The goal of my teams project is to explore the psychological dysfunction within a family. The project is aimed to form the basis of a short film in which we will express these ideas of family through. Another major part of this project is looking at the act of a voyeur in contemporary society. Inspired by the works of Gregory Crewdson, the use of the Voyeur in his photographs was really interesting to explore. Furthermore, in the culmination of ideas for this project we have been drawn to darker tones of a gothic nature, perhaps more stylised and less naturalistic than other genres of films I was originally planning to go down.

This sense of a voyeur is a critical aspect of our film and is an element that will be used to the advantage of the films story. I find the concept of a voyeur really intriguing in the way that it can affect a viewers experience on a scenario. This “experience” that is gained from being a voyeur is both tantalising and frightening, it provokes thought about our own psyche as we critically analyse someone else’s. This analysis of someone else’s life is part of how we contextualise of own insecurities. Acknowledging these insecurities and brining them to the surface is an important role of the Voyeur. It provides individuals with a way to see what they themselves want to perhaps avoid or embrace in their own lives. Our aim of the film is to generate domestic examples of how family life can be torn apart. This is an aspect of suburban life that is fascinating, because we are all aware of trying to achieve a solid family that has strong family values, devoid of any cynicism. By shining a light on exaggerated domestic scenarios in our film, this will depict plausible outcomes of a family feud. This is aimed to be confronting, pushing the audience to feel uncomfortable as they can acknowledge some sense of reality in each of the scenes in the film.

To gain a broader understanding of this sense of a Voyeur, I found the interview with Crewdson to be a very helpful asset in giving me a broader perspective of what a voyeur is. The interview raises many interesting points about what is means to peer into the world of another. Voyeurism offers a paradox that makes individuals uncomfortable yet satisfied with the level of familiarity and solitude that “peering in” from a distance offers. In each of Crewdson’s images there is this sense of a paradox, creating conflict between the beautiful nature of the photo and the ugly or violent elements of the image. This conflict creates tension within the image and the audience. Opposing elements within Crewdsons images creates deep layers that have to be pealed back to understand the “true” meaning of the image. However what was interesting is that, the more you peel back each image, the more questions are raised and fewer answers are given. His work is almost intentionally ambiguous; frustrating the observer to the point they want to look away but are intrigued at what’s going to happen next. Adopting this sense of tension is an important level of conflict that we are trying to achieve within the film. As evident in Crewdson’s work, tension is paramount to the image, it draws people in and helps solidify the photograph into the memory bank of the viewer.

Understanding what a paradox is, has allowed for a better grasp over not only Crewdson’s work, but over the way it can be used in our own project. When exploring ideas, I made an effort to try and come up with conflicting elements of bittersweet love and connection, which are relevant to our given prompt. Through these different tensions that arise within a variety of relationships, whether it be romantic or a friendship, I was able to get a better grasp over what direction I wanted to head in. This led me to family values, and through the collaboration with others in my group, we were able to arrange our ideas into a coherent piece that represented this concept of Voyeurism and paradoxical ideas.

In the process leading up to our film it will be important to not lose track of the underlying “theme” of our piece, which is concerned with family values. Although it will be great to dive into the technical elements of the film, I believe you can easily get carried away with these components of the film. We will need to discipline ourselves and make sure that we maintain a balance between working on the story to the actual production of the film. Story should always be in the forefront of our minds. At the end of the day story is a crucial aspect of the film, without it the film is meaningless, everything should be purposeful to support our story. As our roles gradually form, and we move into our given departments, I want to make sure we maintain a level of support for each other as we continue to craft the film. Furthermore, although this project is ongoing, we need to be aware of time and how easily it will slip away from us. We need to make time and put the effort in to see this film through, otherwise we will get to the end of the project and have little idea of what we did and accomplished. Accomplishments provide motivation and I don’t want to finish this semester feeling like I have wasted time or could have done something different. This will leave me feeling demotivated for future projects.

Furthering our understanding of the many concepts we are trying to explore in the film will be a critical aspect of our project that will allow our ideas to develop and be translated on screen. There are a few ideas that will be important to focus on, such as:

• How can humans be a paradox within themselves?
• What is the real bond between two people?
• Can violence be justified?
• How does one person’s mindset affect that of another?
• What triggers outrage?
• Can supressed memories be brought to the surface in times of conflict?
• Is there always a level of tension within a family?
• How do two people become more alike within a relationship?

These questions will offer our group a path to branch out on as we continue to explore characters within the film and craft scenarios that are emotionally challenging for an audience to digest and make sense of. As we continue to branch out on the various ideas we have developed, now is the time to really start organising the film. This is a daunting task that we need to approach otherwise we will not get anything achieved. Effective planning limits time wastage and allows for a low stress environment through all stages of the film. In addition, we must recognise each stage of the film from Pre-production, Production and post-production. We need to set out a plan for each of these stages and make use of our resources to ensure that our goals are met.

References:

Gregory Crewdson; Author: Gregory Crewdson and Bradford Morrow; Journal Title:  Bomb

Tattam, A. The psychology of relationships. [online]. In-Psych; v.23 n.6 p.16-18; December 2001. Availability:<http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/fullText;dn=114914;res=AEIPT> ISSN: 1441-8754

Hall, T. (2013). People are more comfortable with paradox than commonly believed: paradox in film and fiction. Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 25(3), pp.287-290.

Khan, Z. (2012). Domestic violence. Nursing Standard, 26(22), p.59.

Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1566638045/citation/3942BBBE20CC4784PQ/1?accountid=13552 [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016].

Geraerts, E., Hauer, B. and Wessel, I. (2010). Effects of suppressing negative memories on intrusions and autobiographical memory specificity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(3), pp.387-398.

These references all relate to the psychology of the human condition and how people can manifest themselves in destructive behaviour. Furthering my knowledge about issues such as domestic violence, the psychology of relationships and beliefs surrounding a paradox will allow our group to create unique scenes and characters in response to these real life scenarios. I think it is important for films to deal with real issues to some extent, whether it is the psychology of characters or real life events, this allows for a better grasp of the films concepts and offers a more substantial film.