It really is Realism...

Realism can be defined as having a close resemblance to what is real. Fidelity of representation, rendering the precise details of the real thing or scene.

As technology progresses more and more in film and televison, artists and film makers have been pushing the boundarys of visual entertainment. Nowadays it is almost impossible to tell that something that has been compueter generated in cinema graphics and special effects. I feel this creates a very real and engaging experience for the audience, because the graphics are so realistic i feel it is easier to totally immerse yourself in what you are seeing.

In film nowadays there are things that we know are not real in our world but because of the technology in film we can create almost anything we want , we can make the audience believe (almost) that what they are seeing could also be present off screen in theyre world - real life. The advances in technology in film have have created a whole new level of escapism.


In big budget blockbusters like Avatar we are transported to another planet where we see an array of animal and plant life we know does not exist but it looks real , allowing us to relax and enjoy the experience. What i am saying is if graphics are done badly these days , it is laughable, that is assuming the creator was trying to c achieve a sense of realism and fidelity to real life. It is a different case , however , if the filmaker has made a concious decision to stay away from reality as a artistic angle , as long as this is made obvious the audience can relax and accept that what they are seeing is not trying to be real.

As a hopefull concept artist and creature designer in film I look to reality for inspiration constantly. The best way I have ever heard concept art being described is , "taking reality and twisting it". It is the process of looking to reality for inspiration that excites me. Artists often look to nature for references. In avatar James Cameron had a whole team of artists concepting for years before he made the film. He wanted his artists to study the natural world in order for them to create a completely convincing real world. They looked at the ecosystems of the ocean for inspiration. the idigenous plantlife and fauna in avatar is absolutely awesome  looking , the reason for this is Camerons understanding and study of reality.


So in a sense there is realism is everything , because everything is based on something real.


Realism can be defined in many ways , I have explored the way that I feel affects me the most.

Narrative

Once upon a time...
In film and televison narrative is always present. The most obvious form of narrative I can think of would be David Attenborough narrating Blue planet. He explains whats going on and informs us of what we are watching.



Perhaps a less obvious example of narration would be Rorshachs role as the narrator in Watchmen



In Watchmen follow the character Rorshach attempts to solve the mysterious murder of The Comedian.
Through his narration we are given his biast opinion and thoughts, we see the world through the warped eyes of Rorshach. The structure of a story was worked out by Aristotle, "A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end"
These are the basic principals of storytelling. A theorist called Todorov came up with his own theory of narrative he explained that in a story there is, EQUILIBRIUM--->DISEQUILIBRIUM--->EQUILIBRIUM

In Watchmen  arguably the equilibrium is that the heroes are all retired or working for the government , the disequilibrium is that the comedian is murdered along with impending nuclear war . The new equilibrium is that nuclear war is avoided through Veidt's plan for world peace, Rorshach is killed.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality- Denotes the transposition of one (or several) sign systems.



Intertextuality is everywhere, but the most obvious form of intertextuality for me is used in film and televison.
This example above was taken from the Austin Powers movie  ~(left) and The Bond movie 'You only live twice'

Here Mike Myers is in costume as Doctor Evil, which looks incredibly similar to The Bond Movie villain played by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The similarities between these Dr Evil and this James Bond villain are used on purpose. It is a sort of shout out to the fans of 'You only live twice' It is a sort of private joke between the filmakers and those who have seen the Bond film. This does not mean however that those who have not seen the bond film will not recognise this bald villain with a cat as familar, this type of villain has been used in other movies and telvison before Austin Powers eg Inspector gadget



'The Claw' Villain from the inspector gadget cartoon also references the Bond film. A person stroking a cat sitting on a swivel chair became iconic  as a villainous pose.



The new cats and Dogs movie also does this but in a more obvious and therefore humorous way. Another example of intertextuality was whenever a friend of my could finish the rest of his sandwich and it reminded me of the scene in Anchorman where Ron Burgandy cannot finish the rest of his borrito and so throes it away saying, " This borritto is delicious but it is filling!"
I decided to badly qoute this as my friend threw his sandwich into the bin - i was the only one who found this funny. Perhaps those that heard me couldnt remember this scene or mabye im just really bad at qoutes....