Lacan's theory of the Mirror Stage is the psychological development in a child in which the child first recognises itself in the mirror for the first time and becomes conscious of their image and self hood. This stage happens between the ages of 6 and 18 months when the child first realises it is individual from others. At this time the child's identity begins to form, it forms one that is distinct from others but at the same time is inspired from the images of others in order to achieve their own personality. This theory inspired the idea of lack and the concept of desire. "Desire is relation to being to lack, the lack is the lack of being properly speaking, It is not the lack of this or that, but the lack of being whereby the being exists."
Sigmund Freud's theory of the Id and the ego forms the foundation of the Mirror Stage, a child forms a sense of identity and discovers separate I and other, by developing the ability to distiguish self from other the child understands that they are unique and not just reliant on others. This occurs before the linguistic stage of childhood. This is reference to the 'Id' structure of Freud's theory of personality as the child has only the most basic and innate human desires. As the child begins development in the linguistic stage, it starts to use language and construct their identity, therefore the child's 'ego' begins to develop as it learns what is socially acceptable and forms morals. It is in this stage that the child subconsciously suffers an initial identity crisis, the sense of identity gives the child a foundation on which they are going to develop their personality. If this fundamental identification is not recognised, the child will resort to using external influences as examples to base their personality upon. Additionally, this will limit the child's ability to develop it's own ego, and therefore result in the child acting more to satisfy the needs of the id structure.
As an additional note, in relation to how we live our lives, Lacan theorizes that throughout our lives after our linguistic development, we will never be satisfied, due to the fact that ultimately we desire to return to the simplicity and convenience of life before we discover our identity, and that as we grow older, we become more comfortable as we come to the realization that what we want will not occur, and so the desire fades.
Thursday 30 November 2017
Monday 27 November 2017
Analysis using Freud's psychoanalytical personality theory.
Within La Haine there are three main characters; Vic, Saïd and Hubert. In regards to Freud's personality theory it is easy to make the distinction as to which character is which, Vic is the Id, known throughout the film to be violent and react unnecessary to things, Saïd is the Ego, being constantly in the middle of Vic and Hubert and is the negotiator. Hubert is the superego because he is lawfully good and is trying to be better than the violence that surrounds him. Within the film sequence there is a clear divide between each of the characters. A technical aspect of this is that they are always framed so that Saïd is in the middle.
As you can see in this medium shot Saïd is placed in the middle of Vinz and Hubert, he is constantly the negotiator within the scenes. Hubert is always on one side and Vinz on the other, Vinz gets pinned by a police officer and the camera is positioned in an over the shoulder shot whereby you see him being confronted by a gun. This is a symbol of the restrictions of society that the Id does not obey, e.g the policeman. When Hubert is running towards him in mid shot, the cuts between his face and his feet are a good example of this because it shows the superego working to keep the Id in check, with the absence of the ego with Saïd out of the picture.
Another example of Freud theory of personality is Fight Club, in the letting yourself become Tyler Durden scene. This is a perfect example of this theory because it clearly shows each of the different personalities. The Narrator is talking to Marla, she can be considered to be the superego as she is the one who is encouraging the narrator to try and understand himself more. Tyler is the opposite of that and he is Id. the narrator the Ego is constantly pulled between the two different personalities. There is a panning shot that shows that the narrator is with tyler in the room. This shot shows Tyler in a chair in a pose of relaxation and he is calm and quiet. The narrator is stood up and panicking when he realises he isn't alone. The shot pans quickly backwards which gives the shot high energy. There is a shot reverse shot of the narrator and Tyler in it which shows that they are the same person, however there is a shot of tyler from the narrator's point of view which doesn't include the narrator which can show that tyler is not aware that they are the same person. Reinforcing the Id, ego idea.
Another example of Freud theory of personality is Fight Club, in the letting yourself become Tyler Durden scene. This is a perfect example of this theory because it clearly shows each of the different personalities. The Narrator is talking to Marla, she can be considered to be the superego as she is the one who is encouraging the narrator to try and understand himself more. Tyler is the opposite of that and he is Id. the narrator the Ego is constantly pulled between the two different personalities. There is a panning shot that shows that the narrator is with tyler in the room. This shot shows Tyler in a chair in a pose of relaxation and he is calm and quiet. The narrator is stood up and panicking when he realises he isn't alone. The shot pans quickly backwards which gives the shot high energy. There is a shot reverse shot of the narrator and Tyler in it which shows that they are the same person, however there is a shot of tyler from the narrator's point of view which doesn't include the narrator which can show that tyler is not aware that they are the same person. Reinforcing the Id, ego idea.
Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic personality theory.
The Id is the disorganised, impulsive part of our personality, it contains the humans basic instinctual drive, the Id is present from birth and is the source of a humans bodily needs, wants, desires and impulses; aggressive or sexual. The id houses the libido which is the primary source of instinctual force that doesn't understand the limitations of reality. The pleasure principle is how the Id acts, it aims to seek immediate gratification of any impulse. The Id is unconscious according to Freud.
The Ego is the organised part of the personality structure that includes the defensive, perceptual, intellectual- cognitive and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the go, although not all of the ego's operations are conscious. The ego understands reality and its rules and tries its hardert to keep the Id in check and helps the Id achieve what it wants the way that corresponds to the restrictions set.
The Superego is the moral principles part of personality that is concerned of what other people think and is the complete opposite of the Id. the superego strives to perfect and civilise our personalities. It is the other extreme of the personality.
Usefulness for film analysis:
When this theory is applied to film it can make use understand how different characters can be understood or even constructed to form a narrative conflict. These perspectives can be useful in a critical evaluation of scenes, events and even film narrative in a way that enables the audience or viewer to understand the meanings and motivations of the key characters. Why people act in difficult and different situations and how they respond to others as a result of personal needs and desires.
The Ego is the organised part of the personality structure that includes the defensive, perceptual, intellectual- cognitive and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the go, although not all of the ego's operations are conscious. The ego understands reality and its rules and tries its hardert to keep the Id in check and helps the Id achieve what it wants the way that corresponds to the restrictions set.
The Superego is the moral principles part of personality that is concerned of what other people think and is the complete opposite of the Id. the superego strives to perfect and civilise our personalities. It is the other extreme of the personality.
Usefulness for film analysis:
When this theory is applied to film it can make use understand how different characters can be understood or even constructed to form a narrative conflict. These perspectives can be useful in a critical evaluation of scenes, events and even film narrative in a way that enables the audience or viewer to understand the meanings and motivations of the key characters. Why people act in difficult and different situations and how they respond to others as a result of personal needs and desires.
Thursday 16 November 2017
Health and Safety
A risk assessment analyses what hazard, harm and risk a set-up pertains;
- A Hazard can be defined as anything that has the potential to cause physical injury or damage to health, the environment or to property.
- Harm is the adverse effect on an individual that may result from exposure to a hazard
- A Risk is a measure of the probability of harm being caused and the severity of that harm.
When filming out and about its important to keep all of your equipment safe and make sure non of it gets stolen, if you are filming make sure you are still aware of your surroundings and that you are not near heavy traffic areas etc.
New Wave Short Evaluation
My new wave film is just a rough draft, some improvements I could make to the film are that the editing could be smooth and better laid out, by this I mean that the clips of the film and the pictures would be the same size and match up better so that there are no edges. Also to improve I could followed up on my brief and add some sound to the film, this was going to be a poem, this would add depth to my film because sound is an important factor within telling a story, no matter how obscure or unhollywood they are.
The strengths of my new wave brief are that I believe that it is original and has several aspects of it that make it new wave, for example the use of long takes without cutting make it new wave because it goes against the Hollywood way, another example of my film being new wave is the use of overlapping images, the fact that the whole of the film is like this instead of just a section makes it new wave as it is a constant effect instead of using it to create a moment.
What I have learnt from my new wave attempt are some of the conventions and styles of new wave cinema, how they go against typical hollywood structure and narrative, I attempted to recreate this with my own film. You can see evidence of this from the way my new wave is structured, long takes without cutting or jump cuts with shots of the area and the environment. The overlapping of the images with the film behind it is another example of this because it is showing two images at once and is what is considered messy within the hollywood conventional standards.
The strengths of my new wave brief are that I believe that it is original and has several aspects of it that make it new wave, for example the use of long takes without cutting make it new wave because it goes against the Hollywood way, another example of my film being new wave is the use of overlapping images, the fact that the whole of the film is like this instead of just a section makes it new wave as it is a constant effect instead of using it to create a moment.
What I have learnt from my new wave attempt are some of the conventions and styles of new wave cinema, how they go against typical hollywood structure and narrative, I attempted to recreate this with my own film. You can see evidence of this from the way my new wave is structured, long takes without cutting or jump cuts with shots of the area and the environment. The overlapping of the images with the film behind it is another example of this because it is showing two images at once and is what is considered messy within the hollywood conventional standards.
Monday 13 November 2017
New Wave Video Essay Bibliography
Tom Dewe Mathews on Roberto Rossellini: gambler, sexual adventurer and master film-maker. (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/dec/01/culture.features1)
A history of contemporary Italy; society and politics 1943-1988 by Paul Ginsborg
Roberto Rossellini and his Italian Cinema: The Search for Realism (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/italians/resources/Amiciprize/1996/)
The Neo-realstic Trilogy
The Cinema Under Mussolini
Rossellini's Neorealist Trilogy: The Neorealist Prescription
Roma Città Aperta, Directed by Roberto Rossellini (1945)
Paisa, Directed by Roberto Rossellini (1946)
Germany, Year Zero, Directed by Roberto Rossellini (1948)
Martin Scorsese on the films of Roberto Rossellini
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Sunday 12 November 2017
Evaluation of Video Essay of Italian Neorealism
I created a video essay on Roberto Rossellini and his influence within Italian neorealism, I aimed to talk about his different techniques when creating films that went against the typical conventions, I also aimed to apply context to his films and the techniques used by talking about the end of the war and the repercussions of this that are evident within Rossellini's films. My film contains clips of Journey to Italy, Stromboli and Roma Cita apperta, the process of making this video essay was to gather research and information attaining to Rossellini and of Italy at the time of the Italian new wave, collect relevant clips such as films and interviews with people about Rossellini e.g Martin Scorsese, create a script that contains all of the information I need and that has relevance and structure to it and then record this using a microphone and then edit this all together into my video essay.
The things I think I have done well are that my video essay has a structure and follows a narrative, I added context and content such as the interview with Scorsese that created added depth and perspective and that my clips were well chosen, doing this new wave video essay allowed me to get a greater understanding on the making of a film and conventions and what it means to go against them, with studying Rossellini specifically it allowed me to understand his idea of naturalism and how to fully immerse an audience into your film.
The things I feel like I could improve within my new wave essay is that I think that my audio could have been refined so that there was a perfect balance between the clips audio, the speaker and the music because upon watching it back I found that in some parts it was hard to differentiate and understand what the speaker was saying due to the other audio being too loud. I could have added more detail and analysed the scenes more and spoke more upon the conventions they were showing and given a true idea of what Rossellini was doing, I think I focused too heavily on researching and understanding my new wave that when it came to do the final piece of it I didn't go into as much detail because I was too worried about getting it finished on time, my video became more of a brief introduction to Rossellini and the Italian New Wave rather than a true critical analysis of his techniques and the conventions he went against.
The things I think I have done well are that my video essay has a structure and follows a narrative, I added context and content such as the interview with Scorsese that created added depth and perspective and that my clips were well chosen, doing this new wave video essay allowed me to get a greater understanding on the making of a film and conventions and what it means to go against them, with studying Rossellini specifically it allowed me to understand his idea of naturalism and how to fully immerse an audience into your film.
The things I feel like I could improve within my new wave essay is that I think that my audio could have been refined so that there was a perfect balance between the clips audio, the speaker and the music because upon watching it back I found that in some parts it was hard to differentiate and understand what the speaker was saying due to the other audio being too loud. I could have added more detail and analysed the scenes more and spoke more upon the conventions they were showing and given a true idea of what Rossellini was doing, I think I focused too heavily on researching and understanding my new wave that when it came to do the final piece of it I didn't go into as much detail because I was too worried about getting it finished on time, my video became more of a brief introduction to Rossellini and the Italian New Wave rather than a true critical analysis of his techniques and the conventions he went against.
Thursday 9 November 2017
Contextual Analysis of Roberto Rossellini and his influence within Italian Neorealism
This is my video essay on Roberto Rossellini and his influence in the italian neorealism era, I have done this through analysing scenes from several of his films, looking at his techniques, his views and his input into the new wave of cinema.
Thursday 2 November 2017
New Wave Video Essay Script
Script
Italian Neorealism also known as the Golden Age of Italian Cinema was a film movement between 1944 and 1952, this new wave came about after the fall of Mussolini's government, Italy lost its epicentre of film, this is due to the loss of funding from the government to create propaganda. The solution to this was to create a new type of film that focuses on the repercussions of the war. Neorealism became the symbol of cultural change and progress. film-makers like Roberto Rossellini wanted to give something new and present, a true reflection and image of italy after the damage of Mussolini and his government. Poverty, famine, oppression, injustice and desperation became common themes in the films.
Roberto Rossellini an Italian film director and screenwriter was one of the most influential directors of the neorealism period. During facist Italy Rossellini created what is now referred to as the Facist Trilogy between 1941 and 1943 which were funded by different propaganda centres within the government. With the collapse of the facist regime and the liberation of Rome, Rossellini began to write and produce Roma Cittá aperta (1945, Rome, Open City), This would become the start of the neo-realistic trilogy. Followed by Paisá (1946) and German, Year Zero (1948) make up the other two films. The funding for these films came from small loans and were originally circulated on the black market due to their anti-facist stance.
Rossellini used non-professional actors in his films but often struggled to find faces he deemed as interesting. He says in an interview that in order to really create the character one has in mind, it is necessary for the director to engage in a battle with the actor which usually means submitting to the actors wish and I have no desire to waste my energy in a battle like this, I only use professional actors occasionally. He is acknowledged as the father of italian neo-realism, he introduced the world to naturalism with Rome, Open City. He then began to change the way we look at films three years later, with Stromboli and Journey to Italy, he aimed to get his audience to understand and engage with the actors through exploring their surroundings with them on screen rather than simply identifying with them. This went against the conventional Hollywood method, Rossellini claimed that with his film one watches with his own eyes. Scorsese states in the preface of his book Roberto Rossellini: Magician of the Real that few film makers at this stage of their lives or careers were as adventurous or ambitious and that Rossellini's goal was nothing less than to educate the entire world.
With Rossellini, however, there was always a distinctive method to the seeming madness. The same year he made Journey to Italy, he fought against the idea of planned scripts like Hitchcock. For realistic films, he insisted that inspiration and spontaneity were what mattered. He is quoted famously saying "An author writes a sentence or page, then crosses it out. A painter uses a red, then paints it out with a green. Why shouldn't I be able to cross things out too, to remake and replace film? This is why I don't think you can have a fixed script. If I thought you could, I'd think of myself as a scriptwriter. But I'm not a scriptwriter. I make films."
With his film Pasiá took one step further toward a revolutionary style of film making. He would place his cameraman in the middle of the main square in a rural town and choose his actors from the inquisitive faces of the people who came to see the camera, With the main theme of the script of this film is the interaction between two foreign cultures. After the death of his son in 1946, Rossellini's next film Germany Year Zero was full of pain, violence and pessimism, it became an attempt to discover through death the reason for living. It was financed and supported by a french production house and filmed in the countries berlin sector. Like his previous film he tried the same technique of putting a camera man in the centre of the square but was surprised when nobody came to watch.
Russollini was a visionary director who brought naturalism to light in cinema and becomes a god of the italian neorealism age, being a diving force behind this movement he created works of art that really captured and created a true image of Italy and the inner deeper darker parts of a human being and how to connect with them through the things that surround them.
"a spirit rehabilitation of an entire culture"
Italian Neorealism also known as the Golden Age of Italian Cinema was a film movement between 1944 and 1952, this new wave came about after the fall of Mussolini's government, Italy lost its epicentre of film, this is due to the loss of funding from the government to create propaganda. The solution to this was to create a new type of film that focuses on the repercussions of the war. Neorealism became the symbol of cultural change and progress. film-makers like Roberto Rossellini wanted to give something new and present, a true reflection and image of italy after the damage of Mussolini and his government. Poverty, famine, oppression, injustice and desperation became common themes in the films.
Roberto Rossellini an Italian film director and screenwriter was one of the most influential directors of the neorealism period. During facist Italy Rossellini created what is now referred to as the Facist Trilogy between 1941 and 1943 which were funded by different propaganda centres within the government. With the collapse of the facist regime and the liberation of Rome, Rossellini began to write and produce Roma Cittá aperta (1945, Rome, Open City), This would become the start of the neo-realistic trilogy. Followed by Paisá (1946) and German, Year Zero (1948) make up the other two films. The funding for these films came from small loans and were originally circulated on the black market due to their anti-facist stance.
Rossellini used non-professional actors in his films but often struggled to find faces he deemed as interesting. He says in an interview that in order to really create the character one has in mind, it is necessary for the director to engage in a battle with the actor which usually means submitting to the actors wish and I have no desire to waste my energy in a battle like this, I only use professional actors occasionally. He is acknowledged as the father of italian neo-realism, he introduced the world to naturalism with Rome, Open City. He then began to change the way we look at films three years later, with Stromboli and Journey to Italy, he aimed to get his audience to understand and engage with the actors through exploring their surroundings with them on screen rather than simply identifying with them. This went against the conventional Hollywood method, Rossellini claimed that with his film one watches with his own eyes. Scorsese states in the preface of his book Roberto Rossellini: Magician of the Real that few film makers at this stage of their lives or careers were as adventurous or ambitious and that Rossellini's goal was nothing less than to educate the entire world.
With Rossellini, however, there was always a distinctive method to the seeming madness. The same year he made Journey to Italy, he fought against the idea of planned scripts like Hitchcock. For realistic films, he insisted that inspiration and spontaneity were what mattered. He is quoted famously saying "An author writes a sentence or page, then crosses it out. A painter uses a red, then paints it out with a green. Why shouldn't I be able to cross things out too, to remake and replace film? This is why I don't think you can have a fixed script. If I thought you could, I'd think of myself as a scriptwriter. But I'm not a scriptwriter. I make films."
With his film Pasiá took one step further toward a revolutionary style of film making. He would place his cameraman in the middle of the main square in a rural town and choose his actors from the inquisitive faces of the people who came to see the camera, With the main theme of the script of this film is the interaction between two foreign cultures. After the death of his son in 1946, Rossellini's next film Germany Year Zero was full of pain, violence and pessimism, it became an attempt to discover through death the reason for living. It was financed and supported by a french production house and filmed in the countries berlin sector. Like his previous film he tried the same technique of putting a camera man in the centre of the square but was surprised when nobody came to watch.
Russollini was a visionary director who brought naturalism to light in cinema and becomes a god of the italian neorealism age, being a diving force behind this movement he created works of art that really captured and created a true image of Italy and the inner deeper darker parts of a human being and how to connect with them through the things that surround them.
"a spirit rehabilitation of an entire culture"
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