Philosophy
Philosophically, I integrated Nietzsche's concept of eternal return, which questions whether life endlessly repeats itself or if humanity can transcend cyclical patterns through personal transformation. This philosophical lens deepens the narrative’s exploration of inherited traditions and the search for individual purpose. The recurring motifs in the animation—apples, crosses, and masks—symbolize the tension between human desire, divinity, and the oppressive weight of conformity.
psychology
From a psychological perspective, I incorporated Freud’s structural model of the psyche—Id, Ego, and Superego. The boy represents the Id, driven by primal instincts and desires, while religious symbols like the cross reflect the Superego’s moral constraints imposed by faith and society. The devil and masked mother further embody this struggle, highlighting humanity's inner turmoil in making choices under conflicting forces.
Artistic Choise
Artistically, the visual narrative employs surreal imagery and abstract symbolism to bridge these disciplines. The dynamic interplay of transforming vibrant and subdued lines captures the tension between freedom and restraint, visually echoing the film’s central themes.
Through these interdisciplinary approaches, The Falling Fruit offers a space for viewers to engage with timeless questions about self, belief, and societal roles.
"The Falling Fruit" represents an experimental cinematic endeavor that amalgamates animated filmmaking techniques with a multidisciplinary artistic approach. This fusion encompasses the integration of live performances with fictive line drawings by ToonBoon, and the melding of actuality filming and photography with two-dimensional digital artistry.
The young protagonist, a member of a church theatrical team, is portrayed alongside his biological mother, who plays the maternal role within the film. Despite the child actor's prior stage experience, the directorial process necessitates considerable patience.
The conceptual complexities, such as existential skepticism and theological dissent, as well as the intrinsic human yearning for liberation, pose interpretative challenges for an eight-year-old boy. To bridge this comprehension gap, these abstract themes were distilled into child-friendly analogies, likening divine insubordination to everyday maternal directives encountered by the young actor.
The verisimilitude of live-action footage serves not only as a rhythmic/pacing guide but also as a foundational canvas from which imaginative extrapolations are drawn to propel the narrative arc. (the 2nd & 3rd videos)
The camera's ascendant trajectory provided a temporal scaffold for animating the envisioned growth of a tree—a Gothic, skyward-reaching arboreal form symbolizing humanity's unseeing veneration of ecclesiastical authority. (the 3rd video on the left)
This work displayed in the INRETURN SHOW CSULB 2024
This is the first version of the film and it's intended for testing the rhythm of the characters' actions. The final product will be more polished.
Symbolizations:
~ The boy in the film symbolizes the Id;
~ while the apple and the devil symbolize desire and temptation, reflecting the chaotic state of human nature's pursuit of desire.
~ The cross represents divinity ;
~ and the cross with eyes and the masked mother symbolize religious surveillance, social expectations, hypocrisy, and oppression.
1.1. “Spinning = Rotation”
* In the interpretation of semiotics, a “rotating sphere” symbolizes the subject is recurring and never-ending.
* In the film, the spinning fruit serves as a metaphor for the human struggle between good and evil. This internal battle can lead to a never-ending cycle of suffering, which begins with the sprouting of desire. As humans, we often pursue our desires without limits which leads them to control us. The devil can amplify our inherent qualities of pride and greed, causing us to transform into demonic versions of ourselves. To combat this, society relies on religious and social constraints to suppress our darker impulses and desires. Unfortunately, as the devil reigns over this world, we remain vulnerable to temptation and our desires can resurface. This creates a constant tension between chasing our desires and accepting constraints, leaving us trapped in an endless cycle.
1.2. “The Fruit”
This fruit is an apple that symbolizes "original sin" and "desire" in Western religions, which is the temptation from the devil; Moreover, the fruit also metaphorizes “a consequence" or even “an aftermath” of our choices, symbolizing the eternal struggle of humanity in choosing between good and evil, akin to a Sisyphean circle.
In this film, the boy represents all living beings and embodies universal human nature - our true self.
Human nature, in its essence, is similar for all of us: When we are young, we pursue unlimitedly our desires with bold ambition. As our desires grow unchecked, the devil takes control. Then, society or religion intervenes and suppresses our desires, eliminating the devil's influence. However, the innate nature of human beings has a demonic side, and our desires resurface later again, leading us down a path of uncontrolled pursuit.
The mom symbolizes social expectations, religious constraints, and moral norms; it is the restriction of human desire and behavior by religious, traditional, or social enforcement.
It metaphors the religious power in society watching people anytime and anywhere to restrain people's transgressive behavior and unchecked desires.
It metaphors (1) the demonic side in human nature and (2) the devil itself and (3) the temptation from the devil.
6.1. The mask with a cross metaphors the hypocritical side of religion.
After being burned by fire, the transformation of the apple into a mask with a cross symbolizes the suppression of unbridled desire by religious power, this suggests that the demonic nature has been restrained, but this “being restrained" may be merely an illusion. The desire still exists, but it is concealed behind the "mask of hypocrisy.”
6.2. Additionally, the boy being forced to wear a mask signifies the need for individuals to adhere to social constraints in society. People must hide certain aspects of their true nature, such as their desires, in order to be accepted by social norms. The boy's desire to remove the mask multiple times represents the innate human nature to pursue freedom and break free from restraint.
6.3. the image of the boy on the verge of breaking free from the mask, revealing the face of a devil, symbolizes the idea that if individuals allow their desires to go unchecked, they will eventually be controlled by their desires or “devils."
Overall, these symbolic elements above highlight the intricate relationship between desire, expectation, the pursuit of freedom, religion, social constraints, the demonic side, and self-awareness in humanity.
.
Here is quoting (will edit them later) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return "Eternal return (or eternal recurrence) is a philosophical concept which states that time repeats itself in an infinite loop, and that exactly the same events will continue to occur in exactly the same way, over and over again, for eternity.
In ancient Greece, the concept of eternal return was most prominently associated with Stoicism, the school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium. The Stoics believed that the universe is periodically destroyed and reborn, and that each universe is exactly the same as the one before. This doctrine was fiercely criticised by Christian authors such as Augustine, who saw in it a fundamental denial of free will and of the possibility of salvation. The global spread of Christianity therefore brought an end to classical theories of eternal return.
The concept was revived in the 19th century by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Having briefly presented the idea as a thought experiment in The Gay Science, he explored it more thoroughly in his novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which the protagonist learns to overcome his horror of the thought of eternal return. It is not known whether Nietzsche believed in the literal truth of eternal return, or, if he did not, what he intended to demonstrate by it..."
Freud's Theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego
In The Falling Fruit, key symbols explore humanity's eternal struggle between desire, morality, and societal constraints. The spinning fruit represents the cyclical nature of this conflict, reflecting an unending battle between good and evil that begins with unchecked desire. The apple symbolizes temptation, “original sin,” and the consequences of human choices, mirroring the perpetual cycle of moral decisions and their aftermath. The boy embodies universal human nature, representing the innate desire for freedom and ambition. His journey reflects how unchecked desires lead to temptation, only to be suppressed by societal or religious forces, before inevitably resurfacing. This cycle echoes the concept of eternal return, where humanity is trapped in an endless loop of choices between good and evil.
In The Falling Fruit, various symbols explore the tension between human desires, societal constraints, and moral norms. The mom represents social expectations, religious limitations, and moral enforcement, while the cross with an eye symbolizes religious surveillance that controls unchecked desires. The skull embodies the demonic side of human nature and temptation. The mask with a cross critiques religious hypocrisy, showing how desires are suppressed yet remain concealed behind a mask of societal expectations. The boy’s struggle with the mask reflects the human desire for freedom, and his transformation into a devilish form symbolizes the consequences of unchecked desires. These symbols together illustrate the complex relationship between freedom, repression, and self-awareness in humanity’s eternal struggle.
The boy craves to pursue his desires freely and succeeds in doing so, but his success leads to arrogance, which society cannot tolerate. Religious supervision comes into play, and the boy falls from grace, eventually disappearing into the dust. However, the pursuit of desire is a truly human trait ;and coupled with the hypocrisy of religion and society, temptation repeatedly grows in people's hearts. This echoes the theme of the film;the fruit that symbolizes desire. The ( fruit/desire’s )seed breaks out of the ground, and the fruit expands and grows. Although the fruit is struck down and buried in the dust, the desire/fruit’s seed sprouts again when the surrounding environment allows it, and the cycle continues.
1st
Through a non-linear narrative, the film delves into the concept that while the kingdom of God has arrived, it is not yet fully realized; the present mundane world is ruled by the devil. The inherent nature of humans is to struggle between giving in to the temptation of evil or conforming to societal expectations. This inner conflict forces individuals to make involuntarily difficult choices between good and evil, often with the consequences of Sisyphean (recurring and never-ending) alternations of good and evil.
2nd
This thought-provoking film delves into the complex struggle within humanity between the desire for complete freedom and the need to accept religious and social constraints in order to survive within society.
Through a non-linear narrative, the film explores the profound tension between two realms: the kingdom of God, which has arrived yet remains incomplete, and the present world, dominated by darkness. Humanity is caught in a perpetual struggle, torn between succumbing to temptation and adhering to societal expectations. This internal conflict compels individuals to confront difficult, often involuntary choices between good and evil, leading to a Sisyphean cycle—an endless alternation where good and evil rise and fall in an unending battle for the human soul.
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