Non Realism

Non-Realism


Non-realism is when the audience knows that the programme, film etc. is not meant to look real and essentially, that the storyline does not have to make sense. They usually involve mythical creatures, aliens, ghosts, spirits and dinosaurs. Both the filming and editing can look un-natural, and allows the director to create any story that they want to. Both sound and lighting can be irregular and the use of sound effects and enhanced sound is common. Basically, anything can happen in a non-realism production 

A good example of a non-realism film is Avatar;

The film is set in the 22nd century and is about a distant moon which inhabits human-like creatures called the Na'vi tribe. The storyline is of an ex army man (Jake Sully) who has lost the use of his legs who travels to the moon and acts as one of the tribe members as something called an Avatar. When he is there he experiences new creatures, war and love. Sully ends up staying on the moon and becoming a full-time member of the tribe out of choice. The film uses different techniques regarding Camera, Lighting, Editing and Sound.



Camera;
Non-realism films use a variety of different camera shots in the production. Some of the main camera angles/shots include:

Close Up Shot:

This shot is usually used to show the audience what is being described in the dialogue, a way of showing a facial expression on a character's face or an important detail in the film. It is a way of getting your audience on the same wavelength in the way that they know what is being described. For example, in this shot, the character looks very relaxed and slightly happy. She could be looking like this due to something that has happened in the scene previously and this shot allows the audience to know what her reaction is.

High Angle/Ariel Shot:

This shot is to allow the audience to know where the character is in relation to the set and also what they are doing.

In this shot it is clear that Jake Sully is hunting creatures from above in order to take them by suprise.

Low Angle Shot:

This shot is used in order to give a mysterious feeling for the audience. It is usually used just before something important happens. It is mainly used to put the audience on edge. This shot is just before the forest gets attacked by humans and they are awoken to the sound of machines chopping up trees.

Sound;

Non-realism films usually have non-diagetic sounds. These are sounds that are added during editing that do not occur in the footage. The reason that directors use non-diagetic sounds is because the majority of sounds used are of unnatural things like gunshots, creature noises and scary sounds. The results of this make the sounds relate to what is on the screen, for example if a monster is roaring then a roaring noise will be added to the shot. Also, editors can edit sounds to make them, for example deeper of higher in order to match the picture.

This is a good example of non-diagetic sound as the creature chasing the Avatar is making different groans and roars.Also, there is music added into the background to make the scene more dramatic.

Lighting;

Lighting in non-realism films is very varied in the way that it can be very dark and gloomy or extremely bright and colourful. Gels can be used to create a coloured lighting. The reason for these strange lighting techniques are to make the footage look unreal and unatural. Lighting which is done correctly can look very effective and contributes to a good quality of film.

As Avatar is mostly animated, colours would have been changed during editing in order to make the shot look effective. Also, the moon where the Na'vi tribe live is portrayed as being a perfect place with a lot of colours and softness to it. This particular shot is mainly purple and blue.

Editing;

The comparison to editing a realism production and a non-realism production is fairly huge. The standard of editing for a non-realism film is much higher and the skill required is immense. The skills needed include knowing how to use green screens, being good at animation, editing sound and lighting effectively and being able to edit smooth transitions between scenes. The editing of a non-realism production is absolutely vital as it can make or break a film. A film which is poorly put together or badly animated is not going intrigue the audience what so ever.

Avatar was filmed using a lot of green screens and animation and the end result is near enough flawless. The film took about 9 years to complete from start to finish and the quality of the animation looks as close to reality as you can get in this day and age.

Here are some examples of the quality of animation in the film Avatar.