Thursday, December 8, 2016

Preparing for coursework - DAY 4 - SIMILAR TEXTS and INSPIRATIONS

There are some movies that gives me similar feelings for my film; mystery, sub-conscious, labyrinth, and how the 'dream realm' really has an effect on the real world.

Inception (2010)





'Inception' is the main inspiration to my project. The topic revolves around dreams and reality. Although it seems an amazing and wonderful experience to be able to see, un-code, and control dreams, there are still rules to it - rules that are never to be broken. In inception, viewers are made confused by what is really happening and what is actually a dream. The ending of the movie supports this idea as what we think is the success of the main characters is in the end, only another sweet dream.



In my film, there are also rules. Although with an extraordinary power to see beyond crime, dreams are basically based on what you have seen, heard, or experienced. The main character does not have a very pleasant past, witnessing his parents' death and being discriminated from society. If he lose himself in the past ("do not go off track, no matter how alluring it may seem"), danger may come to him. The second rule is basically repeating what has been said - to make sure that he follows it. This idea also comes from the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, where one can not turn back despite the temptation, or else he or she will regret it.



Inception also mentions this idea. There are no 'real' antagonist in this movie. The main character needs to combat his own fears and longing for 'Mal', his dead wife. Their missions are always disrupted by Mal appearing in the dreams and unleashing her wrath when actually, Mal was never there, but was a part of the protagonist's subconscious of guilt.




Source Code (2011)


Source Code is about a man who was set to solve a mystery explosion case by being allowed to dwell in another person 8 minutes before the scene. The protagonist has to go back again and again in order to capture the murderer in time.


11.22.63 (Series 2016)

The series is similar to Source Code above, only that in this case, the main protagonist really travels through time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. During his time in the past, the main character encounters strange characters telling him to 'go back'.



These two films vaguely resemble Scott's dreams. Every time he goes back into the dream, everything restarts. He returns to the starting point in the labyrinth. However, each time he goes back, Scott knows more and more of the path details. He remembers and jot it down on a sketchbook hidden underneath his pillow. It has been like this for 7 years for him. The equilibrium is interrupted when a weird symbol was found in the maze, which, is the start of the film.

Mirror Mask (2005)

The film scared me as a younger child. The synopsis is about a problematic teenager who got stuck in her own drawings (in a mysterious world that could not be explained), seeking a way to escape and restore the peace of both worlds. 




The dream-realm in this movie is vacant. Things do not stay the same and the creatures of the protagonists' imagination looks more like monsters. In the dream-realm, camera shots seems to be slower than in the real world, often with extreme long shot showing the mass vastness of one's mind. The color palettes used in both are also different. The real world's color palette is dull blue - a color of logic and order, while the dream-realm has a more yellowy color palette, indicating dangerous toxic and wild wild imagination.



In contrast to this film, I wanted to keep Scott's dream-realm dark blue and the real world in a warmer shade of orangey-yellow. The dark blue color in my case represents the immense depth the protagonists must dive through to reach the exit light. It also represent Scott's loneliness when he is with himself in his dream. The real world, however, the sun shines. He has Victor. The intended warmth tone in the apartment was for the viewers to know that when Scott wakes up, everything is going to be okay. Nothing will get lost in the darkness he fears.


Batman Vs. Superman (2016)

Although not relevant as a whole, the opening credits of the film emphasize the mysteriousness and the protagonist's subconscious. The young protagonist runs away from a traumatizing accident. He keeps running away and somehow faces a realization. 




The color palette and camera work in this particular scene is what I am trying to get through... Close ups with dim lighting.

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