Critical Research

The influence of neurology and dream theories on contemporary cinema

By Priscilla Nash

Intro

In this study I will be using Inception, Sucker Punch, Waking Life, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Source Code, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland and Shutter Island as my primary texts. My primary texts enforce notions of dream manipulation and I will be exploring if these films apply to the theories of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler or Jean Baudrillard. Each theorist has a different belief in terms of dream significance and I will be evaluating how these ideas of simulacra, symbolism and consciousness are influenced and integrated into recent films/contemporary cinema and how applicable the theories are to the texts. I will be able to gather my secondary texts through books, articles, resources on the Internet and critics reviews. A few definitions of the word “consciousness” are as follows: “the state of being aware of and responsive to one's surroundings” and “a person’s awareness or perception of something”. Throughout my textual analysis I will also be judging how far these definitions relate to my primary texts, if at all.

Freud, Adler and Jean Baudrillard all had different theories in terms of dream interpretation and their significance. Sigmund Freud believed that dreams have both manifest and latent content; they are either random and meaningless or subliminally trying to inform the dreamer of their waking desires. Freud believed in the significance of symbolism in a person’s dream and that sexual desire is a dominant motivation. Alfred Adler however, insisted that dreams were “problem-solving devices” and that they have noteworthy relevance to our waking state. His theory consisted of the idea that a person’s thoughts in consciousness are exactly the same when asleep and that the answers to their daily struggles are revealed to them in a state of dreaming. Jean Baudrillard focused on ideas of hyperreality, simulacra and simulation; this is the idea that postmodernism takes over and the dreamer is unable to determine dream simulation from reality. This suggests that elements of reality can be the stimulus for the projections that occur during sleep and the dreamer believes that simulation has become the reality.

Adler

“Alfred Adler believes that dreams are an important tool to mastering control over your waking lives.” Austrian doctor Alfred Adler strongly believes that dreams have a direct correlation to a person’s waking state and is driven by motivational purposes as opposed to Freud’s theories of sexual desire and manifest-latent content. Adler also believes that dreams are representations of present day and future experiences that are depicted as obstacles in every day life. Films like Inception, Source Code and Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland are all examples of how directors incorporated the idea of using a dream-state to solve the troubles in the characters’ lives. An example that enforces this theory is the scene from Source Code where Captain Colter Stevens is being briefed about how he has to keep going back to the last eight minutes of a dead person’s life in order to find a bomber and stop a following attack. This is an accurate link to Adler’s theory of using dreams to solve problems of the conscious state and reality.

Freud

Freud however, opposes Adler’s theories and inclines toward ideas of symbolisation, projection and displacement. “However, Freud was cautious about symbols and stated that general symbols are personal rather than universal.  A person cannot interpret what the manifest content of a dream symbolized without knowing about the person’s circumstances.” Freud implies that these dream symbols are metaphors for the dreamer’s desires and thoughts that are deep within the unconscious mind. Shutter Island and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind are prime examples of how a person’s desires can be manifested into something or someone else in the form of a dream. A specific example of this is a scene in Shutter Island where U.S Marshall Teddy Daniels has a dream of a woman named “Rachel Solando” and helps her dispose of the bodies of her children she murdered. Teddy has reoccurring dreams about Rachel, who is actually a displacement of his wife. Teddy murdered his wife and somewhere in his subconscious he feels guilty about doing so, enforcing Freud’s theories of symbolism and displacement.

“We are not in quite the same state of consciousness as when awake, but we are consciously viewing and moving around in a dream space, which we believe to be real.”  This theory by Robert J Hoss, found on http://www.dreamscience.org/idx_science_of_dreaming_section-3.htm, is an accurate representation of how directors have used ideas such as these to portray dream manipulation in contemporary cinema throughout recent years. The themes of using dreams to solve issues in a person’s waking life have become a common use of film concept in contemporary cinema; with Inception being such a success, Alfred Adler’s theories are being incorporated into more films, using the idea of dreams being problem-solvers. “A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” This definition of the word “dream” relates directly to the film Waking Life which explores the conscious and subconscious desires of the main character and those around him; the motives of each character and what drives them is a vital part of how they act within the dreams. An example of this is the scene in Waking Life of “The Self-Destructive Man” who openly shares his views of pessimism and how the media manipulatively portrays serious worldly situations. 

Baudrillard
“Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no reality to begin with, or that no longer have an original.[1] Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time”. Jean Baudrillard, a French philosopher, has confidence in the idea that dreams are an imitation of real life situations and are re-created when asleep; Sucker Punch demonstrates this theory accurately as the character manipulates her waking life situations and interprets them into her dreams – the hyper-reality slowly becomes her reality.

Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland

Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland is a primary text that is an accurate representation of Alfred Adler’s theories of how dreams are used as tools to solve the issues in a person’s waking life but also follows aspects of Freud’s theories of displacement: “This occurs when the desire for one thing or person is symbolized by something or someone else.” The characters in Alice’s dream are a representation of those she encounters in her waking state, making it easier for her to understand each person’s motive and how she can resolve her struggles. Throughout the film Alice insists that she is dreaming and that she is in control, suggesting ideas of lucid dreaming and beholding the power to change her daily state of affairs. For example,  the untrustworthy Knave Of Hearts is an exaggerated portrayal of Alice’s brother-in-law who is shown to be unfaithful to her sister at the start of the film and the Red Queen is shown as Alice’s cold-hearted soon to be mother-in-law.  I think the messages that the film is trying to portray are that if you can defeat the “giants” in your dreams, you will be able to approach difficult situations in your waking life with confidence and ease, which is what Alfred Adler is trying to explain in his theories and what direct correlation Tim Burton is attempting to display in this film. A direct example of this is when Alice defeats the Jabberwocky and sets the characters free from the Red Queen’s reign. I think this is a direct correlation to Alice’s waking life situations; the Jabberwocky could be a representation of the arranged marriage Alice is being forced into. By slaying the Jabberwocky, Alice is taking a stand and deciding not to marry who’s been chosen for her and set those around her free from tradition and dominant ideologies.

Sucker Punch
The film Sucker Punch demonstrates Jean Baudrillard’s theory of non-reality becoming real as long as the dreamer believes it. In Sucker Punch, Baby Doll believes that the strip-club she’s created in her mind is reality to cover up the bleak and depressing life she’s actually living. The events that occur in the strip-club are symmetrical to what happens in Baby Doll’s real life but the film follows the story of her stimulated fantasy, which she perceives to be real. A specific example of this is when Rocket gets stabbed by the chef and Baby Doll closes her eyes and goes into a fantasy which makes the situation less graphic than it is. These dream fantasies are Baby Doll’s escape from reality and opts to stay there for the duration of the film.  

Another example of hyper-reality being dominant in Sucker Punch is the scene where Baby Doll is about to have a sexual encounter with the “High Roller” as he claims to give her “freedom” but in veracity she is about to be lobotomised and the “High Roller” is the doctor who’s performing the lobotomy. Although this is a representation of how Baby Doll chooses the simulated world she’s created to be her reality, it also has elements of Freud’s theory of displacement and sexual desire; in Baby Doll’s hyper-reality dream, she’s portraying the mental institution as a strip-club, causing everything and everyone around her to be completely sexualised. This could be in correlation to the beginning of the film where her step-father attempts to rape her, causing thoughts of sexual desire (not necessarily hers) to be dominant in her subconscious.

A final example of how Freud’s dream theories collide with hyper-reality in this scene is the lobotomy that is performed on Baby Doll. There is blood on the needle after she’s been lobotomised; before the lobotomy took place Baby Doll was about to have a sexual encounter with the High Roller – the blood on the needle after the lobotomy could be symbolised as the blood from Baby Doll losing her virginity, further pushing theories of displacement and symbolism.

Waking Life

Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra is evidently shown in this film in terms of believing an alternate world to be reality. Richard Linklater’s Waking Life (2001) shows the world of lucid dreaming and how the main character perceives the dreams to be reality for a certain amount of time, until he is aware that he is dreaming and tries to find ways of controlling them. Large influences of lucid dreaming are used in this film; the dreamer is aware that he’s dreaming but refuses to conform to the idea that the dream-state is his reality, despite the projections that are portrayed as anonymous characters who he encounters. An example is the man with the ukulele in Waking Life who tells the main character the following: “The trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams.” In a way, the ukulele player encourages the main character to embrace the idea of post-modernism and merge consciousness with hyper-reality on a regular basis. This shows how Jean Baudrillard’s theories of simulacra and simulation are being conformed to in contemporary cinema.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an example of how dream manipulation is over-shadowed by the dreamer’s id. There are elements of Adler’s theory in this film where Joel decides he wants to get Clementine erased from his memory. In order for Joel to move on and be reasonably content with his waking life, he has to go into his own mind in the form of a dream and watch his memories of her crumble and fade away. Baudrillard’s hyper-reality is also demonstrated in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the scene where Joel is chasing after Clementine in the street after an argument which he believes to be real, but as cars fall from the sky to represent Clementine’s anger, Joel realises he is no longer in reality. This is an example of exaggerating emotions on a visual level. The crumbling house on the beach towards the end of the film is a representation of Joel’s memories of Clementine being destroyed as he reaches the final stage of his dream/memories of her.

I think that Jean Baudrillard's theory of simulacra, simulation and hyper-reality are the most prominent when it comes to contemporary cinema seeing as they are the most common themes throughout the films that I have studied. Ideas about the character believes the simulated world is their reality is dominant in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Sucker Punch and Waking Life. The idea of hyper-reality being the characters' coping mechanism and masking the harsh reality they're actually living in has been a re-occurring theme in recent contemporary cinema, emphasizing that dream theories and neurology are becoming more popular. Sucker Punch clearly demonstrates how the dreamer takes control of the simulated world and adapts to the situations around, them, Waking Life explores what happens when the dreamer is unable to determine dreams from reality and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind depicts the theory of simulation and dream manipulation. Each of these films were successful in terms of narrative and audience reception, further proving that ideas of simulacra, simulation and hyper-reality are being widely accepted in contemporary cinema.

Bibliography/References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation

http://www.dreamresearch.ca/pdf/adler.pdf

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html

http://wakinglifemovie.net/Transcript/Chapter/10

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/freud2.htm

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dream

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation

Synopsis

Character names:
-Ezra, Pandora, Caleb, Emilia, Adrian
-The idea of lucid dreaming being introduced to a group of friends for the first time
-The Matrix meets Waking Life meets Inception
-Settings: in an apartment, the woods/a forest, alternate universe, large open space, the ocean
-Lighting: distorted, trippy, delayed
-Characters unable to distinguish reality from the lucid dreams they are having
-Possibly ideas of a drug influence (marijuana, mushrooms)
-Each group member has a different lucid dream, trying to get in touch with their inner self and figure out their "holy discontent"


Ezra, Pandora, Caleb, Emilia and Adrian are five friends who encounter an elderly figure who introduces them to the world of lucid dreaming. As the film progresses, each friend goes into their own lucid dream and tries to understand/analyse their personal "holy discontent". One of them is in an underwater-like state, another is in a forest, one is in a state of darkness who is trapped within his own dark thoughts of hatred, lust and misogyny, one is in a large open space and another is in an alternate universe with elements of reality.

Treatment/Layout for Key Frames

Key Frame 1:
-Emilia and Pandora are standing in an open field, mid-afternoon. In this frame there is natural daylight, slightly darkened atmosphere. They are smoking and laughing together. Both characters are wearing heavy coats and Emilia is drinking coffee. The girls are standing in front of leaf-less trees, creating a slightly eerie and surreal atmosphere.

Key Frame 2:
-Caleb, an unnamed male character and Ezra are conversing in the open-field, late-afternoon. The colours within the frame are warm autumn colours, as are Caleb and the unnamed male character. Ezra however, is an off-grey colour, representing his apathy towards the situation. Ezra is on his phone, completely uninterested.

Key Frame 3:
-The unnamed male character reaching down into his satchel to retrieve a book: "Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming". The weather has slightly turned and made the atmosphere cold and full of anticipation. There are leaves scattered among the ground, further creating the mysterious and gradually darkening atmosphere.

Key Frame 4:
-Extreme close-up of the unnamed male character holding the book about lucid dreaming in his hand. The frame includes vibrant and enhanced colours, symbolizing that the group's lives are about to be shaken once they discover the possibilities of lucid dreaming.

Key Frame 5:
-The bright and vibrant colours are continued in this frame as the unnamed male character starts to read and explain parts of the book to the group. The girls are intrigued by what's being said, as is Caleb - Ezra is nowhere to be seen in the shot.

Key Frame 6:
-Emilia is looking at the unnamed male character intently, questioning the theories of this book. The brightness of the trees and background of this scene are exaggerated, symbolizing that they're adapting to the ideas of the dream world and hyper-reality

Key Frame 7:
The group are standing around a campfire, late afternoon. The sun is setting brightly in the background. Caleb is questioning parts of the book as the unnamed male character is explaining further. The girls are listening and looking down onto the campfire in front of them.

Key Frame 8:
-The unnamed male character is explaining more theories from the book of lucid dreaming to the girls; Emilia and Pandora are impressed and intrigued. The background in the frame appears to be glittering and sparkling, the dream world and hyper-reality becoming more apparent to the characters.

Key Frame 9:
-Caleb is lying in a room of darkness with the words "Hatred", "Lust" and "Misogyny" floating all around him. He is rubbing his eyes as he wakes up gradually

Key Frame 10:
-Projections of Ezra's past girlfriends and sexual encounters suddenly appear in the dark, enclosed space around him. Their faces and bodies are slightly blurred and distorted, representing his memory of them

Key Frame 11
-Ezra reaches out to touch one of the women, but she dematerializes/disappears.

Key Frame 12
-Extreme close-up of Ezra's bleeding hand as a result of trying to touch the projections of the women.

Key Frame 13
-Ezra has his head in his hands, distressed and frustrated, still in a floating state of darkness

Key Frame 14
-Adrian is sitting on the sofa of his Amber's apartment. He has a joint in his hand. Amber is in her pyjamas and Adrian is fully dressed. Amber is standing and observing Adrian as he tries to explain his dreams and sleeping pattern to her. It is the early hours of the morning and the sunrise is gradually creeping into the apartment. A cold-blue is dominant throughout the frame to represent the tension in the atmosphere.

Key Frame 15
-Medium close-up shot. Amber is now sitting next to Adrian on the sofa. She attempts to put her arm around him but he frees himself from her embrace. Amber looks confused, Adrian is uncomfortable. the colous in the frame are still a cold blue

Key Frame 16
-Adrian's dream; colours of warm orange and yellow are present throughout the frame. Objects in the background are curved and wavey. Adrian is preparing to talk to a passer-by but they all have no faces. The entire frame has a surreal feel with the bending and distortion of objects

Key Frame 17
-The colours of orange and yellow and significantly enhanced in this frame. The passers-by in Adrian's dream are facing him with their non-existant faces. Their features and other objects within the frame are distorted and out of balance.

Key Frame 18
-Amber is listening intently to what Adrian has to say. Adrian is looking into the distance as he's talking, avoiding looking at her. Amber is looking at Adrian with boredom and disbelief

Key Frame 19
-Adrian and Amber are sitting on the sofa of  their apartment. Adrian is backing away from her in terror and disgust as she appears to have become a flickering cartoon. Amber continues to talk to Adrian, unaware of how he now sees her.

Key Frame 20
-Adrian has his head in his hands in despair and confusion as Amber puts her arm around to comfort him. The sun still gradually creeps through the apartment, the cold atmosphere of the room being lifted.

Script

Casting

Recee Report

Dartford Park

This is the first location I will be using for my film for the scenes where the group are all discussing the possibilities of lucid dreaming. Originally, I wanted to set these scenes in a forest, but with the right angles and editing on Adobe Photoshop, I could make this public park look eerie and forest-like. These pictures are taken during the day, but with editing I would be able to make the frames look like late afternoon. I also chose this location because it is easily accessible for all the actors as they live locally. Having a location which is mainly greenery is ideal if wanting to edit the pictures on Photoshop, as it is very easy to manipulate the scenery. There are no risks in this location, only the weather to be considered. 

My Living Room

This is the second location for my script "Lucidity". This location is to be used as Amber and Adrian's apartment. It's plain and simple decorations make it believable that the apartment is owned by two young adults. The plain colours make it easy to edit the frames on Photoshop to create a specific mood. There are no risks in this location.

20 Key Frames

Key Frame 1:

I wanted the establishing shot to be a medium-close-up with the background and surroundings being amplified. I chose this location because the trees are bent, distorted and eerie, similar to the ones in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. I edited the colours in this frame to have a slight purple tint to give the illusion of elements of hyper-reality already being present. This shot also resembles the scenes of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind where Joel's memories of Clementine are being erased, hence why I edited the top half of the frame to have a high exposure, almost as if the background itself is disappearing. 

                                                           Key Frame 2:
In this frame, Ezra is an off-grey colour to symbolize his lack of interest in the conversation around him and to also emphasize his anti-social attitude. Ezra's character is wearing all black to also represent mystery and wanting to be unreadable. His style of clothing is significantly different to the rest of the group, emphasizing that he is not a part of them. Similar elements of how Alice in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland is in denial about the situations around her when she is in Underland. I edited the selective colours, brightness and exposure in this frame to make it look like late afternoon and that the sun is setting.

              Key Frame 3:

The colours in this frame are dull and sombre to reflect how the characters' lives are uneventful and monotone before they experience lucid dreaming. I edited the shadows, highlights and exposure in this frame to match the grey-scale effect Sucker Punch has before Baby Doll imagines the mental institute to be a brothel. The satchel is central in the shot to emphasize that it controls the frame and has dominance over the characters, becoming the subject. 

                                                                      Key Frame 4:
An extreme close-up of the book being held central to the frame to emphasize the book's significance to the story-line. Similar to the frame in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind when Joel is holding the card that explains how Clementine erased him from her memory. I edited the brightness, exposure and contrast to portray the theme of hyper-reality within the frame, the grass looking almost fake and the book and hand being strongly amplified, colours similar to Baby Doll's perception of the mental institute in Sucker Punch. The constant significance of the book is a similar link to the spinner in Inception.

Key Frame 5:

The bright and vibrant colours within this frame represent that the group's lives are automatically more exciting since the book about lucid dreaming has been introduced to them. I edited the brightness, contrast and levels within this frame to create the illusion of hyper-reality. The trees in the background are still naked and distorted to maintain the unsettling feel from Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.

                                                                    Key Frame 6:
A medium close-up shows Emilia is looking intently at the male character, unaware of her surroundings and what is being said about lucid dreaming. This links to Baudrillard's theory about hyper-reality and how people are unable to determine dream simulation from reality. The amplified colours within the frame due to editing of the contrast further portrays the ideas of hyper-reality. This frame is in contrast to Inception where Ariadne, unlike Emilia in this frame, is aware that she is in the dream world.

                                                                      Key Frame 7:
In this frame, Caleb and the nameless male character are analysing parts of the book, further trying to understand the ideas behind simulation and lucid dreaming. The girls are concentrating on the fire in front of them as the sunset around them becomes more prominent and the colours within the frame are more vibrant, suggesting that they're already in a state of hyper-reality and lucid dreaming. Similar to Waking Life where the surroundings around the characters are being exaggerated and distorted and the characters themselves are taking no notice.

Key Frame 8;

Further portrayals of Jean Baudrillard's theory of hyper-reality within this frame, the characters being unable to determine their dreams from their waking state. The distortion of the trees and the shimmering/blurred background is similar to Waking Life in how the surroundings are constantly changing mid-conversation.

Key Frame 9;

Portraying Alfred Adler's theory about dreams being problem-solving devices for a person's waking life. Ezra's waking up and floating in darkness, having an our-of-body experience, similar to the nameless protagonist in Waking Life. At first, Ezra's character is unaware of the gravity shift while he's asleep, similar to Inception. The background is pitch-black to represent Ezra's selfish nature. 

Key Frame 10:

Ezra's past girlfriends, lovers and sexual encounters surround him; they are cartoon-like projections, siding with Freud's theory of symbolism and displacement. Memories from his subconscious are being brought to Ezra's attention. Similar to Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind where Joel's memories of Clementine keep re-appearing, even when he's trying to erase them. The females in the frame are the subject, dominant and controlling the shot, causing Ezra to be inferior.

Key Frame 11:

Ezra reaches out to touch one of the projections but she disappears, representing Ezra's incapability to control his dreams and understand his subconscious. Similar to Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind where Joel's surroundings and memories of Clementine disappears.

Key Frame 12:

Ezra's bleeding hand after trying to touch one of the female projections, representation that has past is violent, sinful and deadly. Similar link to Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland in the scene where the Bandersnatch scratches Alice. The Bandersnatch being a possible representation of Alice's life struggles, the female projections of Ezra's past having the same effect.

Key Frame 13:

This frame shows Ezra's despair and frustration, the darkness around him representing the immorality of his past decisions and relationships. Further relating to Alfred Adler's theories of using your dreams to solve the problems and anomalies in the conscious state. Similar to Source Code where Captain Colter Stevens is frustrated and cannot remember specifically what happened when he was re-living the last 8 minutes of a train passenger's life. 

Key Frame 14:

This frame is set in the early hours of the morning in Amber and Adrian's apartment. The natural light coming through the windows gives the impression that the day is slowly beginning. Amber is wearing pyjamas, displaying that she's just gotten out of bed. The colours in this frame are edited to have slight purple tint to imitate the sunrise.

Key Frame 15:

Medium close-up to display the emotions being exchanged between them. Amber attempts to comfort her boyfriend but he pushes her away, his facial expression showing major discomfort.

                                                                       Key Frame 16
Adrian's dream: he attempts to talk to people around him but they do not have facial features, imitation of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind when Joel keeps re-living the moment when he first visits the memory erasing clinic. The frame is distorted and has an off-sepia tone to represent that it is a dream. Elements of hyper-reality are exaggerated within this frame by the concave effects to display that this frame is Adrian's dream.

Key Frame 17:

The colours within this part of Adrian's dream are more amplified as the characters are looking directly at him (the camera being Adrian's POV in this frame), possibly creating a harsh and aggressive atmosphere. Similar to the scene in Inception when the projections in Cobb's mind start to attack Ariadne. Blurred faces to emphasize the re-occurring theme of hyper-reality and dream simulation. Similar elements to Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind with the theme of erasing and forgetting memories.

Key Frame 18:

Adrian and Amber are sitting on the sofa of their apartment, the daylight through the window off-screen is becoming more prominent. Adrian explains his dream to his girlfriend and she listens intently, similar to Jesse and Celine's conversation in bed in Waking Life. The use of Adrian's character smoking is to draw attention to the distortion of his perception of his surroundings; hallucinations becoming more apparent due to excessive use of marijuana and experimentation with lucid dreaming. The colours within this frame are prominently a cold blue to represent the tension between Amber and Adrian and to create an atmosphere of discomfort between them.

                                                               Key Frame 19:
Adrian is having hallucinations that his girlfriend is a cartoon hologram and she "transforms" mid-conversation. Similar to the style of Waking Life where everything is rotoscoped and characters in the film are constantly changing shape as well as their surroundings. Adrian's discomfort displays that he feels like he's suffocating and is scared of the projection before him. I edited Amber's character to make her look abstract within the frame displaying that her cartoon-state is abnormal. Adrian's confusion relates to my study of hyper-reality and simulation, people being unable to determine the difference between dreaming ad the conscious state. The blue and purple tint is still present within the frame to show that it is still the early hours of the morning and to also represent the cold and slightly tense atmosphere between the couple. Also relates to the scene in Waking Life where the nameless protagonist is talking to the university professor, the professor is saying very profound and in-depth theories, but like Amber's character, parts of his body are changing colour and shifting while he talks.

Key Frame 20:

In this final frame, Adrian is hanging his head in frustration as Amber tries to comfort him. Adrian is deeply suffering from his hallucinations and lucid dreams, similar to the nameless protagonist in Waking Life. The light is still coming through the window in this frame, although the majority of this frame is darkened to represent Adrian's distressed state of mind. I edited the levels and shadows on Photoshop to create a darkened atmosphere within the frame