Film Project: Evaluation

My first task was to research a genre that I had chose which was Surrealist Cinema. I am very interested surrealism and the avant-garde movement therefore I thought that this was the best genre for me to explore when producing my final product.

During my research of the genre, I was not just looking at film but all types of media from paintings to photography and performance art. Notable figures in the surrealist movement included Andre Breton, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Sigmund Freud and Maya Deren.

I discovered that the genre is characterised by juxtapositions, the rejection of dramatic psychology, and frequent use of shocking imagery.

The origins of surrealism comes from the avant-garde movement which represents the pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the "norm", primarily in the cultural realm.

Genre: Surrealist CinemaGenre: Surrealist Cinema

Surrealism is based on the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of the dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the problems of the world.  - André Breton

In what ways In what ways does your film does your film

develop or develop or challenge challenge forms and forms and

conventions conventions of real films?of real films?

Competitor AnalysisCompetitor Analysis

Un Chien Andalou – Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali

Meshes of the Afternoon – Maya Deren

The Seashell and the Clergyman - Germaine Dulac

Approaching to this as a competitive surrealist film company, I analysed these three films to filter out the main conventions of the surrealist cinema. From the information I gathered from this part of my research I was able to put together facts and surrealist concepts which then allowed me picture a way to construct my film.

What I FoundWhat I FoundWhat I discovered when analysing these three surrealist films is that they were each very different to one another. I also knew that I had to watch them several times because I would need to fully understand the narrative and the symbolism of the films.

In many ways, each of these films aided to my creation of ‘The Unattainable Perfection’ as I was inspired by metaphors and symbols that were buried in the films.

Although, I did gather information about genre and convention, I think that it is more about what is behind the images and the shots that makes a surrealist film ‘surreal’ instead of the exact shot-type and framing however, these elements are very important none the less.

Codes and Conventions of Surrealist Cinema

• Frequent use of Juxtapositions for disturbing effect.

• Unable to connect to the characters.

• Characters usually have no empathy, inner life or recognisable goals.

• Anti-narrative/No narrative.

• No restrictions.

• The portrayal of a dark subconscious.

• Critical elements of bourgeois society, religion and institutions and sexuality.

• Minimal character development.

• Concerned with unconscious dreams and desires.

• Goes against ideology.

• Most surrealist films are made on a low budget and consist of a small cast

• Mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

• Single strand narrative.

• There is experimentation with lighting or sound.

The peak of surrealist films in the 1920’s were created on a low budget and therefore, the The peak of surrealist films in the 1920’s were created on a low budget and therefore, the quality of the images in the film were not in colour or of a high standard. quality of the images in the film were not in colour or of a high standard.

For my film I wanted to be as close to the style and convention of the surrealist genre to end For my film I wanted to be as close to the style and convention of the surrealist genre to end with the best possible product therefore I added the ‘Black and White’ and ‘Old Film’ effect with the best possible product therefore I added the ‘Black and White’ and ‘Old Film’ effect on to my film in Adobe Premier Elements to enhance the portrayal of my film being like a low on to my film in Adobe Premier Elements to enhance the portrayal of my film being like a low budget surrealist film. budget surrealist film.

In ‘Un Chien Andalou’, the use of straight cuts imply that the character is being influenced by his surroundings. The man at first is sharpening a razor blade and then we are presented with a medium shot of him looking up. A shot of the moon and clouds passing by is then presented, which we then realise this is what he is looking at. We, the audience, are put in his perspective. As the clouds are ‘slicing’ over the moon, these straight cuts are a hint to us that the man is affected by nature and are the cause of his horrific action.

In ‘The Unattainable Perfection’, I used straight cuts and fade transitions in a way to foreshadow events that happen later in my film. As Huggins desperately looks at the clock on the wall, the camera pans with her. After the shot of the clock I inserted a fade to black. This could imply that time cannot heal her problems at the moment. However, after this I inserted a close up shot of Large slicing up cucumber. At the end on the film, where Huggins is almost facing her death, the knife that Large uses appears before her next to a clock.

The intentions of this sequence of images is not clear of course however, some critics interpret it as an assault on vision. A warning to the audience that the rest of the film that they are about to watch is not going to be straight forward and you cannot trust what you see. The infamous cutting of the eye not only implies this theory but it also shocks and disturbs the audience that is looking at the screen.

Un Chien Andalou

The Unattainable Perfection

Luis Bunuel used a selection of footage of the man dressed as a nun riding a bicycle through the street. He overlapped the film to create a dissolve transition. The effect of these transitions suggest that time is passing and that the man on the bikes journey is long and tiring. Another impact of this transition is the creation a surreal world which enmeshes the characters within the setting they are in.Another interpretation of why Bunuel used this dissolve transition could probably be because he wanted to stray far from how the Hollywood feature films present their continuity editing.

In the opening scene of my film, I wanted to create the illusion of a blank canvas being painted on by presenting an empty street. Through the dissolve transition I was able to pursue this idea by introducing a main character who begins walking through the empty street which she then meets her lover, Terence. The effect of using this transition also made this opening scene more fluid and tamed in comparison to the finale scene which was mostly used of straight cuts and short clips.

Much of the imagery and conventions of ‘The Unattainable Perfection’ was inspired by Maya Deren’s ‘Meshes of the Afternoon’. I thought the shots and mise-en-scene was beautifully presented and the way she used time as a construct in her narrative was brilliant.

The recurring theme of violence and mystery that Deren relates back to in each scene provides a philosophical structure that is quite hard to grasp at first but after several times of watching, it grows to be quite picturesque and interesting.

- This is setting of where the film starts and it is where many parts of the film goes back to in the protagonist’s dream. In the distance, there is a long shot of a shadowed figure seen from the Deren’s point of

view.

Influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theory, Maya Deren expressed her subconscious mind through dream. Familiar household objects and repetitive tasks reveal her unconscious wishes regarding her relationship. In Meshes of Afternoon, Deren

didn’t make radical changes on technology, she experimented with visual language to express her vision.

- Again, we are back to this place where Deren goes deeper into her unconscious mind and seems the shadowed figure face to face. She follows it but then is drawn to the house

like at the beginning the film. This evokes that her dream is repeating itself but in slightly different ways.

- After she enters the house a third time in the film, she sees herself sleeping and the goes to the window. Through the window she sees the figure from up above. At this high angel we also see herself running towards the figure from

her own perspective.

- Once Maya enters the house a fourth time, she appears at the window again and sees herself chasing the shadow figure again. After that, she enters the house again and

discovers two doppelgangers of herself sitting by the table. However, the actual Maya is still sleeping on the sofa in the

living room from the beginning.

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Opening Scene

Ending Scene

When creating my film, I have explicitly made it ambiguous to the audience whether or not the events that take place are real or are all in the woman’s imagination. One interpretation could be that everything that happened after Megan looks at Terence are in fact are completely imagined by Megan. That she sees in to the future in a sort of prophetic way and after she sees the devastating and horrific happenings she returns to reality in hope to prevent the fatal coming.However, the events of this film could be interpreted as being completely real but the characters are given a chance to go back in time and change what happens to their future. This interpretation would actually go quite well with one of the themes of the film; time.

In Meshes of the Afternoon, Deren uses a downward tilt focusing of someone’s hand holding a flower. After the flower is placed on the ground, she then inserts a straight cut to just a shot of the flower without the hand being in the shot anymore. This sequence of images depicts that the being who placed the flower on the ground is omnipotent because they vanish in an instant. This straight cut is positioned in the film to collide with the accompanying soundtrack which makes the disappearance more abrupt and surprising.

In ‘The Unattainable Perfection’, I reversed the process in which something disappears like it did in Maya Deren’s film. Instead I created the illusion of an object appearing. Whilst Huggins is being attacked by Large, a knife appears next to a clock on the cupboard next to he bed.

I took two different sections of footage; One of just the clock on the cupboard and then the clock on the cupboard with the knife. I then positioned them next to each other to create the ‘apparition’ effect.However, when I discovered the ‘Cross Dissolve’ transition in Adobe Premier Elements I experimented with it to create this effect of an object appearing. The use of this transition made the appearance of the knife seem more illusive and mysterious.

In Meshes of the Afternoon, the part where the flower turns into a knife intrigued me to explore ways in which I could employ symbolism and convey metamorphosis.

As Deren lays on the bed, a man, presumably her lover, places a flower by her head. This flower is then transformed into the knife that is seen on the table and on the stairs, and is also the knife that she uses to kill herself with.

This transformation is presented by a simple straight cut that be surprising and shocking for the audience, however the knife would be an object that is known to them as it has appeared before.

Objects AppearingObjects Appearing

In The Unattainable Perfection, instead of using a straight cut as the former did, I used a cross dissolve to portray a knife appearing.

To enhance the mystery and shock of the knife appearing I inserted the “lighting effect” whilst editing my film in Adobe Premier Elements

Similar to Un Chien Andalou , the French film written by Antonin Artaud ‘The Seashell and the Clergyman’, included the transition that dissolves two clips. In this film, the effect of the transition created an unearthly sequence of images.

This Surrealist film has been described as being a ‘psycho-drama’. An Oedipal clash between an Old man, a young priest, and a woman who is simultaneously the feminine object of ‘desire’ as well as the immaterial spiritual ‘essence’ of desire.

This ‘essence’ of desire is what I wanted to convey in my surrealist film. In ‘The Unattainable Perfection’, the female protagonist desires the ‘perfect’ life and goes out on her way to find it. However, this theme of the ‘ideal’ is unrealistic and can cause hurt and destruction when they realise that their ideal cannot be reached.

At the end of my film, the female protagonist looks in to her lovers’ eyes and recounts the ‘ideal’ life but then experiences the horrific and destruction outcome of her unrealistic dream. The surrealist technical convention of juxtaposing images allowed me to convey this message; that an act of violence could be seen as an act of love.

How effective is the

combination of your main

product and ancillary task?

During the process of filming I also took some photographs of my actors which I thought would be beneficial for my ancillary task because I could convey the same tone and message that I have in my film, in my poster and double page spread review. As they were in costume there was continuity in the mise-en-scene. I also wanted my audience to view the actors in role before they actually watch my film.

I directed them to pose in various angles and position for example; back to back which presented them as being together yet physically juxtaposed. I also had Megan put her hands over Terence’s shoulders as he is in kneeling on the floor.

Ancillary Task and Main Ancillary Task and Main ProductProduct

On Adobe Photoshop Elements , I experimented with cropping On Adobe Photoshop Elements , I experimented with cropping the images that I had captured to see how far I could make my the images that I had captured to see how far I could make my poster as striking as it could be. I also found a perfect font for poster as striking as it could be. I also found a perfect font for the title which exuded my genre of film. I inserted the actors the title which exuded my genre of film. I inserted the actors name over the photograph to include a ‘star’ like appeal to my name over the photograph to include a ‘star’ like appeal to my film. However in the final product of my poster, I realised that I film. However in the final product of my poster, I realised that I did want to stray far from the Hollywood type of marketing did want to stray far from the Hollywood type of marketing films. films. During the process of creating my poster, I decided to change During the process of creating my poster, I decided to change the main photograph because I found that the first image I was the main photograph because I found that the first image I was using looked like an image that would be used for a film of the using looked like an image that would be used for a film of the romantic genre. romantic genre.

Process of Film PosterProcess of Film Poster

When creating my poster, double page spread review and my film, I pursued a definitive style throughout each of the projects. Primarily, the font that I used - ‘Palace Script MT’- became like a branding function for my film and was identifiable in each of the three projects.

In my poster and double page spread I was able to portray the surreal genre that I exuded in my film so that it would appeal to my target audience. For example, the frequent use of Black & White images would signify the surrealist elements of the niche film genre.

Inspired by the surreal painting ‘The Lovers’ by Rene Magritte, I was able to intensify the surrealism in my film by creating the facelessness of the painting in the poster, double spread and in the opening scene of my film. This inter-textual reference is pursued in the opening scene of the film with the silhouetted kiss, the poster and the double-page spread review.

‘‘The Lovers’ by Rene MagritteThe Lovers’ by Rene Magritte

During my research in to the surrealist genre of films, I merged into other texts of the surrealist, avant-garde movement.

‘The Lovers’ by Rene Magritte particularly helped to inspire the narrative of my film.

- Here a barrier of fabric prevents the intimate embrace between two lovers, transforming an act of passion into one of isolation and frustration. Some have interpreted this work as a depiction of the inability to fully unveil the true nature of even our most intimate companions.

As it shows in my storyboard I planned to directly reference this influential painting in my film. However, lack or resources and budget prevented me from going as further as possible with this inter-textual reference.I was going to have the female protagonist place the white fabric over the male character’s face to convey the struggle of power between men and women in the film but to also show how in modern society, people are blinded by unrealistic desire and expectations.

However, I was able to reference in a different more subtle way. The painting did inspire the mise-en-scene for my film such as the costume. In my film the woman is wearing a dress and the man is wearing a suit and tie just like in the painting. Not only this would reference to the painting but it would present themes of conventional society, industrialism and family values.

I was also able to reference the ‘intimate embrace’ of the painting for example in the opening scene of my film where the characters are captured kissing in a silhouetted setting. This allowed to evoke the theme of love but also isolation within the audience because they cannot see the entire image of the two, only the silhouette.

‘‘The Lovers’ by Rene The Lovers’ by Rene MagritteMagritte

What have you learned from

your audience feedback?

AAfter creating my film I asked my target fter creating my film I asked my target audience specific questions to find out what audience specific questions to find out what they thought about my filmthey thought about my film

1.Does my film follow the following the codes and conventions of Surrealist films? Explain why.

•Frequent juxtapositions for disturbing effect •Unable to connect to the characters•Dream like narrative•Dark subconscious •Critical elements of bourgeois society, religion, institutions and sexuality.

2. When producing my film I had more resources and technology than that of the surrealist film-makers in the 20’s etc. Do you think I reached the overall tone and feel of the surrealist genre with this in mind? Explain Why.

3. Do you think the choice of having dominating diegetic sound – Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata 1st Movement – heightened the Surrealist nature of the film? Why?

4. Obscurity is a main element to Surrealist Cinema. In my films there was a significant amount of obscurity however, there was an underlying narrative and storyline within it. Were you able to interpret this and if so what is your overall understanding of my film?

5. In ‘The Unattainable Perfection’, there were themes of love, relationships, violence, human nature, and desire. Which of these themes do you perceive to be the most prominent one of my film and why? If you understood that there was a different them then please state what and why.

What I AskedWhat I Asked

- One of the members of my audience said that there was “great sense that the film was very dream-like as it was from the female character’s persepective and she desires something from the male character which evidently, he does not have”

- Another member replied saying that she “couldn’t connect” to any of the characters in the film as she “wasn’t able to find anything to relate to due the immense surrealism”

- However, one of the audience members said that they could relate to the “domestic setting” that the characters are in for the majority of the film, despite the events that happened in the film were “shocking and terrifying”.

1.Does my film follow the following the codes and conventions of Surrealist films? Explain why.

• Frequent juxtapositions for disturbing effect • Unable to connect to the characters• Dream like narrative• Dark subconscious • Critical elements of bourgeois society, religion, institutions and sexuality.

Audience Feedback

AnalysisFrom the feedback to this question I realised that my film achieved the standard of being perceived as a Surrealist film and that it extremely differed from modern feature films. However, obviously as a surrealist film being made almost 100 years after the genre was created, my film is going to have modern social, cultural and political influences.

What I AskedWhat I Asked

Audience Feedback

2. When producing my film I had more resources and technology than that of the surrealist film-makers in the 20’s etc. Do you think I reached the overall tone and feel of the surrealist genre with this in mind? Explain Why.

- One person thought that editing the film in a black and white effect “automatically” portrayed the film as being “experimental, avant-garde” and as “a film of the 1920’s”

- Another said that the use of this effect “distanced” them even further than the surrealism of the film.

- Someone else stated that if they wasn’t aware that I had just created this that they would have “ thought it was actually a really old film”.

AnalysisOverall, the feedback from this question improved my awareness of how audiences interpret images and the way those specific images can be presented to the audience in different ways.

What I AskedWhat I Asked

Audience Feedback

Analysis

3. Do you think the choice of having dominating non-diegetic sound – Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata 1st Movement – heightened the Surrealist nature of the film? Why?

- A member of the audience said that the song I used “heightened” the tone of the film as it “sounded very passionate, emotional yet gothic.”

- Another person said that this song “worked well with the images” in the film because it introduced a sense of “flow and natural pace” to the film.

- Someone else that having no diegetic sound was “brilliant” as the audience could “focus on the character’s expression and emotion” rather than what might be saying.

Reflecting on this feedback I realised that my choice of having completely no diegetic sound in my film was a good choice as my audience responded positively to it.

What I AskedWhat I Asked

Audience Feedback

Analysis

4. Obscurity is a main element to Surrealist Cinema. In my films there was a significant amount of obscurity however, there was an underlying narrative and storyline within it. Were you able to interpret this and if so what is your overall understanding of my film?

- One of my audiences said that the film looked like that the woman’s life was “repeating itself over” as if was “all in her head”.

- However, another person said that the female character appeared to have a “mental disability” which allowed her to “see things that aren’t really there”, referencing to when she sees her lover at the end of the film after she has just murdered him.

- Another member of the audience interpreted the film as a representation of how we as a society “yearn for the ultimate perfect life” but when we are denied of this life, we resort to “destruction and negativity”.

From this feedback I was able to perceive my audience’s understanding of my film which allowed my overall interpretation, as the producer, to stretch and become something more greater and complex.

What I AskedWhat I Asked

Audience Feedback

Analysis

5. In ‘The Unattainable Perfection’, there were themes of love, relationships, violence, human nature, and desire. Which of these themes do you perceive to be the most prominent one of my film and why? If you understood that there was a different them then please state what and why.

- Violence – One person said that throughout the film there is “subtle elements of violence that hints at the extreme violence that occurs later in the film”

- Relationships – One member of the audience interpreted the theme of relationships and suggested that my film was an “exploration” of the “extreme lengths of relationships and its outcomes”

- Desire – Someone else said that they perceived the film to include elements of “unfulfilled desire”, relating to the female character and her unrealistic desires for the male character.

- Chance/Faith – A member of my audience suggested that the film could be seen as the experimentation of faith and chance which presents religious connotations as at the ending, it could be seen that female character is given another chance in life.

This feedback about the themes of my films supported my overall interpretation of my film but it also allowed me to understand further that as a surrealist film, my project can be interpreted differently by different people.

OVERALLOVERALLWhat I have learnt from my audience feedback is firstly, the prominent reminder that modern audiences will interpret Surrealist films differently to when they first premiered in the 1920s because of the progression and diversity of society today.

I have also became increasingly aware that my film has modern influences in it as well as contemporary surrealist elements.

As well as that, I also became more aware of how my audience can interpret the images in my film differently to me and as well as the other individuals in the audience.

This can be seen as a positive point because the surrealism and the avant-garde movement isn’t necessarily supposed to make the viewer feel an actual specific way, but really just to make them feel something, to be provoked.

How did you use new media

technologies in the construction,

research and planning stage?

During the construction, planning and research stages of my product I used a variety of new technologies.

Research Research StageStage

During the research stage of my project I had wide access to the internet at school and at home.

From this, I was able to go on websites such as YouTube and search for Surrealist films so that I could analyse them and learn about their conventions. This was very useful because I was able to go on the internet instantly and watch surrealist films.

I also used Google to search to do more complex research and find a more broad understanding instead of just watching the films.

Using the website Blogger I was able to post my questionnaire for my target audience to read and reply their answers. This process improved the communication between me and my audience.

PlanningPlanning StageStage

During the planning stage of my project I was able to use a new technology to plan templates of my poster and double page spread review.

Using the programme Adobe Photoshop Elements I learnt how to experiment with layers and how they can be used differently in the way a poster looks.

For example the Edit Layer Style tool allowed me to modify text so that it will stand out when positioned over images.

However, the majority of planning for my film was made on a storyboard which I scanned on to the computer to post on my blog.

Construction StageConstruction StageFor constructing my film I used a HD HandyCamdorder to shoot when on set. This new technology was easy and comfortable to use as it was small and light which allowed me to film in various positions.I mainly used the zoom feature so that I could shoot my actors from a far distance whilst capturing excellent quality shots.

Construction Construction StageStage

Using the programme Adobe Photoshop Elements I was able to have first hand experience at using professional technology to make my film poster and my double page spread film review. Similar to the planning stage, I explored the possibilities of layer and its function in the poster and the film review. I also experimented with the colour and lighting of the images, and how they can change the mise-en-scene of the media text.

Construction Construction StageStage

Adobe Premier Elements was the main new technology of which I constructed and produced my Surrealist film. Although I didn’t grasp how to use this programme properly straight away, I thought that this section of the process of the creation my film was the least challenging. This was most likely due the face that I enjoyed finally creating the film and positioning the images I had filmed to fit with my storyboard. During this process, I began to understand specific things about the programme such how to insert transitions for example, the dissolve transition where two clips fade into one. I used this transition quite a lot because it followed the conventions of my genre.