Ingmar Bergman's 'Persona' (1966)

The film starts off with random close ups and images of a film in a projector as well as random graphic and differing scenes and objects like spiders, needles, a giant face, a lighting system and so on and so fourth. The main idea behind this i think is to make the audience aware that they are watching a film so it is introduced at both ends of the film to reinforce the fact that this is not real. I loved the way that we thought that we where in a morgue to begin with before we realize we are in a hospital of some kind, with shots of bodies under thin sheets of fabric and a hand laying over the side of the bed in a death like pose. I liked how they used the projected image of a face and the little boy to show that we are influenced by the media and that it can be like a mother to us sometimes, just take a look at Bart and Lisa Simpson for example. The lighting in this was pretty well done, in one scene we have a bedside lamp that is lit while it is in fact on a profile light is being spotted from the side off set to an angle to create an interesting oval shape on the wall above the lamp. I also liked the way that they used backlight and side lighting in a scene as well as key lighting for close up shots and mid shots, hilighting the dark recesses and the brighter areas of the human face. When we first see the hospital room it is very cold and lit from a source of light in the ceiling, but this can change for shots when she is on the bed or when she is watching the graphic images on Tv as the light flickers on and off creating an interesting and slightly freakish atmosphere as it is the only source of light. One thing i also liked is when they do a close up shot of the eyes and you can see the light on top of the camera on the pupil to help reenforce that this is a film not life. I don't like the way though at the beach house for interior sences how they use the projected image and large painted scenes to represent the outside, it would have made it much more realistic but more expensive if they actually created the house in the location they filmed the outdoor scenes instead of making the house in a studio environment like you see on Neighbors and Home and Away.