Research

What is Lucid Dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is a psychological phenomenon that has baffled psychologists and scientists since ancient times. It is a dream in which the person dreaming reaches a state of conciseness in which he or she has a degree of control over the dream.

Paul Tholey, a German oneirologist proposed seven conditions that a dream must meet in order to be defined as a lucid dream.

1. Awareness of the dream state (orientation)

2. Awareness of the capacity to make decisions

3. Awareness of memory functions

4. Awareness of self

5. Awareness of the dream environment

6. Awareness of the meaning of the dream

7. Awareness of concentration and focus (the subjective clarity of that state).

There is also a state called Pre-lucid dreaming which is the state the films character Eric will find himself in. There are a number of variations of dreams someone might find themselves in once they reach a pre-lucid dream such as.

1. Misinterpreted dream signs: the dreamer notices incongruous thoughts, objects or events that suggest that this is a dream, but develops an alternate explanation.

2. Failed dream tests: experiments such as pinching ourselves or trying to turn on a light only confirm the mistaken belief that we're definitely awake.

3. Pseudo-lucid dreams: the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming, without quite realizing that dreaming means lying in bed asleep.

4. Dreams in which you try to convince someone else that they're dreaming.

5. Non-lucid dreams about dreaming: discussing or theorizing about dreams, without being aware that we're dreaming

6. False awakening dreams: the dreamer thinks he or she has woken up, but is actually still dreaming

After reading several reddit posts of users explaining how their lucid dreams were. I've gained some insight into what one experiences in these. There were a lot of posts that contradicted one another and ever users story varied from the others which gives me as a filmmaker more room to be creative and interpret different peoples stories.

Some people explain that they only feel like they like their witnessing a visualization whilst others even feel physically affected by their dreams.

Eric will be physically affected by his dream state in this film. I even thought of a good transition back into reality. I will add a heartbeat sound effect at the end of the dream which will carry on into his awakening.

Media that inspires this project

Enter the Void (2009)

Enter the Void is an English speaking French film directed by Gaspar Noe. I personally find the film bad due to it's bad use of the plots timeline as it has a great start but gets really boring after the film climaxes 25 minutes in. What I do take from this film though is it's amazing visuals made by cinematographer Benoît Debie. Tokyo was a really good choice of location for the film to take place. Tokyo is teeming with lights varying from neon coloured billboards to basic street lights which all build up a confusing and psychedelic environment which grips the audience. I am not going for a psychedelic vibe since that's a different topic but I have read that lucid dreams can be psychedelic experiences so taking visual inspiration from this film is not a bad step.

Gems - Sinking Stone Music Video

This music video directed by BRHTR in my opinion is a visual masterpiece. The video is eye candy throughout the full duration of the video and I gain a lot of inspiration from it. The slow paste editing, the lighting, disorientating and blurry shots, the colours and setting all collaborate to deliver a very pleasurable viewing experience.

I will incorporate several aspects of this music video including:

The slow paste: I can use slow shots during the dream sequences to intensify a scene and also represent the altered perception of time someone might experience in a lucid dream.

The environment: The environment throughout the video is set up with a lot of lights that compliment each other to create a compelling viewing experience. The diffusion effect on background light, the anamorphic lens flares and lighting setup create a dreamy atmosphere.

The transitions: The video has very smooth transitions from place to place which is something I will be doing in my film when Eric gets teleported to different locations.

Inception

I couldn't make a film about dreaming without having a look at Inception. What I will incorporate from this film will be the style of acting by Ellen Page during this scene

This is her first time entering the dream world and is baffled, confused and fascinated by what's happening around her. I will direct my actor to react in a similar manner once he realizes that he finds himself in the dream world.

Call of Duty Black Ops 1

The beginning cutscene to this level in Black Ops is very well made. The weird unearthly sounds coupled with the jump-cuts and flashy editing create confusion and intensity. I will adapt a style similar to this when Eric first starts dreaming in which he starts getting weird visions, flashbacks and hears distorted noises.

Locations:

Piccadilly Circus:

Piccadilly Circus in central London offers a lot lights, cars and people which will aid me in making the initial dream scene confusing and disorientating. It has a tube station nearby which will also come in handy because I will be able to shoot the oyster card scene there.

China Town:

Chinatown is an interesting location that has beautiful architecture, a nice street layout and most importantly a lot of nice differently coloured street lights which will help create a dreamy atmosphere.

Morden Hall Park:

Morden Hall Park offers a very nice forested area that is usually very misty which I think will perfectly fit into my film as the mist in the dream represents confusion and a clouded vision from the truth. It also has a pond where Eric will see his reflection and gain knowledge of whats happening to him.

Gibson Road Carpark, Sutton

This multi-storey carpark is where the final scene will take place. The scene will be filmed at night and the dimly lit carpark will be a perfect location to build up an intense and dark environment to support the climax of the narrative.

17 Queens Road, Sutton

This house will be used as Erics home in the film. I won't film the full exterior of the house as it doesn't correspond with the character who is a uni student so it's unlikely that he would be living in a big house. The going to bed and waking up scene will be shot here.

Characters:

Eric:

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Hair colour: Black

Race: Mixed race (White/Black)

Eric is a very average student that studies philosophy at Westminster university. He enjoys reading books, going out with friends and is generally considered to be one of the nicest people around. He dresses in a casual smart style.

Eric his alter self in the dream is dressed in a winter coat with his hood up making him a mysterious presence. His face is covered until the end of the film where it's revealed that its also Eric.

Students in film typically dress in a causal/smart, H&M sense like Peter Parker from Spiderman for example.

Visual Effects

Visual effects is my main emphasis of this project. I want to create a visually good looking short film despite lacking a budget or industry standard equipment but I want to set myself up for the challenge. I will make sure that all my shots will be correctly set up with the according manual settings, considering lighting and backgrounds to get as much done on set to save me from putting in effort to correct shots during post.

I will increase the brightness on the shots and add diffusion which will create a hazy look. This will fit the narrative because dreams are commonly portrayed brightly in film.

Visuals I am interested in utilizing include: cloning, morphing and distortions.

One effect I am keen to use which might be a little ambitious, is a POV water reflection shot that will be similarly set up like this shot from an Asap Rocky music video.

The scene starts with a landscape shot of a forested area with a pond. Eric is confused as to why he just ended up there and looks down on his reflection on the water.

I will take 2 separate shots and use Shot 2 as the base footage. Shot 1 will then be used as an overlay which I will place over the footage of the water. I will decrease the opacity, pan, crop and feather to footage to make it blend in with the water as much as possible.

Im not expecting this to end up looking very good but I will attempt my best to make it work.

Sound

I will use a zoom and microphone to gather foley sound for my film. Sounds Im going to capture include: traffic, crowds, foot steps, birds and wind.

I will also source copyright free sound effects online for the dream sequences which will be crucial to develop the plot and create a dreamy environment.

I can gather free sfx on these 2 youtube channels:

https://www.youtube.com/user/BerlinAtmospheres

https://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalFreeSound

In one of my interviews it was suggested to me that a dream doesn't have any sounds but if I were to sonically portray a dream in my film, I should distort the sound and make it distorted. He suggested that I should make the sound sound like the film would take place underwater.

Interviews:

https://studentsouththamesac-my.sharepoint.com/personal/1369639_student_south-thames_ac_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?docid=1d0858a526b3a4501b22c6f701340be0e&authkey=ARfv_XQhe2oTvwsHNMma0nU

Wikipedia. 2017. Lucid dream - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream. [Accessed 27 April 2017].

Wikipedia. 2017. Pre-lucid dream - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-lucid_dream. [Accessed 27 April 2017].

reddit. 2017. Lucid Dreaming. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/. [Accessed 27 April 2017].

IMDb. 2017. Enter the Void (2009) - IMDb. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1191111/. [Accessed 27 April 2017].

INCEPTION - DREAM WORLD CAFE SCENE (2/5) (HD)

In-text: ("Inception - Dream World Cafe Scene (2/5) (HD)")

Your Bibliography: "Inception - Dream World Cafe Scene (2/5) (HD)". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 4 May 2017.

YouTube. 2017. Call Of Duty Black Ops Mission 14: "Revelations" - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://youtu.be/E2DPq0F6qoM. [Accessed 04 May 2017].