Interesting Movie. How A Psychological Technique Was Accidentally Born

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Not so long ago I found myself at a free master class at a private film school. There were about thirty people of different ages and sexes. They waited for the lecturer for almost two hours, then a young determined lady-director appeared, announced that cinema was a collective process and invited us to introduce ourselves, tell about ourselves and how we got here.

The participants began: “I am Ivan, an engineer, I want to be engaged in documentary filmmaking” - “Oh, an engineer! - the presenter was delighted, - Engineering thinking today would be useful to us in documentary films! " “And I am a financier, I have extensive experience in business, I am good at making money out of money. I would like to try myself in producing”- uncle over fifty modestly introduced himself. “Yes, good producers are in great need of Russian cinema! - the girl-director confirmed, - we really do not have enough normal producers”. The turn came to me: "And I am a psychologist, I have a private practice." It turned out that the psychologists of the Russian cinema are needed to the bone. Our cinema needs a lot of people, absolutely not enough of them all.

There were a lot of interesting things at that seminar, but I got two main ideas from it. First: cinema is awfully difficult and, in general, directors have a terribly heavy bread. And second: no, I don't want to be a director. And I don't want to be an actress. And in general, I do not see myself in the cinema, except as a screenwriter. If it comes to that, I will invent worlds and write stories about people and for people.

And, as I accidentally discovered, the scenario approach can be applied directly to my psychotherapeutic work. That is, scripts can be written in real life.

So: at the reception, a client, a young man in his thirties, athletic-looking, tall, with a strong build. Their name is, let's say, Antoine. We have been working with him for a long time, the therapeutic relationship is strong and trusting. And we have already approached his main topic - “why I do not live the way I would like” from different angles. We learned a lot during therapy about how he feels, what happens to him in certain situations, about his goals, dreams and real actions. Now Antoine is depressed, ashamed, he does not understand why he already knows so much about himself, but he still cannot find a job, return to his favorite sport (he was an athlete in the past, however, he did not set records) and be successful and confident in yourself. Something doesn't add up …

And I suddenly decide: Antoine, let's make a movie! Yes, a movie about your life. Well, first, let's write a script: how you live, and how you want to live, we will describe all this and look from the outside. The client is very surprised and does not quite understand how to react, so he agrees. I jump into the next office for the whiteboard markers, and we begin to create together, like brother and sister Wachowski.

Well, where do we start? Do you even know how to write scripts? - I ask as an experienced film critic. (I have read something and heard a lot about the plot, the plot, the plot, the disclosure of the characters, the plot arc and many other solid terms). Antoine has no idea, so I agree to everything in advance.

Okay, then let's start from the very beginning. Well, here we have a hero. Let's call it … What will we call it? - Let's call him Antoine, without further ado the client offers. Okay, Antoine so Antoine. But you know, first you need to introduce the viewer to the life of the hero. And in the cinema, this is done through action, through the actions of the character, well, in the most extreme case, a voiceover is given. So, our hero - what is he? Let's say he goes and enrolls in the sports section! That's how you signed up six months ago! At first it is not easy for him, he has lost his athletic form, but he works hard, and now - the first successes! It is possible, by the way, to show how our hero is looking for a section, how difficult it is for him, how an experienced coach and a wise mentor-psychologist helps him (I am dignified), in general, this can be shown in a very interesting movie. That's all that you have done yourself lately, and our hero will do. How is it?

The client is inspired, his eyes are burning. Yes! Excellent! He is very well aware of this stage - we are describing a real story from his life. This is great, this is a very resourceful moment.(Before my eyes flashing pictures from "Rocky", "Karate Kid", "Kill Bill-2", all other cult films in which the hero-athlete trains for a long time, obeys the coach and goes to victory).

Okay, what's next? And then, the client honestly says, our Antoine comes home and dreams. - Dreaming? - I ask again. Well, yes, she does. Wait, how to show it in the film … So Antoine comes home, sits down in a chair and … and like that, the picture went, influx, fantasy. And what are his dreams about? - About how he wins all rivals in competitions, how the audience applauds him, how the coach slaps him respectfully on the shoulder, how he is handed the cup while he stands on the podium…. In general, our Antoine is dreaming. (The client has a sweet expression on his face, he is clearly satisfied and happy).

I am shocked: yes, it can be shot very beautifully. It is very bright and revealing: the hero actually sits at home, and in his dreams he is all such a winner in life.

And then what?

And then … The client lowers his shoulders, speaks in a strangled voice. Then the wife comes home from work. And he tells him that there is not enough money and that he needs to go to work.

Well, yes, I am helping. The wife is not an evil person, she does not torment our hero, she is good and loving (this is true), but here they are - objective difficulties! This always happens in cinema, it is imperative to overcome problems, without this it is not interesting and no one will watch. Well, here they met for our character. That is, we are recording this scene: a conversation with his wife. Need money.

And then what? Then (Antoine the client is completely suppressed) the dream collapses. Our hero walks and thinks that everything is bad. Everything was lost, now he will never be a champion. Never win a competition. It didn't work out. He thinks about how to force himself to give up his dream and forget everything that he so wanted. He imagines how he works on boring hard work for little money and he only has enough energy for beer after a working day. He recalls how boring his life was before, when he worked like that, and he becomes sad, bad, hard, painful. This is how life collides with fantasy and breaks it down.

Wait … - I even start to stutter. Wait a minute. Antoine, wait. And where, where did you see LIFE here? In my opinion, so far there is a circle of fantasy. One fantasy collides with another and our hero chooses to believe her, this negative fantasy. So far, of the real action, there is only a conversation with his wife. The rest is all imagination! Antoine, can you even see it? Do you see that our character does nothing but fantasize? That so far nothing bad has happened, but he mentally gave up and lost. Do you see this, Antoine ?!

But… (Antoine-client is confused) but my previous experience… It was always like this before…. I used to work in boring jobs - neither mind nor heart. I felt bad, I did not have the strength to do anything other than work. I didn't like it. I don't know another life …

I'm surprised to object: but we are writing a script! Let's see what happens next? And what, by the way, will be there according to the plot?

Well, Antoine sighs. Next, our hero goes to look for work. First, he pokes at job search sites and goes to interviews, but nowhere is there a job with a normal salary and on good conditions, so he finds the first suitable position and enters it. Then - well, he works there, he doesn't like it, he forced himself to forget about his dream and suffer for the sake of money. In the evenings, he lies in front of the TV on the couch and tries not to think about his dreams of the championship. Tired, unhappy, unhappy.

At this point I almost burst with surprise: wait! Can you hear yourself? Who makes him forget about his dream? What a word - MAKES! He forced himself and made himself forget about the dream, agree to the inappropriate, break not even from difficulties - but from fantasies about difficulties! Antoine, hey, can you hear yourself ???

To say that I am shocked is to say nothing; Yes, I was just stunned. Well, who makes a movie like that !!! Then I was eloquent, retelling episodes (and even, it seems, humming a musical theme) from "Rocky" and told that films about returning to sports are built according to completely different schemes. She waved her hands and recited "Karate Kid".

Tired, I asked: how? Who do you think we made the film about?

The film came out sad - Antoine sighed. About a loser and about how a cruel life breaks a person's plans.

And in my opinion, - I said honestly, - this is a movie about a dreamer who exists exclusively in the world of illusions. After all, our hero almost does nothing, hey! Do you see in general what happened? (By this time, a script outline was written on the board: all stages were numbered, each episode was given a title). After all, the brightest part of our film is about how the hero fantasizes. First he fantasizes about victories, then he fantasizes about defeats, and only at the very beginning of the film he goes and works out in a sports club. That is, it does something good. In reality, here are his actions: he signed up for a sports club, talked to his wife, went to an unloved job. Everything. The rest of his stormy life takes place in his imagination and nowhere else! There he is a winner, and a victim, and achieved, and lost, and in general, all life flows inside his head.

In general, the result of our script co-creation surprised both of us. And here's what, it seems to me, the "writing a script about your life" technique can give:

• Now it is possible to look at the situation with a single glance, so to speak, from a bird's eye view. See the whole picture, not individual elements.
• You can estimate the quantitative share of various phenomena in the client's life (I will explain: Antoine has never lied to me; we have formed a warm therapeutic alliance, and he has already told me everything: he dreams of victories and championship, and how depressed from thoughts of failures … But I could not even imagine that his main life takes place in his head, and in reality he only goes to the store for bread).
• The opportunity to see the elements of life in interaction with each other: what is interfering with what, what conflicts with what, which stage replaces which. If there is a repetition, regularity of any stages - this will also become noticeable with just such a "look from the outside", and it is obvious not only to the therapist, but also to the client.
• At the same time, the client himself gets the opportunity to "look at a distance" throughout his life - because, as the proverb says, "a fish does not see water." A look from an unusual angle gives a lot to get out of the usual life scenarios.

And yes, I suppose the script can be rewritten. Redo various episodes, try on yourself, play this or that character. Rearrange accents. At the same time, it is absolutely not necessary to completely redraw what really happened, for example, you do not need to rewrite childhood, making it happy, with a bunch of opportunities and understanding rich parents. If it didn’t happen, then it really didn’t happen. Yes, you can't turn back the past - but after all, many films have been shot about how a person with a difficult childhood and an unsuccessful past achieved success in work, love, found a calling and achieved great goals. There is absolutely no need to cross out the past - you just need to make a film about the present, about the hero we got and about his life today. About how he changes and becomes what he wants to become. And the entire world cinema will help us - there are already hundreds of such stories. You can take anyone and implement it in your life.

And Antoine and I will definitely rewrite and replay the wrong episodes. And in the movies, you can reshoot unsuccessful takes, cut or paste new pieces during final editing. But this is a completely different story.