Hello class,
I chose to look at starwarswars.com and the How Not to be Seen videos.
Starwarswars.com was a project I’d heard about before but had never looked into. This project combines the first two trilogies of Star Wars films and plays them simultaneously, one on top of the other. This was done, as Marcus explains in the about section on the website, through an effect that only displays the brightest pixels in each video layer. He says that’s why Hoth from Episode V takes up a large section of the project as the white pixels of the snow are the brightest.
How Not to be Seen was a trip. I was thoroughly confused at first, but as the video continued, I think I got a grasp at the message behind becoming invisible. Pixel manipulation allows for any object, person, place or thing to be changed or altered on screen. Green screen, resolution, image layering, all are methods used to alter what the audience sees.
Tying these examples to the main question for this blog, how is the realism of traditional cinema challenged by techniques such as this? As the audience, we are keen on determining whether something is real or not. Is this scene CGI or is its traditional footage? Pixels determine what’s visible, and what’s not. As creators, we can choose what we want or don’t want to be seen. We can choose what’s real or what’s not real.
Thanks for reading!
Caleb