Evaluating my Surrealist Short Film

Evaluating the success of my Surrealist short film

- How conventionally surrealist is it?

My short surrealist film, titled 'Scratch', effectively uses the conventions of surrealist cinema to suggest meaning, even though the narrative - or lack of - remains illogical and discontinuous through editing. For example, I chose to include close-up shots with a minimal mise-en-scene, inspired by the aesthetics of Dalí and Buñuel's 'Un Chien Andalou'. Relating to this example, I used disturbing and illogical imagery to evoke an emotional response from the spectator, such as the suggestion of hands interacting with blood in a sink, as well as a CU of my character's eyes which cuts to their finger drawing through a line of blood in a sink; this relates to the opening of 'Un Chien Andalou' where a CU shot of an eye uses a graphic match cut of a thin cloud going through the moon to make the visual link between the action of a hand cutting through the eye with a razor blade. Although this same concept isn't shown in my film, its disturbing premise is translated through the link between the eyes and the compositional line of blood - the fact this wasn't commented upon during audience feedback shows the unsuccess of this editing link; to improve, I would need to rotate the composition of the camera angle so the line of blood matches the placement of the eyes, where the finger would 'act' as the razor blade in Andalou. Another link between this film and mine is the emphasis on hands - or at least imagery that utilises hands to disturb the spectator. For example, my use of hands within a bloody sink, a hand scratching grass, my character biting her hand, and a gloved hand interacting with my character's hair (of whom performs an illogical reaction, also taken from Andalou); show the illogical link between these shots despite the normal subject- hands are displaced from their traditional functions. 

A way in which I challenged the conventional forms of surreal film products is by challenging the goal of making surrealist imagery 'anti-art'; my shots are heavily aesthetic despite some of the disturbing concepts, achieved from the consistent colour palette, lighting, shot types, and composition. This is something I focused on during the production process, rather than representing any social groups or narrative, which, although pleasing to view, demonstrates an unsuccessful aspect of my film, as surrealist cinema has criticism of social groups. This is shown in Un Chien Andalou and 'L'Age D'or' representing religion, the middle/upper class, and sexuality and its relationship to death - a Freudian psychoanalysis on unconscious human behaviour; the instinct to want to have sex and the instinct to want to die - and how these are represented through editing. My aesthetic focus was shared with the spectator, as I received comments on the visually pleasing cinematography, such as the CU of the vinyl (where the lighting demonstrates effective vertical lines that help in stimulating claustrophobia juxtaposed to the circular shapes on the vinyl and diagonal tonearm), and gloved hand interacting with my character (which has effective use of bright colour contrasting to the bleak foreground). However, despite this admiration for my film's aesthetics, there was a lot of feedback discussing potential meanings, which shows that my film successfully catalyses the spectator to think and make connections. 

Another way I challenged the conventions of surrealism is by making my 'narrative' cyclical. For example, my film opens and ends with a CU of a vinyl record spinning around. The only difference between these shots is the lighting upon the record and placement of the tonearm; the sound in relation to this placement is illogical as the music doesn't play when the stylus is upon the record in the starting shot, and in opposition, the music plays even though the stylus isn't upon the record in the ending shot. By making these shots parallel each other at the start and end of my film, meaning is constructed. An interpretation of this from an audience member suggests that this film doesn't have a narrative, but rather a 'moment' in time; the vinyl rotating repetitively suggests that my character is stuck in time, and therefore perhaps stuck inside this uncomfortable loop where she is subjected to and performs disturbing illogical actions. Another interpretation of this imagery is that the sequencing and shots represent a form of mental illness. For example, the frequent illusion of blood and warm colour palette combined with the provoking title 'Scratch' alludes to self-harm or a form of violence, as well as relating to the [scratching of a] vinyl. Among similar feedback, the use of titles overlaying shots in this order: 'I'll cut them', 'I'll play with them', 'Until it stops' provokes an uncomfortable feeling from the spectator as, although these phrases are illogical and supposedly random to what is being shown, they are 'nasty' and violent, which matches the theme of the film. The titles also provoke the spectator to make connections between them and the shots, which makes my film successful in keeping the spectator engaged and 'on-edge', as they 'didn't know what was coming next'. I intended for the spectator to feel unease, which evidences a successful element of my film. 

The colour palette is juxtaposed throughout. For example, the MS shot where a character (played by and unidentified as me) stands to the left of a window has strong hues of blue and white which makes the shot cold and distant for the spectator, aided by the blurred outside from the window. As a compositional theme, there are overlapping vertical and horizontal lines that balance the shot, whereas the lack of mentioned lines within the warm-toned shots (blood in the sink, vinyl) makes them seem claustrophobic and smaller. In separating these two characters by colour palette and composition, there is further meaning suggested, as commented on in audience feedback. The use of black screens and absence of sound separate and slow the pace of these shots, helping the spectator to feel unease at what (and when a) shot will appear. An audience member described the use of black screens as 'brave', which I admittedly took the risk of including when editing. I have learned from this feedback that it is important to take justified risks in film, as I was conscious that the screens would perhaps make the pace of my film too long and boring and therefore risked including it, however now I have learned to trust my creative instincts; this has progressed my editing skills since my first 'Appointment' short scene, where my editing was too quick as I feared the audience would lose interest if the shots were prolonged. This was unsuccessful in creating tension, so the fact that the spectator watching my surreal film found the unconventional editing effective in creating unease and suspense shows that I have progressed my skills as a filmmaker. Another aspect I have improved on since my first film project was my cinematography and use of sound. For example, I made the mistake of recording myself in a reflection. In my surreal film, when filming the sink shots, there were points where the camera reflected in the metal tap, so I re-adjusted the angle to avoid this which would have removed the spectator from the surreal, dream-like aesthetics of the film.

My use of sound overall was effective in provoking unease and communicating potential meaning through the illogicality of its placement. For example, the audience agreed that the sound matched the visuals well and helped in making the viewing experience feel 'surreal'. I recorded myself saying 'scratch' - a link to the title - and myself breathing. I then reversed this dialogue and altered the pitch to distance my voice from it sounding natural. This was taken from watching a short surrealist film called 'Somnium', in which I found this technique of overlapping reversed dialogue effective in distancing the spectator from realism. In my film, this distance perhaps helps the surreal nature of the film by making it sound 'dreamlike'. The use of speeding and altering the diegetic music during the vinyl shots is successful in making the sound unnatural, as well as bridging this sound into unrelated shots such as when a hand is scratching grass. The sound in that example has sped up significantly which parallels the motions of the scratching. This is halted by a black screen and a non-diegetic sound of a breath. This helps in alienating the spectator and the unpredictability of coming shots. As a part of the production process, I have learned how to effectively edit my shots together and apply sound where relevant. I have also learned how to stabilise my camera, such as when filming the CU, by using an object to act as a tripod.