Philsophy and the Internal Struggle

After a studio visit and meeting today, I feel like I've found a new direction. With the establishment of more concrete deadlines, I feel like I can accomplish more than I originally thought. As it stands now, I'd like to do 4 "episodes." They would each have a clear cut beginning, middle and end and would be able to stand alone, but together they would create a much bigger whole.

In Screenplay, Syd Field defines a sequence as a collection of scenes with a unifying thought or idea. A film is made up of a series of sequences. I can see each episode of my piece being self contained, but ultimately a sequence in the entirety of my film. In this vein, I think I would change my goal from a 10-15 minute short over the course of the year to a collection of four 10-minute episodes that come together to form a 40 minute film. Maybe this is too ambitious. I'll see what my mentor says.


Right now I am struggling. The subjects and concept that most interest me do not lend themselves well to film. In terms of the dramatic need that is essential to a successful story, the idea I keep returning to is the need to find meaning in an absurd world. This got me going into researching and reading about both nihilism and existentialism.

I found resonance in the statement that any form of idealism, once rejected by the idealist, leads to nihilism. Nihilism holds that only higher values and truths deserve to be called as valuable and truthful, but rejects the notion that they exist. Nothing has any meaning or purpose. All acts, be they suffering, toil or any form of feeling, are in vain.

I feel like at some point, with the proper amount of will, nihilism transitions into existentialism. Existentialists see nihilists desire to destroy all knowledge, value and meaning as a form of suicide, as the human animal thrives on value. They hold that one must give value to their own existence by living as if one's life were a work of art.

I feel like both philosophies hold great thematic potential for a film. They deal with dread, boredom, alienation, freedom, the absurd, commitment and nothingness. Existentialism holds that man has the freedom to do anything he wants, but must own and bear the consequences of his actions.

It's interesting how the screenwriting tenet "A Character is what he does, not what he says," is perfectly in line with the existential belief that a man is defined only insofar as his actions.

But it's in the transition from philosophical inspiration to cinematic expression that I have reached an impasse. The struggle one experiences from the transition from nihilism to existentialism, or the conflict one feels toward the world while being mindful of either, is largely an internal one. An internal struggle at the forefront of a film would make for an incredibly boring cinematic experience.

Also, many of the philosophical confrontations and realizations that would be interesting arise over a long period of contemplation and experience. How would a film convey conclusions that arise out of years of toil and thought?

How does one visually manifest the dramatic need of a character to find meaning for himself in an absurd world following the collapse of his idealism as he tries to evade the trappings of nihilism?