Film Studies Final Piece Evaluation

My final piece fall my film studies unit is a short experimental film called "Lack", which revolves around the theory put forward by Jacques Lacan. Lacan's theory is the hypothesis that from birth we amercing a vital part of us, what is missing is forever unknown to the individual, yet we constantly seek out something that would fill our lack, sub consciously and consciously.

With this in mind i began planning my Film, due to the nature of this theory, i wanted this film to feel personal and intimate yet have an atmosphere of coldness. The most effective way to portray this was to focus on something that was incredibly personal to myself, for this i chose to have my girlfriend be the focus of the film. Knowing that having something so personal to focus would mean that not only would i put more emotion and heart into the final piece, but that the theory i would apply to it would be even more effective.

The film is heavily inspired by Chris Markers "la jette", i loved how the film used still images rather than film itself, which added another layer of uncertainty and mysteriousness to its atmosphere, when planning this piece i concluded that the use of still images rather than film would give my piece more gravitas and impact when viewed, this stylistic choice would also challenge the audience as it would be so far from what they know as film.

The film itself opens with rapid white scratches over a black background, this is very little to talk about as we are essentially watching a black screen, i wanted the audience to immediately feel intrigued and confused when watching my film, by giving away nothing at the start of the film i have created interest.
The scene immediately cuts to a static mid shot of my girlfriend and another subject sitting exactly parallel to her on a sofa, the rapid white scratches from the previous shot now consume her face, destroying any identity she may have, in this scene she is no more than a body, devoid of identity.
The white scratches that cover her face in this shot were intended to be a representation of how this subject has or feels as if she lacks identity, which would be lacanian lack. The  subject believes that she doesn't know who she is, what she stands for, what she wants to be. whether or not she was born with this lack, or if it evolved over time is unclear. During post production i added a filter over the shot to reduce it to monotone black and white, not only was this a stylistic choice, but also a representation of how laconian lack whether sub consciously or consciously, muddles and distorts the individuals reality.

every shot following this are still images, everyone has been manipulated and distorted to further the representation of lacanain lack, the images i took don't necessarily have any analytical weight behind them, they are simply candid shots of her daily life. Its what i do to the final images that express laconian lack. I added motion blur to the photos, resulting in images that look corrupted, sinister yet fluid, a further expression of how the lack within ourselves is destructive and tormenting, yet beautiful and liberating at the same time. I say liberating because i believe on our endless search for something to fill the void within us all, we discover more about ourselves, we discover new ways to surprise ourselves, and this is liberating.
for the audio i read a passage from Lewis C Carol's "Alice In Wonderland", the passage follows as,

'Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is, “’Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle.'
An analysis of this passage tells us that Alice is suffering from a crisis of identity. "i wonder if I've changed in the night" shows us this. I thought using a passage from Alice In Wonderland would fit perfectly in with a lacanian film.

Due to the films intimate nature, and avant guarde basis, several issues made themselves apparent during filming. If changes were made they would be as follows; 

due to heavy overcast and weather restrictions all of my filming had to take place indoors, resulting in a selection of stills that were all fairly repetitive, if i were to re-do this piece i would have like to film in multiple environments.

The audio i used could have also be managed better, i have very little experience with audio equipment outside the built in microphone on my camera, meaning that the audio for the piece changed in quality over the run time. If re-shoots were to be made i would record the audio again but in a studio, rather than a classroom with background noise.

In conclusion im extreamly happy with the final piece, i feel that it meets all the criteria set before me and accurately portrays a lacanian lack in a analytical and clinical manner, whilst maintaining all of its personality.

New Wave Film Evaluation

For my contextual studies final piece i wanted to create a short piece that highlighted the technical aspects that made the new wave moment so inspirational. focusing on camera techniques and editing rather than narrative and characters. It was my intention to accurately portray these techniques within a film of my creation, and explore how they all affect the film in there own way.

The film opens with a static close up of an individual lighting a cigarette, i wanted the very first shot of my film to be a perfect representation of the New Wave, and the subtlest most stylistic option for me atleast was to have this smoking shot, in essentially every New Wave film we see characters drenched in cigarette smoke, most notably Godard's film "Breathless", in which the protagonist is constantly smoking, almost to comical effect. by incorporating this i hoped t set the tone of the film instantly, a love letter to the French New Wave.
After this i incorporated rapid successive jump cuts of the subject driving her car, in the context of the New Wave, jump cuts were not only used to represent the passing of time, but also as a tool to criticise the mainstream, jump cuts were used throughout conversations and scenes that normaly would never feature jump cuts. for my film i saw rapid jumpiest in unusual scenes as a ,method of not only demonstration and representing time, but also as a tool to to connect the audience to the protagonist, the passage of time not only shows the audience the degradation of the protagonist, but emotionally connects the two due to said degradation.

During this scene i spliced shots of the road the individual drove on in-between the footage of her driving, this was done to give a sense of location to the film, and to brake up the repetition of the film. showing footage of the location we filmed in also gives us the added benefit of showing the audience the environment the protagonist lives in, giving a more in depth look at the protagonist without resorting to hefty exposition. This technique also stems from the French New Wave, the camera would almost linger on shots of the streets of Paris highlighting the environment the people live in, and how they have essentially became a product of said environment.

the next shot is of my subject walking through a car park, just like the previous scene i use jump cuts throughout the scene, to spend up the pace of the film and to further represent the passage of time. the camera has jagged movements never resting still for a moment. i chose to use a handheld camera rather than one on a steady rig or a dolly as it gives the audience the impression that they are simply a fly on the wall, an outside observer looking into the intimate and personal world of the subject. This is similar to how cameras were used in the New Wave. due to the cheapness and guerrilla filmmaking, expensive cameras used in hollywood films were unavailable yo the filmmakers of the new wave, so cheaper handheld cameras were used in there absence. There use of which provides a similar emotional response as to my film.

The following shot is a static close of the subjects face as she walks around a shopping centre, the camera in this scene was suspended on a make shift dolly which she than proceed to push around the centre. I placed the camera this way to provide he audience with an unflinching view of the subject, as a method of expanding on the emotional connection between subject and audience. Similarly to the previous scene, the makeshift dolly is a further representation to guerrilla film making during the New Wave, limited budget meant that professional was almost impossible to come by, the Filmmakers would resort to makeshift tripods, dolly' and other equipment currently used today. the make shift dolly i used for this shot was again another way for me to use techniques used in the New Wave.

If i were to re-shoot or re-do this piece there are several changes and corrections that i would like to make, due to time restrictions i wasn't able to create a more fleshed out narrative, whilst i like the quaintness and intimate nature of my final piece, i feel that creating a story with motifs and dialogue using themes present throughout all New Wave films would have been a better choice in order to capture the essence of the New Wave.
another aspect that bothers is me is that some shots of the individual in the shopping centre are slightly out of focus, there is no explanation for why this is, i simply made a mistake with the focusing, if i had the choice i would go back and reshoot these scenes.
During some of the car journey scenes, we can see grain throughout the frame, due to filming at night i had to increase the ISO to make up for the loss of light, doing so resulted in heavy grain. if i were to reshoot i would have a light source in the car itself, providing more light for the lens meaning that i wouldn't have to increase the iso to make up for the loss of quality.

In conclusion i am happy with my final piece, i feel that it not only accuratly represents the essence of the New Wave, but also highlights and recreates environments and techniques that made the New Wave so.

Health and Safety unit 30

When shooting footage for my unit 30 camera and lighting, i need to make sure that all health and safety regulations are met and maintained. there are numerous ways to ensure that this is followed at all times.
Firstly i can ensure that any loose cables, whether it be directly from the camera or from a wall outlet, looses cables that trail across the floor could potentially mean that a member of the team, or any individual passing the area we are filming in could trip and hurt themselves.

most of our recording was done outside due to the quality control of our recordings. so me and my group meticulously searched areas in search of a location that would not only result in the best recording locations, but also in practical locations. would it be safe for me and my group to film? would there be a present risk in filming in this location? and does recording in this location provide a risk to any individuals walking past our filming?.

most of our recordings took place at the King Edwards College, thankfully, most of the ground was gritted already due to it being a public location. so the area's we filmed in were always properly maintained.

Mulvey theroy in film

Transformers (2007)

This scene within 2007's transformers conforms to all the points put forward in Mulveys male gaze.
The scene opens with a tracking mid shot of the Cars engine, the camera lingers over the engine (reminiscent of kennith angers scorpio rising), this shot also fits into mulveys male gaze theory, creating the possibility that the male gaze is not only about sexualising and objectifying women, but also objectifying other things a male finds pleasure in. The camera then cuts to a panning mid shot, with the focal point of the shot being Megan fox, she is postured suggestively over the car, with her hands raised on the hood of the car. As Shia La Beouf points towards Megan Fox, so does the camera. This conforms to the idea that not only does the camera linger on the curves of the woman, but also that the woman is only present to satisfy the males need.

The camera again cuts to another mid shot of Megan fox, This time leaning directly over the cars engine, her stomach and cleavage exposed.the cameras movments for this scene are very subtle, yet non the less conform the the male gaze, if you look closely that the camera traces the curves of her body, first from top frame, megan fox's cleavage, down to her waist and back, then down her legs. the fact that the camera movement is so subtle only adds to mulveys theory that the male gaze is so deeply routed in modern film that it can almost be considered subliminal.

Mulvey Theroy

Mulvey Film Theroy

Laura Mulvey is a British film theorist and avant garde film maker, her work explored a feminist approach towards film, often analysing and scrutinising film with psychoanalysis.

Laura Mulvey identified that Film fascinates its audience, it engages our emotions emotionally, intellectually and sometimes spiritually, Mulvey used psychoanalysis to discover where and ho the fascination of film is reinforced by pre existing patterns of fascination already at work within the individual subject (essentially the spectator). As a prominont feminist she believed that Film can and should be used as a political weapon.

Mulberry hypothesised that the Hollywood/mainstream/narrative cinema manipulates visual pleasure to directly influence the audience, according to her theory it "codes the erotic into the language of the  dominant patriarchal order" A key aspect of her theory is the presence of scopophilia, which means pleasure in looking (this was first created by Sigmund Freud in "three essays" in 1905). In freud original piece he explains how scopophilia is when we or the individual gets sexual pleasure from looking at other people, however mulvey also noted that in Freuds three essays, he said that people feel guilty when getting pleasure in this way. From here Mulvey suggested that cinema was the ideal place to get scopophilic pleasure because;

. The people in the film aren't aware that the spectator or individual is watching (therefore removing the guilt associated when receiving sexual pleasure from looking at other people)

.No-one else can see the spectator getting pleasure from viewing others as traditionally, a Cinema or theatre is dark, and that all others will be watching the screen

Mulvey argued that cinema essentially provides voyeuristic pleasure (pleasure from watching others who dont know there being watched).

Mulvey and Lacan

Mulvey expanded on Lacans concept of The Mirror stage and the childs development of self and other by explaing the importance of seeing yourself visually reflected in film. This means that when we see a character on the screen that either looks, reminds, or acts like us, we identify with it, and seeing such a representation reinforces our sense of self and worth.

Mulveys conclusions

According to Mulvey, most mainstream hollywood films are made by male filmmakers for a male audience, and that female filmmakers were often shunned, left only to create in the avaunt Guarde scenes. This results in active male characters (protagonists of the film which use the narrative forward, so that the audience are encouraged to identify with them), whereas female characters are usually passive (prizes for the male characters, objects of desire that men fight for, characters that dont act or think for themselves)

Male Gaze

In Mulveys 1975 'Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema", she coined the term the male gaze, which is when the audience regardless of gender or sexuality is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male, for example, in a shot the camera might trace alongside the curves of a woman body, putting the viewer in the eyes of a heterosexual male.
However, it may only be classified as a male gaze if it uses certain camera techniques, editing techniques or audio cues. Such as:

.slow motion when viewing the curves of a woman
.deliberate camera moments
.cut aways

This theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity,relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical pleasure and nothing more. the theory also suggests that women can only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective. Regardless of this, the presence of a woman in mainstream film texts is vital, often a female character in a film has no real importance herself, it is how she makes the male characters within the text fact or feel that is of importance, essentially, the female only exists in relation to the male.

Visual pleasures

Lacan theory within a film

Enemy (2013)

At its core Enemy is a film about fear, the story follows a man named Adam, who discovers he has an exact doppelgänger, who lives a complete opposite life to him. Whilst Adam is mild mannered and essentially timid, his doppelgänger is the opposite, aggressive and confident. The film explores the relationship between the two, there opposing lives and the relationships they are involved in.




Within a few minutes of watching it becomes clear that the film is an exploration of Adam subconscious, whilst were never explicitly told that this is the case we can se it clearly through the mise en scene, camera techniques and even the narrative itself.

One scene that perfectly represents the lacan theory is the initial meeting between adam and his doppelgänger. Up to this point in the film Adam knows what he wants, he wants to meet his doppelgänger, this is the desire that he believes will fill his lack, as he walks to the motel door he is in centre frame, he is in control of the situation. A prostitute passes him clutching onto a room key, the camera suddenly cuts to a wide shot focussed on the top of her suspenders, we see in the background that Adam is still there, walking past her, however this time rather than being in focus and centre framed, he is to the left, the camera blurs him so we can only vaguely make out that this indeed adam. We can view this as an extension of our protagonists conscious, Upon seeing the prostitute and her Stockings, Adam is suddenly conflicted, is meeting his doppolganger truly what he wants?, or is he simply chasing his primal urge for sex?, If one was to watch the film in its entirety than this would easily be compatible with the Lacanian lack throughout the film, but as we are only analysing one scene, we shall ignore this.

The next key scene following this is the initial meeting between Adam and his doppelgänger. the two stand opposite each other, the camera remains completely still, simply observing the two, in an almost clinical manner. the camera for this scene can perhaps mimic the audiences perception and spectatorship of the film, simply an observer into this individuals mind, powerless to have any interaction within it.

The two show each other there hands, they comment on how similar they are. the doppelgänger than asks Adam if he has a scar on his chest from when he was a child, this freaks Adam out and he hurriedly leaves the room. We can perceive this as Adam realising that perhaps the doppelgänger is exactly what he has been lacking, the doppelgänger is a confident, assertive and bold figure, everything that Adam is not (Adam being obedient, withdrawn and almost afraid). The same goes in reverse, Even though the doppelgänger has a seemingly comfy home life, with a pregnant wife and a relatively wealthy standard of living, his fear of commitment means that he is always seeking a way out of this comfy home life, ( numerous references to his affair throughout the film).

Film Studies- Final piece + synopsis

Lack- Film Studies final piece

Lack is a Avent Guarde short inspired by the unique aesthetics and visual narrative of 1962's La Jetee. The story explores lacan's theory of intrinsic lack within the individual through still images and use of abstract audio, resulting in a short that challenges the physical form of film itself and simultaneously, representing the Lack within us all.