Mind, Body, Soul - Intro and Research

Mind, Body, Soul

For my final term, I have decided to create an experimental short film inspired by David Lynch. My work stems from the research in my dissertation which studies other experimental artists alike, such as Luis Buñuel, Dali and Maya Deren. My work also explores surreal visuals in moving imagery. 

I will be taking on all the roles in the Heads of Departments, which means I have room for creativity an understanding of what I will be creating, and as the Director and Producer on my film I will have the ability to compromise on visuals due to any constraints. I will be collaborating with a colourist Seamus Cogan who will colour correct the visuals for the film. I will also have a sound artist on board to create experimental sound work suited for the film, and an actor who will be playing the character we follow in the film.

Looking for inspiration...

Writing experiences down

I reflected on myself and wrote down an experience in my life that affected me in which I would like to explore. I wrote some emotions that I felt as I went through this journey.
I broke the experience down to 3 sections. (Beginning, Middle, End) To help me create the structure of the story.

Experiences

Although I am using the classic 3 acts, I will not be giving each act equal amounts of screen time. In the first act I am trying to create an atmosphere and an experience for the audience to feel the same way as the character. I want the audience to watch long shots, most of which audience would not be used to due to the dominance of Hollywood cinema and typical editing styles. These long shots may create a feeling of suffocation, depression, really low and wanting to escape, just like the character wanting to leave what they have become familiar with. I want the audience to go through the same journey of emotional experiences but interpreted in each individuals personal way.
After transcending from the long suffocating journey, I want the audience to feel a sense of lightness and as if they have also transcended from feeling really low to feeling light and free. This is the reason for the short 3rd act so the audience is leaving with positive emotions they can take away with them into their reality.

Tibet's Secret Temple exhibition

27.01.17 http://wellcomecollection.org/secrettemple

Tibet is known for its buddhist religion and yogic meditation. Going to the Tibet's Secret Temple helped inspire me for spiritual ideas.

'The teachings of Buddhism, which are thought to express the truth and to outline a path to enlightenment. The path is a multifacteted one, and there are teachings and practices to suit every sort of person. There is no one path that erveryone must follow and no practices that are prescribed for every Buddhist. Rather, the dharma has something for everyone, and anyone can profit from some aspect of the dharma.' 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/understand/intro.html - accessed at 27.01.15

Lama (Teacher), Jigten Sumgon, Drigungpa (1143-1217); Tibet; 17th century; Ground mineral pigment on cotton; Rubin Museum of Art; Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin C2006.66.555.

There were many images of this where the Gods are standing on bodies. This interested me as to why they were standing on bodies. This is Vajrayana which is a form of tantric buddhism. 

'Other names for this form of Buddhism are Mantrayana (“Vehicle of the Mantra”), which refers to the use of the mantra to prevent the mind from going astray into the world of its fictions and their attendant verbiage and to remain aware of reality as such; and Guhyamantrayana, in which the word guhya (“hidden”) refers not to concealment but to the intangibility of the process of becoming aware of reality...Vajrayana thus attempts to recapture the enlightenment experience of the historical Buddha...In the Tantric view, enlightenment arises from the realization that seemingly opposite principles are in truth one. The passive concepts shunyata (“emptiness”) and prajna (“wisdom”), for example, must be resolved with the active karuna (“compassion”) and upaya (“skillful means”). This fundamental polarity and its resolution are often expressed through symbols of sexuality (see yab-yum).'

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Vajrayana - accessed at 28.01.15

'Vajrayana is the actual quick path to enlightenment, but whether or not we attain enlightenment quickly through Vajrayana practice depends upon our faith, motivation, and understanding. In particular, gaining the realisations of Heruka body mandala - the very essence of Vajrayana - depends upon our having strong faith in the instructions and a clear understanding of their meaning.'

http://www.bliemkern.com/Magenta/Vajrayana.html - accessed on 28.01.15

I found that the idea of reaching enlightenment by pealing yourself back and facing whatever is holding you back was interesting. I could understand what the statues were portraying.

Bill Viola – The Reflecting Pool

Since college, I took pleasure in watching video installations, and most of my work originates from analysing and appreciating Bill Viola's works.

'Heavily influenced by spirituality, which he discovered on his travels throughout Asia and Europe, he draws upon Zen Buddhism and mythical Christian practices.  The sublime qualities of these religions are often apparent in his artworks, giving them a supernatural effect.

The Reflecting Pool. Released in 1979, the piece took two years to create and his been exhibited in numerous galleries around the world. Viola’s artworks are known for the integral themes of human life they portray. The Reflecting Pool is no different, centralizing on birth, baptism, time and memory. We experience the feeling of passing time as the colour of the pool continuously transforms.'

The Reflecting Pool (1979) created by Bill Viola

'The water transforms into a midnight black colour, with a circle of bright white light at its centre echoing the spiritual experience of dying. As the water returns to its original colour, a naked man climbs out, wandering back into the forest from which he first appeared. He has effectively been reborn, his life’s worth of experiences projected to the audience from the reflecting pool. Viola shows that a person cannot know their true self until it is reflected to them.The Reflecting Pool is both eerie and calm, an odd combination that disturbs and soothes your subconscious but you don’t necessarily understand how.

Born in 1951, he nearly drowned as a young boy after jumping off a raft … “I was so fascinated and captivated and felt so comfortable…your emotions are a really big part of your consciousness” Water is a constantly occurring motif in his works.'

http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/ssblog/bill-viola-the-reflecting-pool/ - accessed at 28.01.16

I love watching the reflecting pool, I love picking up metaphors to understand his work which is how I incorporate ideas into my work. Such as the foetus shaped guy when frozen in mid air when he jumps into the pool which is a metaphorical sign of birth. It is subtle but when you really try to analyse his work.

David Lynch

Eraserhead (1977)

David Lynch's most well known masterpiece is his first film Eraserhead. What makes this piece amazing is surreal imagery and strange characters, such as the alien baby. Still to this day no one understands this work or what was going through his mind when creating this piece.

Eraserhead (1977) directed by David Lynch

Twin Peaks (1990)

An American television series which follows a investigator following a murder in Twin Peaks. The series became a success and developed a cult following. Lynch created a fictional world with strange characters and surreal dream sequences such as the red room in the black lodge with a dancing dwarf and tall giant that lives there.

Twin Peaks (1990), Red Room directed by David Lynch

Later in the show we find out that there is another dimension in the world of Twin Peaks and in this world the investigator Dale Cooper is able to access it through his dreams and another portal. As an open minded person who has knowledge of spiritual methodologies, Cooper is able to solve the case of who killed Laura Palmer - a spiritual being who is able to use a character as a human vessel to gain access to Twin Peaks.

Twin Peaks (1990), Log Lady directed by David Lynch

I love watching Twin Peaks because it takes the audience into a surreal world of dreams and nightmares, viewing strange scenes such as the white horse appearing in the Palmers home, meeting strange characters such as the Log Lady but at the same time we follow a story we can understand. I like how the world of Twin Peaks has a sense of reality but takes us away from reality, but we slowly uncover the inner darkness of the characters in town in which at first we thought a character was once innocent but not.

Twin Peaks (1990), White Horse directed by David Lynch

 'The white horse is a sign of impending death in the series and is found in old Germanic legends and The Bible. A line from one of David Lynch’s poems, written in production notes for Twin Peaks, adds to this theory: “woe to the ones who behold the pale horse.”

http://twinpeaksexplained.tumblr.com/post/29367237522/the-white-horse-that-appears-to-sarah-palmer - accessed at 30.01.16

Maya Deren - Meshes of the afternoon (1943)

Meshes of the afternoon, is another influence on my work. When analysing it is full of symbolism such as the key, the knife, the mirrored figure. Not only for the metaphorical use of symbolism, I like how Maya Deren experiments with her shots using repetitive sequences as if she is representing entrapment, and the distorted motion as she is spiralling up the staircase as if she has lost control.