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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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