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Releasing emotions is essential to human existence. Art is one of the best ways to release emotions. Art universally ties people together and allows for a release of emotions known as Catharsis. Art helps to best release emotions when it becomes real, when it touches real people and represents real groups of people known as mimesis. Mimesis and Catharsis are important factors in film, having them are what make a film great and personal. Film techniques help bring Mimesis and Catharsis into the films. Catharsis and Mimesis are exemplified through Photography, mis en scene, movement, editing, and sound in the films American Beauty, Almost famous, and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.

Using the Five film Techniques American Beauty is an exemplar of Mimesis and Catharsis. 

In The scene with Lester and Angela in the Bathroom, with Lester Lusting after Angela Photography is used to convey Mimesis. The red of the flower petals symbolize the lust and love Lester has for Angela. The red is dominant and contrasting to the surrounding colors making his lusting intense and uncomfortable. Dominant contrast within the frame bring in Mis en Scen to the scene and the power of the lust Lester has for Angela. Sound is also used. Atonal music plays in the background creating uncomfortable feelings about a 50 year old man lusting after a 17 year old girl. The unsettling feelings brought on by the atonal music creates Catharsis for the audience. It allows for the audience to experience that with the characters and know not to live that way.  

The birds eye view shot of Angela with Lester puts her in a place of complete vulnerability. The vulnerability she shows is completely different from the highly sexually active image she shows to the world. Her movement in this is lyrical adding the her vulnerability. Vulnerability allows for Catharsis of her character. It allows for the releasing of emotions that an audience might relate to her in. 

The establishing shot of the scene with Frank shows him in a place of complete vulnerability as well, where as he is a shell the rest of the film. The cool colors of the rain in contrast with the dominant red car put him in a very empty space. He is shot in a long shot with the rain pouring down him. The rain as background noise drown him out almost. He is barely there. Mimesis in this shot represent the group of people he represents. He represents the people in the world who repress themselves and don't allow for vulnerability and openness with anyone, and he represents how that can break a person.  

Almost Famous uses the five film techniques to exemplify Mimesis and Catharsis. 

Penny is seen dancing around a floor after a concert holding a red rose. The floor is covered by trash and she is completely alone. She is mostly being watched and filmed through extreme long shots and loose frames to show he isolation and emotions through movement. This allows for Catharsis, for the audience to purge emotions of isolation through the relation of Penny feeling that as well. Her movements are a metaphor for how she s feeling. They represent her as a character and shine light into her inner character. She isn't sad, just alone. The music represents that, there is a high emotional appeal of the music showing her appeal as a character. 

Rustle goes through an emotional roller coaster and when he falls apart he turns to drugs. He then finds himself on the top of the roof and he puts his arms up in triumph announcing that he's on drugs. With his arms up though he is allowing himself to be crucified as he is in cross position. He is shown in a low angle representing that even though he seems to be on the top of the world, he's really falling apart inside. His dialogue shows the same thing, he's just shouting to the world and he just wants to say the thing that will get the biggest cheer from his audience. That's where his worth starts to come from. This representation of Rustle is a mimesis of rock stars, and how they, like all people, fall apart too. It is a representation of the bad choices people can turn to due to problems in life. This allows for a Catharsis of the audience and an understanding that emotions are not saved for the average person, and that even idols get them too.  It creates an ability for people to release similar emotions to his. 

The scene where Williams sister leaves is a symbolic one that sets up the rest of the film. She puts on a song explaining that the song explains why she is leaving. This is very blatant sound symbolism. The song sets up the rest of the film and establishes the genre. In the shot where she first plays the song there is very blatant mis en scene within the frame. She is separated from her brother and her mother by a space created between them. There is literal space between her mother and her brother, with her brother closer than heir mother, but also with the fact she is standing up. She is stating very clearly that she doesn't belong and she defies them by standing rather than sitting. The scene has a deep focus allowing everyone to still be in the shot, however it lengthens the distance between her and her mother. 

Mimesis and Catharsis are exemplified through the five film techniques in the film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. 

The movie Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind starts off with a flashforward out of past times into present day Joel with no memories of Clementine, where as the rest of the movie is a flashback to the memories with her. In this establishing shot there is a huge space between Joel and Clementine represented by an extreme long shot in deep focus. Clementine is incredibly far from him on a completely different part of the beach. The scene shows the distance between them that they created through erasing each others memories, however it also shows his interest in her, and though there is a lot of space between them they're still connected, still on the same beach. The shot is parallel editing to a different scene shown later in the film but taking place earlier in their relationship. They are on the same beach they first met on and Clementine is in the same bright orange sweatshirt she was wearing. It's also still a long shot with Joel close looking at the far away Clementine. 

Very formalistic cinima is used when Joel is running through his memories trying to prevent Clementine from being erased. Rain starts to fall when they move from a more recent memory with Clementine to a earlier memory with him as a child. It then makes a fading cut, a flashback to his childhood memory. This shot is an action shot of remembering, creating a reaction shot of going into his childhood memories. Off screen sound is played before they even get to the memory. The row row row your boat song brings them back into Joel's childhood. This song creates a Catharsis of childhood and nostalgic memories. Its easy to repress the feeling of nostalgic but this scene brings those emotions into the light.  

Love is found again in the Medium shot of Joel of Clementine in the hallway. This follows right after a tracking shot of Joel rushing after Clementine to see if things will work out. They face eachother in the hallway, the space of the hallway between them, a symbolic barrier, but through talking and arguing Joel breaks this space and leans towards Clementine breaking the space between them. This is a mimesis of lovers who have space between them and problems between them but need to break it and make it work out. The lack of density of texture represents the clean slate they have to start a new relationship with yet still be able to learn from past problems. The open form allows for an opportunity and openness of possibility for their relationship together. They have survived problems in the past and they will survive in the future. 

Mimesis and Catharsis are exemplified through the film techniques of photography, mis en scene, movement, editing, and sound through in the movie American Beauty, Almost Famous, and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Mimesis is essential to film to convey a message, to create Catharsis. Catharsis is essential to the human condition, without a release people explode, or implode and die inside. Art helps create a release and improve the human condition, if even only a little bit.