory
Also another search method I could undertake is to read more into these psychoanalysts theories, as further knowledge would help create a better understanding of what the theories are about, as well as making it easier to analyse a film and apply these theories to them. The end result of this research will be a short 5 minute film that could include one or all of these psychoanalytical theories, so a proper understanding of them would provide a better foundation to base my own ideas upon beforehand.
To begin the start of this unit we have been looking at Psychoanalytical theories that we could apply to cinema and film production, for starters we have been studying the basics of psychoanalytical theories from psychoanalyst's such as Sigmund Freud, Jaques Lacan, Laura Mulvey and also Slavoj Zizek. The theories we have intended to initially focus upon include Freud's theory of the id,ego and superego and the oedipus complex, Lacan's theory of the "Mirror Phase" and his theories on instinctual drives and desire, Similar to the themes in the children's story "The Missing Piece" where the desire to obtain something drives us forward but we constantly need something to desire in order to keep going. Also we will be looking into Mulvey's "Male Gaze" theory about women being the object of desire within cinema, and also Zizeks views on reality, subconscious desires, fantasies and the Psychoanalysis of cinema.
Some of the resources we could possibly use for research during this unit are films that have psychological themes which would allow for theories to be applied to them, films by directors such as Alfred Hitchcock who has made numerous psychological horror films which would good to study. Also more modern films such as Fight Club or the Matrix which draw focus on the theme of reality and the self. One other possibility for research is certain documentaries that explore psychological aspects of peoples lives, one example would be a documentary known as "Married to the Eiffel Tower" which follows a few people who have romantic feelings for inanimate objects and completely avoid or reject relationships with humans in favour of certain objects or structures, which could be interesting as it would most likely involve some psychological aspects behind this unusual aspect of these peoples lives.
Also another search method I could undertake is to read more into these psychoanalysts theories, as further knowledge would help create a better understanding of what the theories are about, as well as making it easier to analyse a film and apply these theories to them. The end result of this research will be a short 5 minute film that could include one or all of these psychoanalytical theories, so a proper understanding of them would provide a better foundation to base my own ideas upon beforehand.
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