The Future of Contemporary Cinema: The Spectacle or the Story?

Contemporary cinema always aims to capture the viewer, engage with them on either an intellectual level or an emotional one and aim to take them on a journey that leaves them in awe and wanting more.
Many films considered “The Greatest of All Time” are powerful pieces of work that either capture the viewer on a level that aims to entertain, as well as aim to engage with the audience on an intellectual level. Films such as “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Godfather” and “Citizen Kane” blend two things that are the core essential to contemporary cinema: The Spectacle and The Story.

The Spectacle is one of the main ways in which to capture the attention of an audience. The aim is to visually entertain them, if the film is lacking in an engaging storyline, visual elements can be used to keep the audience’s attention. “During the early years of cinema, its status as an attraction rather than an art form meant that the presence of commercial advertising was irrelevant to a public eager to see the moving image in its own right. (Gurevitch, 2010). This show that during the early years of cinema, due to the development of new technologies, the aim of going to the cinema was to be visually entertained. This made the prospect of going to the cinema become an ‘experience’ and how “The process of experiencing the attraction was a publicity generating event in which early film viewers queued, as much to participate in a shared, much talked about and publicized experience as to see specific films.” (Gurevitch, 2010). Gurevitch goes on to say that “spectacle, in all its many forms, has long been the means through which Hollywood advertised itself to its spectators before, during, and after the cinematic experience itself.” (Gurevitch, 2010). This shows that the main core of Hollywood cinema is the visual element, aiming to capture your attention and keep you visually entertained for approximately two hours and appreciate the film due to its technical abilities of capturing and editing a visual piece of art.

　

　
As the visual element of cinema was present before the arrival of sound, the visual element remains a key factor in creating a spectacle. Even in the present day, with the advancement of digital technology, the audience expects a high form of visual entertainment. With the ability to create a variety of images and scenes through computer technology, “film makers construct set piece special effects sequences that can operate as digital attractions across a range of platforms that ultimately promote the feature film itself.” (Gurevitch, 2010). This shows that a general population seek a form of escapism and now film-makers have a dedication to create what is now seen as realism. “It seems that the aim toward grandeur and scale goes hand in hand with the desire to achieve the maximum level of “realism” possible.” (Gurevitch, 2010).

For example the film Gladiator had to digitally reconstruct the famous Coliseum to allow the audience to fully engage in the story that the action in the film was indeed taking place in Ancient Rome. This shows that for period films such as Gladiator, Titanic and Troy the use of computer generated images (CGI) is now a key element in modern cinema to induce a greater sense of realism, as this seems to be the only way for a contemporary audience to fully engage with the film. It is now see that “the computer-generated (CG) attraction is the audiovisual form both promoted by and promoting whatever textual form it is embedded within.” (Gurevitch, 2010). Ever since the digital reconstruction of Titanic in the film of the same name, CGI has become a key element of cinema in restoring ancient wonders and locations to create a more realistic sense of the period in which the film is being set.

Now with the addition of High Definition (HD) and 3D technology, the visual element is now seen to be a solid necessity in a ‘blockbuster’ movie. Looking at the film Avatar, the use of computer technology allowed the ability of a complete virtual world to be created and for visual elements to captivate the audience, allowing the audience that escapism that is the key ingredient to contemporary cinema. Ever since its release back in 2009, cinema goers have now expected a visual stimulus of this high calibre. The release of Avatar was played upon the fact that it would be in 3D and also would show off the latest in computer technology. It now appears that “CGI acts as a kind of sales pitch, “selling” the diegesis of the film to the audience and securing their attention for the rest of the film.” (Gurevitch, 2010).

This shows that now in modern day cinema that “cyber-phobic films overstress the power of the visual in their reliance on digital technology to produce spectacle at the expense of narrative” (McQuire, 2000). The narrative is often now overlooked within the eyes of modern contemporary cinema, as the narrative is not the way to create a spectacle which captures the attention of the modern day audience. McQuire goes on to say that “Spectacle’, it seems, is winning the war against ‘narrative’ all along the line. Even a brief statistical analysis reveals that ’special effects’ driven films have enjoyed enormous recent success, garnering an average of over 60 per cent of the global revenue taken by the top 10 films from 1995-1998, compared to an average of 30 per cent over the previous four years.” (McQuire, 2000). But let us not forget that the narrative in cinema has a powerful effect on the popularity of movies. It is through memorable quotes and dialogue that a film is remembered as the purpose of dialogue is to emotionally connect with the viewer; whether it is to make them laugh, make them cry or make them scream.

When sound was first introduced, “the arrival of narrative form marked the end of overt forms of the cinema of attractions…it did not disappear altogether; it merely went underground…” (Gurevitch, 2010). This means that the early visual reasoning for going to the cinema became secondary, as viewers could be taken on an emotional journey as now the audience could fully engage with a character. With the addition of sound, dialogue was able to be created, which meant that characters could have an emotional drive to do the things they did in movies, emotionally connecting with the audience. This is how memorable dialogue and quotes were able to be created. Now in cinema, films with dialogue are created for a specific genre of film, usually drama or romance as the dialogue created is targeted to create an emotional response within the audience, which creates sympathy for the character, an example being the final major scene in Jerry Maguire.

Few histories fully address the question of why narrative became the driving force of cinema and whether this may itself be subject to change. (McQuire, 2000). From what has been shown, it appears that the future of cinema is the domination of the spectacle. McQuire goes on to state that “the decay of familiar narrative and performance values in favour of the qualities of the blockbuster’.” (McQuire, 2000). However the narrative is not lost. In the cinematic spectacle, audio is now proving to be a vital element in adding a form of narrative as the soundtrack of a film helps convey to the viewer the mood of the story and may aim to engage the emotions within the viewer. “The enhanced role of sound in cinema is even more marked for large format films which, because of their high level of visual detail, demand a correspondingly high level of audio detail.” (McQuire, 2000). An example is the final scene of The Shawshank Redemption, in which the score adds to the emotional power of the narration to emotionally capture the audience.

To conclude, “theatrical display dominates over narrative absorption, emphasizing the direct stimulation of shock or surprise at the expense of unfolding a story or creating a diegetic universe.” (Gunning, 1994). With computer technology being such a driving factor behind modern day cinema, it is hard to negotiate away from creating a visual spectacle in order to engage an audience. Narratives and a good script can be seen, but it is more dominant in genres such as romance, musical scoring being the new age form of narrative, adding a layer to the visual element to create an overpowering experience for the viewer. McQuire talks of “a visible sign of this shift is the new role which computer generated special effects have come to play in the Hollywood industry in the last few years. Many recent blockbusters have been driven by special effects; feeding on their popularity” (McQuire, 2000). This is true since the success of Toy Story, as from there Hollywood found that there was a market to be discovered with creating full CGI animated films, which then led to creating movies that were surrounded by CGI in order to create a true spectacle. Finally, “the transition to digital imaging marks a new moment in which processes of imaging across all platforms and processes of promotion are both practically and discursively less determinate than they previously had been.” (Gurevitch, 2010), which shows that the power of the visual spectacle is a force to be reckoned with for all ages and will continue to be for a long time.

 

 

REFERENCES

GUNNING, T., 1994. The cinema of attractions: Early film, its spectator and the avant-garde. In Early cinema: Space, film, narrative, ed. Thomas Elsaesser, 56–62. London: BFI.

GUREVITCH, L., 2010. The Cinemas of Transactions: The Exchangeable Currency of the Digital Attraction. Television & New Media, 11(5), pp. 367-385.

MCQUIRE, S., 2000.
Impact Aesthetics: Back to the Future in Digital Cinema?: Millennial fantasies. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 6(2), pp. 41-61 

Film Review: Paul (2011)

Paul is a science fiction comedy reuniting British comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in their latest adventure that combines British and American humour and takes the audience on a journey of a close encounter of a different kind!



Paul tells the story of two sci-fi fanatics touring Amercia’s UFO country, where they encounter Paul, an alien on the run from government agents trying to recapture him (voiced by Seth Rogen). Together the trio share a journey to reunite Paul with his mothership and encountering various obstacles and hilarious mishaps along the way, from kidnapping a half blind daughter (played by Kristen Wiig) to dressing up as a cowboy.
Greg Mottola, famously known as director of cult classic Superbad, directs another masterpiece as he combines both American and British humour that is able to be understood by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. From combining the British play on words performed brilliantly by Pegg and Frost to slapstick moments from Rogen and Wiig to create a comedy that can truly be enjoyed by all.

Simon Pegg’s character of Graeme Willy shows a true change in character, which is very common in roles played by Simon Pegg. At the start of the film the character lacks confidence and belief in himself, but by the end of the film he establishes a dominant presence that allows him to not only be received positively by the audience but get the girl by the end of the story.

Frost -><- Pegg

 

Nick Frost plays Clive Gollings, Graeme’s best friend. This role is again particularly common to the style of characters that Frost has played in his partnership with Simon Pegg. Again Frost plays the sidekick role and used for comical relief within the film however, in contrast to other roles, his character unlike previous roles of being the "idiot" who gets the duo into trouble and says things to frustrate his colleagues, this character of Clive is skeptical of the adventure until the final act of the film in which he becomes a faithful side-kick, a Robin to Pegg’s Batman.



The CGI used to create Paul is not over the top as you would expect for a film of the 21st Century. Instead it focuses on realism, which therefore aids in the audience’s suspension of disbelief and is therefore able to accept the concept that Paul is a walking-talking alien interacting with human characters. The humour that Rogen provides is excellent, playing on common stereotypes not only of aliens that are perceived in science fiction culture, but how aliens are perceived in general. In the film Paul is imprisoned by the government for 60 years and reveals that he is responsible for many of the marvels of the 20th Century. This allows the character of Paul to become more funny as he sheds the common stereotype early in the movie and by the end of the film, the dialogue and attitude that is associated with Paul is almost completely human, which allows the audience to fully engage with the character.

This film pays homage to many science fiction films, from Star Wars to Star Trek, many actions, soundbites and dialogue are implicit or explicit references to the science fiction genre. From modernising the infamous Canteena song from Star Wars IV to casting Sigourney Weaver, famously remembered for her main role within the Alien franchise shows that the writing in this film aims to show appreciation more many of the science-fiction movies that have come before to satisfy not only the contemporary audience that fell in love with Frost and Pegg, due to their success in the films Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, but also acknowledge these films to attract fans of the science fiction genre by creating characters that had a vast knowledge of science fiction and using these sci-fi references not only to enrich their character’s authenticity as science-fiction fans but engage with the audience, in particular fans of the sci-fi genre.

Overall Paul is an overall laugh-out-loud, feel-good and fun-filled film that will have you walking out of the cinema with a smile on your face and nothing but good things to say about it. The characters are entertaining, the story is simple to follow, which allows the story to contain a variety of verbal and visual humour and mishaps in order to keep the audience entertained. In short, Paul is an excellent film that is literally out of this world!

Ideology In Film

Ideology can generally be described as the beliefs and characteristics of a social group. Films can be a historical collection of how American ideology has changed over the course of time, and also how film-makers either express their support or disgust of the American ideology through their films either implicitly or explicitly. As Rodowick stated “anything can be produced in either critical theory or aesthetic practise” (Rodowick, 1995). This post will look at the theory of ideology within cinema and list an example of explicit and implicit ways that directors either support or are against the American ideological system.

The main way to discuss ideology in terms of cinema is through Textual Ideology and Contextual Ideology. Textual Ideology is a way to explicitly express the ideologies of not only the film-maker but of society at the time. Contextual Ideology allows ideologies to be implicitly expressed, as it may oppose the ideologies held by the American culture at the time.
Narrative helps structure or impose the ideologies of the film-maker and explicitly address the audience regarding issues within their culture or society. As Grant states “
Whatever their politics, genre movies are intimately imbricated within larger cultural discourses as well as political ones” (Grant, 2007). For example Born on the Fourth of July explicitly opposes the Vietnam War. Although the film is set after the war, the ideologies that the war was a negative effect on the American culture is brought to attention, also explicitly stating the horror of war. BIBLIOGRAPHY
GOSS, B., 2002. Things Like This Don't Just Happen: Ideology and Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 26(2), pp. 171-192
　
GRANT, B., 2007. Film Genre: From Iconography to Ideology. London: Wallflower Press

RODOWICK, N., 1988. The Crisis of Political Modernism: Criticism and Ideology in Contemporary Film Theory. USA: University of California

WOLLEN, P., 1972. Signs and Meanings in the Cinema. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press

REFERENCES

The film follows the story of Ron Kovic, portrayed by Tom Cruise, and how he joins the Vietnam War through honest intentions of patriotism and honour, only to discover the horror of war, as well as how his personality changes from proud hero to bitter veteran due to the negative reception of the public’s view of the Vietnam War. By basing this on a true story, the film-maker creates empathy for the character, during scenes of his attempt at recovery as well as his downfall in society. The final scene of Ron demonstrating against the Vietnam war addresses the audience and aims to convince them about the horrors of war.

However Ideology of the Spectator is a way to utilise Contextual Ideology and imply meaning behind the actions and dialogue produced by characters within a film. An example of this is The Godfather, which tells of the Corleone crime family. The narrative shows the story of how Michael Corleone (portrayed by Al Pacino) succeeds as Don of the family from his father (portrayed by Marlon Brando). However if this is viewed from a contextual viewpoint it shows how crime can corrupt even the most purest of men.

When Michael is introduced to the audience, he is a war hero who distances himself from his family, stating "that’s my family...it’s not me", however at the end of the film Michael has become so corrupt that he embraces his family’s business and distances himself from his wife Kate instead, stating "Don’t ask me about my business Kate", both metaphorically and physically closing the door to his wife and embracing his new role as Don as shown in the film’s ending.



GRANT, B., 2007. Film Genre: From Iconography to Ideology. London: Wallflower Press

RODOWICK, N., 1988. The Crisis of Political Modernism: Criticism and Ideology in Contemporary Film Theory. USA: University of California

The Power Of Mainstream Cinema

When discussing the power of mainstream cinema, this is observing what is referred to as Dominant Cinema, a system of certain characteristics that normally are portrayed in their films. Characteristics such as the utilisation of stars to attract an audience, using producers to allow films to have an extensive budget in which masses of special effects can be created in order to create a “spectacle” which aims to engage the audience and divert them for poor aspects of the film such as actor, cinematography and script, such as Pearl Harbour and Commando.

Pearl Harbour Trailer

Commando Trailer

Therefore two films will be assessed, one for the classic portrayal of Dominant Cinematic qualities and one for Counter Cinematic qualities (how the film goes against Dominant Cinema).



THE ROCK

The Rock is a classic example of Hollywood mainstream, attracting the audience with stars Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage and having powerful producer Jerry Bruckheimer pouring a large budget into the picture to create jaw-dropping action sequences to amaze the audience and draw away their attention of faults within the film such as character establishment, basic storyline and poor dialogue between characters.

Looking at the characteristics of Dominant cinema, this film ticks all the boxes. It uses the genre formula of being an action/adventure film, using highly recognised stars to attract the audience, is a mass production to attract a mass audience. The narrative is very straightforward, which doesn’t allow the audience to critically evaluate the film, character motivation/journey and how characters interact. The constant action hypnotises the audience to merely witnessing a spectacle of explosions, gun fighting and martial arts.

Brecht talks of creating an interaction with the audience, breaking down the fourth wall and not just be an observer. Well The Rock goes against this, we merely observe the action that is being presented before us, not fully engaging with the characters and their objectives throughout the film.

THE HOLE (2001)

The Hole can be seen as Counter Cinema as it goes against this idea of mainstream Hollywood. Being a lower budgeted film, it doesn’t aim to target a mass audience, rather aim to attract a specific audience. It doesn’t utilise the star system as the majority of the cast were unknown actors, aside from famed child actress Thora Birch. Set in one location and having a disrupted narrative makes the audience really engage with the film, critically evaluating the character’s journey and the story in which they are involved in.

Looking at this from a feminist perspective as the main protagonist is female, Liz (played by Thora Birch) and her role within the film is far from the perceived “male gaze” that seems to be the established cinematic stereotype within Hollywood mainstream films. Mulvey says that Hollywood cinema “depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world” (Narine 2010).

As Liz is indeed in control of the situation, she is therefore empowered as opposed to her male counterparts who are theoretically at Liz’s mercy. This goes against the traditional archetype that the man is in control and the women is objectified and often seen to be helpless and fragile, as best portrayed by Frankie (played by Keira Kinghtley), instead she shows independence and the audience relate to her character.

REFERENCES:

• NARINE, N., 2010. Global Trauma and Narrative Cinema Theory, Culture & Society, 27(4), pp. 121-122.
• ARROYO, J., ed., 2000. Action/Spectacle Cinema: A Sight and Sound Reader. revised ed. London: British Film Institute

Women's Cinema: The Contested Screen





George Lucas: Auteur?

What separates a film-maker from an auteur is that films should not be a simple re-telling of an established story, that is what Truffaut describes as a “metteur en scene”, someone who simply dresses the scene rather than providing a unique creative input. Therefore in Truffaut’s perception, what makes an auteur is someone who has a unique and creative style and has a specific vision in the film in which they wish to create.



                                    

George Lucas

George Lucas falls under this category in the fact that his Star Wars franchise was of his own unique creation and how he had a specific vision in what his galaxy far far away was going to be viewed by the audience, however he does not use innovative cinematic techniques. However Peter Wollen talks of the director being a catalyst and utilises all key aspects of film techniques to create a specific theme or motif, which Lucas does, using the advancement in computer and CGI technology to create his specific vision, which was primarily used with the final 3 Star Wars films from 1999 onwards and used in the 2004 re-release of the original trilogy.

EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE

Episode IV: A New Hope is a cultural phenomenon in the sense that Lucas utilises basic technology, primarily models of star-ships and moon bases to create a new perception in science-fiction, which until then had been of poor creation and execution in film-making. The infamous attack on the Death Star in the film’s final act using these methods made the experience more exhilarating and able to capture the audience, making them feel that they were witnessing something truly amazing. 



Creating humanoid aliens such as C-3PO, Chewbacca and Darth Vader with elaborate costume and make-up, along with utilising model sets, Lucas is successfully able to make a film that appears to not only look as if it is set in the future, but make a film appear timeless.

EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE

Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the first of the franchise in which Lucas is fully able to show the audience his vision using CGI, many of the establishing shots of planets in the film such as Naboo, Tatooine and Coruscant are shot at an extremely wide angle to showcase the full spectacle of the planet. 

This allows action scenes, such as the pod race on Tatooine and the final battle against the Trade Federation more spectacular and engaging to the audience.

EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH

By the final instalment Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Lucas has been able to combine both visual amazement with classic storytelling as not only does Lucas visually capture and engage the audience with spectacular scenes such as the opening battle, to the montage of the Jedi Knights being massacred but also capturing the human story, enforced through composing, Lucas is able to show how Anakin succumbs to the dark side, ultimately becoming Darth Vader, a character that he is destined to become. 

So by creating a world that millions of fans has embraced, engaged and understood must be signs that George Lucas has a specific vision “style” that captures the imagination of the audience and takes us on an adventure of a lifetime!

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES:

For more information on Star Wars History visit here.

For more information on Auteur Theory visit here.

SMITH, T., 1986. Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects. London: Virgin.

For more on Wollen visit here.

Foucault: What Is An Author?

5 Defining Moments of Cinema Pre 1930's

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903)

Created in 1903 by Edwin S Porter, this film is largely recognised as the first "feature length film" at just twelve minutes long. This film created a significant impact upon society in regards to the American film industry, using cinematography and editing techniques such as cross cutting, that was rarely used before. The film's iconic ending shocked audience's at the time by breaking Stanislavski's fourth wall, engaging with the audience rather than keeping the audience as observers. This film helped to encourage filmmakers to be more creative with the camera as well as display the advances in movie-making technology at the time.

Click link to see Stanislavski's System on Realism

THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

This controversial classic from D.W.Griffith tells the tale of two families and their struggle through the time period of the American Civil War, with the evidential rise of the Klu Klux Klan. Again using the cross cutting technique, allowing multiple stories and actions to take place within the one film, this film aided in creating new methods of storytelling. However the controversy of racism remains an issue, as this film aids in the glorification of The Klu Klux Klan who are the heroes of the story. The fact the issue of the story has been a topic of debate for almost one hundred years shows that the strong political message was clearly portrayed by Griffith, allowing directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Roman Polanski and Martin Scorsese to create messages through strong graphic storytelling.

To see an example of The Birth of a Nation in debate



 A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902)

In the early stages of movie-making, European movies (seen as artistic) were experimenting with the latest advances in photography creating a motion picture, creating a narrative story through images taken at approximately sixteen frames per second. This film is one of the earliest films created, being one of the first films to create a narrative, as well as the earliest examples of special effects, as shown through the iconic image of "The Man In The Moon" (see below).

This film not only created an escapism, being a film to explore science fiction, but also started the idea of filmmakers to create a clear and concise narrative and utilise this new concept of motion picture to create a new method of storytelling.

For more information visit here.

KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE (1914)

 

In the early ages of motion pictures, with the absence of audio, silent film ruled. However, as shown with the past examples, early films largely focused on straight storytelling, creating a clear narrative for the audience to engage in. This film marks two things, firstly the arrival of silent comedies and (most importantly!) the debut of Charlie Chaplin, commonly seen as one of, if not the greatest silent comic in history. At a time of war, comedy was seen as an escape from the horrors of the real world. This defining film shows the start of the silent comedy era, which made actors such as Chaplin and Buster Keaton reach such an iconic status in the early ages of cinema.

For further information on Chaplin visit here.

THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)



This film is perhaps the most defining moment in the early stages of cinema in the early Twentieth Century as this film marked the birth of motion pictures containing sound, or a “talky” as they were more commonly known. This began the Golden Age of Hollywood, actors being hired for their singing and speaking capabilities, not necessarily being hired for their acting abilities as body language was now no longer necessary. The iconic singing within the film was a first of its time and allowed films to begin creating soundtracks and changing the concept of modern cinema at the time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• BAILEY, A., 2007. Cinema Now. Cologne, Germany: Taschen
• MONACO, J., 1981. How To Read A Film, New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Welcome

Welcome to the birth of my Cinema and Society page. Over the next few weeks I will be looking at various pieces of cinema and how, through various cinematography and psychoanalytical methods, films create meaning and can have an impact on our society, through technological advances in film or change our culture entirely!

Enjoy

F. Borthwick