What is Realism vs. Formalism?
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- In this video, I explain a theory of film analysis called Realism and compare it to its counterparts.
In film theory, Realism is not a synonym for authenticity. It is an approach to filmmaking that attempts to capture everyday reality in a documentary-like fashion, both from a style and substance point of view.
Growing up in Eastern Europe you mostly associate realism with local films and formalism with the Hollywood style. It really is a pitty that 99% of mainstream film making is following the Hollywood school, so to say.
Very true. My film professor in college was Lebanese, and he said the same. The style is much more common in Europe and other locales besides the US.
The scale of realism and formalism is at 3:03. Great video for explaining film theory.
Easily one of the most underrated channels in RUclips.
for real!
I'm an analytic philosopher, so realism is of great interest to me, except I'm an anti-realist. I've moved on to another topic of inquiry (from my previous niche) and the nature of reality, and while I'm structuring my delivery, I decided to look for a parallel. After all, if I'm going to advance the thesis that everything neither exists nor doesn't exist, I'd need a comparison, such as films, currency, and the stock market.
This was a very informative video. Thank you.
Well, I’m just glad to be of service 😳😅
I found my stlye. Thank you! Italian Neo Realism. Hope you watched the "Pusher" Trillogy by Nicolas Winding Refn!
I’ve only seen Drive by him. I’ll add them to the list!
Thanks man I needed this for my film class.
Love to hear it!
Yeah nice one; the delineation between authenticity and realism is a good point.
Excellent work!!! Thanks for the data and analysis. This maybe will useful in a future for me.
You trying to be a filmmaker?
@brentsacks oh no. I'm interested in the political communication. (Social media, spots, image of the politicians, surveys, etc. ). I would like to work 100% in this area. Now I participate in the local politics.
@@rf2958 Very nice!
Could you pls put your music sound a bit lower, the topic you talking about really interesting, but the music along with your voice just too loud.
Nice video, used a quote from you for one of my essays. keep it going
Are you in a film class?
@@brentsacks I'm in visual effects but I have to do an essay for film language. The realism quote was for talking about the closing scene of requiem for a dream 👍
@@brentsacks such an underrated channel tho, keep it going and hopefully you'll get more subs
Glad to be of service! And thank you 🙏🏻
2:13 Cowboy Bebop 🔥
Good ear 👂🏻 😎
I didn't know this take on filmmaking was well documented, or that it was even a thing (outside of movies like Generation Kill of course...)
I was inspired by Generation Kill to adopt a realism mindset when creating animations, and you put it to words very nicely. Thanks to you, now I have a link to give my subscribers when they want to know exactly what style I want to use in the creation my work (my animation has no "style" or much "moral of the story" to it, which is emphasized through my use of motion capture instead of tradition hand-made animation)
While realism may mean ordinary viewers feel out of the loop or confused, it does make up for it by lending itself more praise from the people who are experts in their specific fields. Hence why Generation Kill is lauded by military members (I am one of them as well).
I hope to bridge this gap in understanding and lack of exposition (there is much less exposition due to this film style, which can cause confusion in some audiences) by creating a behind the scenes episode for every piece of work I make, in order to motivate myself to include all of the scientifically and logically accurate details that would otherwise be overlooked.
Anyways, lovely rant haha
Looking forward to seeing more content!
This is awesome! I’m glad you shared this. If you haven’t already, you can also check out my other video where I do a general overview of realism as it relates to film theory! Might be useful.
Edit: oh this isn’t my Generation Kill video 😂
Some films that follow realism to different degrees - A Woman Under the Influence, Aftersun, The Straight Story (just in the acting), Apostasy, Zero F_cks Given, The Souvenir, A Short Film on Killing, Compartment No. 6. When you're sick of overly constructed films, these can be a breath of fresh air.
Never seen any of these! I’ll have to scope them out
what is the name of this film 6:51 and 7:51, can you please mention it I am big fan of realistic cinema
Maria Full of Grace
Hi. I´m a film teacher in a spanish film school. I'd love great to show your video to my students, but it seems like subtitles have been disabled in your configuration of the video. It would be great if you could change this. Thanks
Thank you for the comment! I will have to research this more. RUclips sometimes automatically captions videos, but it has not in this case. I’ll see what I can do.
Hi there...I finally figured out how to add subtitles. RUclips is currently generating a set automatically. They say it might take some time, but I hope they come up with a good set and that they prove useful for you and your students!
Great video . Keep 'em coming 👏👏
Thank you!!
Hi! I’m currently writing an essay about these subjects, can you please send me a DM including the list of your sources that made this video possible? Btw, really good and interesting video!! :) Good job!
True story, I used one source for this: the textbook Understanding Movies by Louis Gianetti
Interesting ideas. I'm not a big film person, but I just watched Patrick H Willem's video on film realism and this came up. I feel like you do a good job of breaking down the spectrum between nigh on fully realist works and nigh on fully formalist works. One thing, though, you say that realism doesn't depend on depicting the film's events as close to life as possible. If that's not true, then what is the point of so called realism? I get that there will always be some amount of influence the director and other members of the film's crew will have over the film, but you seem to be saying realism isn't actually about trying to be as realistic as possible. I know there's been a lot of hooplah in the geek community over which media is "true to life" and I think a lot of it is dominated by people who don't actually want a near true to life experience. Instead they want to impose their own views on others then say their view is more real, while cherry picking examples. I dislike this, since often times these people come off as hypocrites, looking to say that all films/ video games/ books have to follow their supposed realism. It feels incredibly disingenuous and bad for media criticism in general as realism gets twisted into whatever pundits backed by various loud fan communities want. And I think a large part of what supports that is peoples' cherry picked versions of realism. I think there is a place for realism, but I feel it is often undermined by various pundits trying to use "realism" to support their views.
Have you heard about this trend of realism being misused, or am I wrong on it? What do you think about the power of supposed realism to mislead and misinform? Are there any good examples of actual realist or formalist films you like?
Thank you.
Wow, thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. There’s a lot of questions in here.
Tell me if I’m misinterpreting your initial question, but I think you’re referring to my statement that “realism” means different things in different contexts. So for a military show or game or movie to be considered “realistic” might mean using the right weapon or lingo or tactics, showing these details true to their real world counterparts. Sometimes I regard this as “authenticity” because it’s clearer what one means in the context of competing versions of “realism.”
Whereas realism in film theory is as I describe in the video: less flashy, less heavy handed filmmaking style.
So when you ask what the point of realism is, I think both authenticity-realism and film theory-realism both have their place, but you can have either one without the other, because they’re distinct ideas with distinct goals. Does that make sense?
I am not exactly familiar with the trend of realism being misused. In a way, I sort of get what you’re saying. There are people who complain about a movie straying too far from its source material, whether that’s a book or a true story or technical details wrong or any number of other things. And you’re right, sometimes that causes fans or history buffs to get upset. I think sometimes changes to source material enhance the movie, and sometimes they worsen the movie, but there are no doubt folks out there who think any changes are just categorically bad, or some hypocrites who pick and choose which ones they approve of. I can totally see what you mean in that case
The problem naming realist films I like is, there aren’t really a ton to pick from. If you were to plot where most well known movies fall on the spectrum, most would be toward the middle but lean formalist. Realist films don’t take advantage of the full power of the film medium to convey emotion and drama, so they could be considered more dull to regular audiences. Some of my favorite realist films are covered here in the video, and some of my favorite formalist films are just some of my favorite films period. Jurassic Park, The Social Network, The Lord of the Rings, just to name a few, all lean formalist
@@brentsacks I think part of my suspicion of differentiating between authentic realism and film theory realism is that I view realism as trying to copy real life as closely as possible. That and, in my experience there are tons of people who will brag their favorite works are "realistic", then, when someone challenges that statement, walk it back with lines about how it's at least better than some work that isn't striving for realism. Like how Star Trek fans claim they're better than Star Wars, due to being slightly more grounded then the galaxy far far away. Have you heard about the hullabaloo over The Last Jedi? I thought it was pretty big, with many members of the Star Wars fandom taking sides, and the anti TLJ group claiming they were against the film due to it being "unrealistic". Did you not hear of that?
@@mattmorehouse9685 yeah I definitely know about the brouhaha over TLJ. I guess I can see where some people would say it’s not realistic, although there’s all sorts of criticisms of that movie and you know, magic wizards with laser swords in space doesn’t really have to deliver on realism to me 😂
Regarding “I view realism as trying to copy real life as closely as possible” that’s certainly a valid interpretation or expectation. I guess the question becomes, copy in what way? A documentary, the most realistic kind of film on the spectrum, can distort fact and spread misinformation. A fictional war movie can copy military details perfectly but tell a story that’s made up. How are we copying real life? What’s the end goal? To me, that’s how there can be two concepts that share the same name but aren’t strictly speaking connected.
Is that NIN I'm hearing?
You have a good ear! It's not NIN, but it's from The Social Network, which was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
he's going to disappear of course but I agree - a very thoughtful and thought provoking commentator
Don’t worry...you haven’t seen the last of me
I loved this!!
What is the film @4:30?
It’s called Maria Full of Grace. Very good movie
Where are all your subs??!!
You are awesome!!!
This video has made me realise why I don't like marvel movies
Say more!
lovee what you have to say in this video but the music does not need to be as long as your voice LMFAOOO
Watch my newer videos; it gets better 😜