“As 2D textures become 3D surfaces and camera moves are projected into virtual space, as photographs furnish textures for painting and painting adds layer to live-action imagery, cinema finds new ways of expressing its fundamentally hybrid nature. The digital and the indexical are not in relation of opposition but are a dialectical moment in an ongoing process of stylistic continuity.” -Stephen Prince (182)
Watching Richard Fincher’s Zodiac, I couldn’t believe it was made in 2007. Unlike the clip from Die Another Day we watched in class, the film “blends its effects tools imperceptibly,” and transports viewers back to both extinct decades and settings, as well as a by-gone era of filmmaking (180). More along the lines of (as Prince would say) Master and Commander, the use of visual effects on the film seems to “create a sense of complete realism,” where “the illusionistic world [represented]…look[ed] like its authentic counterpart,” (180). Not that I was in San Francisco in the 70s (or even alive in the 70s for that matter), but stunning cinematography and seamless incorporation of visual effects coupled with the stellar acting performances made me, as a viewer on a two hour and thirty minute journey not, “even consider that what [I] was watching was not totally real,”(just like Nathan McGuinness of Asylum had hoped for with viewers of Master and Commander, 180). Rather, I found myself completely engrossed by the narrative, the characters and, mostly, by the beautiful visuals that painted the whole picture. The film’s authenticity felt even further supported by its illusions to the New Hollywood cinema of the late-60s and 70s. For example, the opening scene felt reminiscent of American Graffiti (George Lucas; 1973). So much of its documentary-style and film noir-esque depictions of the chase (the mundane/tedious aspects, as well as the thrilling/face-paced ones) and (failed and successful) attempts to sidestep bureaucratic bullshit felt reminiscent All the Presidents Men (Alan Pakula; 1976) and at Chinatown (Roman Polanski; 1974). The film was a true exhibition of the marriage of the old and the new; a testament to use of digital effects that goes beyond whatever superhero movie is currently playing at your local theater.
American Cinema 