Screen Dreams

Screen Dreams: A practice-based investigation of filmic dream sequences, using the dream theories of Freud, Jung, Revonsuo and Hobson. Billy Glew August 2019 This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film. Lancaster University – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts Screen Dreams: A practice-based investigation of filmic dream sequences, using the dream theories of Freud, Jung, Revonsuo and Hobson. Billy Glew August 2019 This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film. The complementary component of the submission is in the form of a film exhibition installed in room A23 of the LICA building. The exhibition will be documented through photographs and a copy of each exhibited film on a DVD included in the permanent binding of this thesis. Lancaster University – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts Declaration of Authorship I declare that the thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. Billy Glew August 2019 i Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Richard Rushton and Professor Emma Rose, for their support and guidance. Their advice has been invaluable during each stage of my research. Thank you to the teaching and administration staff at Lancaster University LICA for making me feel welcome – it has been a pleasure working with you all. Thanks to the Lancaster University technicians for your excellent work setting up my exhibition and for your help with booking vital equipment for my studies. Thanks to all the actors, performers and technical crew that I have had the opportunity to work with, for your hard work, enthusiasm and commitment. Finally, thank you to my family and friends for their continued support, and especially to my wife Anya, for her patience and understanding, and for listening when it mattered most. ii Abstract This thesis is a practice-based investigation into the production of filmic dream sequences. The research aims to demonstrate how the dream theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Allan J. Hobson and Antti Revonsuo, incorporated into film-making practice, affects the production of dream sequences. The thesis asks: Which techniques denote a film sequence as depicting a dream and how closely do filmic dream sequences correlate with the dream theories of Freud, Jung, Revonsuo and Hobson? In support of answering this question, the thesis investigates what variations in styles of dream sequence are produced by using different combinations of dream-denoting elements. As part of the practice-research, I explore methods for incorporating representations of latent dream content. After reviewing and comparing the selected dream theories, I compare two opening film sequences with similar content, 8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963), depicting a dream, and Falling Down (Joel Schumacher, 1993), depicting waking reality, discovering eight dream-denoting film-making techniques. Building on these findings, I analyse a further 49 dream sequences, revealing four additional dream-denoting techniques. I then analyse the dream sequences for correlation with the selected dream theories, including to discover if latent content is ever explicitly represented. I use the findings from my analyses to inform the production of a series of filmic dream sequences, with each film incorporating one or more of the selected dream theories into each stage of production. The thesis addresses several gaps in theoretical and practice-based film research. In film theory, the thesis provides a structured, repeatable methodology for filmic analysis specific to dream sequences and summarises the form and content of dream sequences up to the present, identifying twelve dream-denoting elements. In practice, the thesis researches detailed methods for producing dream sequences in narrative film including representing latent content, by creatively interpreting and using different combinations of psychoanalytic and neurocognitive dream theories. iii List of figures Figure 1 Original storyboard for Forest Dream. 139 Figure 2 The adapted storyboard for Forest Dream. 140 Figure 3 Forest Dream - Location one. 141 Figure 4 Forest Dream - Location one structure. 141 Figure 5 Shot one – the double. 142 Figure 6 Shot two – the man. 142 Figure 7 Shot three – blank location. 143 Figure 8 Final composited shot. 143 Figure 9 Barbed wire opening shot. 143 Figure 10 Original barbed wire mid-shot. 143 Figure 11 Original ending wide-shot. 143 Figure 12 Replacement final shot. 143 Figure 13 Muted colours - personal unconscious. 146 Figure 14 Colour becoming unmuted and light rays - shifting to representing latent content. 146 Figure 15 Colour unmuted and image clear, representing latent content. 146 Figure 16 Colour bright and sharp, representing the collective unconscious. 146 Figure 17 Mira Dream - flying girl merged with factory. 166 Figure 18 Standing girl and factory. 166 Figure 19 Girl and smoke. 167 Figure 20 Extreme close-up of television screen and factory. 167 Figure 21 Extreme close-up of animal. 172 Figure 22 Mirroring right side of Fig. 21. 172 Figure 23 Chroma-key to remove greens. 172 Figure 24 Mirroring the top half of Fig. 23. 172 Figure 25 Stabilising footage of girl. 172 Figure 26 Isolating and masking girl’s eyes. 172 Figure 27 Final composited image. 172 Figure 28 Daffodil with slow motion. 173 Figure 29 Chroma-keying of Fig. 28. 173 Figure 30 Mirroring left side of Fig. 29. 173 Figure 31 Final composited image. 173 Figure 32 Dream Three - figure’s pose set by dreamer. 182 Figure 33 Final processed image of the figure in Dream Three. 182 iv Figure 34 Testing weight of material 1. 182 Figure 35 Testing material 2. 182 Figure 36 Lazy Susan fitted to board. 183 Figure 37 Turning wheel set into frame. 183 Figure 38 Chain attached to correct gears. 183 Figure 39 Completed revolving platform. 183 Figure 40 Image with equipment and crew. 184 Figure 41 The same image as Fig. 40 in the finished production. 184 Figure 42 Original image. 185 Figure 43 Add masks between legs and around figure. 185 Figure 44 Masks applied. 185 Figure 45 Add luma key. 185 Figure 46 Add glow effect. 186 Figure 47 Add brightness and contrast plus sharpen. 186 Figure 48 Soviet Soup - still of abandoned Latvian town Skrunda. 195 Figure 49 Plants filmed around Todmorden, England. 195 Figure 50 Building and plants, combined with cut out hills from Todmorden and sky footage. 195 Figure 51 Final shot using green screen / chroma-key to insert actors. 195 Figure 52 Still for office interior. 196 Figure 53 Actor / receptionist chroma-keyed with light wrap-around. 196 Figure 54 Horizontal candle flame, overlaid to replicate moving light source from window. 196 Figure 55 Final image. 196 Figure 56 Masking left hand. 197 Figure 57 Combine left hand and reflective table. 197 Figure 58 Actor chroma-keyed with noise around hands. 197 Figure 59 Composite shot of actor, left hand and reflective table. 197 Figure 60 Night Walker - shot 1 from principle folder. 199 Figure 61 Shot 3 from principle folder. 199 Figure 62 Shot 4 from principle folder. 199 Figure 63 Shot 7 from principle folder. 199 Figure 64 Birthday footage superimposition. 200 Figure 65 Birthday merged with waterfront. 200 Figure 66 Shot nine of Todmorden park. 201 v Figure 67 Shot eleven, close-up of grass. 201 Figure 68 Shot 23 of tree in park. 201 Figure 69 Shot 24 of tree trunk on path. 201 Figure 70 Composite of shots nine and eleven. 201 Figure 71 Composite of shots 23 and 24. 201 Figure 72 Original automatic storyboard for The Shadow. 203 Figure 73 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: shots one to eight of The Shadow - panel one. 204 Figure 74 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel two and three combined. 204 Figure 75 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel four. 204 Figure 76 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel five. 204 Figure 77 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel six. 204 Figure 78 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel seven. 204 Figure 79 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel eight. 204 Figure 80 Film interpretations of the nine automatic images: panel nine. 204 Figure 81 Original image with chroma-key figures. 205 Figure 82 Image Fig. 81 blended with footage offset by four frames. 205 Figure 83 Apply the effect luma corrector to enhance Fig. 82. 205 Figure 84 Another instance of luma corrector, with output set to luma. 205 Figure 85 Representations of latent content: the second half of The Shadow, shots nine to sixteen – shot nine. 215 Figure 86 Representations of latent content – shot ten. 215 Figure 87 Representations of latent content – shot eleven. 215 Figure 88 Representations of latent content – shot twelve. 215 Figure 89 Representations of latent content – shot thirteen. 215 Figure 90 Representations of latent content – shot fourteen. 215 Figure 91 Representations of latent content – shot fifteen. 215 Figure 92 Representations of latent content – shot sixteen. 215 Figure 93 Original storyboard image. 225 Figure 94 Final image. 225 Figure 95 Original storyboard uses full figures. 226 Figure 96 medium shot of front figure in final film. 226 List of tables Table 1: iphone footage organised for selection in Hobson McCarley Dream Three 164 Table 2: Footage shot between 19/02/17 and 03/09/17 on a Samsung S7 smartphone. 199 vi Table of Contents Declaration of authorship i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of figures iv List of tables vi Table of contents vii Introduction 1.1 Introduction. 1 1.2 Outline of thesis. 1.2.1 Purpose of thesis.

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