Experiencing Interruptions?

Unconscious Projections

An experimental response to both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung's research into the analysis of dreams. The film is a dreamscape and explores 3 dream symbols; The Tidal Wave, The Dismembered Torso and The Shadow Self.

  • Maddie Branagan
    Director
  • Maddie Branagan
    Writer
  • Maddie Branagan
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    psychology, horror, psychological, mystery, experimental
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 16, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital - Dragon Frame
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Manchester Metropolitan University
Director Biography - Maddie Branagan

Maddie Branagan, born and raised in Manchester, UK, is a first time student director and animator studying Illustration with Animation at the Manchester School of Art. At 21 years of age Maddie has produced and directed her first experimental, stop-motion short in response to psychological research on the analysis of dreams. Inspired by the likes of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and David Lynch, Maddie will graduate with a First Class Honours Degree in Illustration with animation in August 2021 and hopes to further study an MFA in Animation at the Manchester School of Art, or an MA in Directing Animation at the National Film and Television school, London, in September 2022. Her main career goal is to become an independent, experimental Animator/Director producing work based around psychological studies of the unconscious mind.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Please note: The film is English; the minimal dialogue is reversed speech and is not meant to be understood in any language. The film was solely created by me, from my bedroom, during a National Lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions.

I’ve been experimenting with Animation, specifically analogue techniques, for around 2 years now; I take an experimental approach and am inspired by the likes of David Lynch, Wes Anderson and Tim Burton. Unconscious projections is my undergraduate film and It’s an experimental response to the research of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud on the analysis of dreams. The research conducted for the film consisted of studying the works of said practitioners and applying their methodologies to my own dream data collected via an open call for surreal dreams on Instagram. I interviewed the participants and analysed their dreams using a mix of Jungian, Freudian and Gestalt approaches. The ones that stood out to me had more Jungian influences. They were the ones that called upon collective symbolism and an idea that the dream was trying to teach rather than conceal. This is how Unconscious Projections was born; a film about symbolism within dreams for the people interested in the capacity of the unconscious as a problem solver. From my dream analysis I identified three main symbols that I wished to produce my film around: The Shadow Self, The Dismembered Torso and The Tidal Wave.