A Freudian Approach in Film: Theory

FREUD THEORY IN CINEMA

Brief Example from Family Guy - FOX

Sigmund Freud; born in 1856 "was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential - and controversial - minds of the 20th century". His influence in the developments of psychoanalysis has influenced cinema today, through the theory of the 'self'. It is defined between three sections of the characteristics, of the personality - these are the 'Id', 'ego' & the 'super-ego'.

THE ID

"The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs." The id is often the 'bad influence' in the characteristics; often described as selfish as it's only concerned with its own self-satisfaction. Children are often used as key examples within this personality as they require instant gratification and are driven by their self-pleasure. It is predicted that the ID is the prominent personality, often overpowering the super-ego due to it's drive for self desire.

THE EGO

"The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways." The ego can learn to justify the good and bad between the ID and the Super-ego but make rational decisions accordingly, in order to seek mission in an appropriate manner. An example of this would be craving something to eat during a meeting, the id would try and influence you to get food then and there. The ego would justify and offer a comparable solution, i.e getting food after the meeting has finished - gaining some self-satisfaction.

THE SUPER-EGO

"The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society—our sense of right and wrong."  Part of the mind that the super-ego can control is the conscience, therefore if we do give into the power of the Id, we are left with the feelings of guilt and remorse by the super-ego.

COUNTER-ARGUEMENTS

Freud's theory is argued to whether it is still relevant in today's cinema/psychology. Part of this is due to Freud's personal traits, and whether he was a 'sexist' as his personality traits do differ between the two genders in the stages of development in which he described. "given the ways of his day, his culture of origin, and his nationality, it is easy to think of him in this way." (JournelPsyche, 2019).  Another counterargument is simply "with the development of several theories of the human personality Freud’s is no longer the only one with validity or relevance...Whether process oriented, developmental, biological, chemical, structured or philosophical"(JournelPsyche, 2019), as there is new evidence and ways to prove upon how the mind works, compared to the theory which was established almost a century ago.

Bibliography:

(Christian Falzon, 2002, Philosophy Goes To The Movies - An Introduction to philosophy, 11 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE)

(BBC, 2014, [online], BBC - History - Sigmund Freud

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/freud_sigmund.shtml)

Journel Psyche, Accessed, 23rd January 2019, [online] - Is Freud's Personality Theory Still Relevant? http://journalpsyche.org/is-freud-still-relevant-today/

(Kendra Cherry, 2018, [online], What Are the Id, Ego, and Super-ego - The structural model of personality https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951).

NEW WAVE SHORT FILM - Evaluation

Evaluation:

Evaluating on my new wave film, I am overall very pleased with the outcome. I felt it had stylistic choices due to the influence of Wong Kar-Wai. I used a combination of clips shot in Coventry and a few from a previous film project, that never made the 'cut'. The concept was very similar for both of these projects so the footage blended well. The concept for my video refers to handover in the style of a train journey, following the narrative of a citizen thinking about her life and her memories. 

Camera & Lighting:

Shooting the project in Coventry went well, despite overcoming some issues. The weather forecast was predicted 'cloudy' all day, however, to my surprise it started to rain; in that moment, I had to consider the safety of myself and the equipment due to not being fully prepared. I therefore made sure it wasn't raining heavy when filming to protect equipment where possible - however, thankfully I realised that the weather was the same when filming in Birmingham, so when editing, this became seamless. In terms of the exposure triangle, I knew that due to the overcast sky that lighting could variate, so in regular shots, examples being mid shots of the city life around 12pm, I used ISO 200, F12 and 1/50. When it became a darker setting, such as the train, I used ISO 800 with a shallow depth of field around f4, shutter speed maintained the same. I feel that this worked well, however I noticed one shot in particular that the iso was set too high, despite it being an overall bright condition - I think this due to the quick handheld spontaneous idea for the shot, I should have stopped and planned the shot in order to ensure the settings are correct. Lighting was something I struggled with, due to as mentioned - the weather being overcast; this prevented me from shooting conventions such as shadows and neon lighting, which would have allowed conventions from Wong Kar-Wai's films. I could have resolved this by filming at night time, using neon lights - however, i did not feel safe to do this, especially in Coventry/Digbeth - Birmingham.

Editing:
Within editing, I wanted to make the concept a little clearer in conjunction of being experimental, I decided to experiment with time due to Wong's influence on time in his films. I focused on editing for this so i could change the pace of audio/jump cuts between the videos. I also experimented with overlaying two videos at once - using these videos allowed me to create a sense of disorientation in my short film, and i think this worked successfully. I used the opacity tool to do this, alongside experimenting with different styles of overlays - the most common was 'saturation', 'difference' and 'normal' - this added a more stylistic approach to the the final footage as it alternated colours and created some subliminal messages, including the odd scene featured with cages overlaying people walking; representing the entrapment of HK in the handover as they were no longer in control on how they wanted to live. Audio was something I changed half way through the project. I was initially going to add a soundtrack, however, I couldn't find one that fitted into the theme I was going for - so therefore I would experiment with ambient sounds. I immediately found an audio track of a journey on a Chinese train, I thought this would be a good convention to use as I could edit this in conjunction with a breezy outdoor audio track to create the narrative of a journey to the handover. The traditional Chinese subtitles on certain clips elicit the quotes that were mentioned in planning, with one extra stating 'will we ever be free?' - self explanatory of the attitude of citizens in HK around the handover. Due to the narrative, I decided to call this narrative (translated:) 'The Journey to Transition'.

Conclusion:
In terms of this project, I'd like to say I'm 100% happy, but there are little things that I wish I could change, an example of this is the location in which I shot in Coventry, I wish I'd have shot near the Cathedral as well, just to add some variation to the footage, I feel the ruins would be 'chilling' (if edited/shot in particular settings). I would also like to experiment further with different lenses, as I only used an 18-55mm, getting some macro shots with a macro lens would be another bonus - for shots where I could use texture as a subliminal message. I can say I'm proud of this project though, due to the time spent and the footage I initially shot with.

NEW WAVE SHORT FILM - HONG KONG

New Wave Film Brief

BRIEF:

For my new wave film, I will be incorporating the knowledge of my contextual studies (unit 1) and creating a film that conforms with the second Hong Kong new wave. For influence, I will be taking my inspiration from two of Wong Kar Wai's films - In The Mood For Love and Chungking Express, due to the subliminal messages it withholds within the narrative.

Within lighting, we plan to film around the afternoon time as one of the conventions of Chungking Express variates between night and day, it tends to get dark around 5pm, therefore this will give me a transition, something I can use metaphorically which will represent the handover of Hong Kong.

Equipment wise, I will not be using a tripod purposely. I want to recreate the smudge motion technique effectively as shown in Chungking Express, to represent the disorientated reality of Hong Kong and how life was portrayed, furthermore, I find the handheld view a more personal approach towards the new wave so therefore I will be basing a narrative over a particular set of events.

The Camera settings will be variable due to the weather changes, as a general consciences I plan to use either ISO 100/200 for daylight shots with a wide opening of the aperture (lower f/stop), with the shutter speed at 1/50 due to the filming being done in 25fps - this should work out as a well balanced shot. Pull focus will be used as a technique between the double frame and the subject.

Weather Forecast for Coventry

Framing will be used repeatedly throughout my new wave, this is due to the endless shots shown in 'In The Mood For Love'. Wong uses this device in his own films as a way to represent the entrapment the citizens felt by both society and the Chinese government at the time. I want to portray this within my project somehow, therefore when filming, I will be filming a various amount of clips with props such as fences, to reiterate the ideology of entrapment.

Liberation of the camera from the tripod as apart of the technical conventions will help me in my new wave film. A combination of handheld shots and cloudy/sunsets convey a sense of realism as many new wave directors aim to break away from conventional film making. I believe this will further project the stylistic influences of Wong Kar Wai.

PLANNING:

The location on where I will be filming is Coventry, with additional clips being shot in Digbeth, Birmingham. I looked at the weather report as an initial basis for any health and safety requirements to look out for. On a precautional basis, I think it will be best to bring the camera bag with me when filming, so if it rains, i can put it away before any damage can occur internally. I will also dress appropriately to avoid any health issues, this including wearing jeans, jumper, jacket with hood & leather trainers.

In terms of filming ideas, I will be travelling by public transport - this creates an instant stimuli as i could focus upon the idea of movement (could lead to further metaphorical meanings i.e: the handover). I think the best time to shoot this would be at night (so on the way home), in order to conform with not only Wong's existing techniques within the new wave but also to emphasise the idea about how citizens felt in the dark about the 'change' in their lifestyles.

Soundtrack is something I am unsure about, however, I want it to be similar to the likes of In The Mood For Love, purely on the basis of the fact that if I went for a westernised popular song, such as Wong does in Chungking Express, copyright claims could be an issue I face when uploading to YouTube afterwards. The 'In The Mood For Love' soundtrack offers a very mysterious feel when partaking in synaesthesia, offering a calm yet jalting experience to the viewer - due to the sharp strokes on the cello. I plan to find a soundtrack suitable to capture this feel.

The subjects face will only be shown in a reflection, an ideology towards how HK residents viewed themselves, and made themselves look a particular fashion (like in In The Mood For Love). I also want to use this device as part of the narrative, watching the world change around them, incl. reaction shots.

Within editing, I plan to experiment with Chinese subtitles (Cantonese) for quotes from some of Wong's films that withhold some significance to the handover/mood of that period.

This includes:

"Find out too much about a person, and you lose interest"

"I like loud music, it stops me from thinking"

"If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years"

Evaluation on HK New Wave Video Essay.

After gathering all my research together, I decided to create a video essay upon how Wong Kar Wai influenced the second Hong Kong New Wave. I focused upon three of his films to do this, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels and In The Mood For Love. I also benefitted from contextual research of Hong Kong in that period, using video interviews of Wong and videos of the official handover from Britain to China in 1997.

Initially, my aim was to discuss how Wong incorporates cinematic techniques in order to portray the social context of the period of time. This was fully supported throughout my script - with quotes from various sources outlining the context of HK at that time - this including books, websites and video interviews. I tried to captivate and emphasise a numeral amount of times how Wong does this each film, and I believe I have done this successfully.

When recording my voice over, I did end up stuttering quite a bit and having to re-record many times. In terms of equipment I used a Blue Snowball microphone in order for the audio of my voice to be clear and concise, rather than muffled. I recorded in Logic Pro X and then exported to audio as an AIF file to be added into my Premier Pro project.

The soundtrack was something I talked about in my essay, so I thought it was suitable that I incorporate each movies soundtrack to each subject. It turned out successful, however, audio levels at times became overpowering within the soundtrack, therefore being unable to hear the voiceover. To rectify this, I adjusted the audio levels of the soundtracks to -4db, whilst increasing my voiceover to +2db.

I feel that the structure in which the essay goes is fluid. I think that there is no confusion in following points due to the reinforcement of the visuals that are alongside it. One particular part i'm fond of is the transition from Chungking Express to In The Mood For Love. I felt that the audio and visuals transitioned perfectly without it seeming too abrupt, allowing a seamless transition for another point to be raised.

In terms of improvement, I believe that I could have found some more quotes/references in order to support the movies themselves, my contextual research was strong but that was my main priority, In terms of future projects, I will need to balance out the quotes I am looking for and make sure they are consistent across the Video Essay.

WONG KAR WAI VIDEO ESSAY - UNIT 1 ASSESSMENT

Health and Safety - Using the Studio & Filming Outdoors

Studio:
When working in the photography studio, it is a requirement that everyone is aware of the responsibilities upon using the equipment and the surroundings that they are in. It is vital that you  and other members in the room take care of all equipment provided with caution, in order to help prevent any accidents or hazards from occurring. Also make sure that the FIRE/EMERGENCY EXITS are established when entering, so you can leave the room safely if a fire or hazard occurs.

There are initial circumstances to look out for in the studio in order enable a safe experience:
- Make sure there are no cables or objects on the floor which could able a tripping hazard.
- The bulbs in the studio lights are using a high voltage, therefore they could over-heat. If smoke or any abnormal behaviour occurs in terms of the lights, inform the studio technician immediately.
- Due to the confined space, only people who are required in the studio are allowed, any guests in the studio must follow and be aware of the health and safety guidelines.

Outside:
Weather - It is essential that all crew members are dressed appropriately for the day of a shoot, so be aware of the weather a day in advance to avoid any issues in terms of clothing. It is also vital that when shooting, especially in rain/extremely hot weather, you are cautious of the equipment you are using. Failing to do this will cause in the equipment becoming water damaged or over-heating.

Release Forms - When shooting outdoors, you may find yourself in a situation where a young person is in your shot. As required by law, you must ask for permission in order to use a young member of the public into your footage.

Food & Drink - When working on a project, it is vital that all members of the group have drank plenty of water and have eaten to some degree, especially in hot weather, it would be advisable that the group you're working with go out and eat before a shoot and carry a bottle of water in order to stay hydrated.