Voice over for Film Studies

Psychoanalytical Film

Evaluation

For my film i incorporated Lacan and Frued theory. I decided to choose these two theorists in particular as i felt they both linked and worked well with the issue i was portraying within my film. The issue of alcohol abuse gives the sufferer a constant feeling of lack which is why my two chosen theorists worked well within the film.

Throughout the film we included edited scenes of distortion to show how the alcohol is having its affect on the protagonist within the text.

We did this by adding effects on Premier Pro whilst editing the film also adding slow motion shots to emphasise the affect of the alcohol. When shooting for our film we tried to add a range of location types to make it as realistic as possible for the audience to relate to. I feel as though by shooting in a supermarket it would make the audience realise the problem can be anywhere around us in society and we may not know about it. Also at the end of the film we chose to shoot at the local hospital in a busy public place to add a sense of realism and conclude the story to show there is places where you can get help.

Also in the film we wanted to try an use different shot types to make our film look more asthetically pleasing to the audience. we used some close up shots, foe example; in the toilet the female protagonist washing her hands, we wanted to get close up on this to emphasise her washing the addiction away.

In the car scenes we also used different shot types to show a realistic driving effect. We thought that by doing this and shooting driving scenes for a few seconds the short snappy videos editied together would show the effect the issue is having on the protagonist in a more dramatic way. We made sure that all the scenes were shot on the same day so everything would look the same to make a whole video. We shot all the scenes in order from first to last so when it came to editing the footage it was simple and made the overall editing process quick.

I felt that the theorists we chose were very fitting to our idea, especially Lacan and the idea of lack and never being satisfied but i do feel with the Frued theory, ID, ego and superego we could have shown this more clearly maybe doing a voice over to show the different personalities.

Planning

Our theory that we chose to use for our film was, Freud's theory. He proposed the ID, ego and superego. This is a theory which is stated to be apparent in the brain. Our second theorist which we wanted to incorporate was Lacan, he created the mirror stage, and within that came the theory of desire. This is where people become obsessed with a certain thing and are never satisfied until they get more. We chose to use these two theory's as our alcohol related narrative linked with them best.


Our narrative involves the issue of alcohol and how it takes over one girls life. She's battling with herself to try and overcome her addiction. This is where the ID, ego and superego take their place within the narrative as she's seen trying to fight her alcohol dependency. Due to the constant desire to want more alcohol this is where Lacan's theory is evident because we want to show how she's never satisfied and always wants more.


We want to shoot in real life locations to show a true perspective on the story line, which is why we want to shoot some scenes in a car. In contrast to this at the end of our film we want to conclude it by the protagonist walking into a rehabilitation centre.

  this is where we plan to film the ending of our film to give a realistic representation to our narrative.

Health & safety

For the health and safety requirements for our psychoanalytical film, we considered a range of things, such as making sure the camera equipment was safely put away when we were not recording aspects of our film because all of our video was filmed out on location, so we had to be careful it didn’t get stolen. Due to a lot of our film being hand held, we ensured that the camera was fastened around the director’s neck at all times, to prevent it being dropped. We made sure that when we used the tripod, it was put together properly so that it stabilised the camera at all times. Subsequently, we also made sure that the tripod wasn’t obstructing pedestrians.

lacan film challenge

Applying Laura Mulvey

In this scene from the transformers the female protagonist is shown in an objectifying way. The camera lingers on the females body in close up shots to clearly focus upon her appearance and body shape. This automatically creates the male gaze as the camera moves down the females body like a male is looking at her.

Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey coined the term 'male gaze'  in 1975. She believes that in film audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. For example, the camera lingers on the curves of a female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in a context of the mans reaction to these events. This regulates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male. 

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies some human identity and are only to be admired for physical appearance. However, the presence of a female in a mainstream film text is somewhat vital. Often a female character is not there to have any real importance herself it is how she makes the male protagonist within the text feel or act that is the importance. 

Mulvey states that the role of a female character in the narrative has two functions:

- As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view

- As an erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view

Applying Lacan Theory

In the film Enemy the main male protagonist is portrayed as never being fulfilled. This is shown throughout particular scenes in the text. In some scenes the male protagonist is seen having sex but then after never looking happy, he is always looking like he has a desire which is never going to be filled or achieved. The lighting throughout the film also connotes this idea as the lighting is very low key and a very dull colour this shows his feelings throughout the scenes.

Jacques Lacan Theory

Jaques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst who reconceptualized Freud using post-structuralism.  Lacan rejected attempts to link psychoanalysis with social theory, saying 'the unconscious is the discourse of the Other' -- that human passion is structured by the desire of others and that we express deep feelings through the 'relay' of others. He thus saw desire as a social phenomenon and psychoanalysis as a theory of how the human subject is created through social interaction. Desire appears through a combination of language, culture and the spaces between people. Lacan focused largely on Freud's work on deep structures and infant sexuality, and how the human subject becomes an 'other' through unconscious repression and stemming from the Mirror phase. The conscious ego and unconscious desire are thus radically divided. Lacan considered this perpetual and unconscious fragmentation of the self as Freud's core discovery. Lacan thus sought to return psychoanalysis on the unconscious, using Ferdinand de Saussure's linguistics, structural anthropology and post-structural theories. Lacanian psychoanalysis is rather ruthless in its aggressive challenging that seeks to dismantle the imaginary sense of completeness (as in the Mirror phase) and to remove illusions of self-mastery through a mirror image. A strong ego is seen as defensive deceit and expressing it during analysis is seen as resistance to change. Fear of disintegration and lack drives the person to realize themselves in another imaginary individual. Lacan's theory was the mirror theory. He said when toddlers first see their selves in the mirror they see a perfect version of theirselves which they look up to and want to fulfil. This then carries on later in life with desires. Everyone has a desire and as soon as that desire is filled we want something else. we are never truly happy with ourselves.  Lacan created the idea of 'lack' and that it causes desires to arise. This is similar to Freud's approach of the ID acting on the hedonistic lifestyle whereas the superego acts on moral principles and what 'lack' relates to is the ego which is in-between.

Applying Freud's Theory

In this scene from Jaws the shark is the ID. The female protagonist is swimming in the water but the shark wants to eat her. This is intensified by non - diegetic sound adding an atmosphere to the scene as the camera is filming from the sharks perspective. The lighting is also low key as it is filmed underwater and at night time this also adds tension to the scene as it is unclear as to what is going to happen.

Film Outline

Overall story line: 

Narrative:

Man with mental health issues kidnaps girl, and keeps her hostage. Superego, telling him to let her go, its not her fault. The Id is constantly telling him not to release her as nobody helps him in society with his problems, so this is his revenge. In the end, he has a breakdown and in despair makes a decision whether to let her go.

Beginning:  

Focusing on the man homeless on the streets focusing on people just walking past him and ignoring him, resulting in him taking action/trying to take revenge. Fast shots of him looking at the victim (through binoculars) through this scene it's apparent that he is the ID as he doesn't back down until he gets what he wants. The man who thinks he isn't accepted within society, takes desperation by kidnapping a young girl, who is innocent and vulnerable. Through these series of shots throughout the beginning of the short film, it is clear that this man is the ID in Freud's theory. 

Middle:

Once the desperate homeless man has captured the girl and taken her hostage by locking her in an abandoned location, we witness that the girl becomes the Ego, as she tries to take control of the situation by compromising with him. Through dialogue and long shots that feature both characters in the frame, the audience can observe the conversation between the two protagonists. We are able to understand that the young girl is the Ego, as she confines in him by saying this isn't appropriate or right but at the same time she understands his grief and why he's desperate for help. These two sections of the film will demonstrate a complete contrast in characters, as the homeless man who has got mental health issues is the ID character, where as the girl conforms to the Ego. 

End:

As the man isn't in the correct mind set, he locks up the small, derelict building and leaves her on her own, not knowing if he will ever return to release her. The ending focuses on the young girl shouting for help in utter desperation as she now starts to panic. We then see a new character incorporated within the film, which results to be the Superego. This character tries helping the female and in complete shock, rings the police as this person has better morals and a better state of mind. This protagonist is outlined to be the Superego, due to their correct principles. 

Freud Theory

ID, Ego, Superego.

According to Freud, personality consists of the id, ego, and superego. These three parts work together to create a complete personality. The superego is the social component and is your conscience. The id is your instinct, while the ego is your conscious decisions. 

The id - is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It consists of all the inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality present at birth, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and the aggressive (death) instinct - Thanatos.

The id is the impulsive (and unconscious) part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts. 

The personality of the newborn child is all id and only later does it develop an ego and super-ego.

The ego - develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the decision-making component of personality. Ideally, the ego works by reason, whereas the id is chaotic and unreasonable.

The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in deciding how to behave.

Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure (i.e., tension reduction) and avoids pain, but unlike the id, the ego is concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself or the id.

The superego - incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. 

The superego's function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection.

The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives in to the id's demands, the superego may make the person feel bad through guilt. 

https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html

https://endofthegame.net/2014/04/15/child-development-101-history-and-theory/5/http://freudsigmund.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/id-ego-super-ego.html