Freud and Film Films are probably the closest medium we have to experiencing the inexplicable quality of the dream in our waking lives. Rich in symbol, metaphor, movement and mystery, films, like dreams, enable us to participate in another reality, and, through that participation, to be transformed. Films are like dreams and dreams interpret symbolism in ways science has not even fully discovered yet. The images and symbols within a film are unending and unaccountable. Even the creators of films themselves cannot be aware of the unconscious impact of them all. Imagine the impact of a movie that was full of imagery that only, in its unconscious capacity, complimented the narrative. The film, October, contains an overwhelming amount of rich imagery. Perhaps this is because it is forced to because of its lack of verbal communication. When we watch the soldier standing outside the door of what I assume to be the royal chambers in October and the shots within the scene show his hands fidgeting, we assume he is nervous and even become nervous ourselves. Why? This is the type of question which plagues me in retrospect of watching the film, October, since Psychology is my main interest of study at University. When we see the soldiers hands fidgeting we associate this with anxiousness or nervousness because we have done this or have seen someone else do the same when they were anxious or nervous. Some symbols may be applicable to only certain people or all people depending on individual or collective knowledge and experience. The point is this is much more effective then having the character say, "I am nervous". The fact we feel slightly nervous ourselves is due to the fact that, through "wish fulfillment", we identif... ... middle of paper ... .... A particularly good example of this is Hitchcock's, Vertigo. Hitchcock shows a conscious awareness of this process and uses it to create a powerfully communicative film. Some films, however, do not use this process and deliberately negate it by calling attention to the apparatus of film and distancing the audience from the story. These films choose to convey their message in other ways and creating distance helps them do this. An example of an effective art film which uses this technique is Ingmar Bergman's, Persona. As film evolves and multimedia and entertainment move into areas of virtual reality, video games and internet the principles of imagery and it's symbolism combined with the manipulation of the conscious and unconscious state, whether intentional or not, will remain the most effective, important and mysterious communication tool society posesses.
“The soldier is on friendlier terms than other men with his stomach and intestines. Three-quarters of his vocabulary is derived from these regions, and they give an intimate flavor to expressions of his greatest joy as well as of his deepest indignation.” (Remarque 8) Even though the soldiers gain these personal relationships with their enemies, it is understandable that their overwhelming feelings would be of disgust and nerves. In this quote, the author visually gives an example of what the soldiers feel. By talking about their digestion and stomachs, he is relating to the stereotypical thing that happens what people get nervous or scared,
People in such intense situations, such as war, often have to emotionally shut themselves down in order to not let the effects of their actions hinder their duties. They create a stronger bond with their fellow troops and weaker regarding all other form of life. "Kiowa and Mitchell Sanders picked up the baby buffalo. They hauled it across the open square, hoisted it up, and dumped it in the village well."(681) They are disregarding the effects that it may have on the local people that must drink from this well as one of their main staples of life. It is desensitization like thus demonstrated that may cause those telling a war story, from experience, to embellish parts to evoke the intended feeling. After all that is the point of a story, to stir up a feeling, or to teach a moral.
...al but couldn’t, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly ”(104). Along with daily life, the soldiers carried their reputations and “the fear of blushing” (105). At any moment they could have abandoned the war and gone home to life, love, and a warm bed, but they never did. This was not out of courage, but rather the soldiers were just too afraid to be cowards.
Dreams. They are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur usually involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams don’t just leave the individual once they wake up, rather this is when the have the most impact. Dreams have fascinated artists from early civilizations and still to this day. Salvador Dali’s artwork was influenced significantly by the concept of dreams and the utilization of these concepts and ideas are what made him such an influential artist. The images that fill one’s head while they are asleep have the ability to greatly impact ones’ perception of the physical world. These images fascinated Dali and brought him to create some of the most iconic surrealist
“Do you count on your own tomorrow?” This is a simple yes or no question, but the answer is based highly on a person’s beliefs, morals, and worldviews. Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis were two of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, and the two join together in the play, Freud’s Last Session. Sigmund Freud was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1856. Supporter or non-supporter, everyone agrees that Freud was one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. Freud focused mostly on the interaction of the conscious and unconscious mind. Not only did he transform psychology; he transformed the way people view themselves and the way they think about their lives (A Science Odyssey). Unlike Freud’s secular and atheistic view of the world, the other great mind, C.S. Lewis, viewed the world in a spiritual way.
that two other soldiers are running in fear of the fight. He suddenly becomes rather scared
War is no child 's play, but unfortunately, we have had times in our past when the youth of our great nation had to defend it. Combat is not an easy for anyone; watching death, the constant ring of gunfire, the homesickness, fearing for your life, and witnessing bloodshed daily, this will begin to take its toll. The minds threshold for brutality can only handle so much and eventually will become sickened by these events. This sickness is called Post-traumatic stress disorder. As shown through the characters of The Things They Carried, soldiers of war may begin to show PTSD symptoms before the war is over, and may continue to fight the disorder after the war has ended.
We can start off with something that we all easily take granted for in movies and that is the imagery. We all have imaginations that can produce an accurate image depending on what we read or see, but something the books or plays couldn’t accomplish is give the image to us. So we wouldn’t have to seco...
Dreams can be used to that person advantage by lucid dreaming and create many stories so they will be able to write books about them like the famous author Stephen King. He wrote many of his stories by his dreams. Whenever he has trouble finishing a story or doesn't know where it should go next he will dream it and incorporate it in his stories. Some dreams may be show a glimpse of a person's future and give important information to them. King’s says, “Precognitive dreams are a staple of our supernatural folklore”(39). Every story and film that has come out has eventually started out from a person's mind and they must of gotten that vision from a dream. Turning that dream into something that everyone can see whether it's a book or film. “ Creative imaging and dreaming are just so similar that they've got to be related” (King 42). It must be, it all comes from the mind and just like daydreaming seeing a vision in the mind when the individual is conscious and is able to have control over
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic principles of Freud’s theories and to raise the main issues.
Based on On Dreams, written by Sigmund Freud, and Spellbound, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, provide the most psychological significant aspect of dreams through the theory of dreams made by Freud. I partially agree with Freud’s theory on dreams and the dreaming process. Dreams have the ability to form a bridge from reality to transfer over to the unconscious mindset. Throughout his article, On Dreams, he gives explanations behind his theory.
The theories of the window and frame had its origins in the schools of formalism and realism. Both schools main objective was to amplify the prestige of film. During that era of film was an upstart sideshow attraction, high class form of entertainment was the theater and the visual art forms of paintings and statues. Both schools saw cinema as a way of looking a through an aperture but keeping the audience at a distance from the subject on the screen. Whether looking through at frame or looking through a window the audience would be viewing the subject matter but they would only be able to absorb it. That’s where the similarities end the formalist lead by theorist Sergei Eisenstein saw film as frame and would create shock in an attempt to provoke or raise consciousness. Sergei Eisenstein would create what he wanted to the audience to see in his films. For example in the Battleship Potemkin Eisenstein wanted to address the situation with Russia and he created the situation in his film to incite a revolution by creating chaos. The realism school lead by André Bazin saw cinema as window. To Bazin a spectator would be apart of the film as more of a witness more than just a spectator. In the movie Rear Window Jefferies was witness to his neighbor wife murder while looking through window because while looking through a window what one sees is real.
...n and development throughout history. After the research, I learned that while most dreams are fairly coherent, patterned, which include everyday settings, people, activities, and events, they may involve relatively unusual and perhaps bizarre aspects. Altogether, these images would allow people to have the most revealing and distinctive view of who they are and what they know in daily life by telling stories in the brain. However, while I still feel that no theory can exactly interpret what dreams’ meanings really are, it is interesting to know more how human brain’s activity (dreaming) function when people sleep. Moreover, I have decided to see my dreams as a television show with different episodes at night. That way, I will be able to enjoy the dream without ruining the fun that my brain offers because I would love to see what and how my brain wants me to see.
Across the globe watching movies started as an asylum for the working class, but slowly the ideas being portrayed onscreen have evolved resulting in movie going to become almost religious. Movies have the ability to leave us in awe as a result of their ability to give us a glimpse of a dream, however unrealistic. I myself am a huge fan of the film industry. I started to feel a certain reverence for it because of the way it inspired me to dream and gave birth to my ambitions. This ultimately led to me to go into an in depth investigation of whether I was the only one who felt this way and what affects had been created because of this feeling.