Maya Deren - At Land (1944)

'At Land' (1944) is one of Maya Deren's following shorts after 'Meshes of the Afternoon' (1943). This is a gripping short which explores a woman trying to keep her identity. The plot follows a dream-like narrative in which a woman, played by Deren is washed up on a beach and goes on a strange journey encountering other people and other versions of herself. I particularly love the opening scene where the ocean is reversed, it is a really gripping scene and it makes me excited to begin trying techniques like this for my own film.

I love the way Deren's work experiments with reality creatively. It is explored in a way which makes people think 'out of the box'. The scene in the film where the woman is walking along the beach picking up the rocks shows the raw emotions of despair and panic she is going through whilst trying to 'keep her identity.'

 I am really interested in experimenting with reality and developing a visual experimentation piece that portrays the Psychological dislocations of the human mind.

'Artistic freedom means that the amateur filmmaker is never forced to sacrifice visual drama and beauty to a stream of words...to the relentless activity and explanations of a plot...nor is the amateur production expected to return profit on a huge investment by holding the attention of a massive and motley audience for 90 minutes...Instead of trying to invent a plot that moves, use the movement of wind, or water, children, people, elevators, balls, etc. as a poem might celebrate these. And use your freedom to experiment with visual ideas; your mistakes will not get you fired.'

Maya Deren Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

Maya Deren was an experimental film maker in the 1940's and 50's. Maya produced surreal short films which created an experience she combined her passions; voodoo, dance, subjective psychology in a range of surreal black and white films with unusual camera angles, slow motion, jump- cutting and circular narratives. I have been watching a lot of Maya's work particularly due to the fact I want to make something similar. 
When I watched Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) I felt almost as if i was being hypnotized and could not take my eyes of the screen, I loved the use of psychologically symbolic images; The rose, the grim reaper type character with a mirror for a face, a door unlocked, a knife in a loaf of bread and a phone off the hook. I love that the symbols give a meaning which isn't obvious.

The film is so creative and shot in a way which reflects that. The use of shadows and the circular narrative of a woman walking down a road repeats a number of times. The short is making connections between places and emotions but in a way which is unique to any other form. The film was actually quite terrifying, moreso than any of the modern horror films made today. I think it is exploring the unknown and portraying it in a fantastic way.I am really influenced by this style of film making and I am sure that this is the style I will be creating when making my own film.

Basic Proposal. . .

The purpose of making this piece is to complete my Higher National Diploma in Media Production in order to progress into further study. However although this is a must do for my course it will also reflect myself and my works for show-reel's and so on. I want to engage and audience to make them feel a particular emotion, I want to produce a beautifully shot piece that possibly educates people about the un-seen Psychological dislocations that a lot of people suffer from.

I want to produce this for the widest audience possible, considering it will be shown at the Odeon Cinema I want it to appeal to a range of audiences, including young people, adults, lectures and so on. Although the certificate in the Brief is '15' so I will have to research this and be careful when thinking about how to show specific aspects of Psychological dislocation. The film will be shown on You-tube also.

I want to show a persons thoughts and feelings through the use of surreal dream sequences of delusional effects. I want to experiment with the use of photography and sounds and also editing to come up with a sequence that explores a specific psychological state. I am unsure at this moment as to what I will show but I am enjoying exploring the surreal side to the film industry.

I want to show my piece in a way which uses little dialogue and focuses heavily on the visuals, although I am also thinking of using a voice over to enhance the mood I am going to portray.

I plan to stick to the style of an Art-house type film that does not necessarily portray a story but makes the audience feel a particular way about the theme dislocation, I am very excited to explore this style of film- making because I have not yet worked on it. Although I have a great passion for documentaries and realism I feel that choosing to do something more surreal and arty will both enhance my technical skills and qualities and my film making abilities as a whole.

Wild at Heart - (1990) By David Lynch

Wild at Heart is a Surrealist almost nightmarish film about two lovers, Sailor and Lula who are on the run from Lula's over controlling and possessive mother. The film has elements of crime and violence especially when Lula's mother calls in private assassins to go and find her daughter and kill sailor. The first time I watched this film I could not take my eyes of the screen nor could I get the story and characters out of my mind for days, It influenced me very well and it is one of the reasons I have chosen to study film and hopefully get a chance to work in the industry in the near future. The film has elements of surrealism and symbolism throughout which are done brilliantly, For example Lula's mother is portrayed as the devil/ wicked witch of the story. The film is almost like a dream, with references to The Wizard of Oz.

Lula's mother is upset that she didn’t lead a better life, having been raped by her Uncle Pooch at the age of 13. Lula is a very excentric character who is very sure of herself. Although it could come across that she and indeed her boyfriend Sailor are dislocated from society due to Sailor not having much parental guidance and being in prison and Lula trying to live with her over-bearing mother. The film is  Bizarre and fantastic, although very unusual and intriguing, Sailor and Lula come across a woman who has been victim to a car accident and is in shock, this scene has stuck in my mind since the moment I watched and I think it is very Psychologically distressing, the scene mixed with the orchestral music makes it one of the most memorable film scenes I have watched. For my own film I could only dream of coming up with something as remarkable as this film. 

Looking back over my favorite 'Psychological' films . . .

The tenant (1976) By Roman Polanski

When I first started thinking about Psychological films I could take influence from the first one that sprung to mind was Roman Polanskis' The tenant - The story of an estranged Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski), a quiet and unassuming man who is renting an apartment in Paris whose previous tenant, Simone Choule, attempted suicide by throwing herself out the window and through a pane of glass below. This film is based around paranoia, just like Trelkovsky we do not know what is going on and who to trust or if it is all in his mind. I throughly enjoyed the work of Roman Polanski in this film and also in 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968)  which has similar psychological and frightening paranoia sequences. Although Polanski keeps the element of paranoia quite simple it is still one of my most memorable films. For example in this clip one of Trelkocskys' obscure neighbors comes down to complain about the noise, which is not abnormally loud and the whole essence of his body language, appearance and tone of voice instantly sends shivers down my spine. Polanski has captured the Psychological element to this film fantastically. We as an audience feel Trelkovsky's pain, we almost feel like we are Trelkovsky.

Another really interesting and almost distressing scene from the Tenant is the scene where the protagonist is almost on 'show' or performing a theatrical act to all of the other tenant's in the apartment block. It is filmed in a way which is so creative and adds to the psychological aspect of the film. 

Introduction - 'Dislocation'

This week we were given the theme for our end of year pieces. The theme we were given to work with is 'Dislocation.' The first thoughts that came to mind were quite vague as I wasn't entirely sure of the word's definition. After searching the definition -'disturbance from a proper, original, or usual place or state.' I began thinking of concepts and vague ideas and possibilities and ways I could explore this word visually. As 'dislocation' is such a broad theme that covers many possibilities I am excited to have a lot of creative freedom.

Although there are various routes I could take with this theme be it a physical dislocation or being dislocated from your routes, hometown, geographical aspects of the word dislocation. From the outset I really wanted to begin exploring a Psychological Dislocation as its something I am interested in. I feel this is also a very intriguing choice because the Psychological side, what is going on in our brain's cant necessarily be seen by the naked eye so I think it will be a lot of fun trying to portray it and give it an identity with the use of surreal film effects.

I also think that the Psychological side of the theme is also very broad and will give me a lot to think about. However, I am still very open minded and I will be doing a bit more research before I make any final decisions.