realism

Synthesizing a “realistic” experience is a strange concept, considering that experiencing the synthesized experience, is a realistic experience in itself. I believe that in cinema, movie creators often try to mimic a realistic experience, but I am not always sure why. I do not believe that a movie necessarily becomes any better simply because it “seems” more realistic, however, pseudo realism can create a very immersive experience and it’s when we forget about reality and substitute it with the “movie reality” that movies become the most real and this is often times a very enjoyable experience.

Many philosophers compare our minds to a “hyper-realistic” movie theater to which we have front row seats. Conceptually, this actually makes a lot of sense. However, a movie theater can only account for two of the perceptual senses which compose our reality, sight and sound. In order to create a “realistic” experience we only need to recreate the experiences of our senses in the actual experience. In the movie format, smell, touch, taste, and anything extra perceptual is out of the question. Therefore, the audio and visual experience is all that can be utilized to create realism.

However, if you filmed a scene in which the camera captured everything as it was and the audio was exactly what the microphones recorded, it still may not be a “realistic” experience. Considering the plot and setting of film, original recordings of the actual scene may need to be altered in order to achieve a more believable experience. Also, because only audio and visual can be used, the lack of attention to the other senses leaves a gaping void of unrealistic non-stimulation. In order to make up for this, audio and visual moments need to be altered further and used in grand collaborations in order to create an immersive experience which needs not the other senses to feel real. Also, audio and visual moments presented in the right way can trigger powerful emotional responses from viewers. Most of our lives are lived within and around our emotions, if a film can stir up emotions like, fear, anger, suspense, joy, etc, it can become very realistic. Because of these factors, as well as others I’m sure, sometimes a large amount of non-realism, such as heavy editing and “fake sounds” are needed to create a realistic experience.