Realism

The general public opinion of the animation, game and film industry is usually ‘The more realistic looking, the better’. However I think this is an approach that will actually achieve the opposite. I see this as being related to as Andre Bazin put it: ‘The Mummy Complex.’ As we have no control over time passing, it’s become somewhat of an obsession for human kind to record and freeze time and capture moments. Photography was the first medium that enabled a ‘mechanical and Scientific’ approach with accurate results. There is still room for artistic license with photography however, such as exposure times or adjusted colours, but as far as being capable of recording factual pictorial evididence, photography provided this to a staggering extent.

It then makes sense that such an ambition to record and petrify moments in time is also carried over to the easel. Although I had my own similar thoughts on this, the lectures reinforced my opinion that to be realistic, something doesn’t have to just be picture perfect.

This is a scene from Disney Pixar’s ‘UP’. To illustrate the point, the characters and scenario are completely believable. The audience have a genuine emotional connection with two characters whom are for from a realistic depiction of a human being. It’s the believability of the events and the way the characters move that established the realism in the scene. This enables the audience to make the connection, and in turn makes them able to relate and have feelings for the characters. For instance, when Ellie (The elderly woman) hands Karl (The elderly man) the adventure book when in the hospital bed, it’s heart wrenching to see the grief steal over his face, the character doesn’t look at all realistic, but the movements and expressions are conveyed in such a true to life, recognizable manner, that we might even shed a tear for these characters who have now been made, in our mind’s eye, real.

As well as emotional and visual realism, there is also an element of social realism to animations, games, and films alike. The characters or even the way they move may not be even trying to be accurate, but the scenarios in which the characters find themselves are so relatable that we would class them as real.

Take the Simpsons for example: an extremely arbitrary representation of an American family. The animation isn’t particularly realistic, as neither are the visuals, however the characters operate in a believable family unit in a seemingly typical town with people and places we may identify within our own lives. It’s opened my eyes there are more ways than one to establish realism within an animation. It seems more important that an animation relies on a specific element that the audience can relate to, or may come to believe in. Once the audience believe in a character or the world they live in, or the emotions that the character feels, then they have become real in the audience’s mind.

I definitely benefited from getting to grips with realism; it’s reminded me that there are more ways than one to create a ‘real’ character or scenario. It’s less about creating a picture perfect example of a photo-realistic human, and more about allowing the audience to connect with the piece, and to have faith in the world the author has created. I think that without the audience’s belief in the animation work, the audience also won’t be able to enjoy the experience as they will be always reminding themselves ‘This isn’t real’, and this surely can’t mean that the work was a success.