HDC Weekly Debate: Is realism a part of entertainment through films?

[_____V_____]

Plenty of excellent replies, guys, especially the ones by MT and Nova.

But I was not referring to this - "if realism exists in filmmaking." Excluding docs, filmmaking is one giant cooker of imagination. I know that too.

And there is a huge difference between realism and reality. Realism is simulating reality in the visual arts - be it films, painting, sculpture etc. To quote a guy from another forum -

When an audience can relate to something, it is more likely to affect them. So realism, for me, has always meant something I could envision happening in the 'real' world. Movies are there to play on our emotions, and thus all tools are used to achieve this task. We are meant to feel happy with the central character when he gets the girl, glad when he kills the villain, and sad when the villain comes back. The more real it seems, the more effective it is. Drugs, Rape and Murder are things that affect our society, and thus people will usually be more sensitive to them.

There's a good article on this too - http://www.filmreference.com/encyclo...M-HISTORY.html

But thats a different line altogether, and we won't go there.

I am referring to something else - escapist entertainment vs realism.

[milktoaste]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Which side of the scale is more heavier - entertainment, or realism?

I'm going with entertainment. I mean c'mon, it's the movies, we go to be entertained. If realism were the key factor in selling movie tickets, the Fox Network would've made a Survivor movie by now. Please Jesus, don't let Fox make a Survivor movie. (I am not suggesting Survivor is real)

[Doc Faustus]

No. Realism is gay. Your question is gay.

[crabapple]

At the same time, realism "sells" fantasy. Realistic details are what made the "Star Wars" world believable--all that dust and grime and worn-out spaceships and robots. It allows you to suspend disbelief. In a sense, it is a most important part of any good fantasy.

All those lens flares and camera-shake and handheld camera effects, which have been incorporated for so many years into visual effects shots, are mainly there to give the impression that "this stuff is really happening" and there just happened to be a guy with a camera filming it. That sense that what you are seeing on the screen "really happened" and that the movie is proof of that--well, that has always been a subtle selling point in narrative cinema, all the way back to the split screen matte shots of "The Great Train Robbery" (1903).

Part of "escaping into the fantasy," I believe, is seeing enough of the earmarks of reality there to stop questioning that fantasy, and just accept it...you might say that in the movies, fantasy and reality are two sides of the same coin.

[_____V_____]

Originally Posted by crabapple

At the same time, realism "sells" fantasy. Realistic details are what made the "Star Wars" world believable--all that dust and grime and worn-out spaceships and robots. It allows you to suspend disbelief. In a sense, it is a most important part of any good fantasy.

All those lens flares and camera-shake and handheld camera effects, which have been incorporated for so many years into visual effects shots, are mainly there to give the impression that "this stuff is really happening" and there just happened to be a guy with a camera filming it. That sense that what you are seeing on the screen "really happened" and that the movie is proof of that--well, that has always been a subtle selling point in narrative cinema, all the way back to the split screen matte shots of "The Great Train Robbery" (1903).

Part of "escaping into the fantasy," I believe, is seeing enough of the earmarks of reality there to stop questioning that fantasy, and just accept it...you might say that in the movies, fantasy and reality are two sides of the same coin.

Excellent.

That explains a lot of unanswered stuff for me. Thanks, crabby.

[ferretchucker]

And I think it's relative. For instance, you wouldn't go into Alice in Wonderland expecting it to be beleivable but at the same time you want the characters to be somewhat realistic in their characterization and continuity of that. Continuity and Realism go hand in hand.

[ferretchucker]

Originally Posted by crabapple

At the same time, realism "sells" fantasy. Realistic details are what made the "Star Wars" world believable--all that dust and grime and worn-out spaceships and robots. It allows you to suspend disbelief. In a sense, it is a most important part of any good fantasy.

All those lens flares and camera-shake and handheld camera effects, which have been incorporated for so many years into visual effects shots, are mainly there to give the impression that "this stuff is really happening" and there just happened to be a guy with a camera filming it. That sense that what you are seeing on the screen "really happened" and that the movie is proof of that--well, that has always been a subtle selling point in narrative cinema, all the way back to the split screen matte shots of "The Great Train Robbery" (1903).

Part of "escaping into the fantasy," I believe, is seeing enough of the earmarks of reality there to stop questioning that fantasy, and just accept it...you might say that in the movies, fantasy and reality are two sides of the same coin.

And dude...WHAT THE FUCK? Where's the Banana are happy or Hoochie Poochie. You never make that much sense.

[crabapple]

Oh, uh, uh..........well.........I guess that, you might say, that in the movies, banana are happy ? ? ?

[milktoaste]

Originally Posted by crabapple

Oh, uh, uh..........well.........I guess that, you might say, that in the movies, banana are happy ? ? ?

*stands and applauds* Does it get more real that? Does it have to?