Jump to: navigation, search

MLN (1996) - The Reality of Motion Pictures

Details

Links

Abstract

Examines the relationship between reality & communication expressed in motion pictures. The reality communicated by movies is a form of reproduced reality characterized by limitations that both restrict & expose the type of reality witnessed in movies. Through the processes of revelation & registration, movies make visible a form of reality that cannot be experienced elsewhere. Movies employ the distinctions of behavior, communication consciousness, & situation to produce a form of reality that both exposes & blurs these distinctions. The boundary between the real & unreal is constructed by the observer, & movies therefore represent a form of second-order interpretation & communication. The reality of movies is shaped through the interaction of two systems: perception & mass communication. The second-order interpretation of the observer serves as a means of error correction, whereby the viewer mediates the relationship between fiction & reality. Therefore, it is concluded that movies produce double-sided objects that allow the spectator to consciously & unconsciously cross between the realms of fiction & reality. T. Sevier

Article