Film Sarah and James by Nikowa Namate

¶ … film Sarah and James by Nikowa Namate offers an opportunity to reflect on the deeper themes in light of several film theories including Freudian theory, Queer theory, and an understanding of realism, naturalism, and kitchen sink drama. This essay will offer a nuanced and thorough analysis of my role in the filmmaking experience. In Sarah and James, I played the role of James, one of the title characters. As the title of the film suggests, though, James is not the only protagonist. The interplay between James and his sister Sarah is the foundation of the film, which addresses the way mental illness impacts intimate relationships. Moreover, I was in charge of lighting during the production of Sarah and James and will discuss elements related to lighting during the production of the film. This essay will hinge on the application of realism, naturalism, Freudian theory, and queer theory to my experience as an actor.

Freudian psychoanalysis and film share a similar language and semiotic because "cinema and psychoanalysis were born at the same time," ("Honey I Kidded the Shrink," 1). This historical convergence shows that a film like Sarah and James serves the function of reflecting the psyche of the screenwriter, who in turn captures universal dimensions of human existence that can be understood using Freudian psychoanalytic theory. Because film must appeal to the psyche of each viewer for the viewer to become engaged enough to watch, "psychoanalytic film theory, despite its relatively late development, has become one of the most widely practiced theoretical approaches to cinema studies today," (Netto 1)

Furthermore, applying Freudian theories to film shows that the audience is also participating in a psychoanalytic process when watching a movie. The audience willingly surrenders to the "fourth field," as Netto puts it, allowing the unseen director, cinematographer, and producer to manipulate minds and control realities, albeit temporarily (1). The audience is "being coerced, through a careful manipulation of compositional framing, lighting, editing," and other dimensions of the cinema experience (Netto 1).

Sarah and James exemplifies the core elements of Freudian theory. For one, Freudian theory remains centrally concerned with childhood and its repressed memories. Those repressed memories haunt the individual, create neuroses, and contribute to the person's personality, behavior, and relationships. This is true for films that do not address mental illness, but naturally, Freudian theory applies well to a film like Sarah and James, which does address mental illness. Cinema accomplishes the goal of "rendering subjective experiences -- the innermost psychological depths of the characters it portrayed," (Netto 1).

A second reason Sarah and James exemplifies the core elements of Freudian theory is that "the birth of cinema offered a collective sense of what Freud called the uncanny: the images on screen were both familiar and somehow strange, alive and yet lifeless, real but illusory," (Honey I Kidded the Shrink," 1). Sarah and James is not a documentary; it is a work of fiction. In this sense, we have the sense of something removed from reality but also real as well. The audience, as well as the actors like me, can identify with the characters but also remain distant from them. Characters are mirrors for our subconscious.

Sarah and James is about the delusional and hallucinatory nature of mental illness besieging the titular Sarah. Sarah's delusions create a complex relationship between her and an imaginary female lover. Thus, Sarah and James should be analyzed also in terms of queer theory. Queer theory is somewhat linked to psychoanalytic theory, and can be used in conjunction with it. Issues related to power, sexuality, and fetishism are addressed in Sarah and James in tacit ways. Queer theory shows that Hollywood treats homosexuality in ways that promote stereotypes of queer sexuality as inherently perverse or monstrous (Ellis 2). The goal of cinema in the case of Sarah and James is to subvert Hollywood's control of social norms.

Sarah and James belongs to an interconnected genre of films known as realist or naturalist movies. It can also be considered a kitchen sink drama. These terms refer to films that basically depict real life in all its grittiness. Nothing is held back. Reality is presented to the viewer without glamorous embellishments. "Realism as a dramatic style refers to the appearance of lifelikeness (verisimilitude) in setting, costume, dialogue, gesture, facial expression, and so on" (Dietrich 1).

Naturalism takes realism a step further. Usually a pejorative or derogatory term, naturalism offers a "more secular, more contemporary, and more extensive," thorough depiction than "whatever passes at that moment for realistic," ("Naturalism in Literature and Film," 1). A related genre is the kitchen sink drama, which is a naturalistic approach strictly to the working class. In the case of Sarah and James, the film is both realistic and naturalistic. Due to the budgetary limitations of the filmmaking process, and the reliance on natural lighting, Sarah and James comes across as a quintessentially naturalist film. It is about the grim realities of mental illness and how psychological disturbances impact intimate relationships.

3. Phase One of the project refers to my decision to become a part of this film project. I decided to do this project because the script showed promise, and I believe it is important to cover difficult subjects like this. We all know someone with mental illness, and Sarah symbolizes that person in our lives. Playing James allowed me to explore the dimension of being the loved one who must respond to the sad and heart-wrenching changes taking place in the person we love. James grapples with difficult emotions in this film, and as an actor, the role seemed both challenging and rewarding. Applying Freudian theory, it is easy to see how my own childhood fears may have allowed themselves to emerge.

I have tried to be objective throughout my involvement in the film, and have also been successful at doing so. Because the subject is not too personal, I was able to fully engage with my character without confounding reality with the world of the Sarah and James. I like how this role challenges me as an actor, asking me to explore emotions that I had never experienced in real life due to my not having a sister like this. At the beginning of our working together as a team, I met frequently with the writer to ask questions about James so that I could hone the character to perfection and express James in the best way I could.

4. As all good actors must, I needed to do more than just talk to the writer. I had to do my own research on the subjects addressed in the movie. Playing James had to become second nature. Sarah does not receive a formal diagnosis in the film, and her illness is not discussed in medical terminology. Therefore, I had a lot of work to do researching the symptoms Sarah experiences so that I might be able to identify the core traits and how to react to them as her brother. I consulted a range of publications related to mental illness and determined that Sarah most likely has a form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects about one percent of the general population in the United States ("What is Schizophrenia?"). Therefore, it is a rare but potentially debilitating mental illness. It can have a devastating impact on friends and family of the afflicted, as well as the patient herself.

One of the core symptoms of schizophrenia is the presence of delusions and hallucinations, like the ones Sarah experiences in her relationship with Megan. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, "People with the disorder may hear voices other people don't hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them," (p. 1). Therefore, paranoia is also a major part of schizophrenia. The relationship between Sarah and James deteriorates precisely because of these two main symptoms: hallucinations and paranoia. Sarah no longer trusts James because her illness impacts her emotional state and her perception of reality. Megan supplants James as an intimate friend. Megan, for example, who can be accurately described as an alter ego of Sarah's, manifests a mistrust of James. Megan's character exemplifies Sarah's mental illness and her paranoia in scenes like the one in which the two girls are together and Megan says, "You don't need to worry about anything because we make the rules now…your brother is not here to kick us out," (p. 10). Therefore, Sarah displaces her emotions onto Megan and isolates James. She pushes James away instead of allowing him to help her. According to the research, Sarah's symptoms correspond with schizophrenia, which does tend to initially emerge in adolescence ("Symptoms of Schizophrenia").

Yet there is also a push-pull dynamic at play in which Sarah reveals that she does indeed love her brother. Sarah might also be besieged with bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness in which radical mood swings impact the person's life. Although most of Sarah's symptoms suggest she only has schizophrenia, it is possible that she is in a manic phase of bipolar because "being delusional, having hallucinations and disturbed or illogical thinking" are also symptoms of that disease ("Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder" 1). Her intense feelings of elation when she is with James, and especially with Megan, and her occasional bursts of energy do suggest that Sarah might have bipolar.

In addition to researching the elements of the film and story that related to the theme of schizophrenia, I also had to learn more about queer theory in film. Queer theory explores the dynamics of gender and sexuality, as these elements of identity converge with culture, class, ethnicity, power, and all other dimensions of life that are represented in cinema. Because Sarah and James directly and frankly deals with homosexuality, I researched queer theory as it pertains to both film and literature. I found some potentially problematic points in the script in light of queer theory. For example, the relationship between Sarah and Megan is pathologized. Megan is her fantasy. Does this suggest that Sarah is homophobic and cannot come to terms with her desire to be with women? Or does the filmmaker suggest that homosexuality is deviant, which is why the relationship with Megan and Sarah is depicted as being the primary symptom of the mental illness? If so, Sarah and James perpetuates dysfunctional stereotypes about homosexuality. I soon came to re-read the script as being more centrally about Sarah's mental breakdown overall. Her love for Megan just happens to be homoerotic. Rather than pathologizing the relationship, the relationship is normalized.

5. The production of the film Sarah and James was interesting. I served in two main roles throughout the procedure: as actor and as lighting director. My role as lighting director involved deciding when and where, as well as how, to use natural vs. artificial lighting. My choices were constrained by budget, available lighting, sets, the director's vision, and time of day. Generally, we were happy with the outcome of the film in terms of its lighting. Some of the scenes could have been better if the lighting was more expert. We relied on natural light for several scenes, and it seemed bright enough at the time but upon watching later it was obvious that artificial light would have helped reduce shadows and highlighted the characters. We lost some of the facial features on camera.

My role as acting was challenging and rewarding, as expected. The first step in the process was to read the script. I noticed some errors and problems, but I was not in the position of discussing my concerns about it with anyone because this was not my role. My role was to bring James to life, and I did so to the best of my ability. I read through the script quickly the first pass, and on the second pass, I read it thoroughly. Then, I started to imagine myself as James. I practiced facial expressions and body language while rehearsing the first few lines. Then, I started working on the arduous task of memorizing my lines. Because the film is a short, it was not overly difficult, and allowed me to focus more on my body language and character development. I thought a lot about the difficulties inherent in producing a feature film, and the stress it places on the actors to remain in character through non-chronological shooting.

Getting to know James was difficult. I sympathized with him, but I also wished he could have done more to help Sarah. As Sarah's brother, James watches his sister almost helplessly. He is a powerless character and rather weak. I had some conflicts with the writer and other members of our team because I wanted James to be a stronger character who plays a more active role in the relationship with his sister. There were times I stepped out of character and had to bring myself back to the role. We worked hard, for long hours at a stretch, perfecting the dialogue and interactions with each other on screen. After a while, I understood that the other members of the team insisted that Sarah was the focus and to make James strong would shift the theme of the film. We eventually completed the shooting, and the footage went into post-production. At that point, my role was more passive.

Overall, the experience was what I expected. The most difficult part of my role as actor was trying to envision how I would deal with a mentally ill loved one. I had to confront deep issues related to codependency and patterns of enabling. As expected, the filming was grueling and we shot the same scenes over and over to perfect them. We all got along well, and there were no serious problems during the filming. It was a fun experience.

6. Because Sarah and James is not a documentary, there are none of the ethical qualms that directors and writers have to deal with in depicting actual people. Those ethical problems have to do with such things as manipulating the movie to tell the story a certain way, rather than allowing the story to tell itself. It may also have to do with the subjects' willingness to reveal information, versus the director's agenda, or the director misrepresenting the subject. Directors have to be careful to value their subjects without compromising the integrity of the film and its message. As Piotrowska (2014) points out, psychoanalytic issues like projection can also taint the relationship between director and subject. This is not the case with Sarah and James, which uses the medium of fiction to convey the subject of mental illness. If the film is based on a true story, then there are additional ethical dimensions such as assurance that the real identities of Sarah and James are protected.

7. Editing was challenging, although I did not play a major role in the post-production processes. I approached the editing process with humility, because I did not know much about the techniques used, and the person serving in the editorial role was familiar with the software. However, we all had a grand editorial vision to impart and share our ideas about the finished product. The film came together as a result of the efforts of all of us. One of the more challenging aspects of editing was sound editing, and this helped me to understand the overall meaning of film production as well as of this specific film. I learned that editing is a core component of the process, and that the editor has the power to alter the dynamics, pacing, mood, tone, and many other aspects of the film. We learned that even slight mistakes can be covered up with clever editing; and I made the choice to contribute the best I could to helping the editor understand my character during the process.

I would say that the process of editing was the most challenging aspect of film production. The editor can make or break the mood of the film. During the course of editing, the mood of the film, its theme and tone, really start to emerge. What the initial vision was either becomes enhanced and articulated fully, or it changes. In this case, the mood of the movie remained as tragic as we had all intended. The editing actually highlighted the tension in the story between Sarah and James. As the actor playing James, I paid close attention to my performance during this stage, and did realize as I confirmed, that James is a weak character but that I helped to highlight the important features of Sarah's personality as well.