Sophie Laxton

Production Aims

For my Film Studies F634 coursework, I aim to produce a five-minute

film sequence, demonstrating the variety of representations of
people with disability, specifically mental illness focusing on the
1960s to present day. During this era, people with mental illness
were typically portrayed as weak, pitiable and dangerous and looked
at with negative stigmas attached to them. This representation has
not fully progressed to the views of society today as people with
mental illness are still portrayed negatively in a number of films, as
found in my essay. I created a thesis that stated that the
representation of people with mental illness has slowly progressed
over the time period between the 1960s and the present day. I
began my research by writing an essay in which I explored the
portrayal of people with mental illness in greater depth, referring to
films such as Girl, Interrupted (1999, set in 1960) and Black Swan
(2012) which both have elements of negative and positive portrayal
of people with mental illness but in different ways. For example, in
Black Swan, the most recent film, the protagonist is expected to be
anti social but makes a friend and goes out of her comfort zone.
However, she also becomes violent and hits her mother, conforming
to the stereotype that people with mental illnesses are dangerous.
Alongside this, I decided to analyse micro elements and note down
examples of what I would use when creating my film sequence. I
chose elements from the films that I thought would best suit the
genre and what would make my target audience enjoy my
production.

The five-minute film I aim to produce will focus on Eva, a 20-year-old

female who is battling with a mental illness. She has schizophrenia
and hallucinates about a boy called Avici who she has known since
she was nine years old. From a young age he has convinced her to
do bad things on a number of occasions and eventually the acts
became more serious. My idea will be focused on the creation of a
sequence with themes of violence and isolation, which includes the
murders committed by Eva. I mainly focused on using ideas from
the film Black Swan due to the fact that she also suffers from
schizophrenia much like my protagonist and also suffers from
hallucinations about an alter ego. This is clear within the scene
where Nina, the protagonist, hallucinates and sees her reflection
doing the complete opposite to what shes doing. This contrast
between innocence and corruption is what I want to be evident
within my film. Aside from the films I analysed, I researched into
other films and television shows that I could use and take elements
from these and incorporate different aspects into my own film. I
watched a television show called Pretty Little Liars which is a
drama series and I wish to incorporate the idea of fast paced shots
in order to present the theme of fear within the audience into my
production. I also aim to mimic a particular shot that is used
Sophie Laxton

throughout the seasons of Pretty Little Liars where a camera is

placed in the grave and they throw the dirt over the top of the
camera. This shot emphasises the fact that there is someone being
buried and I believe it will suit the genre and style of my film.

My idea will be focused on the protagonist, Eva who struggles with

her illness, which forces her to kill innocent males. She talks about
her experience with Avici, the boy she hallucinates about, and how
he has affected her and how she has come to terms with her illness
and accepted it rather than trying to fight it. A number of my ideas
are similar to that in Black Swan, where the main protagonist suffers
from a mental illness and hallucinates about an alter ego figure in
her life.

My main focus is the representation of people with mental illness

within my artefact and how the protagonist, isolated from society,
copes with her illness. There is no dialogue in my film, but I will be
using voiceover throughout in order to make the narrative clear. This
means that I will have to communicate my ideas through other
microelements. Mise-en-scene is the key technical aspect that I will
be using within my film to emphasise the theme of mental illness
and I will do this through makeup and costume as well as props such
as pills. Editing will be another key technical aspect involved in my
production as I will need to add after effects to highlight Avicis role
as a hallucination.

Overall, I aim to produce a short film that not only provides my

target audience with a meaningful sequence, but also delivers a
significant message to the audience about mental illness and brings
about awareness on the topic.