A4-Research Project

A4-Reflective Writing

As we all know, movies, in a sense, can be seen as the description and sharing of characters’ thoughts, and audiences can usually get different thoughts and experiences through movies. In daily life, the split of thought and personality is a stage that everyone has experienced. In the state of psychological contradictions and panic and anxiety on things, people will produce contradictions in their hearts and the process of thinking separatism. However, for severe personality and schizophrenia, most people do not have a deep experience, and society, therefore, lack attention to the mental state of schizophrenia. Split in the movie, this theme has become a lot of classic important subjects, taken by the director through the absurd and the vagaries of camera language to show the audience the schizophrenic serious world, cooperate with the actor’s expression language elements and flexible lighting effects to make the audience more profound feel schizophrenic complex and contradictory inside. This paper analyzes the lens language and shooting techniques of Black Swan and A Beautiful Mind, two films on the theme of split personality, thus reflecting their performance skills on the characters’ spiritual world.

Darren Aronofsky’s film shows the audience the most complex part of human psychology, his work is the biggest characteristic of the black swan surreal paragraph is used to change the state of a normal person to a state of extreme, and this characteristic in its script has been fully established, is the basis of the characteristics of the establishment of a solid, the layered presentation of surreal paragraphs is the direct carrier of this characteristic (Sandino. 2013, p. 311). Among them, the most representative scene is the so-called schizophrenic scene. The whole film has a large number of follow-up shots, which can continuously and exhaustively show the movements and expressions of the characters while moving, and depict the world in Nina’s eyes more directly. It is very obvious in the dance. The camera takes turns to shoot with Nina as the centre with multiple shooting techniques. We can not only see Nina’s expression and eyes but also see her wonderful dancing posture and delicate body. In the walk to the dance with perturbation, through Nina’s head can see theatre, probably look cold building, hiding the devil, like the back of black wings tattoo is a symbol of black swans montage, she also can see the poster of Beth, we don’t have to see the expression on her face, completely can understand her heart was very envious. When she was practising dancing alone, the lights dimmed (Chu, et al. 2020, p. 1517). When Nina wanted to turn on the lights with the staff, she used a set of follow-up cameras. Nina walked through the darkness, the light and shadow were motley on her face, and you could see the light flickering and dim in her eyes. After seeing Lily and Thomas having sex, Lily turns to look at her, and Thomas turns into the Dark Lord, breaking down and crying. In this film, the director puts a story about the growth of a normal person into a surreal atmosphere. Through the surreal atmosphere, the normal person is eventually prompted to take on an incredible transformation and finally burst out with great power.

As for the other work, the director portrays the theme of schizophrenia and dual personality from different angles through lens language. “A Beautiful Mind” is a well-known psychological blockbuster, the hero Nas is a typical schizophrenic patient. This paper makes a psychological analysis of Nas from the performance of Nas in the movie and reveals the psychological reasons why Nas suffers from schizophrenia from the perspective of analytical psychology, to help the audience better understand the movie and mental patients. The scene I chose for the split-plot was that Nash automatically rationalized the existence of the three virtual characters, and the evidence brought by his wife when she visited him in the mental hospital could not make him deny the delusion in his heart. What makes him realize that they are fictitious is that he actively realizes that the little girl Kathy is not growing in age, proving that she is fictitious. And his wife was with him at this critical juncture, encouraging him to correct Nash’s thinking with genuine love and people, akin to faith correction. He began to struggle with his disease, to live with it, to live with it for the rest of his life. In the process of shooting, the use of lens language is skilled and ingenious. The film externalizes the conflict and illusion of the characters’ spiritual world, turns the illusory spiritual feeling into a visual and audible image, and enhances the dramatic conflict effect of the story (Rosenstock. 2003, p. 118). Nash from genius to a psychopath, the main conflict lies in the struggle and confusion of the mind, the film materialized him into different images, the combination of fantasy and reality, showing the world in the eyes of a psychopath, quietly bring the visual experience of schizophrenia. The film uses subjective shots many times to show the psychological activities and mental states of the characters after Nash enters the Pentagon. When Lou decodes the code, he uses a rotating camera to show Nash’s thinking reaction when facing abstract numbers. The 360-degree camera rotation brings a sense of dizziness, while the subjective camera directly introduces the audience into the plot and experiences the feelings of the protagonist to enhance the subjective experience.

In conclusion, for schizophrenics, there is a close intersection between fantasy and reality, and it is the confusion between the spiritual world and the real world that prevents them from fully living in reality. From the perspective of the technique of expression, the most important part of the film is to visualize the bizarre spiritual world of the split patients. Through camera rotation, montage symbolism and clever use of lighting, the director creates a strange and strange world in the mind of the patients. Through the above analysis process, from a certain point of view, the films that describe psychological problems need a lot of representation and description of the fantasy world in the lens, so they have similar characteristics with the shooting techniques and scene rendering effect of science fiction or even mythological films to a large extent.

References

1. Sandino, AM 2013, ‘On perfection: Pain and arts-making in Aronofsky’s Black Swan’, Journal of visual art practice, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 305–317.
2. Chu, SL, Brown, S, Park, H & Spornhauer, B 2020, ‘Towards Personalized Movie Selection for Wellness: Investigating Event-Inspired Movies’, International journal of human-computer interaction, vol. 36, no. 16, pp. 1514–1526.
3. Rosenstock, J 2003, ‘Beyond A Beautiful Mind: Film Choices for Teaching Schizophrenia’, Academic psychiatry, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 117–122.

Reflection 1

Through the study of this course, I have a deeper understanding of many professional lens terms and shooting techniques. What impressed me most was my understanding of montage shooting techniques. In the past, I always thought that this technique was mainly an additional lens language applied for rendering effect. However, through learning, I realized that montage is a means of expression that can conform to people’s experience and inner vision when observing the objective world, and it reproduces the thinking activities of human observation and understanding of life.

As a way of expression of the objective world, it is based on the basic psychology: montage reconstructed the people along with the shift of attention in the environment, in turn, contact inner process of vision, and when two or more than two linked phenomenon in front of us, will inevitably produce, according to the general logic of association activities. There are rules to this process and this activity. Montage is based on such a law, forming a film art language that can be understood and accepted by everyone. In daily life, people will not and can not take such a fixed Angle to observe the phenomenon of life compressed in a certain frame at a glance. Even from such a fixed point of observation as the keyhole to see the scene in the room, people’s point of view is constantly changing, he can not see the whole room at once, he sees in every moment, is only a part of the room, or even a sporadic part. The whole image of the room, which is made up of the parts we see in turn, is not a clear whole, but a montage that exists in our memory. The application and combination methods of this montage are often different due to the different psychological states of the observers.

In the narration, the film director often uses the camera lens as an imaginary observer, and thus leads the audience’s attention to the factors that are significant to the development of the plot continuously. This shift of attention is consistent with the natural shift and logical order of people’s observation of things in their daily lives. This is the basic method of film, and also a way to reveal more deeply the nature of real life.

Reflection 2

Through studying this course, I have gained a deeper understanding of the use of lens and scene performance when I enjoyed movies or dramas in the past. Generally speaking, according to the survey, a feature film is about 9,000 to 10,000 feet in total film length; The film is made up of between five hundred and eight hundred moving and stationary lenses. Moving lens refers to the lens taken by different shooting methods such as push, pull, swing and move. The fixed lens is divided into close-ups, close-ups, mid-shots, panoramas, large vistas, and elevation lenses according to the invariable position between the subject and the camera. Only when artists use these shots in accordance with the logic of human observation and understanding of life can they become the basic elements of the language of film art.

In daily life, our attention, always due to the external things to observe and understand the inner requirements and objective things to our attraction, and constantly changing direction and distance. This kind of attention direction and distance conversion, the magnitude is different, sometimes just need to roll the eyes, sometimes need to turn away, or head, head, or the whole body rotation, or even to move their body position, approach or go away. This kind of transformation, always in the unconscious continuous progress. In a theatre, people are forced to take the most unnatural Angle when they see a play on the stage. This is manifested in two aspects: first, the audience is fixed in one place, watching the actions and scenes from a considerable distance, he can not get close to the facial expressions of the actors or some important props; Nor can we follow the instinct of the heart to see what happens outside the stage frame and the performance area created by the scene. Second, the movements and scenery of the stage are limited by the frame of the stage, and in order to adapt to the fixed distance from the audience, through concentrated all the time, they can be clear at a glance. This makes the experience of the audience in the theatre completely different from their usual experience in real life.

Reflection 3

Through learning, I have a deep impression of some representative lens techniques while understanding different lens techniques, among which the most important one is the application of long shots.

The long-shot is a kind of shooting technique. Generally speaking, a long shot is the uninterrupted and complete shooting of the next complete segment, performance process or movie idea from the start to the end of the shooting process. In terms of understanding, If you take a machine two people talk, first on the left one, and then slowly turned to the right one, and then retreat, panoramic and slowly walked are rare, transfer directly to the canteen, met a friend bought rice, and then you always follow the friends upstairs, to the dormitory, lens from friends into the aisle, and then the dormitory a panoramic view，aims at the distant scenery, then shuts down. From beginning to end your shot is going through different Spaces and there’s more than one event, there’s only one shot, there are no breaks, there are no cuts, there are no interjections, that’s a long shot. Long shots do not interrupt the natural process of time and maintain the uninterrupted nature of the time process — consistent with the actual time and process, eliminating the possibility that montage can compress or prolong the actual time through lens slitting. So why do many people say that long takes are extremely difficult and expensive to take? The difficulty is mainly due to poor rhythm. There are also unexpected situations that can occur when shooting without stopping, such as the following uncontrollable situations. Another factor is whether the shooting site scheduling can keep up, such as character scheduling, equipment scheduling, lighting schedules, etc., which is a huge project. Let’s say we’re just tracking an object and we need to lay tracks and unload tracks at the same time, which is pretty difficult. A real long shot usually involves several scenes. In addition to the uncontrollable factor of the weather, the performance for a long time has very high requirements on the actors, especially on the cohesion, accurate positioning, posture, expression and lines.

Reflection 4

In this course, in addition to the lens language, I also learned about the analysis and evaluation of film scenes.

The film scene, first of all, is a spatial relationship, which prescribes and restricts the composition and processing of characters, narrative and action dialogues in a certain paragraph of the film. The scene is a macro concept, but it can also be a concrete concept, such as playground, street, river. Kitchen, bathroom, car. The scene in the film can have a geographical limitation, also can not have geographical limitation. Strictly speaking, a villa in the suburb should be a scene. However, in the specific shooting, indoor and outdoor scenes are often divided into two different scenes in the shooting and presentation. Secondly, the movie scene has a time relationship, which prescribes and restricts the time relationship of narration and action expressed in this scene. As mentioned in the course: in terms of film narrative, the change of shot is the interval; Changing scenes is changing time. Changing scenes is changing space.

A scene in a movie can clearly and unambiguously complete a relatively independent and complete narrative plot, or it can only express a small part of the narrative plot. In the process of making a film, we should also pay attention to the role of the scene in the film. A scene is a language of expression, a term of actual addition, and an expression of an independent event. The actual increase tends to be; A scene may be completed in one scene or several scenes. Because of the importance of the scene in the power plant, it is necessary to select the scene accurately and precisely. According to our analysis of modern films, the composition of scenes in films is more and more flexible, and the number of scenes is richer and richer, which is conducive to the narrative of films, to the characterization of films, and the expression of the style of films. Therefore, the applicable rules of movie scenes are what we need to analyze in detail.

Reflection 5

In video art, besides lens and scene, shooting Angle is also very important. In the past, I paid little attention to the performance characteristics of characters in TV works from different angles. However, after learning the course, I realized that the shooting Angle plays a very important role in the creation. The difference of Angle will show completely different picture light and shadow structure, position relationship and emotional tendency. Angle change will directly affect the audience’s movie-watching psychology, which is a means to adjust the atmosphere of the picture.

Therefore, if a photographer wants to communicate with the audience through the screen, he must think about how to convey the correct idea to the audience from what Angle, rather than lead the audience to the wrong way unknowingly. First of all, for the straight Angle, the Angle is the perspective from which we observe the world, which is not easy to produce any special meaning. It makes people feel equal, objective, just, calm and kind and is often used to explain the narrative. When shooting, the photographer should hold the height of the camera position in place, so that the camera is at the same height as the human eye. Shot too high or too low can give us a different look and feel, which in turn can affect how we feel about the action or the character. Secondly, as for elevation Angle, elevation Angle is usually endowed with a certain meaning. Elevation Angle can increase the importance and authority of the subject, purify the background, highlight the subject and show a strong perspective effect. It is often used in propaganda films and films that emphasize heroism. When the camera is lower than the horizontal line of the subject, it is necessary to master discretion when shooting the close-up of the characters in the performance. The Angle of overelevation at a relatively close distance is easy to cause perspective deformation. For depression Angle, depression Angle shooting is a top-down, from high to low view effect. The depression Angle reduces the importance of the subject and makes the person appear harmless and humble. Directors often shoot victims, cowards and losers from an overhead Angle. The viewing axis of the camera lens is tilted below the viewing level, and the lens is higher than the horizontal line of the subject. Similarly, overturning at a close range can easily cause distortion, but sometimes perspective distortion is used to achieve an exaggerated effect for an artistic purpose.

Similar to a straight Angle, a positive Angle is a normal way people view things in everyday life. Make people for the performance of things to see more clearly, the performance of things to achieve a glance at the effect. In movies, it is often used for tall people or stately buildings. The camera is in the front direction of the subject. When the front Angle is taken from the normal point of view, the picture often lacks perspective changes.

Reflection of Presentation

In week 9, we made a brief presentation on the progress of the research. Everyone showed the source and progress of their own research topic inspiration. The instructors also gave us many suggestions for improvement, which benefited us a lot. Jin’s presentation impressed me the most, he talked about Nolan’s film. Nolan’s film always put you into Reality and hyperspace, he would like to talk more about behind the scene in this film. He noticed that camera crane was like some incredible device. The rhythm of it is unique, and when you watch it, even if you know how it was done, it confuses your perceptions. It’s unsettling in a wonderful way. Expression using air cannons, glass, audio effect and what we do in visual effects is we can add  more destruction and more debris. He also analyzed ‘How is film superior than digital?’. Many believe that this film photography is more authentic, and more pleasing to the eye of the audience that is used to 24fps film experience. For the long time, film had higher resolution thanks to the large film prints. Film captures 100% real image taken from the lens. Digital cameras have to convert that light into digital signature, sometimes with visual artifacts. Film  is inferior to digital because more expensive to work with and store. Cameras can record much more material, and everything you film can be viewed immediately. Much less money spend in secondary costs for storing, editing, and instant viewing. Digital cameras are lighter, easier to carry, and can be created in many forms. Filming with long exposures is difficult, and can produce strong noise and light leakage. Digital cameras don’t work great with gradients and highlights. The movie is truly mind-twisting, we need to watch it more than one times that we might understand it.