Maniac
For my first analysis I decided to discus the very new series 'Maniac', which can currently be viewed on Netflix. This show revolves around two characters Annie Landsberg(Emma Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hill).
They both suffer from some mental disorders which effect their lives in detrimental ways and both of them cope in destructive manners. The show entertains the idea of an 80s style future quite reminiscent of the Vaporwave movement that has sprung in recent years, intermingling old technology from the aforementioned era with modern technologies and lifestyle.
The story itself revolves around an innovative medical trial which pertains to cure any of your mental ailments within 3 days using a course of pills and an A.I. The A pill to make the subjects re-experience their pain, the B pill to make the subjects tear down their defence mechanisms and the C pill to make them confront their trauma and get over it.
The scene in the video above is an interesting part mainly because of the setting as well as the actions in it. Our two main characters are in a haunted mansion scenario and happen to be involved in a dance that in of itself is quite comical, perhaps an homage to Jean-Luc Goddard's, 'Bande à Part'. The comparison with it is not explicitly implied and I would hazard a guess that it was nothing more than an homage, but I could be wrong. I think the way the dance was used in 'Maniac' was a sort of randomly generated sequence by the A.I. considering that it has the whole of the internet to source it's simulations, it could have easily found the video in the show just as I did in real life.
The music makes it quite light hearted, but at the same time the fact that a dead man is dancing with them makes it quite unsettling too. Owen in this scene seems to be dancing quite robotically giving off a sense of awkwardness to the audience while Annie dances with a confidence and smoothness that feels comfortable and soothing. This makes it even more unsettling when the show reveals that their brains are in sync making for a dream that is almost bipolar in nature, the confident side verses the depressed, the dead man being the neutral between them that is currently inoperative.
Something that is confusing is that they somehow knew the moves to this peculiar dance even though the show seems to suggest that it was out of the blue. The randomness of the scene reminds us that this is a dream.
The camera movements don't suggest much other than, that they are the focus of everyone's attention. The camera moves with the actors sometimes letting them move out of frame, maybe trying to lighten the mood with its less than perfect approach.
In this brief scene we can see the personified computer with a manic smile making us doubt the good intentions of the A.I. Is the A.I. actually helping the subjects or does it have other intentions in 'mind'?
Overall this clip from Maniac tries to portray the inconsistencies and sometimes quite maniacal nature of dreams while discussing mental health issues without outrightly mentioning them. With this scene the audience is put in a situation where almost nothing makes sense invoking the doubtful parts of are brains to question it. It manages this through subtle means, such as the mood, the actions, the movements as well as the expressions on the actors faces.
References:
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Maniac | Neberdine Pharmaceutical Biotech [HD] | Netflix - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NSMBd6Y_J0 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Maniac 1x05 - Arlie (Emma Stone) dances - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHRCTGAQt4 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Imdb.com, (2018). Maniac (TV Mini-Series 2018– ) - IMDb [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580146/ [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Refinery29.com, (2018). What Do Maniac A, B, C Pills Do? Drug Trial Explained [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/09/210853/netflix-maniac-pill-a-b-c-drug-experiment-function#slide-3 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Bande à part (1964) - Dance scene [HD] - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1MKUJN7vUk&t=85s [Accessed 3/10/2018].
They both suffer from some mental disorders which effect their lives in detrimental ways and both of them cope in destructive manners. The show entertains the idea of an 80s style future quite reminiscent of the Vaporwave movement that has sprung in recent years, intermingling old technology from the aforementioned era with modern technologies and lifestyle.
The story itself revolves around an innovative medical trial which pertains to cure any of your mental ailments within 3 days using a course of pills and an A.I. The A pill to make the subjects re-experience their pain, the B pill to make the subjects tear down their defence mechanisms and the C pill to make them confront their trauma and get over it.
The scene in the video above is an interesting part mainly because of the setting as well as the actions in it. Our two main characters are in a haunted mansion scenario and happen to be involved in a dance that in of itself is quite comical, perhaps an homage to Jean-Luc Goddard's, 'Bande à Part'. The comparison with it is not explicitly implied and I would hazard a guess that it was nothing more than an homage, but I could be wrong. I think the way the dance was used in 'Maniac' was a sort of randomly generated sequence by the A.I. considering that it has the whole of the internet to source it's simulations, it could have easily found the video in the show just as I did in real life.
The music makes it quite light hearted, but at the same time the fact that a dead man is dancing with them makes it quite unsettling too. Owen in this scene seems to be dancing quite robotically giving off a sense of awkwardness to the audience while Annie dances with a confidence and smoothness that feels comfortable and soothing. This makes it even more unsettling when the show reveals that their brains are in sync making for a dream that is almost bipolar in nature, the confident side verses the depressed, the dead man being the neutral between them that is currently inoperative.
Something that is confusing is that they somehow knew the moves to this peculiar dance even though the show seems to suggest that it was out of the blue. The randomness of the scene reminds us that this is a dream.
The camera movements don't suggest much other than, that they are the focus of everyone's attention. The camera moves with the actors sometimes letting them move out of frame, maybe trying to lighten the mood with its less than perfect approach.
 |
| A.I. Smiling Manically |
In this brief scene we can see the personified computer with a manic smile making us doubt the good intentions of the A.I. Is the A.I. actually helping the subjects or does it have other intentions in 'mind'?
Overall this clip from Maniac tries to portray the inconsistencies and sometimes quite maniacal nature of dreams while discussing mental health issues without outrightly mentioning them. With this scene the audience is put in a situation where almost nothing makes sense invoking the doubtful parts of are brains to question it. It manages this through subtle means, such as the mood, the actions, the movements as well as the expressions on the actors faces.
References:
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Maniac | Neberdine Pharmaceutical Biotech [HD] | Netflix - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NSMBd6Y_J0 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Maniac 1x05 - Arlie (Emma Stone) dances - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHRCTGAQt4 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Imdb.com, (2018). Maniac (TV Mini-Series 2018– ) - IMDb [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580146/ [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Refinery29.com, (2018). What Do Maniac A, B, C Pills Do? Drug Trial Explained [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/09/210853/netflix-maniac-pill-a-b-c-drug-experiment-function#slide-3 [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Youtube.com, (2018). (138) Bande à part (1964) - Dance scene [HD] - YouTube [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1MKUJN7vUk&t=85s [Accessed 3/10/2018].
Comments
Post a Comment