‘An Air of Realism.’

MedieKultur | Journal of media and communication research | ISSN 1901-9726 Article Published by SMID | Society of Media researchers In Denmark | www.smid.dk The online version of this text can be found open access at www.mediekultur.dk 40

New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 2009

In this article I argue that theories of fictional film realism are epistemologically and methodologically flawed because they reason in the abstract about empirically investigable phenomena, particularly spectatorship. Through the investigation of so-called realist, commercial Tamil film, the article explores what a theory of realism would look like if approached through work with viewers, filmmakers and film form. 211 NCJCF 7 (3) 211-235

If we consider fictional motion pictures as props in a game of make-believe (Walton 1990), it should be irrelevant whether these films aim at a high degree of verisimilitude. Walton claims that in order to use depictions as fictions what we need is not co-identity with natural appearance, but a sufficient amount of 'richness' and 'vivacity' for our spontaneous imaginings to arise. – Filmmaker Peter Jackson's use of HFR technologies together with CGI and 3D in his Hobbit-Trilogy has led movie audiences to reject the new 'life-like' images in favour of ordinary cinematic experience. Jackson's foray into new screening technologies seems to produce experiences one needs to get used to. Central to this essay is the notion that the experience of realism is relative to the observer and very likely an acquired habit. This claim, made earlier already by Jakobson (1987 [1921]), Steinberg (1972 [1953]), and Goodman (1976), raises the question of how we come to employ Walton's criteria of richness and vivacity. Is the persuasive power of images conventional too?

The IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication and Film, 2014

Current trends in film and television production styles have favoured the use of aesthetics associated with prosumer and social media products. These aesthetics, including handheld shaky-cam, variable audio and open acknowledgement of the camera, have been utilised for their ability to imitate reality, to take away a little of the polish of professional film and television production and to inject the raw, ad hoc immediacy of actuality. Yet an emotional connection between a film and its spectator cannot be disregarded, and represents another form of reality in film: that of emotional realism. Indeed conventional cinema relies on aural and visual techniques to generate emotional authenticity for its characters and to align them with spectators as a means to encourage investment in a believable fictional world. The application of techniques associated with real-world aesthetics in narrative contexts seems instinctively to be at odds with the aims of fictional cinema. Through a close analysis of Chronicle, this paper explores the function of prosumer aesthetics in a fictional context and examines how tropes of “reality” can inform emotional realism.

EKPHRASIS, 2015

The search for truth has been the task of philosophers for a long time. The artist has been banished from Plato’s ideal city, precisely because of his/her passion for phantasia, for the illusion the masses always adore. It was believed that the appearance itself has no value in the absence of the universal, transcendental truth. Later, in the romantic period, Wagner’s attempt to transform music into drama, the importance conferred by the composer to appearance, passion and to the acting itself was strongly incriminated by Nietzsche. Nowadays, our consumerist society is viewed by theorists like Guy Debord or Jean Baudrillard as a society of spectacle or as a space invaded by simulacra. They believe that the representation detached from any reality conquers the world, conducts lives and destinies, isolates people, transforms the individual into a trivial copy of a star specialized in apparent living. The artists react: modern playwright Berthold Brecht dissociates his epic theatre from emotional manipulation, film directors like Robert Bresson, and the members of the Nouvelle Vague or Dogma 95 plead against convention and theatricality. In this uncertain context, how can we define the art of Cinematography?1 Is it a component of the society of spectacle or a version of Plato’s cave? Can it be dissociated from the appearance, can it be redefined as a quest for the truth? On the other hand, is this technical image able to cope with traditional aesthetic categories like beauty or contemplation? All these questions will be discussed in the context of Robert Bresson’s films and writings. A series of connections with other auteurs and groups related to cinematic realism will also be made. The meaning of image, music and actor’s performance along with the differences between cinema and theatre or painting will be questioned with the goal to distinguish between what can be considered false and what can be considered truth in film. With the help of key texts written by Walter Benjamin, Susan Sontag and André Bazin and by employing a number of paradigmatic theories of beauty and truth, this paper will search for an inner connection of cinematic realism with categories such as beauty, truth, and authenticity.

Journal of British Cinema and Television, 2005

The production designer is an intriguing figure whose contribution to a film is often misunderstood by those not working in the industry. This is partially due to the nature of the work involved, which is linked to the aesthetic principle of concealing the involvement of people working behind the camera. The production designer's task is to collaborate with both the producer and the director to create a 'look' for the film within the limitations of its budget. The process relies on research, which is brought to life through inspiration, and the adept use of volume, light and colour. The deployment of screen space is often physically and emotionally essential in order to underpin the concepts of character and narrative, and it can often take on a personality of its own. In examining the parameters of the craft of the production design today, I shall draw heavily on the work and the approaches of Christopher Hobbs who, through his innovative approaches to place and time, has created some of the most powerful and memorable screen imagery in contemporary British cinema. The first film that he designed was Jubilee (1978), and his irreverent approach continues to deliver the unexpected today.

Cinematic realists propose that films can get at-or show-reality in a way that other art forms can't. The strongest versions of cinematic realism prioritize physical reality by making the bold claim that by virtue of the mechanical, photographic process of their creation, films put us in perceptual contact with things in the world. Thus, according to Kendall Walton, when we look at a movie screen, we see objects, people, and places in or through that screen. Weaker 1 versions appeal to something other than physical reality, either by discussing a truth beyond mere appearance or by endorsing psychological realism, a view 2 according to which films are realistic insofar as they engage our ordinary perceptual processes. While not always explicitly stated, cinematic realists 3 generally propose that film is more realistic than other art forms. That is, they endorse some version of a medium specificity thesis according to which film has something unique about it in virtue of its tie to reality. This paper presents a novel version of cinematic realism, which focuses on film's relation to what H.P. Grice calls "natural meaning." I will suggest that my 4

Aesthetic Authenticity in Cinema, 2023

From very early on, realism has been one of the great guiding pillars of cinematographic theory, alongside with formalism. The realistic character of cinema is a commonplace that is based, from the outset, on the very technical nature of the device. However, beyond this basic premise, we can identify very different approaches to realism in cinema-or, if we prefer, different realisms. The same cinematographic work can be read in the light of the epistemological or testimonial accuracy of its content, the mimetic fidelity (verisimilitude), the correspondence with the sensitive and immanent truth of its images (for instance in the Deleuzian sense), the semantic literality, the ethical relevance, the ability to produce poetic or performative effects of authenticity, etc. There are more naive versions of realism-which relate directly to the literal, the natural or the factual-and there are less naive realisms that accept the inevitability of performance and artifice, even though, at the same time, they also seek to preserve, or even intensify, some form of truth or authenticity. For instance, this is what Werner Herzog proposes when he highlights the subjectivity and poetic effort involved in cinema, including documentary cinema. In his words: "There are deeper layers of truth in cinema and there is a