ddacostafiction2018-blog

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critical Self-evaluation

Fiction was a tough module for me because I consume a great number of fiction film and thus at first couldn’t choose a topic. At first my mind flocked toward the countless mainstream superhero films that I, as many others had mindlessly consumed over the last few years; not finding much progress there I eventually started research on mental health and mental health in film. I had already tried to film fiction film about mental health in the past, although I lost most of the work, some takes remain. I was able to re-watch my mistakes and achievements and build on them, which was in my opinion a great exercise.  

Naturally this final version is not without flaw, I decided to make a film that lacks in dialogue because in part I wanted to highlight the isolation of the character despite her being interactive online. However, it was also in part to cover up my lack of skill as a writer. Even so, I think I've achieved positive results. For example, thanks to this experience I've become more observant of objects within the frame, how they interact with each other or with the viewers. I think I've become all around more aware of the amount of small decisions we can make in the genesis of a film and their much larger implications.  

Animation is my favorite film format, despite that or perhaps because of that I've never had the courage to try it for myself. However, I don’t mind taking a lot of inspiration from it. In the case of this fiction film I've produced the inspiration for a lot of it is the TV broadcast Bakemonogatari. When watching Bakemonogatari I often felt like I was deciphering a coded message. It requires the viewer to be proactive instead of reactive in their observation of the film, this isn't particularly new to me, but I wanted to try and recreate it. Naturally I wasn't trying to make something as complicated as what studio Shaft produced, a much smaller scale and much easier to decode messages are fine for a first attempt in my opinion.  

For my final version I tried to have a had a direct choice/influence behind everything that is visible, something that I wasn't used to doing. As a result, I am proud of the final product. Although for the next fiction film I'd like to improve on my writing skills because even though images speak louder than words, sometimes you need good dialogue too. Overall, I’m grateful and plan to keep building on the mistakes I make.  

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Final Version

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I want to use this footage in a fashion inspired by Bakemonogatari, as a placeholder for what would be a scene where the character breaks her phone. 

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Bakemonogatari. (2009). [TV] Directed by A. Shinbo, T. Oishi, A. Watanabe and N. Takeuchi. Japan: Aniplex, Kodansha.

This scene takes place in the second episode of the television series. in this episode the dark past of the character “Senjougahara Hitomi” is revealed. It’s revealed to the audience that she had almost been sexually assaulted. 

 I'm very interested in the decision making behind the animation of this scene. The mix of animation and photography, the use of a dissected body.

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Mental illness is a subject that tend to be romanticised in my opinion. To name a few examples:

The Joker (preformed by Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix) 

Jack Torrance (preformed by Jack Nicholson)

Dr. Hannibal Lecter (preformed by Anthony Hopkins)

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The story goes that during the showing of L'Arrivee d'un train en gave de la Ciotat in 1895, people were so terrified at the sight of the oncoming loco- motive that they tried to hide under their seats. Today's filmgoers are un- doubtedly a good deal more hardened, but the cinema has itself evolved considerably since the days of the Lumiere brothers. Thus even today any cinema visitors who are in a position to observe their fellow film spectators will see reactions that are not too different from those of the primal filmgo- ers. People cover their faces, shrink back against their seats, and scream "Oh, no! Not that!" The irrationality of such reactions is striking. It is, after all, only a film. All the usual cliches present themselves: the plastic shark, the tomato ketchup blood, the starstruck lovers played by two people who can- not abide each another. Film is make-believe, and we know it.

Tan, E.S., 2013. Emotion and the structure of narrative film: Film as an emotion machine. Routledge.

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Symptoms associated with mental illness are observable on Twitter, Facebook, and web forums, and automated methods are increasingly able to detect depression and other mental illnesses. In this paper, recent studies that aimed to predict mental illness using social media are reviewed. Mentally ill users have been identified using screening surveys, their public sharing of a diagnosis on Twitter, or by their membership in an online forum, and they were distinguishable from control users by patterns in their language and online activity.

Guntuku, S.C., Yaden, D.B., Kern, M.L., Ungar, L.H. and Eichstaedt, J.C., 2017. Detecting depression and mental illness on social media: an integrative review. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 18, pp.43-49.

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Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others.

People of any age can have BDD, but it's most common in teenagers and young adults. It affects both men and women.

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During the past decade, online social networking has caused profound changes in the way people communicate and interact. It is unclear, however, whether some of these changes may affect certain normal aspects of human behavior and cause psychiatric disorders. Several studies have indicated that the prolonged use of social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook, may be related to signs and symptoms of depression. In addition, some authors have indicated that certain SNS activities might be associated with low self-esteem, especially in children and adolescents.

Pantic, I., 2014. Online social networking and mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(10), pp.652-657.

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These pictures are screenshots from some clips that I had shot over the summer for a film about mental health. However, at the time I was not pleased with the end result. This new piece will be better because I plan to use knowledge from my last attempt.