(Blogwriting-02) Realism

Before I study how a classical Hollywood continuity film and Tokyo Story create realism differently, I would like to discuss how realism had been thought during the early time of photography.
Comparing to drawings, photography seemed to be realistic, which means it describes situation as it really is. However, there were people who doubted the realism of photography, pointing out the role of the photographer, who can choose, frame, light, and compose scenes. It was seen as another way of distortion.
Some people believed that machine are more reliable than unaided human perception and hand of artist in the production of realism (Sturken and Cartwright, 17).

There came the invention of film, or moving pictures. Producers could manipulate stories or evidences by reordering the flow of pictures. While pictorial representation was once regarded as evidence, as it complicated its forms, it became more of entertainment. Storytelling became dominant purpose in films.

I will discuss two different forms of realism presented in a classical Hollywood continuity film and Tokyo Story by director Ozu.

A classical Hollywood continuity film is mostly driven by narrative. What it means is that a storytelling is a major focus in the production. A story is completely conveyed when other elements in a film flows well, which means it has to practice complete visual continuity.
Person A stays on left, when person B stays on right no matter what angles the film uses within a scene. Keeping other elements continuous, storytelling becomes realistic. We, the audience, accept the story as real because its technical manipulation is least seen because of its rules of continuity. In other words, the natural flow of technical elements, such as lighting, framing, and editing, convinces us that the story told in the production is plausible.


In the Tokyo Story, another kind of realism is created. Director Ozu breaks the rules of continuity. The film has such simple, plain story, yet it is conveyed in an interesting way. Sometimes Ozu displays disconnected shots together. This arrangement is not allowed in continuity, however, it has such power of establishing scenes. He has a lot of long one shots, presenting slow pace of the film without accessory edits. Comparing to the continuity film, Ozu’s simplified technical skills strengthen the content of narrative. Narrative with the least technical elaboration seems to depict our everyday lives. Our real lives are not as fast and exciting as classical Hollywood film. Our real lives are more resemble the one in Ozu’s film than one in classical continuity film, slow and plain. This creates different kind of realism. Contents of Ozu’s storytelling makes the audience to sympathize because it is so plausible that is looks like something that would happen to themselves.

A classical Hollywood continuity film and Tokyo Story have different styles and forms in conveying stories. The two creates different forms of realism. In a classical Hollywood continuity film, a flow of narrative is not interrupted by technical elements; thus, the narrative has strong power to draw the attention from the audience. This narrative flow seems natural and real. Tokyo story, although interrupted by several unrefined technical manipulations, presents such ordinary narrative that it creates certain sympathy among the audience. In a classical Hollywood continuity film, a natural flow of narrative, with aid of technical skills, creates realism, whereas Tokyo Story creates different kind of realism with its plausible contents of story.