media histories essay realism

How has an obsession with realism shaped the culture of the screen in the 21^st century and are there any negative aspects to this?

I am going to argue that there are no negative effects to realism on screen in the 21^st century . I will base this argument on the idea that the new technologies that have been developed in aid of realism have produced an all round more thrilling , and authentic cinematic experience.

Realism can be defined as , “Close resemblance to what is real-, fidelity of representation, rendering the precise details of the real thing or scene” Films are able to achieve realism better than ever now. The 21^st century has given us some fantastic films. In particular I feel sci-fi and fantasy films have flourished due to realism. Due to SFX now directors can practically shoot anything. The graphic novel, Watchmen was considered ‘un-filmable’ no director went near the film adaptation rights until Zack Snyder took up the challenge, after his success with 300 he was keen to do another adaptation of the comic book genre. “If you approach comics as a poor relation to film, you are left with a movie that does not move, has no soundtrack and lacks the benefit of having a recognizable movie star in the lead role.”
-Alan Moore

  Despite this negative quote from the writer, Snyder was passionate about staying true to the graphic novel. What made it so un- filmable was the comic book format, colour and timing ie flashbacks.

In the 80s Alan Moore was approached by Terry Gilliam asking to film Watchmen, “Moore told Gilliam that it was an impossible task, like finding the Holy Grail or filming Don Quixote.  Terry Gilliam agreed.  Watchmen was unfilmable.” Shana Mlawski (overthinkingit.com)

Through the new technologies in filmmaking Snyder had all the tools he needed to tackle this complex Graphic novel unlike Gilliam.

 The costumes where incredible and the sets where inspired, their was a real element of cg in the creation of Dr Manhattan as a God like blue glowing super hero with the ability to explode people and teleport to mars. Another character Rorschach has a complicated fluid ink blot simulation on his mask, this would have be unachievable if it weren’t for cg. The special effects where beautiful and I feel they added to the believability and realism of the film. Here Shana Mlawski talks about realism in Watchmen and why people wish to see comic book film adaptations, “Movies win this round due to the realism of their visuals and their use of music.  Why do people always clamor for film adaptations of their favorite novels or comics?  I think it’s because they want to see their favorite characters and scenes come to life.  Comics wouldn’t do it.  People want the realism.  They want to see the movement.”

This is a very important point, as an art form cinema is one of the best ways to tell a story as it transports you more than any other art form into the story, it is one of the most visual art forms and realism helps it to do this in a positive and satisfying way to the audience.

Through the birth of new 3d technology we have witnessed the highest grossing film in the history of cinema. Like many Sci-Fi and fantasy films in the past 11 years, Avatar has incredible special effects and through the use of motion capture technology, beautiful performances. This kind of cinematic experience was not possible 10 years ago. Realism requires a close resemblance to what is real, although the aliens and their planet in avatar did not exist in real life there was a realistic element to it all. This is because everything that was created on the alien planet was based on our planet. The indigenous plants and fauna of Pandora where believable as was the creature and vehicle design. Although we know this is not real we cannot help but feel everything on the planet is kind of familiar. This is the beauty of realism the ability to take reality and twist it. Another example of realistic design in film would be 1982 Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott , in a review Yves Chevrier stated 1, “Even if it still eludes us , the near future has an air of familiarity.”

Here he is talking about the incredible sets and the visuals of Blade runner,

“what a feast of images.”

Here the importance of the visual aspect of film is evident and present even in 80’s filmmaking so to say that realism is an obsession of the 21^st century s wrong we have always been obsessed with it. As far back as the renaissance humans have been obsessed with recreating reality , it is through this obsession that we have better understood reality creating new technologies in the creative arts. 

As an aspiring concept artist in film I appreciate the ability of animators and modellers in films today to make practically anything come to life. Therefore concept art in film I believe is the best its ever been due to the total liberation of concept artists creativity, there are no physical limits in blockbuster films like Transformers. The case was different for filmakers in the 50’s and 60’s for example when directors where limited creatively by the technology of their time, for example Jaws 1975 directed by Steven Spielberg, back then the animatronic shark was an attempt at realism by Spielberg, I think that if he could have used the technology of our time back then they would have , “He is, in box-office terms, the most successful director ever, and there are few things quite so damaging to the reputation of an artist than extreme popularity. The sheer success of Spielberg’s way of making movies, starting with his second theatrical feature Jaws in 1975, has led to a lasting critical wariness that has impeded the recognition of him as a truly great filmmaker.- Tom Shone , Blockbuster

One of Spielberg’s latest cinematic exploits would be The Adventures of Tintin, In a review from Empire magazine reviewer Ian Nathan states, “ Spielberg expands the Belgians former elegance into a digital wonderland”

Nathan realises that Tintin is a perfect homage to the original even though there is a digital aspect to it,

“a wonderland of digital detail without ever losing sight of the bubbly charm of the books . Encompassing the shovel chins and bobbled noses of the hergeian caricatures, Weta pursues a whimsical variation on photoreal .”

To say that there are negative effects to realism in 21st century cinema is ridiculous as we have constantly been striving for realism on screen if we did not the industry would not have grown or developed. The Oscars now recognise special effects along with other technological developments in films in their award ceremony. A good example of this would be lord of the rings clean sweep at the 2004 Oscars winning 11 awards for Return of the king . Peter Jackson was one of the few directors to try out motion capture technology. He used this to create a sense of realism with his character Gollum. The response was incredible. The Return of the king grossed $1 billion worldwide. What made this film successful was a marriage artwork and design executed in stunning special effects.

I feel that special effects and realism are just another way of entertaining the audience. I do not feel we are obsessed with realism on screen, it is just a small tool in making fantastic films.