Is this guy for real?

Humans are defined by their need to invent, we are the 'inventing mammal' i.e. we use resources available to us to make something useful to us (or not useful in the modern world). Certain animals will use natural objects as tools, but we are the only species that use tools to make tools and it is this that separates us from the rest. Throughout time and evolution our inventions have grew in complexity and quality, now that the technology is available to us there is a huge demand for replicating the real world, whether it be in the form of action figures, video games or movies. But abstract representations are not enough, we want Realism.

Realism is the close resemblance to what is real; fidelity of representation, rendering the precise details of the real thing or scene.

The problem with achieving realism is that the closer we get to 'real' without actually reaching it; the less real it looks. If we are to create a cartoon character with exaggerated features we accept that it is a cartoon and feel comfortable watching it, but if we see something that looks like a real figure but with slight deformities we immediately think it doesn't look right. This is known as the 'Uncanny Valley.'

 A game I recently returned to after a long break (we were seeing other people) was 'Gears Of War' a very popular game that doesn’t exactly strive for realism in terms of its characters but certainly has some relative aspects that I'd like to discuss. The iconic 'Unreal Engine' body shapes are far removed from a realistic soldier but the realism lies in other areas of the game. When entering a sprint the camera lowers to the characters hip and a slight motion blur gives the player the feeling that they are actually running. This combined with camera shake when running up against a wall, realistic well cued audio and your vision being obstructed by blood when you are wounded actually makes a rather realistic experience. None of us really know how the world will look post-apocalypse but we can be sure that 'Epic Games' have come very close with their dark unsaturated  textures of buildings and streets.

For a player to get scared in a game there needs to be a considerable amount of realism, and no game makes you jump out of your skin quite like 'GOW,' which just shows it's not necessarily the look of the characters that give a realistic experience.

A disruption in the system...

We all know that no matter how good the special/visual effects are in a movie, that it is redundant without a good plot. Effects should aid a plot, not the other way round. We are effectively looking for a good story, but what is the difference between a plot and a story?

A story is what the movie is i.e. all the material available to the narrator. The plot is how the story is told, in other words a sequence of events that tells the story. I personally am a huge fan of movies that are told through the main character's (or assisting character's) narration. My personal favourite example is The Shawshank Redemption, the whole story is told by the character 'Red' played by Morgan Freeman, who we all know has a narrative voice worthy of a god. But the film that I would like to focus on in relation to this subject is 'Lord Of War' (2005) by Andrew Niccol. The opening scene is a perfect example of using effects to aid the plot. The audience is lead through a journey; a journey that a bullet makes from production through to execution, in this case the execution is the firing of the bullet to kill a child, a scene that takes the audience by surprise immediately, and effectively holds the audience's attention for the rest of the film.

The whole film is told from Yuri's perspective as he explains all of his techniques to work around 'the system' and become successful, the audience truly feels involved, as if he is teaching the audience directly.

A theory that I found very interesting (purely because it fitted so well with every film I could think of) was Todorov's theory. A theory that describes plot as a generality and describes the way that said plot works.

The theory is as follows:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset;

2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;

3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;

4. an attempt to repair the disruption;

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

But how does this apply to 'Lord of War' exactly?

1. Yuri Orlov (Nicholas Cage) is a standard city man with not much going for him, but a lot of hidden ambition. His life is generally average.

2. A disruption to his life is caused when he witnesses first hand a mafia based shooting incident, at this point he realises he wants to become an arms dealer.

3. Yuri takes this disruption as a positive and progresses to become a successful entrepreneur in that field.

4. In the short term it appears flawless as he is so good at it, but when it starts to effect his family he attempts to revert back to a more legitimate profession.

5. This does not work because as it turns out, the equilibrium is in fact that he was destined to be an arms dealer, as he was so good at it, so good in fact that at the end of the film we realise he was in fact recruited by the government to act in his profession, a twist which truly makes the film.

In all, Lord of War is a movie that acts as a good idol in the world of narration, and is certainly very inspirational.  

Team Rocky: World Matrix...

First of all, I never thought that 'Team America: World Police' would be a film that i would use as a study in my degree work, but what do you know it seems to fit in perfectly with this weeks topic...

Intertextuality, the transposition of one or several symbols into another, or ... 'In jokes' in Layman's terms, is a technique used in most films (especially comedies) to give a deeper meaning to scenes. This is very common in childrens movies for entertaining the onlooking parents who can relate intertextual scenes back to their original sources.

Trey Parker's (the creators of southpark) Team America: World Police (2004) is a some what contraversial movie, it uses puppets to mimic and indirectly make fun of America, including some clever intertextuality along the way...

Apart from the general look and style of the movie being an intertextual reference to 'Thunderbirds,' roughly 3 quarters through the movie we see the main character Gary Johnston changing his ways and deciding to save the rest of the team, but he knows nothing of being a spy... the fastest way to learn?

ROCKY TRAINING MONTAGE

With a soundtrack that says 'Even Rocky had a Montage' they certainly weren't trying to be subtle with this Intertextuality, it is a clear stab at other movie directors that over use 'the montage' approach as if it were an original idea. Not long after the montage when Johnstone is fully trained we see him attempt to infiltrate Kim Jong-il's Palace; what better portrayal of the complete solider do you need other than a Jedi? We see him dressed in a brown cloak (almost a universal symbol of a Jedi) and to convince the guards he is authorised to enter he waves his hand casually infront of them, the classic gesture for forced convincement via use of 'The Force.'

Apologise for bad quality video!

To continue with this scene the creators of TAWP reach to another action movie (and also several others) 'The Matrix' where we see Neo conceal his weapons under his jacket and reveal them to the enemy via a rather dramatic opening of the front.

Matrix Version

 TAWP version

For me, Intertextuality presents a win-win situation, directors can use other peoples ideas but gain a deeper reaction from the audience because they can link it back to the original source. They are effectively feeding off the success of a previous film in a way that complements both movies. Theres no harm done and the audience feels a sense of achievement that they have noticed the link. Any Movie producer would be mad not to use it!