Squilibrio del personaggio

The thesis is mainly based on the innate patterns of human thought used by great filmmakers to portray a character not only through actions, movements and words, but also through shapes, symbols and colours, following the laws of Gestalt psychology and communicating with the viewer’s unconscious.

One of a screenwriter’s fundamental aims is to create a character who is both interesting and formally complete. Many screenwriting books provide structures and rules to help writers create believable and complex characters, but how did the screenwriters and directors behind works that are now, in most cases, considered cult classics manage to portray the personalities of their protagonists with such depth?

One need only think of Psycho, Memento, The Shining, Shutter Island and Fight Club. These are all works in which the protagonist’s troubled mind is not described didactically, but is perceived by the viewer through the character’s gestures, traits and actions.

I decided to focus my thesis on the madness of characters and on how this instability is conveyed through perception. My interest in this subject stems from a personal fascination with stories that portray the world in a dystopian way. I found it compelling to analyse how the perspective of an unconventional character, moving between hallucinations and dreamlike scenes, can be masterfully represented, and how visual perception can become a powerful means of conveying an inner universe through images, gestures and camera movements.

My aim is to explore and investigate these techniques in greater depth, consolidating knowledge that will be useful in creating the final project and strengthening the range of skills that will accompany me in my desired professional career.

Starting from a definition of mental illness as a psychological and/or behavioural alteration related to personality that results in a condition of danger or disability, I sought to broaden the concept by including in my study all those behaviours that, according to common understanding, may generally be described as a disorder or madness.

In the first chapter of my thesis, I focused on character structure, investigating the various steps a screenwriter must undertake during the process of creating and developing a character. I also examined how the world surrounding the character influences their “birth”.

I then studied how the collective imagination influences the creation of ideals and models, what visual perception is, the laws of Gestalt psychology and how images can be analysed.

I subsequently analysed a group of well-known films dealing with the theme of mental illness, examining how it was represented visually.

Finally, I wrote and directed a short film entitled “Sour Cherry Soul” with the aim of representing the themes explored in my thesis. I wanted to create a character who embodied instability through repetitive gestures, placed within an enclosed environment: a world confined by four walls, symbolising mental illness, with meticulously ordered furnishings and pastel colours.