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Film, Philosophy and the Imagination

Film, Philosophy and the Imagination. Capstone Seminar National University of Ireland Milltown Institute. Why do we Philosophise?. To Understand Our World. Why do we Philosophise?. To Understand Our World To Understand Other People. Why do we Philosophise?. To Understand Our World

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Film, Philosophy and the Imagination

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  1. Film, Philosophy and the Imagination Capstone Seminar National University of Ireland Milltown Institute

  2. Why do we Philosophise? • To Understand Our World

  3. Why do we Philosophise? • To Understand Our World • To Understand Other People

  4. Why do we Philosophise? • To Understand Our World • To Understand Other People • To Understand Ourselves

  5. Why do we Tell Stories? • To Understand Our World • To Understand Other People • To Understand Ourselves

  6. Why do we Make Films? • To Understand Our World • To Understand Other People • To Understand Ourselves

  7. Why do we Make Films? • To Understand Our World • To Understand Other People • To Understand Ourselves • To MakeMoney

  8. Film and Philosophy Philosophy in Film Production The Poetics and Script Development. Film as Philosophy 3 Studies: The Matrix, Bladerunner and Blood Diamond. Film, Philosophy and the Limits of the Imagination Personal Reflections.

  9. Film and Philosophy Philosophy in Film Production The Poetics and Script Development. Film as Philosophy 3 Studies: The Matrix, Bladerunner and Blood Diamond. Film, Philosophy and the Limits of the Imagination Personal Reflections.

  10. Philosophy in Film Production Script Development in Film Production Script Development is a process whereby the initial idea for a story is developed into a shooting script ready for production. It begins as a close relationship between writer and producer. The circle expands to include a Script Editor and progressively more players until the stage is set.

  11. Philosophy in Film Production • Script Development in Film Production • There are 2 Bibles of Script Development in Filmmaking: • Robert McKee: Story • Aristotle: Poetics

  12. Aristotle’s Poetics • Plato abhorred Poetry because he felt that it distorted truth by allowing an excess of emotion into the contemplation of truth. Poets would be banished from the Republic

  13. Aristotle’s Poetics • Poetry • Poets compose under inspiration, not Reason. • Poetry teaches the wrong things. • Poetry is a mimesis, doubly removed from reality. • Poetry encourages the emotions of the audience.

  14. Aristotle’s Poetics • Aristotle disagreed that Poetry was an inherently morally bankrupt pursuit, claiming instead that it was…….

  15. Aristotle’s Poetics “A mimetic presentation of a series of significant actions drawn together into a plot which is self-contained, complete and unified. Although the protagonists in the drama are mortal they are better than we are because they are a combination of the good qualities we would like to be. But in the best tragedies this very combination of qualities leads to the downfall of the protagonist because the combination provokes in them a susceptibility to take the wrong step at a particular moment. When this happens the arc of their life is terribly deflected and the resulting story of their misfortune arouses in us, the audience, the emotions of pity and fear. In witnessing this drama those emotions, brought to the surface in us, are somehow clarified and purified in such a way that we get both pleasure and understanding from the experience, which brings out in use the audience a recognition of who and what we are.”

  16. Aristotle’s Poetics Mimesis The perfection and imitation of nature. Human beings are mimetic beings, feeling an urge to create texts (art) that reflect and represent reality. In order to experience Catharsis there is a necessary distance between the audience and the event. We are given a privileged viewpoint in that we are removed from the action as audience members. The events are not actually happening to us. However it is crucial that we can identify with the characters - I.e. that they are close to us at the same time and that we recognise ourselves in them.

  17. Aristotle’s Poetics • A Mimetic Presentation. • Series of Significant Actions. • Self-Contained, Complete and Unified. • The Protagonists have Qualities we Aspire to have. • Their Downfall (in the best tragedies self-inflicted) invokes pity and fear. • These feelings are aroused in such a way that they are purified and better understood. • We gain a better understanding of our world and our selves.

  18. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking As a Filmmaker you aspire to create films which fulfill Aristotle’s vision. Often the problems with a script are precisely the occasions when a script fails to achieve this. How often have you seen a film and thought:

  19. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking Do I care if these characters die?

  20. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking THE END

  21. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking THE END?

  22. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking Do I believe this story?

  23. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking Do I care about these characters?

  24. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking Do I care about what happens to them?

  25. Aristotle’s Poetics and Filmmaking ? Did I learn something about my Self and my World?

  26. Film and Philosophy Philosophy in Film Production The Poetics and Script Development. Film as Philosophy 3 Studies: The Matrix, Bladerunner and Blood Diamond. Film, Philosophy and the Limits of the Imagination Personal Reflections.

  27. Film as Philosophy Epistemology in The Matrix (1999) Ontology in Bladerunner (1982) Ethics in Blood Diamond (2006)

  28. Film as Philosophy Epistemology in The Matrix (1999) Ontology in Bladerunner (1982) Ethics in Blood Diamond (2006)

  29. The Matrix Synopsis Thomas Anderson (Reeves) is a mild mannered office nerd and part time internet hacker. He is contacted by an unlikely bunch of fellow hackers who convince him that he is under the control of “The Matrix”. His experiences, memories and feelings are all being generated by a malicious machine which has enslaved humanity. He is tasked to save the world….Mostly by blowing stuff up.

  30. The Matrix Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy Premise 1 Data gathered from the senses is unreliable. Premise 2 All that I know is that there is something that is doing some thinking. Conclusion I think therefore I am. Cogito ergo sum.

  31. The Matrix Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy I will suppose, then, not that Deity, who is sovereignly good and the fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon, who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me; I will suppose that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, figures, sounds, and all external things, are nothing better than the illusions of dreams, by means of which this being has laid snares for my credulity; I will consider myself as without hands, eyes, flesh, blood, or any of the senses, and as falsely believing that I am possessed of these; I will continue resolutely fixed in this belief, and if indeed by this means it be not in my power to arrive at the knowledge of truth, I shall at least do what is in my power, viz, [ suspend my judgment ], and guard with settled purpose against giving my assent to what is false, and being imposed upon by this deceiver, whatever be his power and artifice. “ ”

  32. RED PILL Or BLUE PILL

  33. Philosophy and Film One of the, if not explicit, then implicit theories of Philo-Sophia is that there is a causal relationship between:

  34. Philosophy and Film = Knowledge Happiness

  35. Philosophy and Film

  36. Film as Philosophy Epistemology in The Matrix (1999) Ontology in Bladerunner (1982) Ethics in Blood Diamond (2006)

  37. Blade Runner Synopsis The year is 2014 and Deckard (Ford) is a retired cop who is tasked with tracking down a number of escaped robots called replicants. He sets about the task with the resourcefulness and determination he’s known for. However he soon feels that his execution of the robots is unethical in a way he cannot define. As the film progresses he, along with the audience, is forced to consider: What makes a human human? Ultimately he is taught the meaning of what it is to be human by the renegade group’s leader Roy (Haeur).

  38. Blade Runner Martin Heidegger and Ontology - Being and Time Thus an analytic of Dasein must remain our first requirement in the question of being. But in that case the problem of obtaining and securing the kind of access which will lead to Dasein, becomes even more burning one. To put it negatively, we have no right to resort to dogmatic constructions and to apply just any idea of Being and actuality to this entity, no matter how 'self-evident' that idea may be; nor may any of the 'categories' which such an idea prescribes be forced upon Dasein without proper ontological consideration. We must rather choose such a way of access and such a kind of interpretation that this entity can show itself in itself and from itself. And this means that it is to be shown as it is proximally and for the most part-in its average everydayness. In this everydayness there are certain structures which we shall exhibit - not just any accidental structures, but essential ones which, in every kind of Being that factical Dasein may possess, persist as determinative for the character of its Being. Thus by having regard for the basic state of Dasein's everydayness, we shall bring out the Being of this entity in a preparatory fashion."(Being and Time 1-2-5 originalp.16)

  39. Blade Runner Martin Heidegger and Ontology - Being and Time What is this thing we call BEING?

  40. Blade Runner Deckard’s Ontological Journey Beginning - The Assignment and the First Shooting. Middle - Replicant’s Reconsidered. End - The Hunter becomes the Hunted.

  41. Blade Runner Deckard’s Journey is Our Journey

  42. Film as Philosophy Epistemology in The Matrix (1999) Ontology in Bladerunner (1982) Ethics in Blood Diamond (2006)

  43. Blood Diamond Synopsis Danny Archer (DiCaprio) is an opportunistic white Diamond smuggler operating in the war torn Sierra Leone. He offers to help former diamond mine slave Solomon Vandy find his family in exchange for the whereabouts of an extremely rare Diamond. Archer and Vandy journey into the harrowing world of slavery, black and white oppression and exploitation as Vandy is re-united with his family and Archer is reunited with his conscience.

  44. Blood Diamond Blood Diamond asks a central question and, in so doing, Advances an Ethical Position.

  45. Blood Diamond Who is responsible for the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone?

  46. Blood Diamond The Local Militias?

  47. Blood Diamond Shameless Opportunists?

  48. Blood Diamond The Diamond Cartels?

  49. Blood Diamond The Audience?

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