For the Film Studies unit. I chose to complete my final assignment in the form of a short film applying the ideas of Jacques Lacan, one of the previously researched theorists for this unit, including his theories of the Mirror Phase and Lack - as per the assignment brief.
Concept & Planning
The concept of my short film, titled 'A Dream of Lack' was to apply Lacan's ideas to a predominantly montage-based narrative, where an internally unsatisfied character falls asleep and has a strange dream in which they experience a series of situations connected by their lacking nature, often expressing this nature by being incomplete or unsatisfying in some way. This plays out while the audience hears a non-diagetic voice-over of the philosopher Alan Watts giving a talk featuring ideas relevant to Lacan's theory. Additionally, the film is put to music which accompanies the visuals by reinforcing a dream-like atmosphere.
My idea for this film was partly inspired by the song 'Dreams' released in 2013 by the artist 'Nuages', which features a sample from the same Alan Watts talk. Although, the Alan Watts talk itself was also a major source of information. Planning the film during preproduction led to a couple different ideas as to the type of film I wanted to make, but these elements of inspiration remained central to my decisions and the final outcome.
Overall, I think I implemented Lacan's psychoanalytical theory successfully by using the dream montage and voice-over concept to convey the feelings surrounding the ideas of Lack and the Mirror Phase.
Production
Production for my film took place over a week. This allowed me enough time to account for reshoots and overrunning as well as experimenting with any new ideas that came to mind after production had begun. While shooting, I made a point of experimenting with a variety of angles, lighting setups and framing for each of my shots to allow greater flexibility for myself when editing.
I went out of my comfort zone and tried new ideas during the production of this film by shooting a shot using a green screen and by recording some audio separately for dubbing - both in order to create the shot where my character falls from the sky at the start of his dream.
This shot could use some improvement as a lack of lighting while filming with the green screen made it difficult to perfectly key out during editing. I could have used a more comprehensive lighting setup to amend this, thus increasing the quality of the shot and giving it a more professional appearance. Similarly, the audio dubbing for my character's scream does not match perfectly with the visuals, yet it is serviceable. This could be improved by having the video displayed as a reference while recording the audio, and this likewise would increase the overall quality of my production and make the film more immersive from the audience's perspective.
An area where I excelled was the filming of shots that created meaning by reflecting the psychoanalytical theory of Lacan. For example, I portrayed the idea of Lack by including many shots where the conclusion to the action is cut out, like the fall without a landing, the spinning coin, the shading in of a circle and the turning of a head. By depriving the audience of the conclusion to these actions, I attempted to convey the feeling of never being truly satisfied that is central to the theory of Lack. Additionally, I shot actions which were inherently unsatisfying like the burger disappearing before my character could eat it and the breaking of a pencil lead. These shots were also extremely effective in conveying Lack.
This worked especially well as the nature of these shots also fit the running theme of dream logic, where the events do not necessarily make sense. I made sure to include dream logic to make my portrayal of a dream more realistic and relatable to the audience, something I feel was very successful - as reflected in the feedback I got from viewers of my film.
I gave Lacan's specific ideas relating to the mirror less representation than Lack. However, they are still featured in the opening shot, where the character looks dejectedly at his own reflection; hinting at the theme of dissatisfaction that later rises to the surface during his dream. This is a very strong opening shot as it acts as a good vessel to introduce the central theme of my film, while also being very pleasing aesthetically. Not only is the character's reflection shown in the mirror, but sunlight from the window reflects in the lens of the camera; signifying daytime and the character's consciousness during this moment.
Editing and Post-production
Due to my use of the montage format and dream logic in this film, I was able to use experimental editing. For example, I repeated and reversed some shots to add to the frustration of Lack and the disorientation of a dream, applied time effects such as changing the speed of some shots and adding an echo effect which emphasised the character's departure from reality during the dream. Another creative decision I made was to use the noise effect and a TV static sound effect to signify to the audience when the character goes to sleep and when he wakes up. This idea comes from the feeling of 'pin and needles' or 'static' present when an arm or leg falls asleep. Rather than just one body part, this happens to my character's whole reality.
Due to the shot ideas mentioned previously, the cuts in this film were essential to the creation of meaning for the portrayal of Lacan's ideas. Therefore, I used jump cuts successfully throughout the film to apply the theory and create a feeling of dissatisfaction designed to be felt by the character in my narrative as well as the audience upon experiencing these cuts.
Health & Safety
During the production of my film, myself and the actor took care to plan out the shooting process verbally. I also made sure to be aware of the filming equipment used on set, including a camera tripod, a ring light, and a green screen. Everyone involved also followed the recommended COVID-19 guidance from the government during filming. Therefore, I feel this was a safe production.
Conclusion
After assessing many aspects of the creation of this short film, it is clear that I have succeeded in applying the psychoanalytical theory of Lacan via a short film production in a variety of ways, while also creating my own unique meaning. However, there are also some areas in which I can improve when working on future film projects, particularly my practical such as use of ideal lighting setups for green screen shots and recording audio for dubbing - both of which requiring more practice. Therefore, making this a balanced success on the whole.
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