Week 25: Reflection on Practice - Paper Hand-in

Today my paper was handed in and although I wish I could have spent more time on it, I think I made my points clear enough.

The paper will act as a skeleton for my presentation and I am certain, after having written this paper, that I will be more comfortable explaining my research now.

Here are some excerpts from the paper:

Theory has construed realism solely as a matter of reference rather than as a matter of perception as well. It has neglected …"perceptual realism." This neglect has prevented theory from understanding some of the fundamental ways in which cinema works and is judged credible by viewers (Prince, 1996 p.28).

Just as an animator should recognise how the character’s performance can affect the audience’s relation to that character; a visual effects artist should understand how the audience interpret what they see and how their work can assist in guiding them to feel and think as we, the filmmakers, intend them to. My practice throughout this project involves the production a short film within a small team and my main role is revolved around the integration of a CG character into a live-action environment. My research investigates this process through an understanding of an audience’s perceptual realism of fictional elements in film and how visual effects can influence this. Although this research is personal to my own understanding and practice it seems apparent that this knowledge is somewhat “neglected” (Prince, 1996 p.28) in the industry. It is hoped that this information will aid me throughout the production process in my practice and furthermore to prepare myself, and anyone studying within the area of visual effects and compositing for working in the industry.

My main focus, throughout the integration of the CG character and the live-action environment, is gaining an insight into how fictional elements can be accepted by the audience as believable.

             

    
  
 Image 01:  Character Design Tom Paxton (2014).

In my practice, the main character is fictional in design and concept and although it may share some animalistic and even human qualities in performance, as a character in a real-world environment it is clearly an element of fiction.  This investigation orbits around perceptual realism and what visual factors can make a fictional character believable in film.



So What Is Perceptual Realism?

Perceptual realism “designates a relationship between the image or film and the spectator, and it can encompass both unreal images and those which are referentially realistic. Because of this, unreal images may be referentially fictional but perceptually realistic” (Prince, 1996 p.32). The term “Perceptual realism” (Prince, 1996) is used to discuss the process in which the audience finds fictional elements in film believable, despite these things not being true to the real world.

My practice is immensely reliant on the audience’s perceptual realism to allow them to accept the fictional character into the live-action environment. My main concern is integrating these elements together in a believable manner. To understand how to do this successfully, I have to recognise what perceptual realism is and which elements are most important to consider throughout production to ensure that the viewers are not lost from the story. In order to keep the audience engaged in the film, everything they witnesses on the screen must be visually and contextually believable (Hooks, 2011). As Prince highlights, for perceptual realism to exist there must be a connection between the audience and the visuals. It would seem that to understand perceptual realism, we must first realise the “relationship” between the viewer and the images.


The paper then goes on to discuss the following topics:

*The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
*The Experientially Familiar
*Believability in Visual Effects
*The Uncanny Valley
*The Psychology Behind Perceptual Realism

References

Hooks, E. 2011. Empathy Matters, Acting for Animators. [Online] Available at: http://www.awn.com/blogs/ed-hooks-acting-animators/empathy-matters.

Hooks, E. 2011. The Willing Suspension of Disbelief, Acting for Animators. [Online] Available at: http://www.awn.com/blogs/ed-hooks-acting-animators/willing-suspension-disbelief
Jones, B. (2008) Digital Storytelling – The narrative Power of Visual Effects [Catalogue of seminar from the Norwegian Film Institute, 7-8th April 2008] Norway: Digital Storytelling.

Paxton, T. 2014, Character design [image] viewed on 14 February 2014. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201221135201711&set=gm.217768565079649&type=1&theater.
Sylwan, S. 2010. New Lenses to View Reality: Art, Science and Visual Effects, TEDx Talks [online] available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjWFk5_VuVg&list=PLpwgPz64TLvsxf8U4SDGWA811f2cadJu9

Prince, S. 1996. True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images and Film Theory. Film Quarterly, pp. 31-33.

The Uncanny Valley, 2011. [Image] The Uncanny Valley and Corporate Social Media. Viewed on 16 March 2014. Available at: http://www.davidherrold.com/2011/08/26/the-uncanny-valley-and-corporate-social-media/.

The paper concludes with the future of the project and how this research has/will help me in my practice. It will hopefully be utilised on a wider level; improving the way that visual effects are considered and practiced in the industry.