Animating the image : reflections on character and process in the "The First and Last Loves of Leonardo Lopes"

In reflecting on the process of making the short film "The First and Last Loves of Leonardo Lopes" the author argues against interpretation as a method for working with character and its development. It is contended that the formative unconscious imagers) at the heart of a character requires a director to be more sensory in her/his response and to develop an intimate process of animating the image. The descriptive personal vocabularies of feeling, intuition and sensation are accordingly juxtaposed against prescriptive impersonal intellectual modalities that diminish immediacy as a by-product of its "latent content". Active imagination, poetry and music are seen as more appropriate models for the filmmaker than theories and theses. The author goes on to consider the dialectical reinforcement of interpretive strategies as a result of the economic pressures of the film industry and argues for a more process friendly conception of production. After reflecting on the role and insecurities of the director in a collaborative art form, a motivation is provided for the "natural voice" of the accompanying director's commentary.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Centre for Film and Media Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Rodrigues, Christopher

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8134

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8134