Psychoanalytical Film Evaluation

During the production of my psychoanalytical film one of the first things that I needed to consider before I began was the type of approach I would have to take whilst making the film and what theories I could apply to it, so I decided that I would research and focus on Lacans theory about Obsession and desire as well as trying to include some aspect of his theory of the Mirror Phase. So in order to begin my research I analyzed films that represent these theories to try and take inspiration from them such as The Machinist, Memento and a short film called Right Place. After some analysis of these films I wanted to try and implement some of the visual techniques and themes used within them, so I tried to create a short narrative about a character who has near obsessive tendencies towards his home surroundings that borders on OCD such as the placement of certain objects on their desk or the neatness of a bookshelf.

   I attempted to include the visual themes and techniques of the films I studied to try and express the meaning behind the characters actions. One example would be the opening scene where I tried to show inspiration from Memento, as the character has a large collection of notes attached to their wall reminding them of meaningless everyday tasks that they need to accomplish, I used close ups and long shots of the notes to show the multitude that the character had attached to their wall as well as close up shots of them actually writing and attaching new notes to make it seem like daily practice for the character. Another instance where I tried to show my influences from other films is a scene where the character is feverishly sorting and rearranging their bookshelf, which is already neatly organized to the point where it seems obsessive, similar to how the character from the Right Place short film behaves. I tried to show this influence by using various close up shots of the character as they sorted and checked the books on the shelf, I used a few shots where the characters hands are clearly visible scanning and going over the items, I also tried to use quick shots of the numbers on the spines of the books in instant flashes where the numbers would appear randomly and seem chaotic, then when the character had finished they would quickly appear in numerical order to try and give a sense of organization and stability, as if by sorting and organizing them has a calming effect on the character. I also used establishing shots that showed the entirety of the contents on the shelf and panned across them to try and express the precision and neatness of the characters items.

One aspect, which I would of liked to have included was the characters reaction to things outside of their control such as when they are outside, as when inside the characters home they can control everything that goes on inside it, where the character has a sense of order whereas outdoors they have no sense of control and everything might seem chaotic to them. I could of taken some more influence from the Right Place short film as it included interactions between the character and other people which I think would have been interesting to try and include in my own production however due to constraints with time and unavailability of willing actors it would have been inefficient. I also believe that if I had shown more of the characters daily routine then I would have been able to find more ways to express the characters obsession within their own home and really show the meaning behind their actions. Also I don’t think that some of the technical aspects of my film were appropriate for the film as in many places the lighting changes quite drastically and some shots appear out of focus and grainy however this is likely due to camera difficulties as some of the settings could not be altered and so some shots appear to be darker because of an unchangeable white balance or Aperture which ultimately affected the quality of the film.

I believe that if I were to reproduce this film I would firstly try to ensure that mistakes such as camera settings being unable to be changed would not occur so that the quality of my shots would not be affected, also I would try and include more scenes where I could express the theory behind the film in greater detail and I would try to show greater influence from the films I analyzed by attempting to recreate more of the shots and techniques used within them, one technique I could of tried was the non linear narrative of Memento with the scenes from the past and present being shown in a mix of black and white and color shots. I also think that should I attempt to recreate this project I would also try to include far more research into the theories that I would be trying to implicate within my production as although I attempted to express the theories within my film I don’t believe that I managed to show enough of my influence of them within the films narrative.