As we said in the last post, surrealism was a movement in the arts to awaken the unconscious mind by visuals that are out of this world.
You see, I’ve chosen to work with surrealism because by its own nature it underscores the thread itself: the perceived reality. The world is merely an interlacing of thoughts and ideas, thereby perceptions. So is applicable in every scale we choose to concentrate on.
As a social scale for example, we see taboos. As a scale of the individual we see morality and standards of value. And as atomic scale or, I venture to welcome it as a subatomic scale we see the Universe that is present in every mind.
Convergence. A beautiful concept translated as collaboration. Ever since I learned one of its facets as a term in English I was fascinated: Brainstorming. Where the magnetic field allows a certain energy flow to.. well.. flow and eventually magnify the idea itself creating lightnings. That is exactly what happened when I was sharing a concept of what our Field, sorry, Film Opening is envisioned to entail.
“Bathbombs. A great way to play with colors and water”, one said.
I’ve never heard of such thing before so after googling it and looking at this I said:
“Anyone has a microscope? Because if I can film this in a micro scale with editing techniques I can translate it in the film as the Universe and advance through there.”
Another lighting stroke: “The Fountain. First thing you do when you get home is to watch this film”.
After listening to my friend’s mention, last night I had the pleasure to listen to Aronofsky’s vision. It was marvelous how in 2006 it came to life and to see it on screen was very pleasing to me as it reminded me that no matter how abstract the concept is there’s always a way to communicate it. Because well, of course at the end it is still part of this wold, out there and within here.
Before clarifying what I mean with the latter statement, I would like to first comment on the piece. The Fountain is a film that succeeds transmitting a revelation perceived by Izzie Creo as she writes her book. Interestingly enough the book is of twelve chapters, the twelfth being left to Tommy, husband of the author, to finish it. Twelve is a number to emphasize for it is of great significance to the Mayas. The Mayan civilization is recounted on the film to be in great connection to Xibalba, which thanks to modern science is labeled as a nebulous embracing a dying star and for the film a start. The relevance is understood in the underlying plot: the understanding of the nature of Death. A line midway through the film said by Izzi Creo is what captures the essence of it:
“Death as and Act of Creation”
The plot in its surface is a man who considers death as a disease that can be cured and so is why he untiringly works in his lab to find the cure for a malignant tumor that Donovan the monkey his experimenting on has similar to his wife’s. A full synopsis of the piece can be found at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/synopsis?ref_=tt_stry_pl
There (International Media Database) however considers the storyline withholding three separate narratives. Which in turn are really the same in different planes. I invite you to read it in the many instances you will. For now and to avoid deviating the contribution of The Fountain in our process to considering our Film Opening Surreal let’s focus on a very specific scene that brought to my attention its composition and thereafter its mise-en-scene.
The scene is opened with an establishing shot and the viewer is able to understand that the events that follow take place on Dr. Lillian Guzetti’s farm. Previously it was reveal that Izzi had asked to be buried there, for it’s understood that the farm is a land fertile for cultivation and growth hence for life. It beautifully underscores the premise of the piece and of course the character’s understanding of Death captured in her book The Fountain.
The scene is composed of Life and Death and is conceptualized with a static composition. There’s a sense of symmetry and tranquility in the whole frame capturing such juxtaposition. The scenery that is captured beautifies the farm covered with snow where a group of people can be descry. Within the elements of mise-en-scene one can comment on the cool hues that captivates the occasion: they further transmit that sense of peacefulness. In terms of the costume design the group of people are all dressed in black clothing, conventional for funerals and mourning.
You see, ever since I understood death, pretty much my first conscious approach in the matter when I was a little girl, I vowed per say to wear white when a loving one were to die. It now however strikes to me the idea of wearing black in funerals. For to live in the occasion of death requires strength found in light. We all know when it’s really hot outside not to wear dark clothes, for rays are then trapped causing one to feel very warm. That is exactly where one can find comfort, to relay on when grieving. But then again, grieving? The person is finally becoming light!
In the previously described scene of The Fountain cool hues is what frames the funeral. Interestingly enough cool hues are said to have “passive, calming qualities that aid concentration.” That is exactly an element envisioned to be portray in Our Film opening.
Concentration: That is when a color appears to be somehow opaque and to an extent heavy. Hence not light. We envision to play with light however. That’s where the ethereal touch comes into play. We’ll understand further of this once we swim in open and deep waters.
Death is a major theme being commented on The Fountain. Within such questioning it sprinkles in me others like What’s life? And what is what we’re trying to find? The mechanisms of such rhetorics I find to be inhalations of the wonders of this passage of time and exhalations of the realizations of this passage of time… In general, the concentration of such concept is what here and now colors the platform of our life and death, for time is what we’ve chosen to interweave; to thread it as our weathervane in our everyday life. Time, however, only is true when one opts to find it real.
So is how our Film Opening becomes surreal. When we take out time as a matter of invariability in terms of its existence as it is, we stop considering our here and now real, hence becomes surreal because without time bizarre the world would be! Time is money, isn’t it? :)
Citations:
Soap Making Classroom. Bath Bomb Blaster Class. 2013. April 4. Retrieved on March 19, 2016, from http://www.soapmakingclassroom.com/2013/04/04/bath-bomb-blaster-class/
Pinterest.com, Tumblr.com. 2015. "Bath bombs". Retrieved on March 19, 2016, from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/11/6f/48/116f483f21f4261a35be2ced4a5e3149.jpg
Krystel Claire, International Media Database. 2015. March 19. "Synopsis for The Fountain". Retrieved on March 19, 2016, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/synopsis?ref_=tt_stry_pl.
Reference:
Cinematography. Elements of Cinema.com. "Composition". Retrieved on March 19, 2016, from: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/cinematography/composition.html
