The Aesthetic Formation Of Hollywood Science Fiction Films

Since Hollywood cinema was born,it has been conceived as a mode of transmission of American popular culture and American spirits,which has distinct ideological characteristics and the aesthetic philosophy.The science fiction film is one of the most important genres of Hollywood cinema.It originated from the progress of scientific technology which is an objective basis for the existence of science fiction films.Although Hollywood science fiction films made up of high-tech elements do not boast profound history,some early Hollywood films have a certain degree of science fictional thinking and their rapid development also shock the world.From a content perspective,the story of a Hollywood science fiction film is about virtual reality or future reality,grounded on the possibilities.Therefore,compared with other film genres,Hollywood science fiction films full of imagination present richer choices of content.From an audio-visual perspective,the audio-visual elements of Hollywood science fiction films are based on well-developed science and technology.Breath-taking impacts are made through makeup,special effects,film editing,sound effects and scenes.Especially in recent years,thanks to the rise and rapid development of 3D,4D,IMAX and other technologies,Hollywood science fiction film has further amplified the narrative limitations of traditional technology and marked the beginning of virtual reality.From an aesthetic speculation perspective,both content and technology mentioned above make profound influence on it.Firstly,the commercial features of audio-visual miracle derived from technology of Hollywood science fiction film are very distinct.It has even developed a set of production,advertising and marketing modes which bring about indirect critique of science and technology trends.Some audience and film theorists begin to explore and analyze whether Hollywood science fiction films characterized by technology,sci-fi and pure sensation seeking need to pursue in-depth spiritual aesthetics.Secondly,the ideology of the aesthetic value ishidden in Hollywood science fiction films.It must permeate audience members through a number of images and sound elements.However,they immerse themselves in an audio-visual feast created by technology in the process of watching films,leading to the lack of interpretation on the ideology of the aesthetic value.Finally,the discussion on the aesthetic constitution of Hollywood science fiction films is always built up within the criticism of technology,which results in the co-existence of guidance and restriction brought through technological experience.Consequently,American cultural and political logic must be implanted into the aesthetic components of Hollywood science fiction films,regardless of whether this implantation is explicit or implicit.Only in this way can the spiritual core of Hollywood science fiction films exist in a larger number of eye-catching audio-visual effects.The present study mainly focuses on the aesthetic framework of Hollywood science fiction films.The analysis is developed through different perspectives,including film content,technology,audio-visual effects,commercial elements and communication.At the same time,it presents the historical development of Hollywood science fiction films and further explores the changes of the aesthetic framework over the years.The present study is comprised of the introduction,the overview of Hollywood science fiction films,the display of the aesthetic features in Hollywood science fiction films,the shaping factors of aesthetic features in Hollywood science fiction films,the artistic reflections brought by Hollywood science fiction films and the conclusion.The specific research framework is as follows:The Introduction consists of the origin of aesthetic research on Hollywood science fiction films,previous research methods and results,and the focus,difficulty,feasibility and necessity of the present study.Starting with some concepts,Chapter One discusses conceptual connotation and denotation related to Hollywood science fiction films and theoretical foundation of the aesthetic constitution.Chapter Two,Three and Four expound on the display of aestheticfeatures in Hollywood science fiction films,including narrative aesthetics presented in the mixture of reality and fiction,audio-visual aesthetics presented in the mixture of science and art,and the spiritual aesthetics presented in the mixture of ideology and entertainment orientation.The mixture of reality and fiction incorporates reality and fiction derived from the ontology of film,reality and fiction created by the film script,reality and fiction in the representation of time-space,and reality and fiction in the dimension of audience acceptance.The mixture of science and art incorporates science fiction plots and artistic aesthetic category,the artistic aesthetic effect driven by science and technology,and the reflection of science and technology driven by artistic aesthetic.The mixture of ideology and entertainment orientation incorporates internal strategies embodied in the value of popular culture demonstrated by simplified characters,external strategies embodied in national image constructed through popular sci-fi plots,and textual strategies embodied in political metaphors brought by sci-fi conservative narration.As for textual strategies,the present study will also draw on some theories of communication science to conduct a systematical study on effectiveness of ideological transmission of Hollywood science fiction films.Whether Hollywood cinema helps construct the ideology of American government or functions as a reflection of the author's own ideology,it makes Hollywood science fiction film a communicative carrier of American spirit and further promotes the importance of Hollywood science fiction film as a propaganda instrument of American national image.Chapter Five analyzes the shaping factors and the effect of the aesthetic features of Hollywood science fiction films,among which the social and political constraints,the promotion of market commerce,the kernel function of cultural concept and the aesthetic effect of unique artistic characteristics are included.Social and political constraints include ideology and ideological state apparatuses,the display of ideology in Hollywood science fiction films,and political censorship of Hollywood science fiction films.The analysis of the promotion of market commerce includes the historical cause,the display mode,and the profound influence with regard to Hollywood science fiction films.The kernel function of cultural conceptincludes the changes of cultural concept,the historical development,and a dichotomy between rationality and sensitivity in Hollywood science fiction films.The aesthetic effect of unique artistic characteristics includes the beauty of arts brought by science and technology,aesthetic reflections incorporated in traditional narratives,new aesthetic space established by parallel and non-linear narrative techniques.In this part,some films are respectively analyzed as a case study by applying film content analysis method and film audio-visual language analysis method to have an in-depth discussion and exploration of all shaping factors mentioned above.The Conclusion summarizes and further analyzes the artistic reflections brought by Hollywood science fiction films.Firstly,we should attach great importance to local culture exploitation and application,which includes reflections on how Chinese cultural elements are embodied in Hollywood science fiction films.Secondly,to strengthen the research and implementation of commercial operation.It is beneficial to draw on Hollywood marketing ploys and export Chinese science fiction films.Thirdly,we should always undertake the mission of humanistic and aesthetic.It entails the reconstruction of natural environment ecosystem,the reconstruction of values of historical wars,the thoughts on biochemical variation,and the wise use of artificial intelligence.Last but not least,we should actively respond to how to break culture hegemony with the analysis of American strong military power,cultural hegemony and export of cultural values.That is to say,this part summarizes all the arguments put forward in previous chapters and aesthetic framework of Hollywood science fiction films and explores future developmental trend and aesthetic philosophy of Hollywood science fiction films.Finally,based on the current situation of domestic films,the present study attempts to explore an international aesthetic route for the science fiction film,which is applicable to the development of Chinese science fiction film and conducive to Chinese spiritual inheritance in science and technology.