Marieke / Thesis

Potential title: Worst Case Scenario

Thesis statement: The power structures in filmmaking, mainly between the camera operator and the person who is being filmed, has a connection to boundaries in a relationship. Whereas a collaboration reminds of a relationship between equals, a voyeuristic approach reminds of the boundaries that are crossed in sexual violence. In my short film and thesis I want to research the spectrum of this relationship and its power structures.

Or

I think the relationship and boundaries between director and model are in a way similar to boundaries between interpersonal relationships. When looking becomes gazing and transforms to voyeurism, there is a perversion and violation added to it, that is reminiscent of sexual violation.

equals - voyeurism - violation

Background

There are those stories that are so sickening that they feel like a punch in the gut.

In the best case the story is fictional, in the worst case the story is real.

I had my own gut punch moment when I read a story about a woman under influence who was raped by two students. After the assault they left the woman in the toilet, who was so severely wounded she needed surgery.

There were also 2 recordings.

One recording was of the rape. Both men admitted watching their attack back on a mobile phone while making lewd-gestures and re-enacting what they had done to the woman.

The other recording came from a surveillance camera. Where the men can be seen hugging, high-fiving each other and.. laughing. Seemingly as it was an experience that bonded their brotherhood.

Sexual violence is already horrifying as it is, when this violence is also recorded it adds another layer to this invasion. I imagined how I would feel if I went through such an experience and I would be aware that the perpetrators would look back at my pain because it would arouse them. Besides that, in the above case the woman was unconscious so she has no recollection of the assault herself, but the men do. Robbing the woman of any closure or healing she would have hoped to find after this terrifying experience.

The "high five" recording was shared on several news websites.

In this case the perpetrators were the directors of violence and the victim was subjected to this recorded crime.

I wondered if anyone can be a director of violence, sadly even in real life, then is there a point in showing violence as a filmmaker? If so then what does it add to the violent imagery we already have so much off? What is my own responsibility in all of this?

Silence can in a way also be violent. By doing and saying nothing no change will happen.

Now I am aware that violence is very rooted in our society, but that makes it even more important to offer an empathetic perspective. A perspective that dives into the aftermath and the consequences of (sexual) violence. To research what it means for someone to live with such a trauma. Violence is often used as an entertaining device, but the aftermath.. not so much.

Introduction

So what does this have to do with me? Someone who is an aspiring filmmaker.

From a young age I have always been interested in power structures, you could also call them: hierarchies. For me there is a relationship between the person who films and the person who is being filmed.

The first time I became aware of this was in a scene of American Beauty. Where Ricky a socially awkward but confident 18-year old man, films the girl next door: Jane who is an insecure 16-year old girl. There is this particular moment where he films her, first from afar and when she notices this she walks away, annoyed. Ricky then zooms in on the mirror on her desk that she sits in front of and reflects her face, we see a flattered smile appearing.

When I watched this when I was 13-years old I remember that I thought: what a creep filming her while she doesn't know. Then he zooms in on her face and we see that smile appear, that smile that exists from being happy to be seen and my thought changed to: this is kind of sweet.

This example is so important to me, because this "relationship" can have multiple forms and intentions. This can go from a collaboration to filming someone that is not aware they are seen. I see this as a spectrum that starts with being equals and ends with voyeurism.

Though in this thesis I want to research mainly the relation between the boundaries in filming and sexual violence, I will not shy away from addressing gender. While I find it difficult to say the right thing on the topic of gender I cannot avoid it since it is so intertwined with the subjects I want to research.

Chapter 1. The burden of looking

In my opinion there are 3 types of viewers when it comes to violent cinema. Those who cover their eyes, those who lean in so they can see it just a bit better or those who peek between their fingers.

Responses to violence:

• As a viewer

- What is the power and responsibility of the viewer?

As a viewer I have always felt an obligation to not look away when I see images that disturb me. It is this gut feeling that tells me to keep looking, that I would shy away from the truth if I would make the choice to look the other way. Whether these images are fictional or real does not matter, it would be selfish to deny and tell ourselves that this is not a part of existence.

Violent content is popular in the media, which is of course no surprise since there is an abundance of violence and cruelty in the world, but why do we like to explore it so much? Is it schadenfreude or sadism? Or do other people also have the feeling that it is a more truthful depiction of the human experience?

To refer back to my introduction, there are instances where we have to look away. With the sharing culture of the digital age, there is always the possibility that an image is shared with us that we were not supposed to see, when no consent was given. Where it crosses the boundary of the "truth" to exploitation and the intention is to inflict pain, instead of to expose it.

So even though I prefer to not look away, in some cases the act itself was already so wrong it should have never happened, let alone recorded.

There is an interesting metaphor from Dostoyevsky that is shared in Julia Kristeva's - Powers of Horror (p.18):

"A big fire at night always produces an exciting and exhilarating effect; this explains the attraction of fireworks; but in the case of fireworks, the graceful and regular shape of the flames and the complete immunity from danger produce a light and playful effect comparable to the effect of a glass of champagne. A real fire is quite another matter: there the horror and a certain sense of personal danger, combined with the well-known exhilarating effect of a fire at night, produce in the spectator (not, of course, in one whose house has burnt down) a certain shock to the brain and, as it were, a challenge to his own destructive instincts, which, alas, lie buried in the soul of even the meekest and most domesticated official of the lowest grade. This grim sensation is almost always delightful. "I really don't know if it is possible to watch a fire without some enjoyment."2

- How does the viewer relate to depicted violence and voyeurism?

Dostoyevksy might be right, I am also not sure if it is possible to watch a fire without some enjoyment.

What are in the viewer's eye succesful and unsuccesful attempts in the portrayal of violence?

• As a filmmaker

What are the choices of a filmmaker related to violence and voyeurism?

In recent years a big discussion has started on sexual violence. This gave me a lot of questions about responsibility. If you take the word responsibility apart it means: the ability to respond. Was it when the survivors came out with their stories in the #metoo movement their responsibility to tell their stories? Is that fair? Where does that leave me as an image maker? Now that this discussion is open and we are also becoming more critical of the images we consume, is it then my responsibility to produce images that deal with this trauma in an empathetic way?

In this part I want to focus on why in cinema whenever sexual assault is depicted it is mainly focused on the violence itself. Instead of the aftermath and its consequences for the survivor and their close ones.

For Freud, the uncanny locates the strangeness in the ordinary. Expanding on the idea, psychoanalytic theorist Jacques Lacan wrote that the uncanny places us "in the field where we do not know how to distinguish bad and good, pleasure from displeasure", resulting in an irreducible anxiety that gestures to the Real.

If the narrative of a film does not distinguish between bad and good, pleasure from displeasure, does that envoke uncanny and fearful feelings in the viewer?

Abjection was defined as a reaction to the confrontation with the "abject", triggered by disgust or phobia (in this context, it refers to the products of processes of elimination, corpses and insects) which nonetheless have no status as objects, and do not belong to the self, and thus are seen as a threat by the subject, who rejects them.

How does abjection relate to voyeurism and fetishism in images?

How can a filmmaker break the hierarchies that are set in filmmaking? What are the genres that mostly deal with these subject?

To find out what this approach in cinema does with the emotions of the viewer I want to have interviews. With acquaintances and preferably a psychologist (for the viewer part) and fellow artists/filmmakers (for the maker part).

• How does that relate to me?

This chapter will discuss a more general outlook on (sexual) violence/voyeurism in our image culture. In this I want to incorporate important parts of the bibliography and research I set up. (So no in-depth case studies yet those are for chapter 2). Though this chapter will also contain (moving) image analysis next to interviews and theoretical research that is more related to my annotated bibliography.

Questions:

• What are our hypocrisies on violence related to the media and the images we ingest?
• When is violence entertaining and when does it become problematic?
• How is it possible to mess with the expectations of an audience that anticipates violence?
• What makes a film violent in its essence?
• In what cases do we need to show violence, because it portrays the truth?

Improv

Next to the above, I want to incorporate the subject of Improvisation in chapter 1. This is an important aspect of my own practice. As freedom in the dialogue is already a small gesture in breaking a hierarchical set-up. Improvisation does not just have to be in the moment. A script could be made up of transcribed improvisation from previous recordings. A script can also describe a framework but still give the actor freedom to give its own interpretation.

In this part I will describe the process and different ways and makings of improvisation in film, including a few interesting case studies.

Examples:

Mr. Blonde dancing/dialogue, Reservoir Dogs - Joker dancing, Joker

Does improvisation make a film more authentic and "real"? Often the films that don't use actors and apply improvised dialogue are the films that can feel close to ourselves. This does depend on the boundaries of the improvisation. A framework is probably a necessity so the dialogue is still understandable for the viewer.

A film that is only based on improvisation often does not really pull the viewer into the experience. This is because these films often become too messy and vague.

Moments of improvisation can have a potential to offer a moment of reflection in film. For example the dancing scene in Joker (2019). And the dancing scene of mr.Blonde in Reservoir Dogs (the script only said: Mr. Blonde dances like a maniac).

My own interest in improvisation as a director relates to my concerns about power dynamics in respect of the actors. I see this as a less hierarchical, more collaborative approach to filmmaking.

Chapter 2. An eye for an eye, the responsibility of the viewer

Diving in the accountability and contradictions of looking. I want to analyse if there is an elevated feeling of responsibility when choice is added. I will do an in-depth analysis of films and games that relate to my own research. The films named are films I watched and the games named are games I played.

Introduction Film & Game relation

• What I've drawn from this
• Case studies + Looking at techniques from both

What I've drawn from this

For the gaming part I already have 2 scheduled interviews with game designers. With them I will go into the specifics of the commonalities and differences between filmmaking and game design.

Do games envoke more empathy than a film and do they really encourage violent thoughts? There is a big spectrum from interactive film to virtual reality gaming. There has been criticism on how a virtual reality setting that shows the experience of war should invoke empathy. Do you really know what its like after being in a simulation for 15 minutes?

This makes me wonder if it is maybe not a realistic depiction that envokes empathy. Maybe it are the symbolic games that are subjective that would envoke more empathy. Like the game: The Last of Us which is a survival Horror game developed by Naughty Dog. It is one of the most awarded games in history, and is considered one of the greatest video games ever made, as well as an example of video games as an art form. It is a game that is very emotional and atmospheric. A beautiful story on how far a parental figure will go to protect their child.

Is it the interaction that plays a part in this "empathetic experience" instead of the simulation that is the case with Virtual Reality? Or could it be both? In this part I want to research what makes a game so immersive and what are the levels of this from an interactive film to a Virtual Reality experience with gameplay.

Case studies + Looking at techniques from both

Films to analyse:

Sex, Lies and Videotapes, Steven Soderbergh - American Beauty, Sam Mendes - Irréversible, Gaspar Noé - Funny Games, Michael Haneke - A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Ana Lily Amirpour - It Follows, David Robert Mitchell

How do these filmmakers research/exploit the themes of voyeurism and (sexual) violence? In what sense are they progressive (or not)? How was the collaboration between the director and actors in some of these films? What is the affect of these films?

Games to analyse:

Silent Hill 2, Konami - The Path, Tale of Tales - Life is Strange 2, Dontnod Entertainment - Everything, David O'Reilly

What is the affect of playing one of these games? How is the element of interaction adding to the experience? These games are quite different from mainstream games, what makes them so interesting? In what sense do I see a connection and techniques I would like to try combined with my filmmaking practice?

Video Art to analyse:

Der Mirror, Keren Cytter - Time Passes, Ane Hjort Guttu - Julia Biasi?

How are these artists breaking the conventions of filmmaking? How do they play with the grammar of filmmaking? What does their approach do for the viewing experience? What are their methods of filmmaking?

Chapter 3. Report on Project

The most important themes for the film are: trauma, memory, intimacy, power structures and violation.

Because I am interested in the philosophy of ethics, I want to make a film that presents questions about right and wrong that are also difficult for myself to answer. These questions mainly relate to themes on trust, power dynamics, violence and protection.

The camera has an active role and is not hidden. My idea now is that the guy that acts in the film is also the one that films. Or at least give the illusion that he is the one that films. I decided on this approach because it emphasizes the relationship between the person who operates the camera and the person that is being filmed. Since I am very interested in exploring the model-photographer / camera-photographer-model relationship in an engaging manner.

In this chapter I will elaborate on:

• The script
• Story
• Art direction
• Filmmaking process (from pre to post-production)
• Directing
• Sound

Conclusion

Preparing longer project and how this research will inform next stage.

Comments / Thesis questions:

• Abjection - How does this relate to the self in terms of response to violation?

• How does the self-reflexivity of your approach (and film mimic you are connecting to for this project) relate to abjection + the self?

Important:

• More texts on abjection (Look at abject theory)
• More & more violence being filmed in real life (This could be referenced)
• Themes of repression

Film recommendations Natasha:

• Sex, lies and videotapes - Steven Soderbergh
• Time Passes - Ane Hjort Guttu
• Naked - Mike Leigh