Persistent illusions of time and space in film and television (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: In film and television production, most of the multiplicity of rendered effects are ultimate results of cleverly devised composition and camera techniques. To entertain in cinematic terms means to attract the viewer's attention by affecting him at the very core of his being. Very personal and intimate feelings must be evoked to achieve such visual awareness and therefore producers and directors of television shows and feature films are utilizing the entire technology's capacity. Most of the time, the usage of cinematic techniques comes along with heavy losses of such elements that are still realistic and original. Illusions of time and space are created and spectators are regularly deluded.
The main concern of this term paper is to provide the reader with an as broad as possible overview of the technological trends that occurred in the past centuries and are of fundamental importance for the creation of illusions. Specific attention will at this juncture be turned to the manipulation of space and time, as well as to the director's intentions that were followed by it.
In the second part of the paper in hand, the established principles of media-theoretical terms will be transferred to Richard Linklater's Before Sunset, a follow-up to the 1994's success Before Sunrise. A film which consists of long-take tracking shots and evokes the illusion of realism in terms of time and space that are passed, which is why it is almost predestined for a closer analysis like this.