The Challenge Of Grasping The Reality in Animation

Capturing 'reality' in films has become a goal of many filmmakers. Realist films are described as pieces that portray life and all its authenticity. Theoretically speaking, turning on a camera and filming an event every second of its duration should capture its true reality, but there are various aspects that contribute bias that violate the concept of realism. Any film that claims to be true and supported by facts can be challenged on the grounds that the content it presents is simply not true.

As difficult as it already is to capture reality via live-action filming, animated films encounter a more complex predicament which arises in the nature of itself.

Animation, unlike live-action film, is created through the imagination. This, by principle, overtly goes against the theory of 'realism'. Animation is considered to be 'completely fake' by virtue due to the fact that the use of a camera to record reality is absent, and it is instead artificially constructed and recorded through drawings and soundtracks to create its own version of reality.

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But according to Paul Wells, "Any definition of 'reality' is necessarily subjective. Any definition of 'realism' as it operates within any image-making practice is also open to interpretation," (Wells, 24). Initially, models that were recognized to capture an authentic representation of reality ranged from non-fiction films to neo-realist fictions such as those that emerged from post-war Italy or dramas made in Britain circa 1960s (Wells, 24). However, some argued that the films aforementioned above solely focused on the external reality and the representation of ordinary, everyday existence, and lacked any concern for psychological aspects, such as the works of surrealists.

Surrealists suggest that "'reality' is a matter of how it is perceived or unconsciously mediated," (Wells, 24). Although 'realism' is a relative concept, the films that tend to rid themselves of obvious cinematic conventions such as the recording of people, objects, environments, and events which characterize the common understanding of lived experiences, are films that most accurately represent 'reality', (Wells, 24). This idea gave animation the potential and right to be considered realist films.

In 1923, Walt Disney and his brother Roy established Walt Disney Productions, which became one of the best-known motion picture production companies in the world (Walt Disney). One way Walt Disney Productions attempted to portray realism in their films is through the realistic depiction of their animation. In his early years, Disney focused on the verisimilitude in his characters, contexts, and narratives, (Wells, 23). He embarked in workshops to improve upon his skills and techniques of fine art in his goal towards creating even more realistic characters. He fine-tuned his skills so that the animals in his animations moved more like real animals. The challenge in this, however, was not only achieving the realistic movements, but also doing so discretely so as to make the complexity of the movements go unnoticed by the viewers. These realistic conditions were not only achieved through the dexterity of the artist's skills in drawing the creatures, but also through the development of the multiplane camera, (Wells, 23). The multiplane camera gave way to new techniques in attaining realism in Disney films by painting images on different panes of glass that are stacked up on top of each other to create dimensions in an image. One of the more popular films that used this technique was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) which received rave reviews, (Wells, 24). Walt Disney Productions adopted other techniques throughout the years such as stop motion—which included the use of claymation, cloths, and other objects—as well as computer-generated imagery (CGI) that further contributed to the success in capturing realism in animation, (Schirmer, 92).

Aside from the technical aspects of capturing reality in animation, the concept of 'realism' and the individual interpretation it allows is another aspect in the theory of realism in animation. The film Pocahontas, a personal favorite of mine, was the first Disney animation based on real-life people and events. Because of this, The Disney Studios felt a strong commitment to depict the leading characters as believably as possible, (Wells, 26). The film was praised for having "moments of startling beauty" in respect to both animation and soundtrack, (Pocahontas (1995 Film)). Some film critics, however, were enraged at the inaccuracies in the story, claiming it "offensive for glossing over more negative treatment of Pocahontas and her tribe by the British," (Pocahontas ( 1995 Film)). Others may argue, though, that the interpretation of the characters is the key in capturing the realism in the film. According to the psychological approaches which emphasizes 'reality' as a matter of how it is perceived or unconsciously mediated, this film adequately allows for such freedom of interpretation to occur. The relationship between Pocahontas and Grandmother Willow represents the strong relationship the Native Americans had with their land, and extends to their beliefs regarding nature in which they often seeked guidance from in life—which parallels the many times Pocahontas confides in Grandmother Willow in the film. The conflict between the British oppressors lead by Governor Ratcliffe and the Powhatan tribe is an accurate representation of events in history. Although some events in Pocahontas were fictionalized, the idea of the tension between the two groups is portrayed adequately. The colors and music used in the film were strategically and creatively arranged in a way to make the audience connect with the movie in ways live-action shots cannot. Blends of colors and abstract drawings are received by the audience in the most authentic way because they are meant to be internalized and experienced individually. Animations let us delve in our deepest imagination where our subconscious allows us to perceive the reality we derive from the film.

In the final analysis, realism has become a contended concept in animated films, but with the help of emerging techniques due to technology and the freedom of interpretation that the theory of realism allows us, we are able to perceive the most honest form of reality that imagination allows us. The concept of imagination, in this case, is not used in the term to describe the ability of the mind to be creative, or even the part of the mind that imagines things, but rather the notion of forming ideas, or images, or concepts of external objects that may not be present to the senses—which seems to me a lot like the concept of 'reality'. Animation presents individuals the opportunity to internalize reality to our mind's ability that live-action film fails to provide due to, ironically, the limitations of the real world, or 'reality'.