The Film Industry: Entertainment Vs. Art

The Film Industry: Entertainment Vs. Art

What happened to film? I remember when I used to shit myself to a man in a plastic suit, scream at clay models shuffling to life and piss my self with laughter at men hitting each other with wooden planks. Now I just don’t feel the same way.

Recently I had the chance to see Hollywood’s latest blockbuster '2012' on the big screen and it got me thinking about the Film Industry and the moves it has made in the last 20 years. Can it seriously be considered art anymore? What are the major differences in so-called art films and Hollywood blockbusters? And finally, is there a faint white line between what we describe as art and what label entertainment?

Lets look at ‘2012’ as an example of entertainment vs. art; it has moments of visual splendour where we see fully rendered cities in disaster and of course atrocious acting and script writing. This is the "crap" we have come to expect from Hollywood at least once every 6 months but I was honestly entertained. I felt my girlfriend’s hand constrict around my own and knew that she was entertained; however this is not art, this is not the cinema I fell in love with. This is simply a sideshow attraction from universal studios. You know the ones where they strap you onto a moving chair and fling 3D buildings (usually in flames) at you for 20 minutes. This is not art!

I'm a huge Videogame fan and I honestly love wasting hours of my life wading through superbly designed environments, but that's a video game where 3D graphics feel essential. In films I feel very different, I think that more traditional SFX techniques give film an identity and atmosphere. Remember when R2D2 and C3PO enter Jabba’s complex in Return of the Jedi? The scurry of giant spider like creatures and those pig creatures carrying huge axes? Of course you do! Do you remember the part in Return of the Sith where…lot’s of things exploded? Maybe, but I’m sure in 15 years you won’t and I had problems thinking of any standout scenes where I felt the same atmosphere.

3D effects have become the apple of too many directors’ eyes over the last 20 years and now they rely on them a little too much. Terminator, Predator and even Robocop are fine examples of creativity without taking away the atmosphere of the film. Sure they won’t be remembered for their acting but they were still art. Where tools were created from scratch to perform certain roles.

And this brings me to my second point. What makes film an art form?  Is it the visuals? YES! Is it the acting? Of course it is. Is it the hours put in to pre-production to make sure every scene has atmosphere? Absolutely. Film is an art form unlike any other. It’s a combination of so many disciplines that all together create a story and memories.

My final example of 3D effects in films comes from the early 90s; ‘Jurassic Park’. Steven Spielberg brought us a compelling story mixed with great characters, scenes that I can still remember today and fantastic 3D special effects. Was this because it was new technology? I don’t think so. I think unlike ‘Star Wars: Return of the Sith’ it mixed those elements with the more traditional style of animatronics and creative labour.

Believe me, I think there is a massive place for 3D effects in filmmaking. I have high hopes for “Avatar”, James Cameron is a visionary and I know he will try his best to make it work; however if he finds a way to use these new techniques to add to, and not take away from all the other skills involved in making a film we could be talking about ‘Avatar’ for a long, long time.