is. If science ever does discover the symbolism behind all the different images which may be used in film and how to use them it will revolutionize the industry and films will become much more deeply impactive and culturally embedded in our day to day lives then they are even today.If Sigmund Freud were alive today and studying film he would argue that mise-en-scene is the most important part of film because of its potential for communication through symbolism. Freud suggests that dreams are a process of “wish fulfillment”. Freud considred dreams to be a manifestation of the fulfillment of a wish. Taking into account the fact that our dreams often take the form of a story in which we are the protagonist, the totally egotistical nature of dreams, it would make sense for us, as an audience, to identify with the protagonist on screen when we are in a dream enduced state such as in the cinema. When one is in a sleep-like environment, such as the cinema, it is easy to see how through the unconscious process of “wish fulfillment” one can identify with the characters or lose oneself within a film. This is similar to what we do in our dreams. Through this process of feeling like one is within the story of the film, the imagery and its symbolism become even more powerful. If the wrong filmmaker has this knowledge and the power to manipulate a great number of certain symbols it could almost be dangerous. Take for instance advertising within films, which takes place in the industry regularly and did in an almost shameless way during the Hollywood studio era. Advertising could increase its effectiveness by never before seen percentages, having an extreme effect on consumer culture.In the work by Jean Louis Beaudry, Metapsychological Approaches to the Impression of Reality in Cinema, he strongly suggests films are like dreams in many ways. One might even say that films simulate dreams, particularly silent films. ...
