Cinema and the Psyche

This episode is a short description of our ‘Cinematic Fanatic Sundays’, a program we’ve created to provide film artists and craftspersons an opportunity – every Sunday – to practice their craft in collaboration with others passionate about making movies.

I’ve included this in ‘Cinema and the Psyche’ as I feel the podcast will benefit immensely from the insights and experiences gained during our Sunday workshops.

Thanks so much for tuning in,

Here we are again, later than desired, but here never-the-less. I wanted to discuss what’s actually important – primarily for the writer/director of cinema (apologies to all others).

I’m torn slightly, as staying away from accepted paths has allowed me to keep my mind – well, mine! It has kept my philosophy sharp and evolving quickly. And yet, the longer I stay away from accepted ‘paths’ the longer is delayed my collaborations with others; which is a necessity in cinema.

I take these years of personal development as an important aspect of the journey to making movies, and go on funneling everything right into my creative preparation.

Hope you enjoy the podcast, and find it useful on your own path.

Episode five is all about exploring visual language in cinema, beginning with a deeper look at symbolism and then finishing off with a little about camera usage.

It’s my feeling that visual language, like the written word, is suffering in our present culture, and this is disturbing simply because the broad use of words, or the broad understanding and use of visual language in cinema corresponds to a broad and deep perception of reality. As the language shrinks, or becomes outright lost, so to do ideas and concepts that require language to be conveyed.

The cinema is particularly interesting in regards to language because like a supreme intelligence may do, you have the entire material world to use as a symbol set. You are the creator voice of a divination tool brought to audiences through the medium of a dark room, big screen and first class sound system.

Cinema is complex, and like any great art form, it should be. To master it is likely beyond everyone’s reach, but the pursuit of greater proficiency is irresistible, and to those who have succumbed to it’s attracting power, there is no way out.

Hope you enjoy the podcast, and I look forward to bringing more and varied topics into the fold.

In this episode I’m sharing a process I’ve used for writing my latest screenplay. It’s based on the Trivium, coming from ancient Greek classical education. The Trivium was the first three of seven essential subjects.

After coming across this really useful tool, I eventually saw how I could apply it to screenwriting and so adopted it.

If you find these sessions valuable, consider dropping in to my Patreon page and support the ongoing (and improving) production of the podcast.

Links:

Trivium at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivium

Movies are born from ideas, they transmit ideas, and in the end, audiences are left – not with the movie, but with ideas. Therefore, movies really are just another language. Cinema is an exceptional language. So much so, that even after 120 years, we’re hardly touching its power.

To harness the power of cinema, and to harness the power of your own creative process, requires that you understand the nature of ideas, their power, and the ways in which they’re delivered and received.

Feel free to email me any thoughts or questions, and if you’re finding the podcast useful, or enjoyable, please consider contributing something for their continuation and improvement at my Patreon page.

Welcome to Episode Two of ‘Cinema and the Psyche’. This time out we’re talking about the psyche, and for me, this means the individual. I cover a few important aspects of the individual as they relate to the filmmaker and the audience.

A little conspiratorial at times, but always relevant to the point! With cinema we are messing (for want of a better term) with powers beyond our understanding, and the reason for this is because the nature of the individual is beyond our understanding.

Cinema as an art is a mass of elements we’re tasked – as the filmmaker – with controlling. An almost impossible task, but one we can dedicate ourselves to for a lifetime. As audience members it’s imperative that we get to grips with the power our subconscious holds, and then to understand the power cinema has over our subconscious.

So this is the topic of episode two. Please check it out, and if you enjoy the subject matter, give us a like on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, put a review on the iTunes store, or just write with some thoughts, questions or feedback.

Lastly, I’d like to mention a great website called Patreon where artists are finding patrons for their work (renaissance style) so they may continue to improve the world as they believe they can, through support from their audience. I have a Patreon page and ask that you check it out and support the work if you can.

A couple of the topics in the podcast that have links are included below. Until next time…

Welcome to Episode One of ‘Cinema and the Psyche’. I decided to start with an explanation of how I’m breaking down the cinematic medium for further study.

By choosing specific aspects of the form, based on their historical emergence, I’m able to see more clearly which creative/technical paths have been (to a greater or lesser degree) neglected.

Also, as promised, here’s the two links I referred to in the podcast:

Elia Kazan on What Makes a Director and

If you enjoy the podcast please leave a review on the iTunes store or on Stitcher, and feel free to write with any questions, criticisms or comments.

Welcome to ‘Cinema and the Psyche’, a podcast for exploring the nature of the cinematic art form, the artist and audience, and the way they all interrelate. The focus will be on cinema as it appears in our multiplexes and independent cinemas.

I value the individual and the authentic artistic process as the means for achieving true cinema. Therefore, I’m less concerned with established ideas, academic outlooks and the views of current (non-filmmaking) ‘experts’.

We’ll be concerned with those great filmmakers throughout history who defined the medium, but most of all, with my own understandings and realizations; ever searching for what mainstream cinema can be.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey into the depths of cinema. I won’t always have the ‘right’ opinion or view, but it will be a genuine, individualist approach to discovering the depth of cinema, the psyche and their interrelation.

I expect to be posting at least one 20-30 minute episode each week. But, let’s see, as it is with all intuitional based works, anything can happen!

Lastly, the folks over at Patreon.com have created something wonderful. In their own words: “Patreon’s mission? Oh, nothing short of helping every creator in the world achieve sustainable income. We’re making this happen by building the best platform for creators to make money, run their creative businesses, and connect with the fans who matter most.”

So, go check out my Patreon page, and if you’re inspired by the podcast, or even want to become part of our core endeavor – making movies at www.yogamayafilms.com – give something monthly. All the details are over there, at www.patreon.com/cinema_podcast. Thanks for tuning in!