After looking at three different psychoanalytical theories in film; Freud's theory of self, Lacan's mirror stage and 'Lack' theory, and Mulvey's Male Gaze, I decided to make a short film as my final product of the unit. I chose to focus on Lacan's theory of 'Lack' and tried to portray this in a way that I thought many young people could find relatable. Although my focus was on the theory of 'lack', Freud's theory of self is also displayed in my film with the media representing the ‘id’, the girl being the ‘ego’ and the presence of her parents being the ‘superego’.
In my film I wanted to show a personal lack of what my
character believe to be the normal life for a teenager, through watching TV
shows like Skins, due to authoritative parents holding her back
from being able to live how she wishes. There's no dialogue to imply she feels
isolated from everything and everyone around her because of the way her parents
are towards her.
I used the panning shot of the living room near the
start of the film to show the type of life the character is having to live; it
acts similarly to an establishing shot as it shows the environment and setting
that this girls life is taking place. The fading overlap used while the girl is
reading was done to show that her life is just happening, that she isn’t living
it the way she wants to. It also gives the impression that when she is at home
time just passes her by her without her noticing due to the absence of her
parents and a ‘normal’ life.
Showing the close up of the note left by her parents
makes it the only thing in shot making it the only focus point grabbing the
attention of the audience; the jump to a closer shot highlights the strictness
of the parents and how little control the girl has over her own life. Showing
this shows the parents as a ‘superego’ type presence without being present, as
they are trying to keep her on track while they aren’t around to keep her
morally stable in their eyes and society’s.
I later use the note as a layer on top of another
shot, a shot of the TV show ‘Skins’. I edited the opacity to show that as the
girl watches shows like Skins and is exposed to this lifestyle the importance
of living to her parents’ rules is slowing slipping from being a priority but
also the fades and crossovers of the titles of Skins and a
note left by the mum show that the two thoughts are crossing in her mind,
whether to be who she wants and live her life how she wants or whether she
wants to keep her mum happy and follow her rules. I decided that the use of a
show like ‘Skins’ follows along with Freud’s theory of the self, as the show
portrays the ‘id’ as it causes her to rebel and act somewhat childish by
breaking the rules her parents set to keep her safe and on track.
The close ups of the phone that show a text from 'mum'
show that although the parents aren't present at that moment in time they have
a very strong hold on the girl and what she does. The close up indicates that
it's an significant factor in the girls life, the messages her mum sends
dictates the girls life without the mum herself being around, she has that much
power and indoctrinated the girls mind with the her own ideals without taking
her daughters preferences into consideration. The shots of the girl texting her
mum I put between shots of her leaving bedrooms and the person in them and
followed with a shot of her in bed clutching onto a bottle of wine with other
alcohol and cigarettes etc over the bed and floor. I altered the speed of her
replying to give the feeling that the girl is now used to having to text her
mum the same sort of thing and that she isn’t bothered by lying to her mum.
The shots of the girl in bed with someone are the
start of her rebelling and trying to gain the life she feels she's missing, I
edited the texting in between each bed scene to show that she is starting rebel
by not just sleeping with different people but lying to her parents as well
about trusting her. The shot of the note flashing up on the fridge shows how
controlling her parents are without even being present. I chose to put it there
in the film because even though she’s going against what her parents expect of
her their still in the back of her mind trying to keep her morally balanced.
I also used close ups when she is stood in the street
smoking so that the concentration is solely on that she is smoking, which in
the lifestyle her parents have her living isn't accepted so the close up makes
it the focus of the shot.
I ended the film with the girl sneaking out and
leaving it with an open ending on what happens after she sneaks out, the ending
is left for viewer interpretation.
I feel that there are parts I would change or would have done differently, such as the when the girl is in the bed, I had intended to do a montage of her in a load of different beds with loads of different people to fully portray the idea of her sleeping around and rebelling against her lifestyle, however due to location restrictions and the lack of people willing to take part I had to change my idea and decided to do as her in two room, one obviously a male room and one a female room with the texting between them. I would feel that in places my editing could be better as I noticed that certain parts aren’t as clean as I would hope, like when the girl is texting and it swaps between the texting and her in the bedrooms, I would have liked that to be neater. However I like the part where I have reversed the opening shot and followed it with the original later in the film because I think it adds to the idea that her life is very plain and repetitive without much excitement when at home as it is a repeated shot.
