2. THE KEY REPRESENTATION:
• Mentally ill, middle aged, white male.
• I will explore:
1. Cinematography
2. Costume
3. Mes-en-scene
3. I took my inspiration from The Butterfly effect as it portrayed mentally ill males in
an interesting way. You can clearly see the similarities in both my main character
and Ashton Kutcher, through the pessimistic body language, attire and state of
dress. I’ve also tried to imitate aspects of the mes-en-scene like the warm
lighting, the scrap book and the home comforts.
4. KEY CHOICES
•
First of all I chose a medium shot to allow the audience an insight into the characters way of life. I didn't
want a close up as I felt that it would give too much away in terms of emotion. Also I thought it important
to maintain some distance from the main character as I wanted to represent him as isolated and reserved
due to his illness.
•
Secondly I have chosen to use a scrap book as a prop. This clearly represents the obsession that has the
main character enthralled. Like my example, in the butterfly effect, Ashton Kutchers character is
obsessed with the missing pieces to his memory. He resorts to books to help him find an answer. In my
product, the main character is obsessed with finding an answer for why he was abused by the church,
therefore he is recording his thoughts down in a scrap book in order to make sense of them. This
obsessiveness shows the main character in a vulnerable light as they have fallen victim to their illness. I
wanted to connote this to the audience inordinate for them to be able to empathize with the main
character, rather than to judge them.
5. KEY CHOICES CONTINUED…
•
Lastly I chose a relaxed, almost scruffy costume for my main character. Like Ashton Kutcher, my main
character I not clean shaven; this represents how their mental illness has taken over their day to day
lives. Furthermore the costume gives a sense of regularity, representing to the audience that mental
illness is a real problem and it does affect many people. The body language of both characters is
defeatist and slightly depressed, this shows the emotional strain that the characters are put under due to
their state of mind.
•
I have structured my narrative in a way that it clearly shows the main character to be mentally unstable
right from the start as we wonder why he is acting in such a strange way, wandering around an old
church. My opening then proceeds to show the deterioration of his mind as the shots are edited together
in quick procession to represent how frantic he has become.
