Research materialsA2 Film – Representation of Schizophrenia

Primary Research

Section 1 - Films

My primary research materials consist of my three focal films which are:

1. “Donnie Darko” – Richard Kelly (2001) 2. “Spider” – David Cronenberg (2002)3. “Shutter Island” – Martin Scorsese (2010)

I selected the above films for the following reasons:

They all represent mental health, in particular schizophrenia. They all fall into the category of drama which I have selected for the genre of my short film and

so I am hoping to use similar classic codes and conventions within the genre demonstrated in them.

There is a continuity of style across the three films in terms of the micro-technical elements but also in terms of the symptoms and effects of schizophrenia explored e.g hearing voices and day time hallucinations.

I also opted for films from different directors as they may provide alternative explanations and have different views on schizophrenia from the stereotypical representations. For example they may have a more personal perspective if they have been affected by mental health in their life.

I also tried to select contemporary films as I feel that they would be more relevant to my audience and also as I am setting my film within the present day I felt that it would be more beneficial.

I also chose 2 films that I was familiar with and had previously watched, ‘Donnie Darko’ and ‘Shutter Island’, and then selected ‘Spider’ as a film I had not seen so that I viewed it with an unbias, open mind to spot elements I may have previously over looked.

Item 1,2+3

Secondary Research

Section 1 – Questionnaires

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR5RGSZ

I decided to carry out a questionnaire into mental health within film to collect my own first hand data and not solely rely upon other people's answers as they may be manipulated to fit their research or based upon unreliable sources. I set up a questionnaire on my blog which allowed any one accessing my blog to be able to fill it in. I decided to do this as people accessing my blog would be more likely to have an interest in films in the first instance. However, to get an accurate representation of respondents, I also e-mailed it out to a couple of friends who do not study film to get more reliable data.

From my findings, I got some interesting insights into people's views on mental health and films which I believe supported my initial ideas and therefore backs up my research.

For example, 100% of respondents said that they had seen a film with a mental health issue in but only 70% were able to correctly identify the mental health issue that was being represented. Also, only 20% of participants said that films were the source where most their information about mental health issues came from and most shockingly of all, 100% of respondents believed that mental health issues were represented stereotypically by exaggerating symptoms to enhance the entertainment value. (These responses are demonstrated on the next slide)

I therefore feel that this was a vital piece of research as I believed that mental health issues were mainly represented stereotypically also, but did not feel that 100% of participants would agree with me as they may have seen films that offer alternative solutions. Also, this now allows me to be confident with the genre in which my film will be set as 90% believed that ‘Drama’ is the most suitable genre as appose to the 10% that decided thriller would be.

Item 4

Results from questionnaire

Section 2 – Websites

http://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html

Item 5 + 6

This is an important research item as it gives a brief overview of the history of the drama genre. I feel that it is important to have at least a basic knowledge of how dramas have adapted throughout time before I create a film with the drama genre.

The website also offers classic examples of dramas within sub categories of the genre which provide useful as I can then go on to watch their trailers and read reviews to aid my research around the genre.

Furthermore, the website was created by Tim Dirks a recognised film critic who often writes for ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ and so I know the information provided is based upon years of experience and expertise.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtmlSimilarly, this item of research is extremely important as it will aid my grounding knowledge on schizophrenia and allow me to make my representation as accurate as possible. 

I opted for this website over the NHS as I feel that the "NIMH" (The National Institute of Mental Health) is more focused and specifically about mental health issues than other websites that cover a range of topics such as the 'NHS' (National Health Service) and even though the website is predominantly for American citizens, the facts about schizophrenia are the same for British citizens and so are relevant to my film.

However, I will be using other websites such as the 'NHS' and 'Mental Health.org' for British statistics. 

Section 3 – Web Articles

http://easap.asia/journal_file/1101_V21N1_p38.pdf

Item 7

The article linked above discusses mental illness within films and how people’s perceptions can be changed through the form of film which is what I aim to achieve within my film.

It also offers other films that I haven’t studied for my focal films which I find helpful as I can make comparisons with them, for example “A Beautiful Mind” and “The United States of Leland”. I have then gone on to watch the trailers for these and read several reviews to help me with my research into mental health.

I also found an interview with Sylvia Nasar the writer for “A Beautiful Mind” who sums up what I am trying to achieve within my film. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M__Sa6pxwkI] She says “The screenplay puts the audience in the shoes of John Nash in the first half of the movie and then pulls the rug out from under them […] it gives the audience the experience of what it’s like not to be able to distinguish between delusion and reality.”

Furthermore in this interview, Ron Howard states, “It [“A Beautiful Mind”] deals with mental illness in a way that allows audiences to relate to the trauma of the experience from both the individuals who suffer it and the family members who try to live through it with them.”

Upon reading further into this article, it found a statement which says, “Apart from demonstrating signs and symptoms of mental illness on the big screen, movies are also good at telling stories from the neglected minority.” I think this is crucial to create a professional film within the drama genre as many directors just represent mental health to the extreme by throwing every symptom into the mix and making them out to be a psychotic killer instead if developing a character.

http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176%2Fpn.47.16.psychnews_47_16_7-a

I then selected another article about the representation of mental health within films but this time instead of focusing on the film industry’s view, I decided to get a psychologists point of view.

The article opens with the sentence, “While campaigns to educate the public about mental illness and those who suffer from it have made progress, misinformation and stereotypes about people with schizophrenia remain common in movies.” I believe this statement to be very true and also the research that they carried out supports the data I collected from my questionnaire, in terms of the public’s perceptions of mental health from the influence of films. The article also makes a point of stating that Hollywood ‘relies’ on the stereotypes of the ‘maniac who has schizophrenia’ to sell their movies. I feel that more should be done to alter people’s perceptions of those suffering with mental health issues instead of abusing them for entertainment purposes and filling people’s minds with false representations.

At the bottom of the article is a link to their research outlines: [http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ps.201100371]

They conclude that “Misinformation and negative portrayals of schizophrenia in contemporary movies are common underscores of determining how viewers interpret media messages and how these interpretations inform attitudes and beliefs both of the general public and of people with schizophrenia.”

Item 8

http://www.wordandfilm.com/2014/05/setting-stereotypes-straight-3-movies-about-mental-health/ Item 9

This website’s aims are to set the stereotypes straight about mental health within film and therefore I found it very useful and relevant as this is something I wish to do.

The article mentions something that many of my other articles mention which is that mental illnesses are used merely for Hollywood’s stereotypical representation of mental health. Therefore this increases the validity and reliability of my sources as the majority of them agree and support both each 0ther and my original ideas.

Further down this article it lists films that are both entertaining and accurate in their depictions of mental illness, one of which is one of my focal films, Donnie Darko. ‘Donnie Darko, features Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular character: a paranoid schizophrenic high school student troubled by visions of a sinister-looking figure in a rabbit costume named Frank.’ I therefore feel confident using this film from the point of view of Donnie suffering with a mental health issue, instead of following Kelly’s initial intentions of the film being about time travel and different universes. It also mentions common symptoms ‘[…]his delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, erratic behaviour, and blunted affect are all common symptoms of the disease.’

Further down, the article reads: ‘By making the viewer question reality, the film succeeds in communicating a vital aspect of schizophrenia’. This backs up previous research, specifically item 7, about making the audience feel comfortable then ruining the equilibrium to make the possibly feel empathy instead of just sympathy as they are put into the protagonists shoes.

Item 10http://

www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2014/dec/19/2014-mental-health-stigma-end

This article discusses the pros and cons of societies reactions to mental health and I therefore found it a very useful source of information. It is also very contemporary as it talks largely about Robin Williams’ death in 2014 and his mental health illnesses and therefore I think it will be very helpful as it looks at modern days views on mental health, instead of focusing on outdates beliefs and myths.

The article opens with the statement ‘One potential positive trend [of 2014] is that it seemed increasingly difficult to get away with dismissing or condemning those with mental health problems’. This is therefore suggesting that times are changing and attitudes towards mental health are also changing as society are becoming more accepting of mental health issues and people are no longer able to get away with being rude, patronising and abusive to those with mental health issues.

The article offers a few possible explanations for why such as, high profile celebrities coming forward about their mental health issues and an aging population meaning people are more likely to experience mental health issues e.g dementia and so are taking more of an active interest.

It also offers a few ways in which attitudes towards mental health in 2014 have changed. ‘2014 has provided a number of positive or encouraging stories about mental health issues. Recognition of the importance of mental health in higher education, progress in psychology being accepted in China, and August saw condemnation of the practice of mentally ill children/teenagers being placed in police cells. This very week, the Home Office has vowed to put an end to this.’

The only down side to this article is that is only mentions actors and does not explicitly mention the representation of mental health within film. This could therefore be inferred that institutions such as schools and the government have changing attitudes but the film industry is yet to catch up – however it can be argued that the film process takes a long period of time and therefore could be excused for being ‘behind’.

Section 4 – Book Articles

Item 11

The article attached discuss’ the impact that film can have on the audience’s perceptions of a specific subject or topic within film, specifically mental health.

This is an important piece of research as it supports my original idea that attitudes towards mental health can be affected by the use of film and that is what I wish to achieve within my short film.

The article mainly focuses upon “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975 Miloš Forman) and has inspired me to carry out an extra piece of primary research as they administered questionnaire’s to college students about their views and beliefs on mental health before and after watching the film and the results prove that there were substantial negative changes in attitudes in four of the five areas investigated after viewing the film.

Item 12 Even though this article does not

mention schizophrenia, it dispels some myths surrounding the brain and essentially states that the brain is a very complex organ and that scientists and psychologists have a long way to go until the brain can be fully understood.

Therefore, it can be argued that not everything about schizophrenia is fully known as of present day and the brain is an ever evolving point of: psychological, medical and scientific research.

I therefore feel that as more research into this area of mental health is carried out, people may become more aware of it and more accurate films could possibly be produced to reduce the stigmatization associated.

I also feel that this piece of research is very reliable and highly valid as it includes lots of scientific evidence to back up it’s facts and is from a medical institution with medical professionals.

Item 13 I feel that this piece of research may be the

most important as it provides me with in-depth, detailed and extremely relevant information on schizophrenia.

It provides British statistics which will support my work but also offers information about global diagnosis, for example it mentions that Sweden, South West India and West Ireland have particularly high prevalence of schizophrenia.

It also states interesting facts that I have not yet come across during my research such as, ‘It [schizophrenia] is more common in individuals born in winter months.’ and ‘Women have a greater chance of being misdiagnosed’.

There is also a section on ‘Recent Research’ which is useful as all my focal films are relatively contemporary and so this research can be related.

A further point of this article that I particularly liked is the comparison to other mental health issues and to people without mental health issues, for example it states ‘In comparison the white matter in people with major depression ages similarly to people without a mental health issue’.

Section 5 – Books

“The Secret Life of Movies: Schizophrenic and Shamanic Journeys in American Cinema”

– Jason Horsley (2009)

This book examines filmmakers and films that centre around schizophrenic themes alienation, paranoia, breakdown, fantasy, dreams, dementia, violence, and that address the schizophrenic experience as entertainment.

This book was extremely useful throughout the duration of my coursework, allowing me to explore schizophrenia on a whole and the themes surrounding it.

It was published in 2009 and therefore is relatively contemporary, like my focal films, and therefore was mainly all relevant as only one of my films was produced post 2009.

However, this book does mainly focus on American cinema which wasn’t as relevant as my film is going to be set in Britain, but however not much differs from a sufferer of schizophrenia in America to one in Britain in terms of experiences and societies reactions.

Furthermore, from this book I learnt that ‘Shamanism’ is ‘a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering and form a special relationship with, or gain control over, spirits.’ This was very interesting as it offered an alternative to most representations of mental health.

Item 14

Section 6 – Documentaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdzHl65XPYc

Item 15

I found this documentary very interesting to watch as it emphasizes the person, not the illness. However, only one quote really stood out to me which has minimally aided one little area of my film production/planning.

It proclaims, "In a world of stigma, poverty and injustice, our voices illuminate the value of self-help, creativity, meaningful work and activity, and basic human dignity and respect. Most importantly, we speak for ourselves".

I found this quotation very positive and empowering and hope to either include it in my film screenplay implicitly or as a overall message to be taken away from my film.

Furthermore, from watching this documentary I found a webpage about the documentary. [http://www.peoplesayimcrazy.org/] which states that it is, ‘The only film about schizophrenia ever made by anyone with schizophrenia’. I therefore have decided to keep this as an item of research as it gives me a further insight into the representation of mental health but from the view of a sufferer which is therefore be very insightful in terms of micro-technical elements as their medical condition could have possibly had an effect on the process.

I selected this documentary as I found it hard to find other interesting and informative documentaries about schizophrenia and so I chose one about two mental health issues that are often compared and related to schizophrenia: bipolar and depression.

This documentary further highlights the fact that mental health can affect anybody as it focus’ on celebrity, Stephen Fry, and his journey of coping with mental health issues and also features other celebrities such as: Robbie Williams, Jo Brand, Richard Dreyfuss.

It also includes an interview with Andy Behrman who is a mental health advocate and national speaker whom suffers with manic depression. He provides detailed information and expresses his opinions on the matter.

Furthermore, the fact the documentary itself is titled ‘The Secret Life’ I think sums up the whole idea related to the stigmatization of mental health. This is supported by the fact that Fry talks about how he left for America to have private therapy and came back secretly and admitted himself into a hospital. This shows that people with mental health issues are often embarrassed and ashamed about their condition and I believe this should be stopped as it shouldn’t be a taboo subject but should be expressed and talked about in every day life so it is normalised.

Item 16

http://documentarystorm.com/the-secret-life-of-the-manic-depressive/

Primary Research - Section 1:Item 1 – Kelly, Richard, 2001. Donnie Darko, Pandora Cinema.Item 2 – Scorsese, Martin, 2010. Shutter Island, Paramount Pictures.Item 3 – Cronenberg, David, 2002. Spider, Odeon Films.Secondary Research - Section 1:Item 4 - Braithwaite, Katy, 2014. ‘Representation of mental health within film’ on Survey Monkey. Accessed at 2:00pm on 27th November 2014: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR5RGSZ Section 2:Item 5 – Dirks, Tim, 2014. ‘Drama Films’ on Film Site. Accessed at 1:00pm on 1st December 2014: http://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.htmlItem 6 – Unknown author, 2014. ‘What Is Schizophrenia?’ on National Institute of Mental Health. Accessed at 3:30pm 1st December 2014: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtmlSection 3:Item 7 – Wedding, Danny, 2011. ‘Movies and Mental Illness 3: Using Films To Understand Psychopathology (3 rd Edition) on Easap Asia. Accessed at 11:00am on 2nd December 2014: http://easap.asia/journal_file/1101_V21N1_p38.pdf Item 8 – White, Christopher, 2012. ‘Distortions Plague Portrayals of Schizophrenia on Film’ on Psychiatric news. Accessed at 3:30pm on 10th December 2014: http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176%2Fpn.47.16.psychnews_47_16_7-a#abstract Item 9 – Staggs, Matt, 2014. ‘Setting Stereotypes Straight: 3 Good Movies About Mental Health’ on Word & Film. Accessed at 2:30pm on 10TH December 2014: http://www.wordandfilm.com/2014/05/setting-stereotypes-straight-3-movies-about-mental-health/ Item 10 – Burnett, Dean, 2014. ‘Did 2014 mark the beginning of the end for mental health stigma?’ on The Guardian. Accessed at 1:18pm on 19th December 2014: http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2014/dec/19/2014-mental-health-stigma-end Section 4:Item 11 – Domino, George, 1983. ‘Impact Of The Film “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, On Attitudes Towards Mental Illness.’ in Psychological Reports, Arizona: AmSci Publications OfficeItem 12 – Sutton, Dr. Guy 2014. ‘Brain Myths: A One-Day Tutorial In Neuroscience’ on Medical Biology Interactive. Cheshire: MBI.Item 13 - Sutton, Dr. Guy 2014. ‘Schizophrenia: A One-Day Tutorial In Neuroscience’ on Medical Biology Interactive. Cheshire: MBI. Section 5:Item 14 – Horsley, Jason, 2009. ‘The Secret Life of Movies: Shamanic and Schizophrenic Journeys in American Movies’, United Kingdom: McFarland & Company.Section 6:Item 15 - Campbell, Jean 1989. People Say I’m Crazy, California Network Of Mental Health Clients. Item 16 – Wilson, Ross, 2006. Stephen Fry: The Secret Life Of A Manic Depressive, BBC.

References

Below are all the sources that I came across when researching schizophrenia that I decided not to include in my annotated catalogue of research items as they only provided basic knowledge or information that I already knew.

Item 16- Kelly, Richard, 2001. DVD Commentary on Donnie Darko, Pandora Cinema. After listening to this DVD commentary for ‘Donnie Darko’ I decided to disregard it because schizophrenia was never really mentioned, only related subjects such as Dr. Lilian Thurman and Donnie’s drugs, and therefore I didn’t find it valuable or helpful as most of which I had already found when watching and analysing it as a focal film.

Item 17 – Unknown Author, unknown date. ‘Isabella Goldie’ on Mental Health Foundation. Accessed at 11:13am December 6th 2014: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/meet-the-team/isabella-goldie/.After reading this webpage I decided to discard this source as it didn’t provide me with enough information on her job as the chair of the ‘Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival’. I would have liked her job description to be described more and maybe an opinion given about mental health and communication through film. Also, due to the unknown author and date of the article I decided that the information may not be very accurate or reliable.

Disregarded items