The digital transformation of cinema and television has been intrinsically linked and often been in parallel to the transformation of western capitalist society and culture. Using terms such as ‘new media’ can be misleading when discussing the transformation of cinema and television as it suggests there are no connections between contemporary and classical aesthetics of film and television.  By examining tangible realities through a materialist critique such as understanding how economics, physical and social factors influence culture we can gain an understanding of how aesthetics of the audiovisual have transformed and how we can identify characters of Post-Cinema in films (Denson and Leyda 2016). The post-cinematic experience highlights new formats, techniques and modes of storytelling used in post-cinema. The term post-cinema engages you to think about how new media has evolved by looking into the commonalities and differences between classical and contemporary cinema.

A common feature of classical Hollywood cinema is a linear timeline with a gradual in-depth character development of the protagonist. This can be seen in films such as Taxi Driver which follows the film noir aesthetic (Martin Scorcese 1976). There is a slow pace throughout the film as we closely watch the daily life of a taxi driver and how he develops into a violent character. An example of commonality between classical and post-cinema is the concept of character development. This is still adopted in post-cinema today in films such as the Joker (Todd Phillips 2019) which follows a failed stand-up comedian who falls into a destructive state of insanity when he is rejected by society. Whilst these films share the commonality of character development there are some differences in aesthetics. In Joker (Phillips 2019) as he descends into madness, the framing becomes more chaotic, reflecting his increasing disorder. The Joker’s world is one of spiralling chaos, and the aesthetics reflect this disintegration visually. This shows how visual aesthetics in post-cinema can be used as communication other than emotive acting.

References:

Denson, S., & Leyda, J. (2016). Perspectives on Post-Cinema: An Introduction.

Taxi Driver. (1976) Directed by Martin Scorsese

Joker. (2019) Directed by Todd Phillips

Zara Bloom – 33751437