Eldon Booths- reality and illusion.

Blog question: 'using film terminology, discuss Eldon Booths exploration of reality and illusion.'


This week's topic was on Moving image by Eldon Booths. I have never done moving image before and have never met Eldon till Monday's class. So it's quite inspiring to have a lecture by someone that began as an art student just like us now. Through his study he have developed a love for writing scripts, and he dedicated his practices on his fascination of the idea on blurring the difference between 'reality and fiction'.


He began by explaining realism in terms of making a footage. Realism is an illusion created by shooting from a 1st person view, making the character a very personal subject. This technique manipulates the viewer to think that they are viewing reality. Eldon mentioned some of his critics, among which i have heard of Ramond Williams and Marion Jordan.

I found the critic that Marion Jordan did on Coronation Street rather humorous, as i am not a fan of the show, shame to say i even find it hard to watch, because the lack of exciting plot for the story to a point i see it as a show for seniors. However as Eldon explained, that is why the series is successful in capturing a vision of reality. Jordan stated in her essay 'Realism and convention', that Coronation Street is based upon working class characters, average everyday people that the audience can relate to, as well as a real location that people might have been to or lived in. This manipulates the audience into seeing the story as believable, as they would feel like they are watching their own everyday lives.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1225036



There's many ways of portraying reality, conventional dramas like Coronation Street is a common method, where the audience is seeing from the camera's point of view, here the audience is all knowing. This is done by the counter shot format, which is done in continuity editing style where the camera cuts back and forth from characters. Eldon moved on by showing the class a short clip from E.R as an example of the camera editing. the reality is obtained from the illusion of realism, because the camera is not noticeable.
However E.R did an 'Ambush episode' that is completely different in techniques, the ambush episode was done in the style of a documentary.
Eldon mentioned a book by media scholar John Fiske - Television Culture: transparency vs Reflection, where Fiske explains that conventional dramas are the 'Reflection', that allows the audience to relate the roles of the characters, and documentaries are the 'transparency', that opens a window to the world.
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=UttKCZIHsR8C&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=television+culture+john+fiske+transparency+reflection&source=bl&ots=d8oG-P29PM&sig=sM82KjLqXh7kyS9OS6Xqe2XSx_U&hl=en&ei=IRFmTK-NJ4jQsAOek4n3DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Documentary is another way of projecting a vision of reality. Noted in this particular episode there are blurred focuses, lower grade of stock making the image noticeably lower quality, erratic pans of the camera due to the camera being most likely hand held and the lack of editing, lastly and most importantly the camera now becomes apparent. Characters become 'aware' of the camera and the fact they are being filmed, therefore acting unnatural, as well as making eye contacts with the lens.

which links to the next video Eldon showed us and it was a work by him. In this footage, as Eldon explains, he was using 'amateur' filming technique. The 'Amateur' method is just like the name, it doesn't require much technical skills. By using natural sound/music and following at the back of the characters, very much in the style of a documentary where as the audience in the place of the camera is the observer. There's also a use of a split screen that emphasis on the biological deterioration by comparing the grandson with the grandfather. Even though they are shown doing very different things but also very similar, like the connection in drug use, the grandfather in bed near the end of his timeline and the change in landscape.

Just like traditional paintings, modern media also evolve in trying to capture realism. Though i am unfamiliar to this topic and I have never done any moving image related practices before, i do look forward to it as it seem like a new and interesting way to explore realism through more technical approaches with modern technology.