Virtually Real: Cinematographic Verisimilitude within the Construct of Artistic Referentiality
Article
Article Title | Virtually Real: Cinematographic Verisimilitude within the Construct of Artistic Referentiality |
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ERA Journal ID | 10498 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Maddock, Daniel |
Journal Title | Quarterly Review of Film and Video |
Journal Citation | 38 (1), pp. 61-83 |
Number of Pages | 23 |
Year | 2021 |
Place of Publication | United States |
ISSN | 0146-0013 |
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. |
Keywords | Cinematography; Authenticity; Realism; Verisimilitude; Impressionism; Referentiality; Documentary; Direct Cinema; Cinéma Vérité; Cinematographic |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 360501. Cinema studies |
Byline Affiliations | Office for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q5v51/virtually-real-cinematographic-verisimilitude-within-the-construct-of-artistic-referentiality
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