The New Language of the Digital Film

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by  Cohen O.F.

Journal of Popular Film and Television
ISSN: 0195-6051 (Print) 1930-6458 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjpf20
The New Language of the Digital Film
Orit Fussfeld Cohen
To cite this article: Orit Fussfeld Cohen (2014) The New Language of the Digital Film, Journal of
Popular Film and Television, 42:1, 47-58, DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2012.759898
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2012.759898
Published online: 29 Apr 2014.
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Hong Kong) aka Wo hu cang long. Directed by
Ang Lee. Shown from left: Zhang Ziyi (as Jen Yu), Chow Yun-Fat (as Master Li Mu Bai).
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics/Photofest. (Color figure available online.)
The New Language

of the
Digital Film
BBByyy
Orit Fussfeld Cohen
Abstract: The language of the digital film entails an intermediation process between new technological capaci-
ties that provide the infinite potential to control cinematic manifestations, and new expressive intentions on the
part of the digital filmmaker to produce an invented realism that suggests an auratic power. The unique aesthetics
of the digital film reflect this power, expressing the ways digital filmmakers envision or shape invented worlds
rather than striving to reproduce an actual and physical world. The characters in digital action films reveal this
new determination in ways that have been equated with avatars in the video game context. The journey of the
digital heroic action-body through spectacles of physical endurance evidences his manipulation from a position
of control and mastery aimed mainly at heightening the impact of the action and functions on an expressive rather
than a realist level.
Keywords: action hero, digital cinema, digital filmmaker, expressive practices, film aesthetics
Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2012.759898
47
48 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Directed by Peter Jackson. Shown: Ian McKellan (as Gandalf) riding to Minas Tirith
(CGI Special Effects). Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema/Photofest. (Color figure available online.)
I
n recent years, researchers generate quicker, real-time results given considered true indexes of a prephoto-
have become increasingly in- that compound images, movements, and graphed reality. In contrast, the digital
terested in the ways in which interactions can be manipulated and image, as a visual representation of a
digital cinematic methods in- managed instantly, and a greater number binary code that can be created and ma-
spire, broaden, and release digital film- of end results can be produced in much nipulated by an algorithmic formula,
maker’s expressive aspirations. There less time. needs no clear source or even referent
is now much evidence to support the From a creative perspective, a non- in reality; it is detached from what we
hypothesis that technical and practical linear digital process offers relatively might term material existence. Given
aspects of digital filmmaking transform simple and flexible techniques that help the multiple, diverse sources of the digi-
films’ aesthetics in ways that change alter and manage a film’s aesthetic and tal cinematic images, the unique artistic
the expressive practices of cinematic narrative aspects. Digital cinematic status traditionally attributed to cinema
manifestations. technologies make it possible to ma- as a medium unrivaled in its capacity to
From a technical perspective, the nipulate procedures by applying the ap- show us “real life in a real environment”
relative simplicity and operational ef- propriate algorithms—a capability that (Arnheim 26), begs reconceptualization.
ficiency of digital techniques replace was unattainable with the older analog An analysis of digital films’ presenta-
the complex, expensive, and time-con- systems. The isolation, alteration, and tions as the products of an intermedia-
suming analog methods. Compared with combination of digital data facilitate tion process between new technological
traditional techniques, digital methods the potential control over the image, as capacities that provide the infinite po-
are cost- and time-effective in that they well as an entire frame, in ways that ex- tential to control cinematic manifesta-
pand the expressive potential of digital tions, and new expressive intentions on
filmmakers. the part of the digital filmmaker to pro-
The isolation, alteration, and
Although the preceding description duce an invented realism that suggests
combination of digital data
gives us a good qualitative picture of an auratic power, offers a fresh view on
facilitate the potential control the key advantages of digital cinema, the digital cinema aesthetics.
over the image, as well as its application to practical and creative The technological developments in
filmmaking aspects requires a new in- digital media markets since the 1980s,
an entire frame, in ways that
terpretation. In the past, the analogical and the resultant demand for video
expand the expressive potential
nature of photographic and cinemato- and television presentations on digital
of digital filmmakers. graphic images have led to their being screens, have encouraged the extensive
The New Language of the Digital Film 49
assimilation of digital technology into wire-removal techniques necessitated a ing Prince (“The Emergence of Film
films. According to Bordwell (“Intensi- minimum use of wires and contraptions Artifacts”), it enables the alteration of
fied Continuity”; The Way Hollywood (because these were not easily erased at colors, the addition of filtration effects,
Tells It), in the early 1990s, techni- the postproduction stage) and thus re- and the manipulation of delicate com-
cal and procedural implementations of stricted Christopher Reeve’s motion on ponents of images and lighting. Ever
analog technology in cinema practices a wire suspended from a location crane since the entire feature film O Brother,
began to become obsolete, following and limited camera movement, resulting Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, 2000) was
the upsurge of computer storage space, in a narrowing of the spatial array of the digitally scanned and graded, the digital
software that mimics the twenty-four- action scene. In Crouching Tiger Hidden grading process has become common
frame rate, and the expansion of digital Dragon (Ang Lee 2000), on the other practice, with films such as The Avia-
off-the-shelf applications. hand, digital wire-removal techniques tor (Martin Scorsese, 2004) and Hotel
Traditional analog techniques were rendered redundant the minimization Rwanda (Terry George, 2004) being
pushed aside as relatively expensive, of safety harnesses and wire restraints digitally graded, allowing greater “sen-
time-consuming, cumbersome, and in- and allowed Ziyi Zhang (as Jiao Long) sitivity to nuance” than before (Benja-
flexible methods that limit and restrict and Chen Chang (as Lo ‘Dark Cloud’) min, “Impressionistic Cinema” 40).
aesthetic options, and filmmakers grad- a high level of motion and lighting syn- For example, Chéri (Stephen Frears,
ually embraced the more pliable, supple, chronization during the treetop fight 2009) was digitally graded in order to

and accessible digital methods as legiti- scene, enhancing its dramatic effect. recreate a desired atmosphere by adding
mate practices. A comparison between The possibility of on-set editing af- a subtle color contrast to shots. Cinema-
traditional and digital tools reveals how forded by nonlinear digital editing sys- tographer Darius Khonrfji refers to the
digital modifications facilitate a more tems, such as Avid or Lightwork, opens sense of creativity entailed in the pro-
effective achievement of certain aes- up a vast new range of innovative possi- cess as an “artistic touch,” one that facil-
thetic aspirations of filmmakers, most bilities as well. For example, Paar shows itated his expressive intentions in ways
notably in the realm of special effects. how in Transformers: Revenge of the that were less attainable by traditional
For example, Wolf (Abstracting Re- Fallen (Michael Bay 2009), live-action means: “I put a little bronze gold in the
ality) shows how traditional in-camera characters could freely mingle with life- highlights and a bit of blue in the mid-
compositing, which integrates physi- size models, miniatures, or puppets, and tones and darks to create a more 3D ef-
cal objects (such as miniatures and the director could load footage onto a fect with color… Adam [colorist Adam
models) and live-acting performances computer, review it, give feedback, and Inglis] had what I was looking for: the
upon a background setting using matte- correct or reshoot while at the same lo- desire to make a work of cinema, not
paintings and optical printer, restricts cation. Those creative possibilities were a pretty film with boosted contrast and
the possibilities of camera-movement less available with the heavy and cum- video-like saturation” (cited in Benja-
synchronization and the management bersome optical equipment, as exempli- min, “Impressionistic Cinema” 40).
of error correction and decreases film’s fied by Marques in Germinal (Claude Another range of creative possibilities
sharpness during a long and multi- Berri 1993), where physical constraints produced by nonlinear digital practices
staged process. Digital compositing, prevented the real-time coordination of can be found in audio implementations.
on the other hand, which can manipu- actors’ performance among the minia- For example, Kerins shows how non-
late objects, backdrops, and even actors ture sets and constrained them to per- linear digital sound systems that allow
independently, and which is accompa- form exclusively in front of them. a complex interplay between sound and
nied by almost no generation loss, is While the real-time analysis capabili- image by the production of multichan-
far more effective for postproduction ties provided by digital systems allows nel sound mixes enable the filmmaker
manipulations. the correction of problems in continuity to guide the viewers to the center of the
Marques’s discussion exemplifies this or lighting during the shootings, digital action by aurally orienting them within
argument. In Cape Fear (Martin Scors- postproduction facilitates the recreation the filmic environment.
ese 1991), the limitations of analog of the desired atmosphere after the fact.
compositing obligated the filmmaker to McQuire shows how, by allowing ran-
integrate the characters only into static dom access with no need to rewind or While the real-time analysis
settings, being unable to shoot on loca- fast-forward tapes to locate edit points, capabilities provided by digital
tion in stormy sea conditions. Whereas nonlinear digital editing systems enable
systems allows the correction
in Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone filmmakers to experiment with visuals
of problems in continuity or
1994), unwanted camera movements in the postproduction phase, easily alter-
and vibrations were easily removed ing them without the need to physically lighting during the shootings,
from the helicopter shots on location us- modify the existing cut. digital postproduction
ing digital procedures, thus reinforcing The digital grading process exempli-
facilitates the recreation of
the believability of the action scenes. fies the ways in which digital nonlinear
the desired atmosphere
In the case of Superman (Richard Don- systems improve creative flexibility
ner 1978), the traditional matte-painting in the postproduction phaseas, follow- after the fact.
50 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television
George Lucas considers digital and humidity conditions in a way that displaying and manipulating data, inter-
is very hard to achieve with traditional active control by the user, the ability to
technology to be “the ultimate
film lighting: “there’s so much you run simulations, etc.” (96–98). Because
version” for controlling both the
can do in post!” (cited in Holben 33). imagery resulting from numeric cal-
technical aspects of the image Effects-designer Doug Trumbull recalls culation is “no longer bound to the re-
and the expressive aspects of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey strictions of a [traditional] ‘frame,’” the
(Stanley Kubrick, 1968): “There were new digital language’s “optionality in
storytelling.
scenes in 2001 that were held in the simulation” (Spielmann 60) might be re-
freezer for over a year, waiting for the garded as a source of inspiration by the
It might therefore be argued that as matte-paintings to be filmed. Now you ways it embodies an infinite potential to
digital enhancement techniques are ac- can do most of that in a computer with reach endless possibilities according to
quired by filmmakers, many goals of CGI and output to film” (cited in Mc- the most “convenient and useful way”
presentation become more attainable Quire 390). (122) for attaining digital filmmaker ex-
than before, broadening their creative Marques regards digital proficiency pressive aspirations.
prospects. In comparison with tradi- as a new freedom available to the film- Therefore, as compared with tradi-
tional means, digital cinema’s more maker who strives for the most effective tional means, digital technology pro-
flexible, agile, and accessible practices cinematic composition: “We have seen vides the filmmaker with better control

provide the filmmaker with greater a huge change in the way visual effects over cinematic implementations and its
controllability over cinematic manifes- are executed. The director is now pretty expressive manifestations. This greater
tations, which embody the potentially much free to do whatever he wants. Im- controllability might be the distinguish-
unlimited implementations of the digital age, models, and computer-generated ing quality of digital filmmaking, as
filmmaker’s aesthetic aspirations. images will provide never-before-seen illustrated, for example, in digital char-
The aesthetic and expressive poten- vistas combined with camera match acter performance, which expresses the
tial of digital practices is acknowledged moving to place them rock solid in the extensive ability of the filmmaker to
by filmmakers and scholars alike who live action environment. The only limit manipulate a character’s visual image
recall the professional, practical, and is time and money” (36). Hadjioannou and control its presence, appearance,
scheduling restrictions of the former says that the skill and ability to maneu- facial expressions, gestures, and inte-
procedures and recognize the supple- ver the digital image provides the digital gration into the background. Effective
ness and agility inherent in those tech- filmmaker with the benefit of virtuosity manipulation of the digital image’s mal-
niques, which leave “every option avail- by granting him complete control over leable structure allows the more detailed
able” (Caranicas 4). They address the chance occurrences and allowing him to coordination of characters’ performance
potential of controllability entailed in represent his own notion of the ideal im- in the digital cinematic frame.
the digital medium as its essential qual- age. Experimental filmmaker Mangolte In terms of the possibility of control-
ity, which advances desired manifesta- explains that the filmmaker’s position as ling character attendance, digital rep-
tions and facilitates “a more dynamic absolute master is unique to digital cin- lications are efficiently used in digital
use of film grammar” (Holben 25). ema since it offers him control with no films to replace the costly and opera-
George Lucas considers digital tech- need for direct touch, as anything can be tionally complicated physical presence
nology to be “the ultimate version” for undone with the ease of a click, at a dis- of human extras. Digital masking might
controlling both the technical aspects of tance, against the mouse and keyboard, be used for digital face replacement in
the image and the expressive aspects of leaving a simple surface of effects. order to paste an actor’s face on the body
storytelling. He argued: “I think cinema- Following Deleuze’s observation of of a stunt double, while digital green
tographers would love to have ultimate digital-imaging as a process in which screen practice—another technique to
control over the lighting; they’d like to “the frame or the screen functions as an control character attendance within a
be able to say, OK, I want the sun to stop instrument panel, printing or computing desired backdrop—enables the effective
there on the horizon and stay there for table” (267), Manovich remarks upon integration of characters within highly
about six hours, and I want all of those digital imaging’s “richness of control” composite environments, and thus gain
clouds to go away. Everybody wants and emphasizes “the concept of the a desired expressive aspiration.
that kind of control over the image and surface in a computer interface as a vir- For example, the multiplied groups
the storytelling process. Digital technol- tual control panel, similar to the control of foot-soldier replications in Hamlet
ogy is just the ultimate version of that” panel on a car, plane or any other com- (Kenneth Branagh, 1996), The Lord of
(cited in McQuire 393). plex machine.” This allows filmmakers the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring
Public Enemies (Michael Mann, “to perform complex and detailed ac- (Peter Jackson, 2001), 300 (Zack Sny-
2009) cinematographer Dante Spinotti tions on computer data” while trying “to der, 2006), and Prince of Persia: The
is enthusiastic about the fact that shoot- create their own language” while taking Sands of Time (Mike Newell, 2010) ef-
ing digitally allows him to adjust set- advantage of all the new capacities of- fectively create an enormous mass of
tings in relation to the existing lighting fered by a computer: “its flexibility in armed forces that increase the impact
The New Language of the Digital Film 51
of fright and terror. In The One (James A profound manipulation of a char- In The One, digital masking
Wong, 2001), digital masking enables acter’s appearance and behavior is also
enables the simultaneous
the simultaneous presence on screen achieved by implementing “digital cap-
presence on screen of Gabe
of Gabe Law (Jet Li) fighting his own ture” practices, such as “motion cap-
evil image, Lawless (Jet Li) while also ture,” “performance capture,” “emotion Law (Jet Li) fighting his own evil
conveying the existence of the two op- capture,” and “universal capture,” all of image, Lawless (Jet Li) while
posite forces coexisting in one body. which enable the formation of a virtual
also conveying the existence
As stated by the evil Jet Li: “I just took character with a bodily substance, based
of the two opposite forces
those wasted energies and put them into on a human performance. The advanced
one container—me. It made me faster, “universal-capture” practice further coexisting in one body.
stronger, and smarter. It is our fate, to extends the characters’ controllability,
unite with our other selves, to be unified as the looks, movement, facial expres-
forever, to be one.” Such techniques sions, and gestures of the character can body language, and facial expressions)
proved effective and even indispens- thus mimic the lines of nature reliably. were used to create the Gollum image.
able, in cases when the fabrication of an The flexibility in displaying and ma- A computer-generated animation pro-
entire performance of a deceased actor nipulating the captured data enables the cess enabled the translation of the com-
was needed, such as Proximo’s (Oliver image to appear in different versions, bined data into a modular structure that

Reed) face-replacement in Gladiator respectively customized in form and gives expressive suppleness befitting
(Ridley Scott, 2000) and Eric Draven’s actions, and assembled automatically of Gollum’s contradictory attributes,
(Brandon Lee) face-replacement in The into varying sequences according to the which alternate between the good per-
Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994); digital tech- filmmaker’s objectives. sonality of Sméagol and the violent and
niques enable taking footage of the ac- For example, in The Lord of the treacherous Gollum. Feeny shows how
tor’s face from elsewhere and convinc- Rings: The Return of the King (Peter The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis,
ingly applying it over the stunt double. Jackson, 2003), the digitally sculpted 2004), the first film shot entirely using
In Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie, three-dimensional image of the Gollum performance-capture technique, live-
2009), digital layering techniques en- creature (Andi Serkis), a digitally ma- action cast, and digital sets, motion-
abled multi-perspective controllability nipulated virtual marionette, provides capture techniques were used to allow
of the integration of Holmes’s (Robert filmmakers with extensive controllabil- Tom Hanks to perform as several dis-
Downey, Jr.) green-screen performance ity features. Here, combinations of mo- tinct characters (Hero Boy/Father/Con-
into a slow-motion shot of an exploding tion-capture data recorded from Serkis’ ductor/Hobo/Scrooge/Santa Claus), al-
and burning background. performance (actor’s voice, movements, lowing the flexibility to place the actors
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Directed by David Fincher. Shown: Brad Pitt. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Photofest.
(Color figure available online.)
52 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television
and the virtual camera anywhere within In The Curious Case of of man” (Bazin 252). As the virtual
the virtual scene. Ramin describes how and malleable nature of the digital im-
Benjamin Button, we see
in Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008), the age distances it from the constraints of
progressively younger versions
image of the main protagonist was cre- reality and the metaphorical and practi-
ated by blending the human gestures of of the actor’s (Brad Pitt) face, cal contexts entailed therein, instead of
Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) with created to fit the character’s representing a desired affinity with a
the digital production of his metallic ar- “real” world, it reflects the filmmaker’s
(Benjamin Button) gradually
mor. In The Curious Case of Benjamin expressive ambitions.
younger body as he regresses
Button (David Fincher, 2008), we see Manovich discussed digital repre-
progressively younger versions of the from old age into youth sentation—the framing of a virtual im-
actor’s (Brad Pitt) face, created to fit the and infancy. age or an illusionary fictional world
character’s (Benjamin Button) gradu- on screen—as an act of simulation that
ally younger body as he regresses from allows the “creation of traditional aes-
old age into youth and infancy. Magid and its tangibility” (251); “Photography thetic objects—that is, something which
shows how, by capturing digital-perfor- and cinema are inventions intended to is fixed in space or time and which re-
mance data based on an analysis of ac- provide, for once and for all, and in the fers to some referent(s) outside itself,
tual and digital footage, natural human full capacity of its essence, our obses- forcing us to reconsider the traditional

behavior, body language, and facial ex- sion with realism” (252). According to equation between culture and objects”
pressions, the actor’s performance was Bazin, the filmed form “is the object it- (42). In that sense, Manovich considered
successfully merged into the compound self […] of equal value to the original the illusionist space that aims to create a
scene, enhancing the impact of the re- model” (253). Photography contended visual resemblance of reality by “vari-
versed aging process. In Alice in Won- with and effectively defeated painting ous computer methods for modeling
derland (Tim Burton, 2010), the charac- in its ability to represent objects from other aspects of reality beyond its visual
ter of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham reality, as it has the capacity to achieve appearance: movement of physical ob-
Carter) was formed by capturing Bon- “the very identification with the object” jects, shape changes over time in natural
ham Carter’s live acting on a series of (255). Vertov regarded the “Kino Eye” phenomena (water surface, smoke), mo-
green-screen stages, and synthesizing as a means for exposing that which the tivations, behavior, speech and language
it with a computer-generated image in eye does not see, like a microscope and comprehension in human beings” (43)
such a way that enabled the distortion telescope of time, as a telescopic lens or to be a representation of human vision
of the Queen’s head size while synchro- an “x-ray eye,” a processes that might that is not “an inferior representation of
nizing it with the actress’s facial expres- bring about the revelation of the truth our reality, but a realistic representation
sions and behavior. Goldham shows and its presentation (Michelson). Ac- of a different reality” (183).
how digital color grading was used to cording to Arnheim, the challenge of Thus, following Manovich, it might
establish her customized color scheme, the cinema was to present the nature of be argued that the computer panel in-
and the entire composite image was things, an objective beyond the simple terface indeed functions as an “instru-
seamlessly blended into a full computer- mechanical act. Cinema enables us to ment of power” (147) through which the
generated environment. form qualities of reality (e.g., multidi- digital filmmaker, intending to establish
Therefore, the realistic ambition at- mensionality, chiaroscuro, perspective, the desired effect, exhibits the ability to
tributed to traditional cinema no longer and time/space relations) in a manner model “realistically” (155) actual or ab-
applies in the case of the digital cinema. that expresses the essence of the filmed sent elements and to control them across
Rather than representing the “real na- subject. Thus, it has the capacity to cre- space and time. The possibilities of the
ture” of the world as a concrete origin, ate an “impression of real life” (26). advanced technologies inspire the digi-
the digital filmmaker’s enhanced abil- However, with the assimilation of tal filmmaker as a palette of colors and
ity to control modular compositions of digital technology into cinema, reality a collection of brushes might inspire the
compound, reframed shots reflects an has lost its status as a central source of painter. The potentially infinite visu-
ambition to simulate coherent and co- reference for cinematic imagery. Rather als operate as a source of inspiration as
hesive space that exhibits a vision of a than affirming reality as a concrete well, a stimulus that encourages film-
different reality. origin, the iconic, computer-based im- makers’ creative decisions. Following
In the early days of cinema, filmmak- age expresses an excessive distancing
ers hailed the art’s ability to perceive, from its traditional status. In the past,
expose, and intensify the qualities of re- the camera was considered “the only [W]ith the assimilation of
ality, striving to reveal the true nature of appliance which intervenes and stands digital technology into cinema,
things. For example, Bazin looked upon between the original object and its re-
reality has lost its status as a
realism in cinema as a “true realism, production […] a character is derived
central source of reference for
which is a need to present a substan- from the world in an automated man-
tial expression to the world, its essence ner, without the creative intervention cinematic imagery.
The New Language of the Digital Film 53
Walter Benjamin, Bolter suggests that The pursuit of aura in digital age in Lawnmower Man (Brett Leonard,
those decisions are made in order to ac- 1992), the android image in Virtuosity
cinema is reflected by the
complish the digital filmmaker’s gen- (Brett Leonard, 1995), and the cyborg
digital filmmaker’s aspiration
eral aspiration to provide an impact by image in Johnny Mnemonic (Robert
pursuing a filmic “aura.” to reproduce the realism of Longo, 1995). All of those images de-
Walter Benjamin defined aura as the traditional cinema. scribe a hyperreal aesthetic inspired by
sense of special quality possessed by popular cultural representations of cy-
the work of art because of its unique berspace in forms such as comics, car-
forms of production and transmission. toons, and video games. Their alterity
The physical presence and uniqueness digital representation: the strategy of as “pyrotechnical dramas,” said Pier-
of the work of art generates a sense of transparency, on the one hand, and the son, articulates the realistic ambition
distance and reverence, i.e., aura. Ben- strategy of hypermediacy, on the other, (35–43).
jamin claims that films do not inspire which “emphasizes the mediated char- According to Darley, the hyperrealis-
such feelings of reverence and remote- acter of the experience” (Bolter 28) and tic excess is an expression of the digital
ness, because they are reproduced me- contributes to the viewer’s conscious- filmmaker’s ambition to heighten the il-
chanically in an arbitrary number of ness of the process of representation. He lusion of invented realism rather than re-
(nearly) identical copies, and because suggests that digital filmmakers strive producing an actual and physical one, in

the artistic expression is centered in the to achieve transparency and generate order to emphasize its identity as a copy
film camera and editing techniques that aura through high-quality photorealistic without a source, a second-degree simu-
condition us to view the world through computer graphics that build “a sense lation and not a symbolic depiction of
associations and mediate the experience of distance-through-proximity,” which the real that emphasizes the identity be-
by breaking the physical connection to depends on the degree of its convinc- tween the source and its representation.
an aura-endowed place or object. ing authenticity or visual fidelity (29). Darley distinguished this hyperrealistic
Bolter, on the other hand, claimed Therefore, a simultaneous pursuit of excessiveness from “super-realistic”
that cinema can evoke legitimate aura: the auratic and the non-auratic might be painting, which emerged in the United
the Hollywood style affirms the auratic considered a key characteristic of digital States during the 1960s. These paintings
power of films by relieving the specta- cinema. Along with reflecting the tra- focused on the direct action of copying,
tors of the awareness of the mechanics ditional desire for immediacy, “design- in which the photograph itself is both
of representation (camera movements, ers can decide whether to cast a certain the model and subject of the painting.
editing), so as to enable them to expe- experience as auratic or not” (35). As Its objective was to elevate and exagger-
rience an imaginary world as “natural” the pursuit of aura becomes “a stylistic ate the effect of realism in order to ex-
and to focus on the drama itself. To that decision […], what seems to have dis- pose the imitative, analogous nature of
end, Hollywood filmmakers use the appeared is not the desire for auratic its model—the photographic medium.
“transparency” strategies of representa- experience, but the claim of auratic art Super-realism uses a strict method of
tion, which aim to evoke aura by captur- to being the only legitimate style. Digi- slide-painting projected (and enlarged)
ing the reality of the characters, places, tal technology increases the options for on canvas. This is very different, tech-
and situations, seeking to emulate a designers and allows the invocation of nically and technologically, from the
supposed immediacy “by effacing the aura in new ways” (36). production of the digital cinematic im-
medium that interposes itself between The pursuit of aura in digital cinema age, which involves powerful comput-
[the viewer] and the object of represen- is reflected by the digital filmmaker’s ers and complex software. Furthermore,
tation” (33). The viewer is supposed aspiration to reproduce the realism of whereas painting is an act of reproduc-
“to forget the process of mediation and traditional cinema. Following Pierson, tion, the digital film is a copy without a
concentrate on the mediated content” this so-called “photorealistic ambition” source. While the super-realistic painter
through continuity editing as well as an (35) is articulated primarily by focus- wishes to emphasize the identity be-
engrossing narrative (28). ing on a virtual simulation of artifacts tween the photograph and the painting,
However, Bolter acknowledged that that might otherwise have been created the digital image, as a simulation of a
aura itself is called into question by the physically with models, miniatures, cos- model that does not necessarily exist, is
interplay of two opposing strategies of tumes, masks, or make-up through tra- a second-degree simulation that height-
ditional methods. It is “the charismatic ens the illusion of invented realism.
mode of art-and-effects direction” that This ambition to display photoreal-
Walter Benjamin defined aura guides digital filmmakers in those visual istic images that represent a different
effects sequences (38). reality—not actual but invented—is
as the sense of special quality
Pierson stresses that the photorealistic obtained, according to Prince (“True
possessed by the work of art
ambition is no less attainable when it in- Lies”), by performing the “perceptu-
because of its unique forms of volves extreme “techno-futuristic” aes- ally realistic” digital image, “one which
production and transmission. thetics, such as those of the gardener im- structurally corresponds to the viewer’s
54 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). Directed by Michael Bay. Shown: Optimus Prime (voice: Peter Cullen). Photo courtesy of
Paramount Pictures/Photofest. (Color figure available online.)
audio-visual experience of three-dimen- swirling feather which lands in Gump’s films might also be articulated in actor-
sional space […] in ways that corre- lap at the opening sequence; through performances strategies. According to
spond to the viewer’s own understand- the replication of the massive crowd at Bordwell (Poetics of Cinema), the re-
ing of these phenomena in daily life” the march on Washington; through the alistic ambition is compatible with ac-
(32). construction of an entire stadium for the tors’ “loose style” performance, which
Consequently, the ability to imple- table tennis tournament in China and the employs realistic restraint. In action
ment “realistic” virtual images through inclusion of a virtual ball hit at superhu- films such as Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin,
digital intermediaries was initially con- man speed; and through the positioning 1990), Lethal Weapon 3 (Richard Don-
fined to the look of special effect images of Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise) on the ner, 1992), Heat (Michael Mann, 1995),
that might otherwise have been created hospital bed after having his legs blown and The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996), ac-
by traditional methods, aiming to mimic off in battle. Those scenes reflect a per- tors’ performances mimic normal be-
“camera-reality” (McQuire 388), with ceptually realistic ambition to fully in- havior and convey merely an impression
the intention of attaining the most con- tegrate photorealistic images into a shot of action, not sharply delineated, exag-
vincing visual impact by seeming far in order to correspond to the viewer’s gerated, or cleanly defined to articulate
more life-like than the mechanical du- visual experience. an impact; gestures remain tentative and
plication of miniature models and stop- The digital aesthetics of Forrest incomplete, emphasizing the face rather
motion animation images. Gump call to mind the special (non- than the whole body. Because actors
Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, digital) effects in Zelig (Woody Allen, make no effort to dramatize their “lum-
1994), for example, reflects a photoreal- 1983), wherein the main character is bering movements” (404), the “diffuse
istic ambition through the digital inser- inserted into different settings by tradi- feeling of excitement” and the sense of
tion of Gump (Tom Hanks) into docu- tional optical techniques. However, al- dynamic eventuation is given by the sty-
mentary footage among other historical though Forrest Gump aims to reinforce listic “busyness” and “nonstop bustle”
figures; through the insertion of the the narrative conviction and believabil- of sequence editing (397–407).
ity by reaching the most “natural” ap- The rapid editing strategy—jump-cut
pearance of “referentially realistic” and montage sequences, intercutting of color
Forrest Gump reflects a “referentially fictional” images using and black-and-white, replayed shots, al-
photorealistic ambition through digital intermediates, Zelig, said John- ternating fast shots and reverse-shots,
ston, expresses a different (postmodern- insertion of more reaction shots, use
the digital insertion of Gump
ist) motivation as it aims to reinforce of fewer and briefer establishing shots
(Tom Hanks) into documentary
doubt and unbelievability. and long-held two-shots, and creation
footage among other historical The expressive manifestation of of an elliptical style using a 180-degree
figures … the engagement with reality in digital staging system—increases the energetic
The New Language of the Digital Film 55
impression of the characters’ perfor- combined with models and miniatures 40,000–50,000 virtual spectators were
mance. The duration on screen has a in complex composite shots that are de- achieved by shooting extras performing
detrimental effect on photorealistic con- signed to make it difficult for spectators different actions (e.g., cheering, booing,
tinuity impression, “plausibly reflecting to distinguish between them.” (40) talking) against a green screen while
the messiness of extreme action in the Therefore, it might be argued that In- wearing a special blue wrap over their
world we know” (Bordwell, Poetics of dependence Day exemplifies the trans- costumes that could be digitally recol-
Cinema 398). Because “cuts fracture formation of the digital filmmaker’s am- ored for variation. Each spectator was
every instant of action into a barrage of bition toward a creative goal guided by then mapped onto a virtual flat card.
brief, sometimes barely legible images” the desire to achieve a target action shot These cards were positioned in each seat
(399), and characters are presented on that captures the spectator’s concentra- in the stadium, allowing the images of
screen for limited periods, it prevents tion on a complete “hyperkinetic stimu- people to be distributed around the Coli-
the spectator from perceiving the con- lus” and not on a separate, dazzling, seum. The computer randomized the
joined, digitally manipulated compound and outstanding element that is being performances, the timing, and the color
shot as a computer-generated product transplanted into it (40–44). Here, the of the togas and stuck them back in the
and thus increases its photorealistic, or process of representation frames not the model. Visual effects supervisor John
auratic, impact. virtual image but the whole composition Nelson said, “The greatest compliment,
According to Bordwell (“Intensi- into a cohesive on-screen world. It dem- really, is to have people not notice your

fied Continuity”), although cutting very onstrates the filmmaker’s control over work and ask you what you did” (cited
brief shots on celluloid is labor-inten- the compound shot while maintaining in DeSalvo 34). This attitude reveals
sive and complicated digital editing al- its perceptually realistic composition. the filmmaker’s assumption that rather
lows filmmakers to easily shave shots By this definition, the digital film- than targeting its photorealistic fidelity,
frame by frame (22–23). Therefore, at maker is one who creates a composite, the most effective emotional evocation
this point it is reasonable to assume that reframed shot from a set of modular and of a reimagined digital composition is
a filmmaker pursuing a realistic ambi- malleable elements (a collection of im- achieved by amplifying its legibility and
tion will stick to rapid editing strategies ages with various sources and a potential assuring its cinematic expressivity.
and loose-style performances. Thus, the for an infinite number of compositions), This approach fits Bordwell’s analy-
loose-style performance can be seen as in such a way that disguises or erases sis of the editing strategies in Hong
another, corollary characteristic of digi- any sign of the production process, en- Kong action-film style, which is based
tal aesthetics that facilitates the film- abling what Manovich called the com- on Beijing opera traditions, Japanese
maker’s realistic ambition. plete immersion through the screen as a swordplay films, and Sergio Leone’s
As digital techniques became wide- visual window to an illusionary world spaghetti westerns. According to Bor-
spread during the 1990s, rather than em- (192). This method shifts the spectator’s dwell, the “discontinuity editing strat-
phasizing the photorealistic impression attention from the photorealistic special egy” of those genres, which exhibits a
of the action, digital films displayed a effect image to the digitally integrated balance between long pauses of poised
strenuous effort to attain the integra- compound shot by disguising or eras- stillness and outbursts of violence, such
tion of multielement compositions into ing any signs of the production process as in a swift attack or defense in a battle,
a coherent and cohesive shot. Focusing in order to enhance the e of the scene achieve “diagrammatic clarity”—a clear
on the battle sequence in Independence and evoke the spectator emotionally.For realization of movements—which exag-
Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996), Pierson example, the Coliseum arena in Gladia- gerates the motion-arousing features of
indicated “a radical departure from the tor (Ridley Scott, 2000) reflects the lat- the martial art. This is a “staccato perfor-
presentationist style of exhibition ad- ter objective, through a combination of mance tactic,” based on isolated discrete
opted by the SF films made in the early live-action construction, computer-gen- gestures on a moment-by-moment basis
part of this decade. Gone is the empha- erated set extensions, and matte paint- that provides an “expressive thrust of a
sis on the aesthetic and technological ings. DeSalvo shows how the flight shot cartoonist nature” (Poetics of Cinema
specificity of the computer-generated over the top of the Coliseum seamlessly 406). Camera work that focuses on the
special effect” (39). integrates numerous elements such as
Pierson considers the battle sequence live-action shooting, digital crowd-rep-
in Independence Day, which combines lication, three-dimensional computer-
Pierson considers the battle
large numbers of U.S. F-18 fighters and generated buildings (including the top of
alien attackers, to be a landmark in the the Coliseum), and flying birds. Twenty- sequence in Independence Day,
shift in digital film aesthetics. The se- five percent of the Coliseum was con- which combines large numbers
quence is based on motion-control mod- structed with an actual set piece built on
of U.S. F-18 fighters and alien
els, computer-generated images, and location in Malta—a 52-foot C-shaped
attackers, to be a landmark
background photographic plates. “In- section—while the rest is a computer-
stead of foregrounding the exhibition of generated three-dimensional extension in the shift in digital film
its CGI, computer-generated images are rendered on the computer. In addition, aesthetics.