Realism

Realism is the cinema's appearance of reality and the truth of the real world. The Realism term in the film industry dates back to 'Dogma 95', from the Germans. They created a strict rule book for how there films would be made for the realism portrayal. 'Festen' was the first film to apply to these rules in 1998.

Dogma 95 Rules

• Filming must be done on location.
• Only diegetic music.
• The camera must be a hand-held camera.
• The film must be in colour.
• Optical work and filters are forbidden.
• The film must not contain superficial action.
• Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.
• Genre movies are not acceptable.
• The film format must be Academy 35mm.
• The director must not be credited.

BBC,2012.'Dinnerladies'.Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/dinnerladies/

Realism in film and TV is largely debated on how Realism is shown in a film or Programme. some could argue that almost nearly all films have realism within them. Such as, Harry Potter is not set in a completely real world yet the characters come from a realism world which is as viewers can relate to. Therefore, many elements of film can make realism, such as the subject. Many British realism films show the working class and gritty side of Britain and the characters we would walk past daily within particular regions. Examples of these films are, This is England and Wasp. Another element that can contribute to realism is the form and style of the film, in which some argue that if there is any type of non-diegetic music, special effects or even non-continuity edits, then the film is not a portrayal of realism. Many contemporary films would not portray realism if we were to base it on the style and form, as many films, even with a realism approach in the Subject, have a lot of green screens and special effects to save money. A British realism programme that is realistic in both style and form and subjects, is 'Dinnerladies', about a staff group who work in a canteen. Each episode concentrates on a few days continuity edited together and we are in one room throughout the whole series, with realistic characters. Another programme with the same approach is 'The Royle Family', as we feel like we are sitting on the sofas with them, with long scenes and quite natural lighting.


In this video, TV shows and films, Including 'Episodes', are shown without the backdrops that look very realist.



IMDb,2012.'Pride and Prejudice'.
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112130/

Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice are examples of film that don't have a Realism in the style and form, with set-up cameras and lighting ect, yet the subjects and costumes are realistic to that time period, such as the old-fashioned English costumes and narrative events such as the titanic and the war.




Festen



'Festen'.Available at:
http://www.movieberry.com/festen/

With Festen being the first film with the Dogma 95 rules attached, when watching it, I understood how the rules make the film be portrayed to a high extent as Realistic. The hand-held camera technique made the audience feel as if we were in the room and the edit was extremely continuity edited, with no extreme cuts in time, when the scenes were cut. For example, When the main character is beating his father up, there is no quick cuts from different angles. In fact, as most contemporary films edit fight scene very different to this, I found it un-comforting seeing the scene in such a different approach. However, I think short British film, 'Wasp', has a very similar realism approach with the hand-held camera and same approach to the fight scene. Also they both have a very documentary technique approach about them, with the plot showing parts of the narrative that aren't most important, such as making their way from the house to the pub in Wasp and the bath scene in Festen with the sister laying in the bath and then talking to the man with her, telling him to try it out. Unnecessary to the main storyline but allows the audience to make a relationship with the characters and portrays the realism.



Dispino,2011.'''Wasp'' stings the heart',March 1st.
Available at:http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/writingculture/page/23/



Halflants.L.'Festen de Thomas Vinterberg'.
Available at: http://obscuracinema.wordpress.com
/2011/10/18/festen-de-thomas-vinterberg/

Another form of realism is psychological realism which shows an honest narration of the narrative, with a complex opinion on the characters. They are not just good or bad. In Festen, we know that the actions of the father were most certainly wrong yet we do have a slight sympathy for him towards the end, as he is genuinely upset about his actions and we witness this as well as the main characters views. Also with the honest side of the story, we have to see the sex scenes as without it, it's not portraying the honesty of the storyline. Even the lighting of the film is all natural or simply just the room's natural lighting, going back to the documentary techniques and honesty of the films approach.



The Mirror, 2008. 'Is the family's Emily britain's vilest teenager' Sept 19th.
Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-

 news/exclusive-is-the-familys-emily-britains-vilest-339392

In TV, Realism has lead to reality TV. However, reality TV doesn't necessary follow realism rules as almost all reality programmes can manipulate the reality and honesty of the actions through edits. One of my favourite reality programmes was Channel 4's, 'The Family', with set up cameras around one family's house, giving the viewer a window into the regular family household which we could easily relate to. However, this still manipulated time and narrative as we didn't have the time to see all the footage captured, just the highlights which the director would then follow up on, making the event a step-by-step story, including interviews with the family to drive the story on.



IMDb,2010.'The only way is Essex'.
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1737565/

Reality TV also has many different Genres, such as game shows and entertainment, as well as reality soaps, such as 'The only way is Essex', in which they state that some of what the characters do are set up purely for our entertainment. Whereas Game shows, such as 'Big Brother' are manipulated by the tasks set up for them to do, causing them to react in particular ways.


The Guardian,2007.'Is anyone still watching Big Brother?'Aug 13th.
 Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/
2007/aug/13/isanyonestillwatchingbigb









Genre

Genre is French for Kind/type  and all films fall into one or more of the many genres that have developed over time in film. This helps the viewer and producers define the type of film they are creating or watching. Genre can categorise, films, literature, music all of an artistic form.

Man on a Wire - Documentary


This week we watched Man on a Wire, a 2008 documentary about a man, Philippe Petit, who was a rope walker and it was his dream to walk across the length from one twin tower to the other, which he achieved in 1974. Here, he talks us though it with achieve footage and re-enactments.

The reason for the showing of this film choice i believe, is due to the genre debate on it, as although classed as a documentary, the film can also be seen as many other genres, such as drama, with a lot of it's content fitting into other genres key elements.

The key features of a film that genre contribute to include; Narrative - adaptation, Iconography, Hybridity, Dialogue.

Setting - A desert is likely is be featured in a western film, whereas a Horror is likely is be filmed in a small spaced room. Man on a wire is set on real locations following him.

2. Downton Abbey


Costume/props - Period dramas such as Downton Abbey, use clothing from the historic era they are in and have to be sure that no props that did not exist back then is shown in the shots, such as mobile phones. Then in Gangsta films such as 'The Godfather' we see plenty of black suits, Guns and Money.


3. The Godfather

Tone/Style - The edit also comes under the tone and style of the film, as we see in Man on a Wire, which in ways is mapped out as a documentary, seeing his interviews then going to the related clips. However, this is where the date of genre comes in as the film's edit is much like a fictional drama/ romance film. This includes how we establish the mapping out of the plan with scaled out towers that to portray and plan what he is going to do. Then we see him training for the rope walk and interviews from his girlfriend upset she couldn't go to America with him. Then there is the issue section of the film, where the men fall out and the goal is destroyed but obviously get another chance and eventually the climax, with the goal of him walking the rope is achieved and closure is shown. The film is very much story told, dramatically by Phillipe, and each character has a flaw such as Phillipe who doesn't think about the strategy and his girlfriend who is weak when he's not there.

5. MTV

 4. MGM










Genre's have changed over time however, originally with the film companies and TV channels sticking with one genre and applying it to all there productions. MGM focused on musicals whereas Warner Brothers stuck to western. Film companies now distribute a range of genres yet some TV channels still apply this rule such as Cartoon Network simply broadcasting cartoons. MTV still sees music videos as it's main genre to broadcast yet now allows other programs on air that appeals to their young audience, such as Teen Mom, Cribs and Geordie Shore. 




6. Will Ferrel

We see the growth of Genre over the years with producers now applying mixed Genres to their films, such as the very popular ROM/COM, which is putting together two different genres possibly allowing a wider audience and greater content. Another example of mixed genre is Sci-Fi/Teen Drama, which is applied in the popular Misfits series. Even some actors stay within one genre, such as Danny Dyer who portrays characters of British realism drama films and Will Ferrell, who plays comedic characters in films such as; Elf and Step Brothers. Another growth is the meaning of a genre changing with Mystery's original portrayal being about detectives, such as 'An inspector Calls', to now the Mystery Genre shown in horrors.


7. Danny Dyer





8. Dead Set

As mentioned, the genre applied can decide on the audience the film will target to, such as woman may prefer a romance and men may prefer an action film. Television genres can have an impact on the schedule slot it may have, due to the watershed timing if the genre is horror, for example Dead Set. The promotion of the films can portray the genre yet also could show different angles of genres in the film to appeal to different audiences, such as 2000's, The Gladiator, where there was over 4 different genres within the film advertised for marketing. These genres shown includes action for the men, adventure for the family and Romance for the woman/couples.

9. Gladiator

2.Smitten by britian,2011. 'Second season of Downton Abbey', Feb, 1st. Available at:
http://www.smittenbybritain.com/2011/02/second-season-of-downton-abbey/
 3. Bailey,2010.'Fourth Row Center: Film Writings by Jason Bailey'.'Blogger',Jan,30th.
Available at: http://www.jason-bailey.com/2010_01_24_archive.html
 4. Den of Geek, 2010. 'The history of MGM', Jan 16th. Available at:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18598/the-history-of-mgm-hollywood-domination
5.MTV,2008. 'MTV Logo'. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MTV_Logo.svg
6. Bio'Will Ferrel'. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/will-ferrell-9542601
7.The mirror,2010.'Danny dyer set to remake of classic 70s show Hawaii Five-O', Feb 24th. Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/danny-dyer-set-to-remake-of-classic-203602
8. Parks.M,2011. ' Postmodern media:Dead set',Mar,31st. Available at: http://mikespostmodernmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/dead-set.html 9. Movies online,2012. 'Gladiator movie poster picture' Available at: http://www.moviesonline2012.info/2012/07/20/gladiator-movie-poster-pictures-id-236924/