The search for literature on visual style. (or defining the specific set of styles I am looking at)
Once a reasonable number of stylised films were gathered a system of organisation, with reference to the quality characterising each style, was devised. The films were grouped under the following labels: Visuals, movement, character design, content, colour, VFX and general. If a production has a severely manipulated colour scheme or restricted pallet it would be grouped under 'stylised colour', assuming none of its other properties were more exaggerated.
An explanation of each label
Stylised visuals:
Stylised movement:
stop motion has a very particular movement
Fully cg animated movies have a style - over exaggeration
Hand drawn animation takes the exaggeration
early CG animation has a weird other-worldly quality (may not have been intentional)
Stylised character design:
...
anima - big eyes...
Tim burton - long thing limbs...
Stylised colour:
Stylised content:
Stylised VFX:
General:
A second possible direction of organisation is that of genre, this option is favored more by film literature. These two sets of labels are related with certain combinations of the former producing films that fit into the latter categories. In other words, the mixture of elements used in the production of a film will define which genre it will belong to. The list of elements used to categorise the examples in this document is not a complete list.
Films referred to in this research as 'stylised' are those in which one or more 'ingrediant' has been pushed to its limit. A well known example is the 2005 film 'Sin City'. The Colour pallet has been restricted to red, blue, green and pink. They are used sparsely in order to emphasise a character with the majority of shots in highly contrasting black and white. With the exception of occasional colour the style is comparable to that of Film Noir.
other elements (viloence, mystery...) combine to turn the film into an 'action, crime, thriller'
Link between the genres produced by content and visual style - Film Noir productions typically being crime fiction.
The use of this visual style is clearly successfull in emphasing the mood.
What ended the Film Noir period (1940s - 1950s)? did it continue under another guise?
where did it begin - roots in German expressionist cinematography (low key, black and white) and the 'hardboiled crime fiction' emerging from the depression
Non visual elements grouped under 'content' - inclusion of these elements goes beyond the scope of this study.
the silence beneath the bark / le silence sous l'écorce from joanna lurie on Vimeo.