Aesthetics is the style and tone of a film.
Realism
Realism is an attempt to make the audience believe in the world the film creates
Verisimilitude – When a film conveys a sense of truthfulness and realism, sometimes requiring suspension of disbelief
Intruder (1989, Scott Spiegel)
The Hitcher (1986, Robert Harmon)
Social Realism – The movie displays a social environment and its impacts on the characters in it.
Perfect Blue (1997, Satoshi Kon) – Kon uses the film to critique the Japanese idol system and how celebrities are treated.
Magic Realism – Surreal and fantastical elements have been incorporated into an otherwise realistic setting
Carrie (1976, Brian De Palma)
Hyperreality – A film in which the reality portrayed is exaggerated, or is “too real to be real”
The Matrix Reloaded (2003,The Wachowzkis)
Visual Style
Iconography – Use of reoccurring visual symbols that convey emotion and provide symbolism
Lady Vengeance (2005, Park Chan-Wook) – the colour white is used in the movie to show purity, revenge and devotion.
Intertextual Referencing – When a film incorporates aspects of another work (another film, book, series, poetry etc)
The Crow (1994, Alex Proyas) – The graphic novel the film was based on was heavily inspired by the band Joy Division and quoted song titles in the artwork frequently, and the film itself quotes classic literature like ‘Paradise Lost’ and Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Raven‘
Visual/Sound motifs – Recurring element in a film to help the story like announcing a character, punctuating a plot point or highlighting a theme
Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) – Suspiria uses a lot of unnatural red and blue lighting, creating a dreamlike feel and being used to announce the appearance of supernatural forces or death
Colour Grading – changing the colour of footage in post production to create a constant colour scheme or to represent a theme
Manhunter (1986, Michael Mann)
Auteur trademark – a visual technique used prominently by a particular director that an audience can use to recognise as their work
Phantom Of The Paradise (1974, Brian De Palma) – De Palma uses split screen often in his works
Tone
A films tone is how it portrays its subject matter and how the audience should feel while watching the film
Pathos – Something in a film that invokes pity and compassion in the spectator
Stand By Me (1986, Rob Reiner) – Gordie dreams that his father tells him he should have died instead of his brother
Bathos – an effect of anticlimax
Se7en (1995, David Fincher) – The main antagonist of the film turns himself in
Suspense – When the director creates anticipation and anxiousness in the audience during tense scenes
Black Christmas (1974, Bob Clark)
Comedy – aspects in a film intended to make a spectator laugh and entertain them
Scary Movie (2000, Keenen Ivory Weyans)
Dramatic Irony – When the audience knows something a character doesn’t
Woman Of The Hour (2023, Anna Kendrick) – The audience knows Rodney is a killer. Cheryl doesn’t.
Distancing Effect (V-Effekt) – When the audience is reminded that they are watching a film and are “alienated” from the world of the film
The Muppet Movie (1979, James Frawley) – Dr. Teeth reads the films script
Postmodern Humour – when a film subverts mainstream audience expectations
Return Of The Living Dead (1985, Dan O’Bannon) – The film subverts the standard horror movie format at the time by making the main cast a group of punks and low wage workers and giving them personalities and depth