Cinematography : Reality in Cinema and TV by Tony Slacik

what is reality? in the documentary field, many books had been written about the theme. if i want to depict reality, what do i have to do? we are all using some kind of filtering: which picture do i take, which picture do i choose when editing, which part of the picture do i choose when editing more, which music or sooundpark do i take to introduce "feeling", etc... i think its helpful to depict reality (in some sort of way) to help the "watcher" to go deep in the movie, to be involved and so to understand the characters and their goals. of course, its not necesseraly by making a movie depicting reality like our reality.... it has to be consistent, thats all. each element has to fit with the other in this particular world you are inventing. its like a roleplaying game you are creating as a rpg "master": if some part of the story are incredible because not really consistent in the world you've created, the player will loose the connection to the game and worser to the character he/she is playing. same occurs with a movie"watcher". if the sory is inconsistent (or overloaded with technical gimmicks), she/he looses the connection and begins to be distracted, or leave the cinema or change the channel - zap.

I meant reality as a motive, not the form, environment or...sense for details. Not in document, but for example a cinema. As we began it in stereoscopy post. When we suppose that TV for example (even a cinema) is a form of entertainment, relax. Time you spent to get rid of feelings about work, problems in school etc... Something beyond daily reality (that kind of use of this all-meaning word). Then where's the entertinment, mind diffusion required same as dreaming to sort, consider and understand (in everybody's own way) reality. Talking about those neverending sagas, that's excelent example. They openly claym "As in your street", "watch faiths of real people from Your department store" etc... Enjoy reality again. My point: I don't want to write here some old-man complains about what people should have to do what is right and what's not. I only see the danger of insufficient influx of external stimuls and things you have to think about. Through which the brain develops. When all around you is pre-chewed to easily digestable way, your brain will...become flabby. We'll all get alzheimer's disease and there'll be nobody to take care of us... since doctors are watching that too :) (got the picture of that Alzheimer's apocalypse) Need something more complicated, or unusual, to get the brain roll on. Force it to do something. sounds horrible, but it's not a criticque, i have no right to do that. Just a thesis.

its absolute necessary to create the "robots-humans", keeping this specie under control, the media inject fear and consumption in full rate... tell you what to think, what to wear, how to behave and what so.... I would give a little advice to people in the world, Turn off this TV for a month and you will see how better you will feel! News papers, governments and politics are all illusion created in front of our eyes, so they can manage anything they want behind the curtain, like for exemple negotiacion of AMAZOM, to buy it out and turn to mega cities, just to attend the virus PROFIT... there is 47 levels higher then a PRESIDENT OF US in this secret hierarchy... they print money type money, we all work hard for it... its all about keep all of us just the way it is.... no awakening, just slavery.... one corrupting the other for more profit.... more and more profit till death....

Agree Rafael. Few years before, those opinions might sound like you're ultra-left wing terorist. But today almost all people i talked with feel the same. I think it only need a bit...actualy a lot more freedom in creation to avoid having money as alfa omega of each project. That means to cover and hold as many people as possible for as long as possible. In order to do that make super-long, boring mild ****, which everyone will surely love. Perhaps it's just about lack of real interpersonal contact. Lack of humanity, that people need to seek for those platonic "real" friends in TV. Perhaps you can then project them and their patterns of behaviour in your life in order to avoid responsibility for your behaviour, That might require even another lounge... I made a clip for Warsickles's Jump the pain song, from which i took "you'll always be the same" phrase as the concept motto for the design. It is right about the future, where TV entertainment openly rules. If you would like to have a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fk4HubzvJ4

excellent video

hm. yes of course, these pre-chewed reality we see in mainstream products (either tv or cinema or internet) is obviously boring and have the goal to sell things (little star wars action figures f.e.). but people seems slowly to get rid of it, as in germany, tv is loosing first rank to internet (realities). the prob is, these internet films or webseries and other things we see there are following the same principles as tv did. boring, lacking of real creativity and directed by greedy interests. as i speak of reality in my first comment, i didnt speak about depicted reality like these alternate realities for "relaxing". i speak also of alternate realities stimulating the brain: that's what known as ART (like your vid for example, with these humanoids looking after these tvscreenenergy, thats art). the content may be quite "normal" or absolutely unusual and ununderstandable. like a picture of roy lichtenstein or similar. you can't separate the form from the content, as you cant separate the soul from the body... but i'm sure: TV will not survive as the main form of realitydepiction, internet will take the place and it should be our goal to influence these field like we would like to. and it gives us the possibilty to make it low-budget but high spreading, how nice, yeah. yes, of course profit and greed and "control" will always be a powerful counterpart. but it has always be. since many thousand years... thats nothing new. there also, our main goal should be: informing, stimulating and proliferation of knowledge. with knowledge, greed and dumbness has no chance. believe i know what im talking about, berlin is a powerful (or was, sadly...) alternative city, with lot of people fighting against mainstream dumbness. i fight a bit on the streets... last thing: i'm eating and consuming (as good as possible) "organic". the reasons are not important. but i never forget a little bit of junk food, thats important also for the soul... know what i mean? ;) (sorry for this f** smiley)

Smiley forgiven, they're sometimes quite unavoidable, in addition, this one perfectly fits to the meaning of above. So to keep score ;) Have to say it is a pleasure talking with you. Agree with all aspects, but found another problem, right the opposite. That is to make strict border between "dumbness", if i can borrow it, and some wise elite of creative super cool übermensch which feels like their ultimate goal is to help those unhappy dumbs at al cost. Feeling superior to them. That never led to something good at all. That might be the clue to whole thing. Our attitude. We have to realize that using THEY, THEM separate and determine some unidentified group of people which actually doesn't exist. Everyone of us belong to this category by some part but nobody fully meet the requirements. Like both of us now, at least by the smilies. So to say, our "enemy" is kind of don Quijotes one. As you said, informing stimulating i would add listening to others ( i know sounds like from romantic movie and it's real cliché, but we are also dumbs which need to be informed and stimulated)

Jay, that's an interesting point of view. You mean like a lazyness?

absolutely tony, there is no "we" and "them". you're right. if you look at what im doing, believe me, there is no trace of intelligentsia behind it. at the time, im doing mainstrean in the indie... and that's ok. but dumbness is existing. thats a fact. i had to densify my comment, because its just a comment. to be honest, i dont want to help anybody. just want to do my thing. and if it is changing somebody's mind: very good, if not, thats ok. no prob with it. i always listen to the "others" or better to the world we are living in (as you said, we are all one... sounds a bit "kitchy" or like sob stuff, but thats the true) resentments and prejudices are absolutely blinding the creative process. anger could be helpfull. a little. dont forget, i close my comment with junk food. i like junk food, as long as i dont eat it everyday, hehe... ps. i'm french and dont like "übermenschen" at all, believe me, although the french are very proud of themselves. f***!!! again prejudices! hehehe, im kidding...

yes, jay, exactly, you're damn right, that was the point of my first comment: there is no reality in the "reality making". its always a choice of it.

Film is about illusion. It's about creating a version of reality that serves the story you want to tell or the message you want to convey. Even heavy realism is still an illusion created by film that may be harder to make work than pseudo fantasy. If people actually appreciated just how long it takes to make things look real on film, the illusion would be broken!