Between Reality and Realism: CGI and Narrative in Hollywood Children's Films

Abstract

This paper addresses many concepts and concerns related to the previously underexplored topic of CGI and narrative in Hollywood children’s films. Through an analysis of scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Inkheart it demonstrates that CGI spectacle does not exist in opposition to narrative progression as some scholars have suggested. Instead, by drawing on theorists like Lefebvre and Furstenau (2002), this investigation asserts that belief in fictional realism is paramount to spectatorship. It is shown that CGI can be used in a way that respects realism in the Bazin tradition and continuity editing in order to allow the spectator to believe in the fictional reality of narrative events. This belief is then connected to the emotional engagement of the spectator by drawing on ideas from Smith’s (1994) structure of sympathy. The ultimate goal of this paper is to present a conceptualization of CGI that creates a stronger distinction between reality and film realism than previous literature has suggested.