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Video Essay: German Expressionism, Explained. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecuQdkBx1ic.

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Video Essay: German Expressionism, Explained

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German Expressionism is a film movement that emphasizes on the expression of inner thoughts or emotions through the control of stylistic elements. The film movement, having born directly under the influenced of German’s defeat during World War I, was an expressive form used to describe the mentality of a defeated nation stricken with poverty and anger.

German Expressionist films are therefore notable for their dark themes of insanity, horror, death and fatality that translate into the film’s mise-en-scene and narrative. It counters the principle of realism and practices extreme distortion as means to communicate inner emotional reality. The story takes place in a constructed reality in which the characters live in a world of deformity. This is done to express a subjective viewpoint by abstracting realistic details and contingencies, bringing out the essence of an object, situation or state of mind.

Distorted shapes and lines in set design that counter the sense of balance, heavy shadowing along with theatrical actor movements are practiced in German Expressionism to suggest a warped or perverted perspective of the world. The story world is twisted as a reflection of the storyteller’s emotional state.

Dramatic shadows are seen as an element of the horror story to give off the shady and ominous feel. Shadow plays an important role in the narrative in which the shadow becomes the storyteller by reflecting the actions of the characters. The use of shadow to reveal the character’s action plays with suspense and the audience’s psychology. This in turn elevates the creepy mood and hints on the dark intent of the antagonists. In Nosferatu, Count Orlok’s ability to subdue humans is shown rather implicitly with the gesture of him grasping his hand and the shadow of it casting right onto the position of Ellen’s heart.

“Murnau makes excellent use of shadows and silhouettes in Nosferatu to create the aura of a creature belonging to another world and convey a paranoid sense of evil omnipresence” (Blakeney, 2010).

On the other hand, Gothic makeup and clothing along with exaggerated movements of the actors are also expressions to the distortion of reality that further suggest ill psychological states.

Expressionist films often employ flat lighting to stress the connection between the character’s and the décor. As the contrast and imbalance in the visual elements suggest, the characters are trapped and ruled by their madness, revolt, self-analysis and primitive, sexual savagery. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari takes an anti-heroic approach in which the initial protagonist is revealed at the end, to be a madman. The story of Francis becomes a madman’s story, constructed in the realm of his insanity. A sense of revolt is observed in Francis’s attempts to combat the evil Dr. Caligari and the murderous somnambulist Cesare.

In Nosferatu, the center of all insanity stands Count Orlok, the invincible vampire or Nosferatu with his unstoppable menace and thirst for blood. His uncontrollable desire for Ellen’s blood and beauty drives him to travel in his coffin filled with earth from Transylvania to Wisborg, victimizing the townspeople in an outbreak to his comfort. The madness that consumes him eventually leads to his own downfall when he becomes too occupied with Ellen’s blood to notice the break of dawn. It is imprinted in the count, the beastly, primitive and sexual savagery that directs him to seek pleasure in taking the blood and lives of beautiful women. The lead of the story (Hutter) however, is weak and helpless against the evil for revolt. It was ultimately Ellen, who despite her fears and gender inferiority musters her courage to invite the Nosferatu into her room in order to destroy him.

The themes and visual style of German Expressionism are later widely used in horror and fantasy stories, crime thrillers, melodramas, social dramas and historical epics to create the sombre mood. American Film Noir which centers on the corrupt underworld of crime was put under the direct influence of German Expressionism.

References

(2009). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. In S. C. Benyahia, F. Gaffney, & J. White, Film Studies: The

Essential Introduction (pp. 175-182). Oxon: Routledge.

Blakeney, K. (2010). F.W. Murnau, His Films and their Influence on German Expressionism.

Retrieved March 2, 2012, from Student Pulse Online Academic Student Journal:

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/371/2/fw-murnau-his-films-and-their-influence-on-german

expressionism

Johnson, M. (2010, September 3). Factoidz. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from German Expressionist

Cinema: http://popular-culture.factoidz.com/german-expressionist-cinema/

Madgermanexpressionism.blogspot.com. (n.d.). Unique Characteristics of German Expressionism. [online] Available at: http://madgermanexpressionism.blogspot.com/2012/03/unique-characteristics-of-german.html.

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Production Designers are the heads of department on film and are responsible for the entire art department.

They help Directors define and achieve the look and mood of a film.

Production Designers begin work at the very early stages of pre-production. They may be asked to look at scripts to break them down in order to provide budget estimates before a Director is even approached. On first reading a screenplay, they assess the visuals described that will help create atmosphere and bring the story to life.

After preparing a careful breakdown of the script they meet with the Director to discuss how to shoot the film and work out whether to use sets and/or locations, what should be built and what should be adapted and whether there is a visual theme that recurs throughout the film.

They also consider whether there are design elements that may give more depth to the film and whether CGI (computer generated imagery) should be used.

Production Designers must calculate the budgets and decide how the money and effort will be spent. Then there’s an intense period of research during which they and their Specialist Researchers source ideas from books, photographs, paintings, the internet, etc.

Production Designers deliver their design sketches (showing mood, atmosphere, lighting, composition, colour and texture) to Art Directors who oversee the production of technical drawings and models, which are used by the Construction Department to build the sets and adapt locations. Prop Buyers and Set Decorators source props and organize the manufacture items.

Film Crew. (2018). Art & Design Department. [online] Available at: https://thefilmproduction.wordpress.com/art-design-department/

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-script breakdown
-concept art (scenography, costumes, visual identity and posters)
-boards
-storyboard
-location choices and sets
-casting
-pre-production publication

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Script Breakdown 101. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMep2s_T89c

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I read this book in my pre-teens and by then I was already fascinated by Tim Burton's work. Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice for example were always equally aesthetically pleasing to me, even though one is musical stop motion animation and the other is a live action movie.

He always portraits the outsider kind of character in his movies, and I identify with that greatly, not to mention his design of characters, sceneography work, lightning and the actual stories he writes. Other topics he tackles are romance, struggle, change, fear and dreams- all of which are very present in my own likes and work.

I realized he has a fascination with spirals, they are whimsical but creepy at the same time and have a huge symbolism to them, so I like them as well.

Anyway, he had a rough life and overcame all that, expressing himself through stories and art

The Fantastical Imagination of Tim Burton. (n.d.). [ebook] Available at: https://www.mindmeister.com/generic_files/get_file/2108104?filetype=attachment_file.

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Stephen and Timothy Quay, born June 17, 1947) are American identical twin brothers who are better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They are influential stop-motion animators.

They are also Tim Burton's biggest influences, which is easily noticed once you know Tim's and the Brother's work.

They produce feature films, short films, music videos and even commercials. Their films have been awarded many prizes, for example; Institute Benjamenta won the Stockholm International Film Festival: Grand Prix (1995)

Their aesthetic is very dark, the noises make you uncomfortable, the shots are sometimes confusing and very zoomed in. The dialogue in the movies is usually irrelevant and even in make believe languages.

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a stop motion time lapse short movie I can only describe as creepy and disturbing. for some reason i love it

Stille Nacht - Dramolet. (2008). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFYuqqhNGeM.

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I`m in love with this music video. The music is creepy right from the start but it turns just as beautiful after a while. It was the first colored shots I saw from them, and even with bold oranges they still manage to make it terrifying. I love the doll house Victorian aesthetic. Everything is clearly stop motion but it's fluid with just a touch of roughness, I don't even know how to explain it.

Nocturna Artificialia 1979 - Quay Brothers. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPBpoWLpVHs.

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This short movie has a more cheerful air about it, but it still incorpora all the weirdness and creepiness of the brothers. The dolls, the black pins and the stripes all over the scenery make it dark and twisty.

The stop motion is amazing, it's so detailed and some shots and movements seem to me very hard to me, the pins dancing for example, I have no idea how they did that but it's amazing.

Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer – Quay Brothers. (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehfRYQ0K-vM.

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Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer – Quay Brothers

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Tim Burton: A German Expressionism Influence. (n.d.). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcuhSC51QsI.

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Tim Burton: A German Expressionism Influence

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Edward Scissorhands (1990) - German Expressionism

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Edward Scissorhands (1990) - German Expressionism

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Synopsis of Edward Scissorhands

Edward’s Scissorhands (1990) by Tim Burton is about a nearly complete young man named Edward who tries to have a normal life as an ordinary person. The professor who created him died before he helped Edward to change his scissorhands into a human hand. Edward then lives alone at the castle on the hill in the neighborhood. Peg, who is a sales person tries her luck at the castle and find Edward. She brings him home and catches the attention in the neighborhood. Since then, Edward’s scissorhands is so famous with his trimming skill on plants, dogs and hair. He also falls in love with Peg’s daughter, Kim. However, the neighborhood dislikes him after Edward was caught as a culprit in a robbery at James house. At last, Edward is forced to go back to his castle and continue his lonely life.

Analysis of Edward Scissorhands

Edward’s Scissorhands is one of the movies that are influenced by German Expressionism. One of the themes in this movie is self analysis. Edward is a robot that was created by a scientist and lives in the castle till he met Peg. Peg brings him back home. Edward now starts to live a normal life with his Scissorhands. He wears Bill’s clothes and look into the mirror, finding himself as a normal person like others. He helps the neighbors to trim the plants, dogs and even their hair. Later on he actually mixes around with the neighbors. He starts to discover that he can live like a regular human even though he is different from the people in the neighborhood.

Another theme for this movie is madness. We find that there are some characters that portray madness. For example, a girl who plays the organ and keeps shouting to the neighbors that Edward is not from heaven but he is actually the devil. Besides that, Edward also shows a little madness  quality in the film. After he sees Kim having a tender moment with James, he got so mad and frustrated. This was shown when he scratches the wall in the hallway to the bathroom. He faces the mirror in the bathroom and expresses his anger by scratching the wallpaper. This shows madness and the anger of Edward towards the relationship of Kim and James. This demonstrates the theme of madness because Edward has failed to control his emotion and he was not able to think rationally therefore he was throwing a tantrum and taking it out on things around him.

On the other hand, we notice some of the German Expressionism influenced styles appearing in the movie. One of the styles uses in this movie is distortion bodies and shapes. For example, in the castle, the trimmed plants appear bigger than usual. The handle of the doorknob is longer than the usual. Edward’s scissorhands is also a kind of body distortion. As an ordinary person, we use to have human hand instead of scissor hands. All these distortions clearly show the element in the film that was influenced by German Expressionism

Film-studies-3014.blogspot.com. (2012). Films Analysis : Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd. [online] Available at: http://film-studies-3014.blogspot.com/2012/03/films-analysis-edward-scissorhands-and.html.

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Intro to Storyboarding. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQsvhq28sOI&list=PLw_JAmvzR_MDWOxs_mMp21ShaW_RFzzbv&index=9

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Dante Ferretti is an Italian production designer, art director and costume designer.

Throughout his career, Ferretti has worked with many acclaimed directors, both American and Italian, including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elio Petri, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Franco Zeffirelli, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Anthony Minghella, and Tim Burton. He frequently collaborates with his wife, set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo.

Ferretti was a protégé of Federico Fellini, and worked under him for five films. He also had a five-film collaboration with Pier Paolo Pasolini and later developed a very close professional relationship with Martin Scorsese, designing nine of his last eleven movies.

In 2008, he designed the set for Howard Shore's opera The Fly, directed by David Cronenberg, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Ferretti has won three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction; for The Aviator, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Hugo. He had seven previous nominations. In addition, he was nominated for Best Costume Design for Kundun. He has also won three BAFTA Awards.

En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Dante Ferretti. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Ferretti.

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transitions and cuts and their meanings and uses

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transitions and cuts and their meanings and uses

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Cuts & Transitions 101. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI.

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A film about depression that isn't depressing; how's that for a small miracle?  It's Kind of a Funny Story is a title perfectly suited to this appealing slice of despondent life, one that comes by its laughs in insightful ways.

Craig is a clinically-depressed and near-suicidal teenager who begs to be admitted to a counseling center before he makes the ultimate wrong choice.  With the teen-wing under renovation, Craig is checked into the adult psychiatric ward for a five-day minimum, and the experience becomes more than he bargained for.

Sort of a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by way of John Hughes, it plays like a movie about Ferris Bueller's best friend (Cameron Frye's Week Off, if you will).  What unfolds is a refreshingly honest look at depression.  Craig is not saddled with the usual Freudian hang-ups.  He has no daddy issues.  His mommy hugs him.  They say "I love you."  His parents aren't perfect, but they are perfectly normal.  Craig isn't.  Why? Because he's sick.  Depression is an illness.

Removing the normal psychological clichés right off the top goes a long way in establishing the film's credibility, not to mention lifting the stigma often associated with the mentally ill.  Even when all of the social variables are favorable, people can still find themselves in a funk—sometimes seriously.

Yes, Craig has pressures—and yes, his parents' hopes and expectations compound them—but they're not out of the realm of the ordinary teenager.  If anything, Craig's home life would be rightly perceived as a healthy environment (as his well-adjusted younger sister attests).

Meds aren't simply thrown at the problem, either (as much as Craig might want that easy-out).  It's Kind of a Funny Story rightly portrays both fronts—psychological and biological—as factors in depression, but never easily reduces it to either.  It's an elusive mix of both that requires counseling and treatment to overcome, and on a very specific individual level.

While the elements of treatment are there, the story doesn't get bogged down in them (as similar films have).  Rather, it's primarily a look at the importance of community—albeit a highly eccentric one here.  They are a motley crew of the mentally ill, most of whom provide nothing more than comic relief and flavor, but for Craig there are two who make a profound impact.

The first is Bobby, played by It-Comic Actor of the Moment Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover).  Predictably cast as the unpredictable oddball, Galifianakis is in his wheelhouse of weirdness, playing bizarre thoughts completely straight.  He excels above similar actors (even good ones, like Jack Black) by layering his quirk with edges of melancholy—whether for laughs, poignant revelations, or  simply to keep us guessing.

The other main influence is equally predictable: a girl.  While Noelle fills a stock role, up-and-coming actress—and Julia niece—Emma Roberts (Hotel for Dogs) makes her authentic.  She plays up neither the meet-cute moments nor emotional wounds, letting charm escape her guarded sadness, and has a playful sarcasm to boot.  As Craig, Keir Gilchrist (Showtime's United States of Tara) anchors the story in similar fashion, living out the awkwardness and angst while not insufferably lost in it.  That balance makes him empathetic, not pathetic, and we can relate.

As counterproductive of an atmosphere as a psychiatric ward can be, the setting allows Craig to can gain perspective on his own anxieties and fears.  He is our cipher, helping us to do the same, to think about what worries and even depresses us, to see those things in a broader picture and realize that, in most cases, even the worst-case scenarios aren't really as bad as we let our minds make them out to be.

Indie darlings Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden deliver a lighter affair than their previous directorial efforts (Half Nelson, Sugar), and the transition in tone feels effortless.  They stay true to their naturalistic sensibility while, for the first time, finding humor in it.

Animation is also used in inventive splashes, but Fleck and Boden never sacrifice realism for the sake of style or a joke.  Indeed, this isn't a jokey-script at all, nor is their direction.  Still, they have a flair for crafting a funny and accessible entertainment (best exemplified in a daydream sequence that turns David Bowie's "Under Pressure" into a triumphant anthem).

It's Kind of a Funny Story is also an uplifting one.   It has laughs, drama, and pathos.  Realism may be softened a bit, but the experience is no less credible.  It inspires us to embrace life—to run, hop, skip, breathe, live!—in a way that makes us firmly believe we can, and that we can handle anything come what may so long as we do it together.

Crosswalk.com. (2010). Depression Isn't So Depressing in This <i>Funny Story</i>. [online] Available at: https://www.crosswalk.com/culture/movies/depression-isnt-so-depressing-in-this-funny-story-11639218.html.

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One of the most damaging stigmas surrounding mental health is shame. The personal pressure to maintain a ‘normal’ façade is all consuming and perpetually draining. It is an onerous full time job shrouded in secrecy.

Others see a functioning human being - working, chatting, socialising with an occasional laugh or smile - but behind closed doors in the personal confines of home nothing could be further from the truth. We mask the all-encompassing darkness that seeps into every anxiety-ridden moment, a private Pandora’s Box that only self-erupts when alone.

Mental illness is a wholly internalised affair, it’s an endless production line of emotional affliction and outright frustration, which can sporadically manifest as painful self-mutilation. Every thought and feeling (not matter how microscopic) is so inwardly bound that interpersonal relationships become unwillingly stifled. Meaningful conversations are diluted to a handful of apathetic words, whilst scathing internal dialogue prevails even louder.

Prozac Nation (based on Elizabeth Wurtzel’s same title memoir) is a tempestuous tale of college survival co-aligned with spiralling clinical depression. Embarking on her first year at Harvard with a coveted scholarship in journalism, Lizzie (Christina Ricci) is a prize winning student who rapidly envelops herself into a party scene of drugs, alcohol and promiscuity. Riding high on her initial success both academically and socially, she suddenly hits an impenetrable stumbling block after an all-night binge of narcotic-fuelled writing.

This volatile teenage autobiography saw Erik Skjoldbjærg (Insomnia) at the helm of the jaded film adaptation, which premiered at Toronto Film Festival back in 2001. It was ultimately limited to a minuscule theatrical release before receiving its US debut on the TV channel Starz (at the time, barely seen) four years later. A pity, because this film has real power.

In it, the free flow ebb of Lizzie’s life quietly judders to a joyless halt, it sees friendships tactlessly fractured and strained parental relationship hit breaking point. It’s a relatable yet arm’s length examination surrounding the ugly side of mental health. Lizzie quotes Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises when detailing the snake-like grip of depression, "Gradually, then suddenly" (referring to Mike Campbell’s character's description of bankruptcy). “That's how depression hits”, she muses, “you wake up one morning, afraid that you're gonna live.”

In the soul scraping depths of desolation, death seems like the only and final solution. Existence is too much a burden, with every moment seeming harder than the last. In contrast, plateauing depression seeks to shield the undesired notion of feeling, in essence neither living nor dying but rather switching off altogether. Wurtzel shrewdly narrates these two rivalling states with excruciating dexterity.

The razor sharp accuracy of Wurtzel’s prose unflinchingly depicts the bare bones reality of mental illness. Lizzie lives through cycles of insomnia, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies, but behind all the agony is a narcissistic protagonist that flouts the convention of sympathy. This rapid level of egotism sits aside depression but simultaneously forces watchers to confront their own behaviours. Lizzie rages and rants at her overbearing, chain smoking mother (Jessica Lange) who through hell and high water has been her daughter’s greatest advocate. Belittling and humiliating her most caring relative at every given opportunity was hard to stomach, but then it dawned on me that I in some way was Lizzie too, albeit a watered down PG version.

I had always apologized and made up for my outbursts, and I never enjoyed fighting, in fact quite the opposite. It always stemmed from a bottled up repression of emotion, like a well shaken soda can ready to pop. There was an unspoken correlation between the increase in irritable upsurges and my deteriorating mental health.

However, observing full blown arguments from an outsider’s perspective felt utterly monstrous. Witnessing this stone cold revelation reinforced my ideal of complete worthlessness. I felt wholly despicable and unworthy of love.

During therapy Lizzie begrudgingly tells her unwanted therapist Dr Sterling (Anne Heche) “I just keep thinking that if I could just be normal, if I could just get out of bed in the morning, everything would be okay.”

That line sticks with me, there are many times I still can’t get out of bed and just a trip to the bathroom seems the equivalent to climbing Mount Everest.

Prozac Nation’s dark and at times emotionally brutal narrative is refreshingly honest in its character flawed portrayal of mental health, which imparts a candidly humanistic depiction of blemished reality. And I think we should champion the films that have the courage to directly address this.

Den of Geek. (2017). Prozac Nation: a film breaking down a mental health boundary. [online] Available at: https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/prozac-nation/49327/prozac-nation-a-film-breaking-down-a-mental-health-boundary.

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Girl, Interrupted saw Angelina Jolie scoop her very first Oscar (for Best Supporting Actress) back in 2000 thanks to her seductive portrayal of charismatic yet heartless sociopath Lisa Rowe. Directed by James Mangold (Walk The Line, Logan), this searing psychological drama is an engaging yet loose adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s best-selling 1993 memoir, which documents her intimate struggles as a troubled teenager confined to the volatile hierarchy of psychiatric care during in the 1960s after a botched suicide attempt. The film stars Winona Ryder as promiscuous 'rebel' Kaysen (who also served as executive producer) alongside a host of A-listers including Whoopi Goldberg, Brittany Murphy and Jared Leto.

And it's a film that means an awful lot to me. Its language hit home at a very difficult point in my life. And I need to go personal to explain why.

Depression silently seeps into everyday life with a minimalist trickle, methodically repossessing every discernible source of joy until it sucks your very life-force to a perilous tipping point. This hazy yet crushing realm of emotional torment is devoid of any empathy or self-care. It’s openly barred, the very thought of personally imposed kindness is utterly shameful and unjustified. Any form of social connection gradually dissipates, allowing your mind’s parasitic tendencies to turbo charge into full destructive mode. It’s the ultimate self-sabotaging companion.

During my most isolated, death wishing moments I craved for belonging; I wanted to know that despite the pain that consumed me, I could somehow crawl back from the labyrinth of endless despair to a plane of authentic understanding. Since I had chosen self-imposed seclusion my source of comfort came from movies, privately devouring these respites of assurance. They slowly chipped away at my crippling sense of loneliness and began to gently encourage a sense of community and camaraderie (even if it was only fictional).

Girl, Interrupted was the first film that truly resonated for me on a personal level when it came to dealing with mental health issues. I had several epiphanies throughout Kaysen’s cinematically transcribed memoir, which recounts her turbulent two year stay at a psychiatric hospital in the late 60s. I have never been institutionalised during my near decade battle with anxiety, depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. However, the universal servitude of emotional suffering defies any physical location, and is inherently empathetic no matter the narrative.

It was one line that really, really got me. “I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. You hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside.”

Time almost seemed to stop when I initially heard these words; the profundity of this statement sent a wave of solidarity to every atom in my body. The very feelings I couldn’t intelligibly define or rationally connect with had been penned well over 40 years prior, it was a life changing moment that hammered home the significance of brutal candidness when tackling mental illness.

Girl, Interrupted confronts a diverse range of diagnoses that array from Borderline Personality Disorder through to OCD and schizophrenia. Despite the varying symptoms and medications the uniting theme of pain is agonisingly evident between the co-habiting patients. In the face of chaos and turmoil humour is still found even in the bleakest hour. On a trip to the local ice-cream parlour Susanna (Ryder) retorts “You know, taking us for ice creams in a blizzard, makes you wonder who the real whack jobs are.” This vital flash of normalcy is paramount to recovery, slowly facilitating an emotionally stable reality in which to build upon healthy coping techniques.

The rawness of dialogue in Girl, Interrupted is alarmingly harrowing at times, too. “When you don't want to feel, death can seem like a dream. But seeing death, really seeing it, makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous”, for instance. However, it is key in breaking down stigma both personally and publically. It signals that there should be no shame in reaching the seemingly inescapable boggy marshes of rock bottom. Watching others in similar predicaments to myself was wholly alien at first, but rapidly became of fuzzy safety blanket of timid acceptance. It felt as though someone had peered into my broken soul and replaced the puzzle pieces into a somewhat legible pattern.

“Crazy isn't being broken, or swallowing a dark secret. It's you, or me, amplified” eulogies Susanna during the final stages of treatment, and it suddenly struck me that my illness was a crosswire of biology and wasn’t my fault as I so vehemently believed. This dawning revelation started a slow but sure filtering of emotive openness I that had fervently repressed before, too proud and scared to bare the true extent of my distress.

Girl, Interrupted maybe a Hollywoodized ideal of psychiatric care with several glaring flaws, but I’ll be forever be grateful for its mainstream accessibility which enabled me to begin fighting against the oppressive storm of my own mental health.

Den of Geek. (2017). Girl Interrupted and One Profound Line of Dialogue. [online] Available at: https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/girl-interrupted/264439/girl-interrupted-and-one-profound-line-of-dialogue.

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this poem really speaks to me, it perfectly represents bipolar disorder, both depression and mania. the best part is that it deals with this complex topic in a very light and hopeful way. It shows all the hard parts but instead of shaming them Neil Hilborn treats his "defects" as superpowers, just like I do. My depression is just preparation for a season of genius, my anxiety is the universe warning me, my dreams predict the future, and my hallucinations are proofs that there is so much more to life, the cosmic energies and the world than what "normal" people see, that doesn't make me broken or crazy, it makes me exceptional and serves as motivation that I'm just that strong and that I can make a difference. I feel more because I see more, I think harder and I dream bigger- those are traits of greatness, and that is my biggest win against depression.

Neil Hilborn - "The Future" (NPS 2013). (2013). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xUEg2WxGqQ.

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this poem is very strong and real, it depicts stigma and the result of lack of support from friends and family and how depression can make someone drift away from everything. people feel lonely but still can't bring themselves to socialize. people try to "see things from a different perspective" but all the perspectives are bad. depression affects all aspects of a person's life and not giving this illness importance is the worst thing anyone can do. seeing depression as banal is also depicted in "it's kind of a funny story" and both representations are very accurate.

Sabrina Benaim - "Explaining My Depression to My Mother". (2014). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqu4ezLQEUA.

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Sabrina Benaim - Explaining My Depression to My Mother

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An artistic masterpiece, Black Swan is a 2010 movie of the Psychological Thriller genre. A truly exciting, beautiful and mesmerising movie, it was directed by  Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder. The movie was not only a success among the masses but also went on to be nominated for five Academy awards of the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing categories and won one for Portman’s performance in the leading role!

The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which Portman’s character, Nina is a perfect fit, but she must also play the dark, seductive and evil Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new arrival Lily (Kunis). To secure her role as the white swan, Nina must get into character and bring out her deepest hidden feelings of malice, hatred, aggression as well as passion which slowly leads to her own downfall. The film shows us how Nina gets so mentally and emotionally engrossed in her character that she develops a mental disorder of an Obssessive Compulsive types.

The movie is shot beautifully and shows us how the production slowly destroys the good, obedient girl Nina as she starts suffering from OCD, anorexia(seen when she stares at a grapefruit and turns away the slice of cake her mother gives her in order to celebrate her getting the role), bulimia( seen as she keeps ruuning to the washroom to throw up) and falls under the pressure and stress to be perfect.  Nina’s portrayal as the Black Swan destroys her. It is metaphorical in a way that the character achieves artistic perfection because of the psychological and physical challenges one might encounter. In director, Darren Aronofsky’s words “the film can be perceived as a poetic metaphor for the birth of an artist, that is, as a visual representation of Nina’s psychic odyssey toward achieving artistic perfection and of the price to be paid for it.”

That process of Nina being told to study Lily to obtain the seduction, passion and aggression  unhinges Nina in a series of terrifying and depressing scenes that keep shifting between reality and Nina’s psychosis. Her previously controlled and co-dependent relationship with her mother, a typical former-ballerina-turned-stage-mom which is brilliantly portrayed by Barabara Hershey, explodes into one with aggressive fights, disobedience( Since Nina used to be an obedient daughter) and violence. The film shows Nina compulsively harming herself to become the Black Swan she is trying so desperately to perfect. She keeps pulling at extra skin near her finger nail until she tears away at her skin and bleeds. Scenes such as the one where she scratches her back until she gets the swan shaped ruptures of the black swan, thrilled the audience and kept them deeply engrossed in the movie.

The character of Nina points towards her mental disorder which on close observation can be revealed to be schizophrenia. Nina seems to develop the illness due to the comptetion she faces from her mother, her feelings of inferiority from Lily and her director’s sexual advances towards her alongside her eating disorders and anxiety. Nina’s hallucinations, constantly hearing voices point towards her psychosis which ultimately lead to her end. As the movie progresses, especially towards the end, we see Nina( basically, her hallucinations) as she slowly develops webbed feet and feathers and turns into the swan. She sheds away her sweet, good girl side to embrace her darker side in order to please her demanding, sexually aggressive director. Her hallucinations are so real that it is difficult to differ between what we are watching is her imagination or reality. The scenes were disturbing, fascinating and mysterious in a way that it was tough to interpret reality.

The movie, overall, is a beautiful yet frightening depiction of disorders like Ocd, self harm, bulimia, anorexia and schrizophenia.

Movierdo. (2010). Black Swan : A Psychological Analysis | Movierdo. [online] Available at: https://movierdo.com/black-swan-psychological-analysis/.

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examples of color pallets in movies setting mood 

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examples of color pallets in movies setting mood 

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Digital Synopsis. (n.d.). Color Palettes From Famous Movies Show How Colors Set The Mood Of A Film. [online] Available at: https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/cinema-palettes-famous-movie-colors/.

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Drive.google.com. (2018). "How to Use Color in Film" by StudioBinder – Google Drive. [online] Available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1v4DLYp5AM1UmR1eWF5UGFHM0U.

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Colour In Storytelling. (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgFcNUWqX0.

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10 Best Uses of Color of All Time. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tILIeNjbH1E.

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highlights to important info

BELLANTONI, P. (2017). IF IT'S PURPLE, SOMEONE'S GONNA DIE. [S.l.]: CRC PRESS.

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From the start the shots are uninteresting, predictable and the focal point is all wrong. There’s no set design or determined colour pallet. The use of colour doesn’t add anything to the narrative. There’s this dark brown chair in the room that robs all the attention from the main character.Sure, we get the point that this character lived for her social media image, but the way it is portraited is way too simplistic and unrealistic. The VFX remind me of an episode of Black Mirror, but they are so poorly made. The sound track doesn’t match the purpose of the film- also time lapse is a terrible feature that I’ve learned in my study of cinematography should be avoided at all costs. The focus of this film, unlike it’s stated in the title, is NOT depression, it’s a critic to social media vices. The ending is inconclusive and anti-climatic. The credits have no visual identity as well, which bothered me a lot.

A Social Life | Award Winning Short Film | Social Media Depression. (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXdVPLj_pIk.

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A Social Life | Award Winning Short Film | Social Media Depression

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10 Best Character Introductions of All Time. (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5psXjzWUve8.

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10 Best Character Introductions of All Time

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I found out that there's very limited material on abusive relationships in the format of movies. Most of the existing portrayals are in independent short movies, which makes me really question how much people actually look at topics that are very important. Until we start talking about it and evidencing it nothing will change.

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notes from if it's purple and how to use color

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notes from if it's purple and how to use color

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This short film by Buzzfeed is very tragicomic. There is a man, dressed in his best suit, he has written letters for all important people in his life, put the furniture away, set the mood with music and tied the hose to hand himself. Then, there’s a lint on the floor and everything needs to be perfect. Then the music is wrong and it’s a song about seizing the day and we hear it while the hose sings. When he finally steps down from the chair guess what? The rope breaks! He goes out to buy rope and meets a man, a clerk at the store, who sees what he’s trying to do and tries to find ways to stop him, giving him time to find reasons to stay. Long story short, this movie is funny, relatable and engaging. We are put in a depressive mood at the start and it is broken over and over, we get a happy ending, which shows (though in a shallow way) that there are many reasons to stay, you just have to look for them

Finding A Reason To Stay. (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gKBPnrkv9I.

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I finally found a short movie about abuse that I like. You can see that it is amateur from the start, but they set the mood with the darkness and unsaturated colors and an appropriate soundtrack. Through the text messages we see the cycle of emotional abuse, manipulation and threats. Once our main and only character goes to the bathroom we see the bruises, the makeup isn’t necessarily convincing, but it gets the message across. In the end there are statistics and messages supposed to shock the viewer, which, again is predictable but very important

Abusive Relationships - Short Film EDHS. (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=oS1zLD0rAIQ

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Spoken poetry about toxic relationships in teenage years. It is very powerful and it starts with a simulation of a conversation, sweet words are exchanged but then as the story progresses we can see it turning violent and scary. I was very moved by the metaphors and the interpretation. It is very realistic and explains why it’s not easy to just leave and how people in abusive relationships are manipulated and blackmailed into staying in a relationship.

Mila Cuda & Jessica Romoff - "Exes". (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXRAZ4pjZo.

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This video amazed me in so many ways I can hardly describe it. As I write this I am still moved. I was expecting a short movie, the usual, but instead I got a modern ballet performance. The soundtrack was in perfect synch with the emotional charge and the movements, the interpretation was perfect. The shots were steady and fluid, the lightning was on point, giving us contrast and the descent to darkness. This was so intense there was no need for a complex set or costumes, the performers did it all masterfully.

Domestic Abuse Short Film – Break The Routine. (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uq6AUWQTB0.

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Domestic Abuse Short Film – Break The Routine

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This poem is titled with a technique of manipulation in abusive relationships called gaslighting, it is when the abuser presents information that change the other person’s perception of reality, making them believe that they are crazy and their abuser is always right and knows what’s best for their lives. This makes the abused thinks they are lost without this other person, that way they will never leave.

Tatyana Brown - "Gaslit" (NPS 2015). (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPkNoPXQ6aU.

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This is a song Rihanna wrote after breaking up with Chris Brown, who beat her up throughout their relationship. “You love when I fall apart (fall apart)/So you can put me together/And throw me against the wall” This lyrics show that the abuser only is kind when the abused is passive, vulnerable and obedient, this way they can seem supportive and loving, gaslighting the abused. In the chorus Rihanna asks the abuser to not quit loving her, and this is something abusers cultivates so the abused obeys out of fear.

Love On The Brain. (2016). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RyInjfgNc4.

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3 analogous color pallets. I designed special pallets to fit important perspectives. The abuser will be represented by red shades to represent the darkness and violence. the main character will be in desaturated blues and greens to represent submissiveness and depression. The other characters and the world will be in bright blues and mints to represent lively view and aloofness.

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one single triadic color pallet for the entire movie, though each hue still represents a different perspective

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this is a color pallet I'm really into, as it can create beautiful contrast. I deem it to be an analogous one.

Anon, (2015). [Blog] Available at: https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES.

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this is definitely a monochromatic pallet, which is still very interesting, but I'm not sure how I'd create warnings and focal points with contrast in a monochromatic way

Anon, (2015). [Blog] Available at: https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES.

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now this is a bit of a disturbing and depressing pallet, in my opinion, everything is desaturated and I'm really interested in that aesthetic

Anon, (2015). [Blog] Available at: https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES.

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this is a great (though predictable) pallet, so I think I won't do anything like it

Anon, (2015). [Blog] Available at: https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES.

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this pallet created the contrast and drama I'm going for, still keeping the sad mood

Anon, (2015). [Blog] Available at: https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES.

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Paletton.com. (n.d.). Paletton - The Color Scheme Designer. [online] Available at: http://paletton.com/.

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In love with colors, since 2002.

Paletton.com is a designer color tool designed for creating color combinations that work together well. It uses classical color theory with ancient artistic RYB color wheel to design color palettes of one to four hues, each of five different shades. Various preview style can be chosen to test and view the colors in combinations, many examples are available to see the palette used in web site design, UI design or in a randomly drawn picture. Tartan fabric preview is alos available for those interested in textile and interior design.

This palette tool uses various color models to combine adjacent colors and/or complementary colors to the main hue. Select models from monochromatic to triad or tetrad color sets, with or without a complement (the opposite hue), enjoy even the free-style mode. Play with palette brightness and saturation, select from predefined presets, or create random palettes. The unique vision simulation filter emulates the palette as seen by people with various vision weakness, color blindness, various variants of daltonism (protanopy, deuteranopy, tritanopy, protanomaly, deuteranomaly, tritanomaly, dyschromatopsia or achromatopsia), as well as several gamma simulations (simulation of too bright display or too dark print), desaturation, grayscale conversion or webcolors (the legacy 216-color palette). The palette can be exported in many various formats (HTML, CSS, LESS, XML, text, PNG image, Photoshop ACO swatch palette or Gimp GPL palette format) to colorize your artwork. Check color contrast of all color pairs used in the palette and test if the color contrast fits WCAG requirements. More info about colors in the Colorpedia.

Paletton is the successor of the previous Color Scheme Designer 3 application, used by almost 20 milion visitors since 2009 (while the first version was published in 2002), both professional designers and amateurs interested in design, mobile or desktop application design or web design, interior design, fashion or home improvement and make-overs. Complete Paletton history in Colorpedia.

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In love with colors, since 2002. A designer tool for creating color combinations that work together well. Formerly known as Color Scheme Designer. Use the color wheel to create great color palettes.

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black hair, blue eyes, skinny

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The Sensation of Sight. (2006). [film] Directed by A. Wiederspahn. United States.

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I find the characteristics defined for the character very important, because the blue of his eyes should "tint" his world view, making it gloomier and overall sad. The black of his hair is to simply create contrast and the character should be skinny to fit the aspects of poor a self-care routine of a depressed person (not eating, for example) I want his hair to be long and unkempt so it shows his lack of desire to do things like maintain his appearance. I was expressive and striking actors that will show the lack of motivation with a simple twitch of the mouth or a look.

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would need contact lenses or digital coloring

We Need To Talk About Kevin. (2011). [film] Directed by L. Ramsay. United States.

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His eyes could be color corrected to a blue-green, just as the world will be

[image] Available at: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/S679nBnel-c8wlC8z7ONd4kTWM1oNjWj3oK9hEoIe2EMWN2NEeUpsyBmUkkXt6dn7QUeLQDWT1V2qTASeFbNVjhM5YlM5d0qJA=w1366-h662.

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inspired by 'Only Lovers Left Alive' pallet

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I decide to go for Ian Somerhalder. He has a good background in drama and can show his emotions with great intensity and truth. I'll use his structure and features for the storyboard

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red hair, green eyes.

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This is very important because of the contrast between how muted and gloomy Denis looks when compared to the bright colorful Aila. Denis' worldview is unsaturated and dark, but he will see Aila as the only source of light and liveliness in his life, the answer to all problems and his only reason.

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[image] Available at: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/k3y4fdddLc4Bs7uyJRai0VigIr5acICz_jJFJYBJu7xO8gj3YT8jtMuinQidFhp_25ZBqR46Xh4IxKhkolANqjVH6e-beBELYg=w1366-h662

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[image] Available at: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/hqfRhYWhHAt8rHV0S_J1dUXTBpmxUd9rdeMNcR7wJOCs0cLU8GbOQm8d2_19DfXih1yUgJGlR9V2hK5d5eTFskOkjWej3-ujuA=w1366-h662

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add and take off mess on situation

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I decided to go for Katherine McNamara because of the perfect contrast between her eye and hair colors, as well as her mean/sweet expression. These traits will play a huge symbolic role in the composition

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Free easy to use 3D home design software

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this song evokes the madness, doubt and depression that Denis is feeling in the lyrics. The melody brings a sense of despair and urgency that the trailer should bring to entice the audience to watch the pilot

The Neighbourhood - R.I.P. 2 My Youth (Video). (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKH-rcO6PA8.

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The Neighbourhood - R.I.P. 2 My Youth (Official Video)

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Love me like you do - from Fifty Shades of Grey (Violin Cover by Karolina). (2018). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hotGUSgps0s.

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Love me like you do - from Fifty Shades of Grey (Violin Cover by Karolina)

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Costume Design: The Hidden Layer of Movie Magic. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRAmIaSlm80.

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Costume Design: The Hidden Layer of Movie Magic

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important:
casual, messy, comfortable, dark clothes
hair: long
makeup: circles around eyes, cuts and pale face

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Short groomed hair, t-shirts, no dark circles, no cuts, casual outfits, dress shirts, flannels, tank tops, still wears black but for style reasons

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red lipstick, dark clothes, black, red, sexy style- lips, eyes and hair must contrast with the clothes

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I'll design a few types, using both digital illustration and montage

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still without lettering, title and all other things

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this is my second try at a poster. I mixed illustration with montage and I completely hate it. I think I'm going to stick to the first one after all

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Good Trailer, Bad Trailer - The Art Behind Trailers. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V502wOke9xE.

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Good Trailer, Bad Trailer - The Art Behind Trailers

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How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer. (2017). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAOdjqyG37A.

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second soundtrack for the trailer

ED SHEERAN PHOTOGRAPH (instrumental). (2015). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1yeK6RJUE.

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This is Helena, the character I introduced in the trailer, the one that saves Denis and becomes his new romantic arch. Her style is way more girly than Aila's, she dresses in lighter colors and more comfortable outfits, casual clothes

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This book was used as a model for my own, just so I could understand the style of the texts, the type of content and how much of each “type”. I used green sticky notes to mark what I needed to include and how much of it. I used it basically to understand the structure of this types of books, I didn’t want to be too formal or too casual about it, knowing the balence between the amount of text and image.

McIntyre, G. and Toro, G. (2017). Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times.

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this was a second version of the first poster. I hadn`t chosen a font yet, so I tried this one but I didn`t really like it in the end and, of course, once I had chosen a font I couldn`t use this one

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this is the final version of the poster

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final version of the second poster

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final version of the 3rd version of the poster

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the file was too bit to upload so I had to link it from my onedrive

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they are on the poster column, I didn`t think I had to upload them again

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again the file was too large so I had to link it