Reflecting on Hyper-Realist Post-Cinematic Form

Violette Simard

Tuesday, November 15^th 2022

The debate surrounding digital cinema’s ability to capture reality as accurately as possible ignores the fact that with digital cinema, filmmakers have able to transcend reality, transcend realism, and explore territory beyond that. So, as Brown suggests, it is important to consider the ways in which digital cinema can overcome cinematic conventions by reimagining our understanding of space (Brown, p.22).  This posthumanist realism that Brown talks about is a great way to think of digital cinema and its innovations (p.50).

The innovations in cinematic technique, with the developments in special effects such as green screen and CGI, we are able to go beyond what meets the eye and/or bring the figments of our imagination to life. Brown discusses the opening scene of Fight Club (1999), where we are able to journey inside the body (p.21), and Jurassic Park (1993), where we are able to bring the pre-historic past to the present (p.26).  Both instances are based in our scientific knowledge of the human anatomy and prehistoric times, and even though we could never really touch/see these things, we can still experience a version of them thanks to special effects.

The same goes for Interstellar (2014). Not only were we able to reconstitute what a voyage into (outer) space could look like based on scientific knowledge again, but that same scientific knowledge helped create imaginary celestial bodies (like the black hole above and the planet of water below). With posthumanist realism/hyper-realism, not only are able to imagine and create versions of space and time that go beyond what realism can express, but it also opens up new avenues to deal with our realities in different ways; ways that are less constraining than “traditional” realism.

            Because posthumanist realism/hyper-realism are like a step above realism, it allows for an uninhibited cinematic expression (and experience) through innovative means like special effects, but also it allows for an uninhibited exploration of themes that can’t necessarily be explored through realism. The post-cinematic era that we are in is representative of the historical, social/cultural, and even technological moment that we are in, so it is only natural for cinema to be representative of that. Positioning realism and posthumanist realism/hyper-realism against each other misses that point. Although it is interesting and important to consider the affective, philosophical, and artistic differences between the two, it is much more helpful to view them in continuity with each other.

Bibliography:

Brown, William. Supercinema : Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mcgill/detail.action?docID=1337742 .