My specialist topic is researching how lighting is used effectively in film to portray depression.
My first source is The Aesthetics of Depression in the Work of Lars von Trier, this is written by Andrada Munteanu, who is a masters student at the University of Bergen. The key concepts in this essay are how the portrayal of depression has changed over time for example “the social views regarding the psychiatrists’ role underwent a positive change” from the 1950s onwards and “By 1950’s, the discovery of the neuroleptics (1952) and antidepressants (1957) would bring about a medical revolution”. This contributes to my understanding of the topic because I know why and how people’s views of mental health changed which will be seen in the films from different times. For example the more recent the film was made it should be more accurate and have less stigmatisation due to changing views on mental health. This source is credible because it is an academic paper that has been reviewed by a knowledgeable professor to check for accuracy.
My second source is 14 Movies About Depression That Perfectly Capture the Experience. This is written by Joseph Rauch and reviewed by Amy Cirbus (Ph.D) for Talkspace which is a reliable website about mental health issues. The key concepts in this article are “ We need movies about depression… to help us understand, humanize and sympathize with the many ways people experience depression” and finding films that “would best enlighten you on the experience of depression”. This article has helped with my understanding of the topic because it shows me good examples of films that have done this before and the things they have done successfully. By learning what they have done wrong I can use this information to make sure my film does the same things to make it successful. This source is credible because it is on an official website that is aimed for helping people with mental health issues and it has been reviewed by professionals in this area.
My third source is The Use of Cinematic Devices To Portray Mental Illness, written by Craig Middleton who is a lecturer at James Cook University. The key concepts in this article are “conventional’ cinema bears the weight of narrative and genre conventions, both inherent in audience expectations and the filmmakers’ desire to ‘entertain” and how “Portrayals can also be overly positive, suggesting a mental illness can be easily cured, thus contributing towards stigmatisation”. This essay has helped with my understanding of the topic because it has highlighted some of the issues about portrayals of mental health, for example making them missinformative and wrong so adding to the stigmatisation of mental health issues. This source is credible because it is written by a qualified lecture which makes it reliable.
In conclusion, these publications’ main points were to make sure your representation doesn’t contribute to the stigmatisation of the group you’re representing. And to make sure you’re making your film in a way that’s helping the person you’re aiming it at, by giving them a safe place to go rather than an informative piece about mental health.
Bibliography
Munteanu, A. (2016) The Aesthetics of Depression in the Work of Lars von Trier (Pg 7):
Rauch, J. (2017) 14 Movies About Depression That Perfectly Capture the Experience:
14 Movies About Depression That Perfectly Capture the Experience – Talkspace
Middleton, C (2013). The Use of Cinematic Devices To Portray Mental Illness (Pg 1): (PDF) The Use of Cinematic Devices to Portray Mental Illness
Laura Altman 