FINAL VERSION – CRITICAL REPORT
Realism and Spectacle : Balancing the Art of VFX in Modern Films
Audio-Visual Presentation:
*submitted on 17 June 2024, 10:37 PM
WEEK 9
Wrapping Up Critical Report and Audio Visual Presentation
This week, I finally finished preparing my literature review. It has been a tough one to say the least, because I don’t consider myself as an avid reader. Although, I tried my best reading from several different sources including Scholar, JSTOR, and several other publications from authors, journals, articles and what not! I read and understood every one of them and noted important points or citations or quotes and wrote them into a book and then finally drafted them into a literature review. This is the first time I’m writing a literature review, so I don’t exactly have a clear and concise image of how one should be although I’ve referred to several literature reviews by different people. Also, I sent a copy of my Critical Report to Manos, which I thought was of great help because there were a bit of mistakes in the bibliography section, as I referenced movies I watched and studied in the bibliography section, which should’ve been in the Filmography section. So that was greatly helpful from Manos apart from other things. I can say that I have finally wrapped up my critical report, hoping all is well with it. I had a few questions that needed clarification, so I reached out to Nigel. He was able to help me resolve them. One of my question was what should we write on the bibliography section for an online article by an unknown author, to which he responded to not write or mention any works by unknown authors as they’re not credible sources of information. So, I discarded that portion and citations from my work. Also, I had some doubts regarding how to cite my references and bibliography so I headed over to Cite Them Right website and logged in with our university account. I got all the information and clarity I need from it, and finally I finished my bibliography. All I need to do now, is to re-check everything, count the words and I have a few sentences I need to discard and draft again. Hopefully, everything goes well. Now, I need to create an Audio-Visual Presentation for my Critical Report.
Draft points for Literature Review
Audio-Visual Presentation:
This week I started preparing my AV Presentation for the critical report as soon as I wrapped up my writing. I wanted to finish off the tasks for critical report as soon as possible because I wanted to get ahead with the rest of my works. So, I used Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. I prepared a draft of what I need to say in the voice over and prepared a word document for it. Then I recorded my voice using the Voice Memos application in iPhone. I ensured my windows were closed and no extra noise would be heard. The sound recorded was pretty good but I wanted more clarity for it, so I used Adobe Podcast Enhance to enhance my dialogues and remove unwanted background noises. The output was pretty clear and concise. Next, I researched YouTube for Behind The Scenes footages of Avatar, Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049 and downloaded them. I also downloaded the movies online and then screen recorded and screen grabbed pictures and videos for my visual presentation. Now that I had all resources in place, it was time for editing.
I have to say, I LOVE EDITING. It’s a skill that I found myself to be good at quite recently. Although it took me one whole day to edit the whole footage, I was more than happy and pleased with the output. I wanted to create something really minimal in design yet it carried all the essential information of my research and report. I kept the information as brief and concise as possible. The footage was just shy of 6 minutes (5:51 to be precise) which was the shortest one I could create as my report had tons of information which could not be discarded. I wanted to create a cinematic feel to the presentation and also something which I wanted the audience to be completely immersed in as well. I hope I created one that satisfies everyone that watches it because it sure did satisfy me more than I thought it would.
Script for AV Presentation
Screen Grab of my Edit and Timeline
WEEK 7
Individual Meeting with Nigel
This week was my individual meeting with Nigel. I was quite nervous as I did not really know which one we had to prepare; thesis proposal or critical report. I had already begun my research for the Thesis Proposal, so I had a pretty good draft ready for the thesis proposal but I just had one topic selected for the Critical report and I did not get much time to draft a very good one with good research. But still I submitted both of them to Nigel. Nigel was quite impressed with both my topics and told me they are very distinct topics and really different ones. He further told me to maybe change the title of my critical report topic which was Balancing Realism and Spectacle: The Dilemma of Modern VFX in Film. He told me people may not really understand what dilemma is between the two although he completely understood what I meant. He told me to be more direct and precise with the title. He told me to refer the texts from Elke Wiseman. Furthermore, he told me to focus on the spellings and the words used in the report. Nigel told me to add more to the bibliography section by adding more books, literature texts, academic texts and other citations from scholars instead of just films. He told me he was pretty impressed with my drafts and my topics for both. Nigel told me to try and finish off the critical report as soon as I can and start working on the Thesis Proposal as he told me both of them looks really good and promising. The word count is 1500 starting from Introduction to Conclusion excluding Abstract and Bibliography. He told me to prepare a timetable each day to work on them and try to submit it a week before and try to have a break before the thesis proposal works.
Initial Idea/ Draft for Critical Report (NOT FINAL)
Research Title/Question:
- Balancing Realism and Spectacle : The Dilemma of Modern VFX in FIlms
Abstract:
- This critical report delves into the intricate balance between realism and spectacle in VFX-driven films, using case studies such as Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Interstellar (2014), and Avatar (2010) It explores how filmmakers navigate this tension to ensure that visual grandeur enhances rather than detracts from narrative coherence. By analysing the approaches taken in these films, this report offers insights into the evolving landscape of VFX in contemporary cinema.
Keywords Searched:
- VFX, cinematography, realism, spectacle, narrative coherence, film, Blade Runner, Interstellar, Avatar.
A structure indicating chapter headings and subheadings:
- Introduction
- Literature Review
- Case Study 1- Blade Runner 2049
- Case Study 2- Interstellar
- Case Study 3- Avatar
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Image List
Draft Chapter:
4. Case Studies of Interstellar
Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar explores themes of space travel, black holes, and time dilation, requiring sophisticated VFX to visualize complex scientific concepts.
Realism: Nolan’s commitment to realism is evident in his collaboration with physicist Kip Thorne, who provided theoretical models for the film’s depiction of black holes and wormholes. The VFX team, led by Double Negative, used Thorne’s equations to create scientifically accurate visualizations, particularly the portrayal of the black hole Gargantua. This approach ensures that the fantastical elements of the story are grounded in plausible science, making the film’s speculative aspects more believable.
Spectacle: Interstellar also features breath-taking visual sequences, such as the traversal through the wormhole and the depiction of alien planets. These moments are designed to evoke a sense of wonder and awe, reinforcing the film’s epic scope and emotional stakes.
Nolan balances realism and spectacle by using scientifically accurate VFX to underpin the film’s more extravagant visual elements, ensuring that the spectacle serves the narrative’s thematic and emotional depth.
Indicative Bibliography:
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Directed by Denis Villeneuve. North America: Warner Bros.
- Interstellar (2014) Directed by Christopher Nolan. North America: Paramount Pictures
- Avatar (2012) Directed by James Cameron. United States: 20th Century Fox
WEEK 5
Social and Political Comment in Film and Animation
This week’s session was about identifying the role of animation in socio-political contexts and the potential for animation to examine and document social justice, equality and diversity. Nigel shared an animation website for us that essentially brings together filmmakers and researchers to get latest information about movies or events or news. The taxonomy of animated documentary is as follow:
- Has been recorded or created frame by frame
- Is about the world rather than a world wholly imagined by its creator
- Has been presented as a documentary by its producers and/or received as a documentary by audiences, festivals or critics.
Among the several videos Nigel showed us, what stood out for me was The Sinking of the Lusitania(1918) by Winsor McCay. The Sinking of the Lusitania, Winsor McCay – 1918. The sinking of the Lusitania was shocking event but there was a lack of recorded footage of the incident. McCay recreated the events, as retold by survivors, using animation. The film differs from his usual animation style to suit the subject matter and it resembled non-fiction media of the time – newsreels, newspaper illustrations. Interestingly it begins with a live-action prologue with McCay and his colleagues working on the film’s images. McCay makes no distinction between live-action and animation in terms of their ability to show us reality. It demonstrates an early use of animation as a substitute for missing live-action material. It was a wonderful movie owing to the time it was released and the technologies that were present during the time.
Nigel shared us with a Bibliography related to Politics in film and animation / Animated Documentary:
- Buchan, S. (Ed.) (2013). Pervasive Animation. London: Routledge.
- Nichols, B., (1994) Blurred Boundaries; Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture. Indiana University Press.
- Formenti, C. (2014), “The Sincerest Form of Docudrama: Re-framing the Animated Documentary,” Studies in Documentary Film 8 (2): 103–115.
- Formenti, C. (2022) The Classical Animated Documentary and Its Contemporary Evolution. USA, Bloomsbury.
- Honess Roe. A., (2013) Animated Documentary. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- _____ (2016) ‘Against Animated Documentary? International Journal of Film and Media Arts
- Ward, P., (2006) ‘Animated interactions: animation aesthetics and the world of the ‘interactive’ documentary. Animated ‘Worlds’. Eastleigh: John Libbey.
Gender politics Movies as suggested by Nigel:
- The Handmaid’s Tale (2017– ) TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller. …
- The Glorias (2020) R | 147 min | Biography, Drama, History. …
- The Red Pill (2016) TV-14 | 108 min | Documentary. …
- 20 Fingers (2004) 72 min | Drama. …
- My First Wife (1984) PG | 96 min | Drama. …
- Politics (1931) …
- Life May Be (2014) …
- Allie and Manimus (2017)
The first few weeks were totally blank for me as I did not understand what to do for Critical Report. To be fairly honest, I did not even understand the difference between Thesis Proposal and Critical Report. A meeting with Nigel and a few lectures from Rachel as well as Manos and Emily helped me understand the difference and what to be done for both. Since I’ve lost my touch in writing (Although I’ve won several awards for essay writing and story writing competitions in school), I wasn’t really sure where to begin and what I need to write. But upon a lot of research, reading articles on the internet and watching movies, I came up with an idea for my Critical Report.
https://animateddocs.wordpress.com/
WEEK 4
The Avant Garde. Experimental, abstract constructs and analysis
Week 4’s class was about an overview of the history of the innovative and emergent practice in animation attributed to independent practitioners and experimentalists, with contemporary examples of the practice. Nigel spoke about Conceptual Abstraction and shared some videos on it. This term relates to the abstraction and juxtaposition of narrative structures or storytelling tools, traditional cannons, and communicative vehicles, i.e., Conceptual abstraction in films involves using different storytelling techniques and traditional ways of communicating in a creative and unique way. These approaches question and build film language, challenge perception and exploit semiotics metaphor and symbolism. Nigel then talked about silent films in Hollywood and how important dialogues are in a film. He further added that working without the key element of dialogue in developing the narrative or the theme, challenges the communicator to convey information through gesture and performance, filmic language, special effects and alternative audio components. He showed us examples from the movie Metropolis (1927) by director Fritz Lang. Actually, I have seen some scenes from this movie while doing my BA graduation. We had a lesson on silent movies, soviet montage and impact of Russian directors like Sergei Einstein and Andrei Tarkovsky to modern cinema. So I already knew about this movie and how brilliant it was.
The next part of the lesson was about Formative Abstraction, which primarily defined as, focusing upon the manipulation of the visual fundamentals; colour, form, space, light and texture, alongside the the dynamics of movement, time, rhythm and sound as a central theme of the work. Nigel showed us a handful of examples and videos regarding these as well as about Visual Effects and its use in early films. The VFX was really abstract and used a load of colours which, personally to me felt a bit over-saturated, but we have to give it for the people that have created new methods and ways for vfx to grow this big to a point where we stand now.
Nigel recommended some books and sources for us to have a look at:
- Leavy, P., 2020. Method Meets Art, Third Edition: Arts-Based Research Practice. New York:
- The Guildford Press
- Rees, A.L.,2019 A History of Experimental Film and Video. London: Bloomsbury
- Harris, M., Husbands, A., Taberham, P., eds., 2019. Experimental Animation: From Analogue to Digital. London: Routledge.
- Smith, V. and Hamlyn, N., eds., 2018. Experimental and Expanded Animation: New Perspectives and Practices (Experimental Film and Artists’ Moving Image) London: Palgrave Macmillian.
- Chapter 1. Approaching Animation and Animation Studies Lily Husbands and Caroline Ruddell, page 5
- Dobson, A., Honess Roe, A., Ratel, A. and Ruddell, C., eds., 2018.The Animation Studies Reader. USA: Bloomsbury Academic
- Chapter 8. Some Thoughts on Theory practice Relationships in animation Studies, Paul ward, page 91
- Chapter 10. Experimental Animation, Paul Taberhman, page 133
Early VFX in films
WEEK 3
Narrative Structure
This week we looked at narratives, more specifically story arcs, character archetypes and timelines. This week focused on Rules of Narrative, The Language of editing, Story Arcs and Characters. Nigel talked about how every story must have 3 parts; The Beginning, The Middle and The End as well as the 5 Act Structure;
- Act 1: The Exposition – Informing the audience of the setting the time and place. Characters are developed, and challenges or conflict is introduced.
- Act 2: Rising Action – This act leads the audience to the climax. It is common for complications to arise, or for the protagonist to encounter obstacles.
- Act 3: The Climax – This is the turning point of the story. The climax is characterised by the highest amount of suspense.
- Act 4: Falling Action – The opposite of Rising Action, in the Falling Action the story is concluding, and any unknown details or plot twists are revealed and wrapped up.
- Act 5: Denouement – This is the final outcome in the narrative and the entire plot is revealed, the protagonist overcomes, lessons are learnt, hope returns or the antagonist prevails to return.
To be honest, I did not know about this and I always though the climax was the end of the movie. So this class was a huge source of knowledge for me personally. Furthermore, he taught us about Montages, Continuity in films, Shot transitions by presenting a ppt. Additionally, Nigel told us about Editing and the Golden rules of Editing:
- Editing should remain invisible to the eye, only the effect is to be experienced – the best cut is the one you do not see
- The storyteller should never let the audience get ahead of them – less is more
- The audience has to be a participant, not just a spectator
Nigel then talked about the history of VFX and animation and shared some Youtube links for us to watch sometime.
Some useful Links for researching:
http://www.spherevfx.com/the-history-of-computer-graphics-and-effects/
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Computer_Animation/Computer_Generated_Imagery
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1078.2007&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Some Books for referencing:
WEEK 2
Film Language and Research Approaches
Week 2’s class was about film language and research approaches which focused upon strategies for reading, analyzing and identifying the language in film and animation, along with the introduction of mise en scene, staging and composition. Nigel shared a presentation encompassing Animation staging by explaining about the Fibonacci Curve and it’s use in film and television and also about the Golden Ratio or the Fibonacci rectangles. He further shared about Character placements and compositions, the use of long, medium and close-up shots. This session felt more related to cinematography and the classes we had with Klaus at the beginning of the term. Since I love cinematography, this session was deeply interesting for me.
Next, Nigel talked about Mise En Scene and showed us pictorial references and examples of settings, props and other elements used in mise en scene. Although I had a vague idea of what a mise en scene was, I got a better understanding of it in this class. Nigel shared a ppt that showed us with images on shot compositions and its use and significance in films. He talked about long shots, Extreme Long Shots, Close Ups, Mid Shots and several other shots with their impact on the scene and their significance in the movie.
Later Nigel talked about Screen Direction. He talked about the 180 degree rule that we should follow while shooting a two-person sequence and how we should not cut the imaginary line which would make the scene look bad and confuse the audience. He talked about camera positioning and how vital it is for the composition of a scene and a movie. This was what Klaus had taught us at the beginning so I had a great revamp of this lesson. He told us to have a look at this article for better understanding.
WEEK 1
Unit Introduction
Week 1 was our first class with our tutor Nigel Mairs. The class was an introduction to our unit and mainly focused on Critical Report. We were shown the course outline and review along with developing support for our objectives and context for our works. Nigel showed us some examples of Critical Report as well as the templates for it. He also talked about drafting our report, choosing a topic and then preparation of audio-video presentation. Overall, the class was a bit confusing for me as I did not get what I had to do for this and was pretty confused with this and thesis proposal.