Virtually Real: Cinematographic Verisimilitude within the Construct of Artistic Referentiality

Article


Maddock, Daniel. 2021. "Virtually Real: Cinematographic Verisimilitude within the Construct of Artistic Referentiality." Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 38 (1), pp. 61-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2020.1762476
Article Title

Virtually Real: Cinematographic Verisimilitude within the Construct of Artistic Referentiality

ERA Journal ID10498
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorMaddock, Daniel
Journal TitleQuarterly Review of Film and Video
Journal Citation38 (1), pp. 61-83
Number of Pages23
Year2021
Place of PublicationUnited States
ISSN0146-0013
1543-5326
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2020.1762476
Web Address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10509208.2020.1762476
Abstract

The creation of so-called realistic images is seemingly incongruously a key aspiration for many feature film cinematographers creating dramatic films today. This may be, as theorised by Charles Pierce, that the lens-based imagery of photography, and by extension cinema, is connected to reality in a way unlike any other artform. Prince refers to the cinematographic form as a tension between perceptual realism and referential artifice. He uses the term perceptual realism in reference to Peirce’s claim of the photograph as icon. With the term referential artifice though, Prince is suggesting the artificial proposition of film making is in reference to the subjects and object within the frame. This concept can be extended when connected to Bordwell, Thompson and Smith’s claim that stylistic choices are made in reference to the film’s content, its script. For example, a period film may be captured on celluloid film negative whilst a science fiction narrative may be captured with the newest digital cinema camera. Realism, however, does not necessitate the same or even a similar cinematographic form response for feature filmmaking. This essay will explore how feature film cinematographers interpret realism or verisimilitude within the construct of artistic referentiality as a response to narrative content.

KeywordsCinematography; Authenticity; Realism; Verisimilitude; Impressionism; Referentiality; Documentary; Direct Cinema; Cinéma Vérité; Cinematographic
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020360501. Cinema studies
Byline AffiliationsOffice for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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