Reality and its relationship to media Presence, identification, realism

What is reality? Though the nature of reality seems obvious, it is actually a matter of great debate – Is it physical, solid, external, unaffected by human consciousness? – Or is it dependent upon human consciousness, malleable, partial, changeable?

Two major meanings of realism An accurate depiction of the natural/historical world A form of representation that depicts what is seen as an unmediated view of the natural world

Are ‘natural’ and ‘real’ the same? The ‘real’ in realistic presentation has as much to do with culturally learned expectations as with capture of ‘true’ or ‘natural’ action, objects, etc. – Color, sound effects, etc. may need to be enhanced in order to generate a ‘realistic’ representation – Time is often distorted (compressed) to make it more compatible with audience expectations as well as to work with the story ‘Natural’ presentation (start the camera and walk away) may be experienced as ‘less real’ than doctored – It is often hard to hear dialogue, etc. because of ambient sound

Practically speaking From a cognitive information processing standpoint, we have two things interacting that produce reality: – Sensory input, which is actually digital information flowing from our receptors to our brains, and – Theories about what the data represent, stored in memory, based on prior experiences and thoughts

Dependence upon our senses Because our senses are our connection to some supposed physical world, and their reaction to stimuli from that world define our understanding of ‘reality’ manipulation of stimuli can influence our experience of reality

Realism in art

Roderick Munday

Why worry about it? A realistic portrayal is thought to: – Increase audience enjoyment of the narrative – Enhance audience involvement Emotional connection with characters – Increase learning

Three facets of realism Perceptual realism Historical realism Presentational realism

Physical features that enhance realism Visual fidelity Quality of image (density, color) Depth Motion Fidelity of sound Noise Depth of sound 3D effects Limitation of distraction Dominance of field of vision Limitation of non-narrative perceptual input Additional perceptual input Haptics Smells Taste

Increasing visual realism Visual fidelity – Increasing quality of film stock Speed, granularity, contrast Color – Gradual improvement in quality of color Widescreen – Wider screens—more like visual field CGI

IMAX

3D – Color-based – polarization-based – 3D without glasses Increasingly realistic animation

Sound – Increasing quality, decreasing ‘noise’ – Mono to stereo to surround sound (5.1 to 7.1) THX

Surround sound

Sensory richness Haptics – Touch, vibration, etc.

Physical features Interactivity – Does the medium/content adjust to the audience member’s physical action? Transportation – The feeling of entering into the narrative world/world presented in the text Thought to be tied to emotional attachment with characters and interactivity

Virtual reality

The Ascension spacepad shown in action. My VR system will make this primitive in comparison. VirtualReality.net.au

The Future of Things

Simulations Source: Io9 We come from the future

CAVE

Second Life

World of Warcraft Io9 We come from the future

Historical realism Authors/creators vary in their attempts to produce historically accurate renditions—even with fictional material – Concerns over audience reactions to apparently inaccurate portrayals are tied to goals of the authors/directors/artists, etc.

The reelization of reality “The drive behind the need to create a strong perceptual reality, particularly in referentially unreal productions, is difficult to pin down. Charles and Mirella Affron discuss what they term the ‘Reality Effect’—a notion of perceptual reality which asserts that sets must look real enough that people who have been to the actual location they replicate might think the films were shot on location.” – Frank, 2004

Plausibility/depiction of audience fantasies regarding historical worlds, etc. may substitute for historical accuracy Lord of the Rings

Jurassic Park

– New or unusual presentational styles will gradually come to seem normal to the mind Especially in a pitch black theater – e.g. Sin City

Presentational realism Representation is supposed to ‘stand in’ for the actual events and objects The work of representation is hidden from view. That is, you should not be aware of all the technology, decision-making, etc. that went into telling the story—it should seem as though you are a fly on the wall actually watching real events unfold. – “Classic Hollywood style”

“Film language” Film scholars have argued that experience with film teaches us a new set of rules for interpreting stimuli that makes film depictions appear ‘real’ – Genre rules Each text dips into the rules for ‘natural reality’ as well as ‘electronic text language’

Features of realist presentation Third-person omniscient narration/focalization – Sometimes First-person focalization can be realistic Camera work edited to be unobtrusive Limited use of supers, etc. Actors, etc. never directly address audience “Fourth wall” Treatment of actions as displaying certainty— no discussion of likelihood, probability, etc.

Hyperreality Hyperreality refers to a situation where a depiction is perceived as more real than ‘reality’ itself

This has been found where, for example, the dialogue between two characters is artificially enhanced so the audience can hear it—and come away perceiving the scene as more realistic than those exposed to the original recording

Perceived realism is often enhanced by narrative quality Audience members will forgive shortcomings of narrative, see it as more realistic when the story is compelling and well-told

Narrative fidelity Are actions, events, and characters presented in ways that the audience member accepts as logical or at least plausible? – This will vary with a range of expectations brought to the experience by the audience member. This can be a feature of even fantastic narratives – For example, the behavior of characters in apocalyptic sci-fi stories may be judged as ‘realistic’ if it conforms to the physical rules and behavioral expectations of that world.

Plausibility v. probability As kids grow up, the tendency to judge the realism of programs shifts from their plausibility—whether or not they could happen—to their probability—how likely that the things portrayed would happen or would be encountered in real life by the audience member. Probability and social realism (whether the depiction is like real life) are the most common sources of reality judgments among college students.

Identification or involvement If audience members are emotionally taken with a presentation they experience it as more real. – This can happen even though they realize that the context/narrative is fantastic Involvement with at least one character has the impact of increasing the feeling of realism

HallBusselle Plausibility TypicalityProbability Factuality Magic Window Social Realism InvolvementIdentity Narrative consistency Perceptual persuasiveness Utility

Realism is not always prized On occasion, the attempt is made to present a story as fantasy – You may want a sort of magical feeling Harry Potter – You may want the audience to experience the narrative as pure escape – You might want the natural and mundane world to be seen as fantastic

Frank, Scott (2004). Perceptual reality and the disappearing Hollywood studio libraries, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 24(2):

3D