Thursday, January 31, 2008

CT205: JOURNAL ONE

Fred Ott's Sneeze - Thomas Edison, 1894

JOURNAL ONE: DUE FEBRUARY 05th
PHOTOGRAPHY (chapter one)

Define “realism” in film. What are some of the techniques used to evoke reality? Give an example of a “realistic” film. What technical and/or narrative elements make it “real”? How would you critique its supposed “realism”?

14 comments:

Iddan said...

Realism in a film, is looking at the film as a window to the world. The viewer is shown only part
of, or a specific event going on in the world at the time. It gives the viewer, a sence of reality.A
technique that might be used to show realism is using handheld cameras during a scene where
the characters are moving. Another might be using camera angles with a specific perspective:
at eye level, or looking out of a window. An extreme example of a realistic film would be a
documentary, like the film "Sicko" by Michael Moore. One of the best illustrations of realism
in that movie was when he was in France seated at a table, possibly at a bar, with other people.
The camera was at eye level and the lights were dim. Another great example is, when he walks,
the camera follows him, sometimes keeping abreast with him. The background noise/sound
is also present and consistent.This film is close to reality in most aspects, but in a few such as
some of the traveling scenes, it leans more towards formalism.

Anonymous said...

Realism is a style of Film that is direct reflections of real life experiences wither fiction or non-fiction. Realism style is usually most recognized in documentary format. The type of camera used like hand-held and first hand encounter with the camera. Also close angles and first hand experience following of the character makes the film seem more of a realism style in film. A supposed realism I feel is a better style of film. I think it draws the viewer in more and even pulls on the strings of the heart when this style is used in a film, the documentary style of realism is the most boring to me.

Anonymous said...

When looking at Realism in film we look for the aspects of it that make the film look at feel like real life. From the simplest of films like watching a man sneeze to a more complex documentary like march of the penguins where we are given a view into the world and its almost like we are there. Unlike stories when we look at a fiction movie we are presented the real world even though it may not be at this very instant there is no falsified story everything is right there for us.

Anonymous said...

The word realism is used to describe lifelike or real imitation of something that exists. I feel the use of realism in films is used to project the image in the audience's head that what they are watching has happened or is happening. Realism is used to to evoke reality by usually sending an informative message and alerting people about what is going on in the present and sometimes, what happened in the past. If the film is about a problem that isn't recognized in society and it causes people to think about what they are watching. The majority of the time a realistic film tends to evoke change and create solutions for different dilemmas. An example of a realistic film is Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore. Th film is filled with real footage of what happened on 9/11 and what happened and the aftermath. In different parts of the film, their were facts and statistics placed on the screen which, evokes thought and a lot questions about what happened, why it happened and could it have been stopped. I felt Michael Moore's raw documentary style film is the way how a film that is meant to send a message is supposed to be composed.

Anonymous said...

The word realism is used to describe lifelike or real imitation of something that exists. I feel the use of realism in films is used to project the image in the audience's head that what they are watching has happened or is happening. Realism is used to to evoke reality by usually sending an informative message and alerting people about what is going on in the present and sometimes, what happened in the past. If the film is about a problem that isn't recognized in society and it causes people to think about what they are watching. The majority of the time a realistic film tends to evoke change and create solutions for different dilemmas. An example of a realistic film is Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore. Th film is filled with real footage of what happened on 9/11 and what happened and the aftermath. In different parts of the film, their were facts and statistics placed on the screen which, evokes thought and a lot questions about what happened, why it happened and could it have been stopped. I felt Michael Moore's raw documentary style film is the way how a film that is meant to send a message is supposed to be composed.

Anonymous said...

Keston

Realism in films is like a window to the world. It is used to make a film seem as real or natural as possible. Realism is used to make the audience feel as if they are in the film. some techniques used to provoke realism can be the type of camera the director uses. using super 8 will give a different feeling or give a more real feel to a film than digital. Another was realism can be shown is the type of shots such as close ups to the audience can feel and see the characters emotions. A film that practiced these styles was SAW III . SAW seemed to have realism to me because of the type of close up shots that showed the victims in panic and the narrating of their past by the killer.

Anonymous said...

Based in what I have gather in class, I would define Realism as an early film style which focus in the idea of telling a story that is actually happening or has happened in the world. It is also how the director through cinematography presents a window to the world in a story with non-fiction facts instead of fiction. As far as techniques are concern, I would say the composition and style are very important. The director has a lot of things to take into consideration to bring a good solid viewable piece of good realistic work to the audience. Aesthetics are very important here because they display the essence of the movie. Cameras, shooting angles, and film selections are very important to make the movie look as much close as possible to that moment in time. As an example of a realistic film I would say that saving private Ryan portrays a good frame of what war is like and the things that soldier go through while in battle field. Director Steven Spielberg presents a good frame of war with different angles and shooting scenes, he also shows a non fictional window of the world about the soldiers and their role through the film.

Anonymous said...

Tanifsher Smith
CT-205
2/5/08



When watching a film the audience enjoys when they are made to feel a connection with characters which allows them to be apart of the movie. Realism film combines a piece of reality and fantasy to pull the audience in, by using situations that are close to every day life these films tend to captivate its viewer.
Realistic films try to take the core reality and reproduce it with out changing much. The director uses different shots, various angels and events to support his efforts. For example in an intimate scene the director would use a close up shot or over the shoulder shot to make it more personal. Using this technique will enable us to feel the emotion. Now we are sitting in our seats waiting for him to lean in and kiss her or simply make the next move.
The movie The Guardian is a good example of realistic film. In this film several technical elements are used to create realism. One scene actor Ashton Kutcher gets trapped on a ship in the ocean while trying to save the captain from drowning. The director’s use of light, sound and music dramatizes the scene and makes it come alive. As the director pulls the viewer in, the audience feels the water closing in on Ashton as his life begins to be sucked away while he fights to get out of the sinking ship. The viewers think it is all over until, Mel Gibson burst in at the last minute to save Ashton.
In The Guardian Mel Gibson’s character, the teacher sacrifices his life to save his student Ashton to give him the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.

Anonymous said...

Tiffany S.

Realism is define as a style that makes the film look and have viewers feel that it is based on real life event. Like i learned in class..."its a window to the world". Majority of the time you find realism in documentaries. One documentary that i saw was Fahrenheit 911. It was one movie that had alot of realism in it. Some of the technqiues they used to evoke reality was people's facial expresses, emotions and actions. The tears, the saddness, the diaster that occured. I felt like i could feel their pain watching the movie. The narrator made us feel what they were going through. How painfull the experience was having the music and people's voice in the background. You can sense that it was hard and heartbreaking to know what some of the people experienced on that tragic day. I could critique it supposed realism by the their dialogue. The words, stories and numerous interviews with survivors and people who had witness the incident that same day made it feel real. It made you feel like you were their that same day and the pain and emotions people were going through. Realism in movies plays a big part. Watching movies thats based on real events makes the movie more better and interesting to watch.

Jen said...

One of the crucial facts to remember here is that "realism" is NOT a mode of representation - that is, "realism" and "realistic" are not synonymous. "Realism" refers to an aesthetic or a style of filmmaking that can include representation, but more accurately defines a mode or modes of viewing. "Realism" is concerned with mimicking everyday perception or the average ways a viewer may look at the world. The events being looked at can play into believability but are not directly connected to an aesthetic or style. For example, a director could choose to shoot a documentary in a very formalist style (Werner Herzog is a great example here.), while a fiction film could be shot via realism (Italian neorealism and the Danish Dogme 95 group are great examples).

One of the problems with associating a style with a film type is that viewers are led to believe that subject matter (what is represented) must conform to style (how it is represented). The result is that viewers generally expect documentaries to conform to realism and fiction films to be either formalist or classical. This expectation helps filmmakers who may want to trick viewers (such as the case of "Blair Witch Project") or play with expectations to increase narrative intensity.

Yung D said...

Davian....
Realism is a style of film mostly seen in documentary. The style make the viewer feel as if they are apart of the film; it appears as a window and we the viewers are looking through. there are a few films that uses the realism style effectively. For one, Michael Moor documentary on the 9/11 attacks was a greats example of the realism style. Even the Vice President Al Gore made a documentary about the environment and won an award for it.

Anonymous said...

Amandeep,
Basically what realism means in film is giving the person who is watching the film a sense of realistic viewing to what they are seeing. For example the viewer might be watching the film and say to themsevles that they have seen that in real life.
A few examples of a realistic film might be the way a handheld camera is being held for example taking shots from many different angles that can give a sense of realistic viewing. Also another example can be how and where you hold the camera, either close or faraway which can make a big difference in realistic film.

Edwin said...

Realism is anything that is real that has some type of real aspects to it. Realistic movies is movies that relate to life happenings, things we can relate to within our own lives. When we take a movie like "Why did i get Married" we can relate it to our lives because it is real thing as such in the movie happens everyday.
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Anonymous said...

Realism in films means the ability to portray the real world that we live in or as close as possible. Capturing things that in real life that would happen. It's when you're watching the film and it comes across as if you're there with the character and the situation could actually happen in real life.
An example of a realistic film would the Dr. Calagari film with the samnubulist. That's because of the scene where they do the fisrt close-up of the "zombie" opening his eyes. The close-up makes it more personal and brings the audience in to feel as if they're in an intimate setting wtih the zombie and as if they're right there looking at them. That illusion makes the film seem real. You can see his facial expression, the wrinkles on his face, his eyes trembling, makes it all seem real. The usage of the close-up evokes the reality of the film.