In her essay “Tales of Upward Mobility: The New Verticality and Digital Special Effects,” Kristen Whissel discussed how the advancement of technology has led to the increased use of the vertical axis in recent films. Whissel argues that “at its most basic level, the new digital verticality is a technique for activating polarized extremes.” (Whissel 836) I think it is very true that the verticality is capable to do so, but I have never before thought of this concept of activating polarized extremes by using verticality. So I found it very innovating and interesting. However, it was a little bit confusing while I was reading this article, I wasn’t very sure, at some point, that she was saying about the vertical movements of the subjects or the settings. But I think she has linked the verticality to the issues and deeper meanings that the film wants us to see, if I didn’t misunderstand her. She talked about Titanic as an example, and mentioned in her argument, “Gravity therefore acts as an historical corrective in this film: it violently undoes the flattened hierarchy of the ship’s two-tiered class configuration by turning the first and third class decks into equivalent parallel lines aligned upright, side by side.” (Whissel 841) so here Cameron used CGI to create a verticality that reflects the overthrow of the hierarchy, which is an issue of our society, and I think was being addressed in the film as a deeper meaning. Also, when Whissel used Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as another example, she said, “Whereas the dutiful Shu Lien acts as with the force of gravity throughout the scene, Jen defies gravity much as she desires to defy duty and tradition.” (Whissel 846) this example also deals with the deeper concerns that the film was trying to say, the rebel of feudalist tradition, I think.
Michael Allen talked in his essay about the impact of digital technologies on the film aesthetics. From a couple of aspects, shot length, framing, camera movement, live and virtual, finally the place and timing of CGI sequences; Allen has provided us a view of the aesthetics of filmmaking by using the CGI technologies. As the technologies develop, the aspects mentioned above all become better utilized. For example, Allen has mentioned that the shot length of the CGI sequences, from the earlier The Abyss, to later Jurassic Park, have become longer because the CGI technologies has developed to support a longer time of display of the subjects, but not losing their realness. Therefore, the audiences could stare at them but still be amazed. This improvement of CGI images in the film could all be found in the other mentioned aspects too. The technologies are still developing, becoming better and better, and last year’s Avatar had just achieved another peak of the technologies, by creating a whole new world with the CGI technologies, throughout the whole film.
Allen concluded that “each of these elements has continued to be varied and determined according to the dramatic requirements of the scenes which they are used.” (Allen 832) I found it is very true, the use of digital technologies, to me, does not change the nature of the films, everything should stay the same; more over, the digital technologies should be able to modify some of the conventions of the “old” filmmaking, as Allen also mentioned in the reading, and I think, it is done to actually make the films better.
Lev Manovich discussed in his essay that “Realism is the concept that inevitably accompanies the development and assimilation of 3D computer graphics.” (Manovich 785) indeed, people pursue the realism in 3D images, not matter in game or movies, although the world it creates might be completely fictional. As the technologies develop rapidly, the realness of the 3D CGI becomes more and more real, as an example Manovich used, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park had already been very real to the audiences, even for us to look at today. Later films have only improved more. Until today’s Avatar, the realness of the 3D CGI has become truly amazing, especially with the extra aid from the 3D projection technology. I couldn’t imagine what will the future be like, how real can the CGI be?
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