Illusion research

1. Illusion
Theme Exploration and Research

2. First Responses
• The first things to come to mind when thinking of "illusion" I get connotations of magic, things are not what they
seem. A magic trick.
• The dictionary definition:
Distortionof the senses
Distort our perception of reality
A false idea or belief
A few phrases I picked out that interestedme
Misinterpretedperception

3. Researching into movements of
surrealism and soviet cinema in the 1920s
First I looked at the first movement which was soviet montage, I looked at the
basic theory which told me who was responsible for creating it then more into
surrealism.

4. The Illusion of Cinema
I have decided to link the theme of illusion to cinema. I will explore how cinema is an illusion, a magic trick. I will link this with Soviet Montage,
as I would like to improve my editing skills and learn more about the art of editing and the history of cinema. This will also help blend
fantastical elements in the film. Additionally, it will link to surrealism as at the same time surrealism was being developed in Paris, the Soviets
were defining cinema as a language. And of course, the birth of surrealism in cinema was an ideal one as it came from fine-art and film is a
visual medium where we create images through lighting, blocking and composition. Also, cinema is like a conscious dream-like experience as
we watch on a huge screen, in the dark, potentially our own desires and fantasies come to life. We lose ourselves in the film, in the illusion it's
like dreaming while being awake. When a surrealist films started to be made, they were able to show the unconscious mind wander, a
combination of memory, unprocessed experiences, deep desires.
“The cinema substitutesfor our gaze a world more in
harmonywith our desires.”“it was montage that gave birth
to film as an art, setting it apart from mere animated
photography,in short, creating a language.”
- André Bazin
Intellectual montage (metaphors)

6. Movements I will Explore Through the Theme of Illusion
• The illusion of cinema – like a magic trick, the construction of such a
trick
• Magic and trickery of cinema – George Méliès
• Movements in soviet cinema during the 1920s – soviet montage (the
birth and construction of cinema as a language- Lev Kuleshov and
Sergi Eisenstein) and kino eye (the eye of the camera, Dziga Vertov)
• The birth of surrealism in art, during 1920s in Paris. Sigmund Freud
(neurologist) his book on dreams inspiring Andre Breton to write the
first surrealist manifesto he was the co-founder, leader, and principal
theorist of surrealism.

7. Key Figures in Surrealism and Soviet Cinema
• Sigmund Freud (wrote book 'The Interpretation of Dreams')
• André Breton (poet, influenced by Freud's book. He wrote the first surrealist manifesto)
• Pablo Picasso
• Marcel Duchamp
• Man Ray
• Stan Brakhage
• René Clair
• Lev Kuleshov
• Sergei Eisenstein
• George Melies
•