Verisimilitude
Verisimilitude in cinema refers to the appearance or illusion of reality achieved through mimesis [1] which permits what is happening on the screen “believable” and which in turn allows the filmmaker to commandeer and manipulate the emotions of the audience. In other words, the relationship between verisimilitude and the willing suspension of disbelief [2] on the part of audiences—the fundamental tool of imagination that permits one to enjoy/appreciate a film—is directly proportional. Film genres that have the greatest amount of verisimilitude (along a high-to-low continuum) are: "direct cinema," followed by "observational cinema", followed by films made in the cinéma vérité tradition.[3] However, all Hollywood-type films seek maximum verisimilitude, especially through manipulation of production values, [4] without of course making the film look like a documentary. Notice that there is a fundamental contradiction here: verisimilitude is highly desirable but it should not have the quality of a documentary. Another major contradiction of course is that in so far as verisimilitude depends on the manipulation of production values it runs counter to what happens in real life (for instance, our lives are not accompanied by sound tracks).
Verisimilitude in cinema is of particular interest in this class because of its dependence on high production values which in turn demand a high level of technology and financial resources in the production of the film and which in turn requires corporate mass-marketing. The outcome of this circumstance is that the quest for verisimilitude in cinema becomes the unwitting tool of the socialization of marginality in racist (or sexist or capitalist) societies. Study the slide image to see how this happens--taking the United States as an example--beginning with why cinema was invented in the first place. For an overview of stereotypes in cinema see the reading here.
NOTES
[1] Mimesis refers to the art of faithfully reproducing (to the extent possible, based on an artistic combination of media technology and creativity) "reality," be it from the perspective of human societies and or the natural world, in the arts—such as literature, theater, film, etc.
[2] I generally use this phrase ("willing suspension of disbelief") in a loose sense to mean the willingness by audiences to allow their emotions to be manipulated by a beam of light in the form of projected images—which I should remind you can be turned off with a simple switch in the film projector. A stricter, that is common, definition refers to the willingness of audiences to believe what is happening on the screen in particular genres of films or specific actions/scenes in a given film as “real,” but only for the duration of the film of course (unless one is a child). One genre, for example, that requires a very high dose of the willing suspension of disbelief is the science fiction film. Consider: people can only enjoy a Superman film if they are willing to believe (while watching the film) that Superman can really fly. (Once the film is over they can throw that silly notion out of the window.) Another good example of films that rely wholly on the willing suspension of disbelief by audiences are Disney cartoons where animal characters are not only completely anthropomorphic but are capable of fantastical antics. (Compare here too the Flintstones cartoon series, and of course the wonderful stop-animation films by filmmaker Wes Anderson, such as Fanstastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs.) Magical realism in literature and film, to give yet one more example, depend wholly on a willing suspension of disbelief. NOTE: stop animation, short for "stop-motion-animation," refers to a filmmaking technique that depends on moving still characters and objects in a film (usually clay figures, puppets, miniatures, etc.) in a step-by-step fashion as they are photographed one step at a time. When the cinematography is complete and the film is played at a normal speed (24 photographic frames per second--though with digital cinematography the frame rate has been steadily moving upward to render motion as smooth as possible) there is the amazing optical illusion of movement and life in the film among the still characters and objects.
[3] "Cinéma vérité" refers to a style of making films that seeks to capture “realism”—but as perceived and manipulated by the filmmaker. The term, as well as the style, is of French origin and means “truth cinema.” Although this style comes close to the documentary style of filmmaking the two styles should not be confused with each other. Cinéma vérité does not necessarily require filming of actual reality, it can simply mimic it but still be fiction; whereas a documentary film is, at its foundation, the filming of true reality (even if the filmmaker may be “creative” with the truth in what and how that reality is captured). Note: the documentary style of filmmaking is sometimes referred to as direct cinema where the filmmaker avoids any participation in the ongoing action; even avoiding, if possible, narration. However, unlike observational cinema (another type of documentary filmmaking), it does require some input from the filmmaker, at least at the post-production level, e.g. when editing, and one may legitimately argue even during filming from the perspective of the kinds of lighting and camera shots that are used. Observational cinema is sometimes referred to as “fly on the wall” style of documentary filmmaking—that is, unobtrusively listening and observing—a good example of which is to be found in C-Span’s TV broadcasts of news events.
[4] The term production values is usually associated with the visual arts, such as cinema. For example, in filmmaking it refers to everything that makes a film look professional in its technical execution (from acting to special effects, from directing to production design, from costumes to lighting, from the sound track to cinematography, from film editing to film color, and so on), so as to enhance the film's audience appeal. Usually, but not always, there is a relationship of direct proportionality between the film budget, high production values, and verisimilitude; meaning the bigger the film budget, the higher the production values, which in turn leads to greater verisimilitude. (Note: high production values tells us nothing about the subject matter of the film and whether the film is worth watching.)
