Call Me By Your Name & Normal People:

The Exploratory Art of Immersive Storytelling

Presented by Nicole Condez

Foundation Course Film 145 Quality Television — Professor Laderman

Spring 2021 Honors Humanities 103 — Professor Mangin & Professor Woltag

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Terms to Know

3

Introduction

4

Environmental Immersion

9

Psychological Immersion

17

Conclusion

24

Short Film

25

Works Cited

27

TERMS TO KNOW:

• Mise-en-scene: French for “setting the stage.” Refers to everything in front of the camera, including set design, lighting, and actors, and the overall effect of how it all comes together for the audience.
• Voyeurism: cinematically “the act of peering into and spying on other people’s activities and private moments. The subject does not know that he or she is being watched, which leaves the voyeur free to try to interpret what he or she sees.”
• Despite the sexist connotation of voyeurism being affiliated with the male gaze and the objectification of women tracing all the way back to Hitchcock’s directorial reign (Mulvey) ... voyeurism, for the context of this research slideshow, is emphasized for its simple act of intrusively watching intimate moments between the characters in discussion.
• To preface: Call Me By Your Name and Normal People’s immersive atmosphere have a deliberate way of inviting onlookers to witness these sexual intimacies as a non-sexualized or exploited human act.

“STORYTELLING OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK WITH YOUR AUDIENCE, NOT AT THEM”

• In a technologically advanced 21st century world, creators in the entertainment industry have shown to elucidate this idea by repeatedly breaking barriers of conventional storytelling to make genuine connections with their viewers.
• Straying away from the distracting escapist cinema of the 1990s and early 2000s, new films such as Call Me By Your Name (2017) and television shows like Normal People (2020) have brilliantly constructed forms of immersive storytelling in which the viewer, once subjected to passive amusement, has now been voyeuristically placed into the narrative’s surroundings.

Laura Holloway

Founder & Chief of The Storyteller Agency Blog

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017)

• Directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted from the 2007 novel by Andre Aciman.
• In the dreamy summertime of 1983, Lombardy, Italy, where precocious 17 y/o Elio Perlman lives with his parents in a 17th century villa, he shortly meets doctoral student Oliver, who intends to stay with them for the summer working as an academic intern for Elio’s father.
• Together, Elio and Oliver slowly begin to develop a romantic relationship transcending the special experience of having a first love, yet they struggle to clearly express their affection for each other until they realize time is fleeting and Oliver must leave.
• This intimate coming of age film not only explores Elio’s queer sexual awakening, but it also resonates with themes of the classical arts, identity and attraction.

click image for trailer

NORMAL PEOPLE (2020)

• Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald and adapted from the 2018 novel written by Sally Rooney.
• Chronicling a slow burn romance akin to Elio and Oliver’s, this 12-episode series is set in the fictional town of Carricklea, Ireland where young teenagers Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron engage in a quiet on-and-off relationship as they transition from secondary school students to college undergraduates.
• Divergent in socioeconomic backgrounds, Marianne’s wealth is nothing next to her unpopularity and bookishness that other students taunt her for. In contrast, Connell is a well-liked student athlete, but quiet bystander among his friends who verbally harass Marianne.
• Despite their eventual few successful attempts as a stable couple, they remain primarily hindered by their excessive worry of to appeal to other people’s perception of them, their lack of effective communication, and taxing navigation of adulthood.

click image for trailer

AND NO, THESE CENTRAL COUPLES

DON’T END UP TOGETHER, SADLY

:(

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IMMERSIVE ATMOSPHERES AND BRIDGING THE GAP, WHAT TO EXPECT:

• Whether it be through elaborate writing or choreographed cinematography, despite Call Me By Your Name and Normal People’s differentiation as film and tv, both invite the audience’s full cognition to be engulfed in their intimate worlds and psychological introspections of the characters.
• Now, as the emergence of cinematic and complex serialized dramas arise in the evolving entertainment industry, what is consequently illustrated is a tight bridge forming between film and tv.
• THE BIG IDEA: blurring the boundaries and demonstrating a reflective relationship between what were once two very distinct audio-visual mediums, Call Me By Your Name and Normal People’s immersive storytelling techniques allow them to emulate a sense of familiarity in foreign environments and character personalities.
• The following research is a theorized breakdown of immersive storytelling and it’s two main components: environmental and psychological immersion, each withholding three facets of film form and production.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMMERSION

ENVIRONMENTAL IMMERSION

Better immersion than to live untouched. The first of two broad components, environmental immersion inherently hinges on feeding the human appeals of sight, hearing, believability, and “aesthetic pleasantness” (Zhang 2). Also considering cinematic design factors such as that of narrative and spatiality, Call Me By Your Name and Normal People’s long takes, mesmerizing composition, and proficient use of sound allows them to mentally absorb their audiences in the storyworld. As a result, viewers lose consciousness of their physical surroundings as they go from passive onlooker to being fully immersed in the onscreen frame.

I. COMPOSITION

• One of the fundamentals to environmental immersion in storytelling, the composition in these two productions revive much of the detail lost in translation from literary work to audiovisual mediums. 💡
• Defined as the way “elements of a scene are arranged in a camera frame … to convey an intended message,” composition:
• can both guide and emphasize the detailed nuances of a storyworld via cinematic qualities such as color grading, blocking, space, symmetry, focus, or depth of field (Maio).
• Inhabiting a wide array of visual stimuli, strategically designed composition can benefit the viewer’s experience by creating a desirable window for audiences to want to remain watching through.
• Known as the term versimilitude, audiences find visual content entertaining as their window of perception forms a particular semiotic experience set from manipulating the aforementioned aspects of composition in the storyworld (Visual storytelling).
• In other words, film form enhances the film content, which ultimately enhances the viewer’s comprehension and personal connection to the story.

I. COMPOSITION: THE LITTLE THINGS

Call Me By Your Name

To not only complement Elio’s observational skills in the novel and the Italian landscape that Aciman describes as “lush with fruit” and “scents all over the place,” (VICE News) Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name incorporates the use of warm color grading to emulate a dreamy summer atmosphere as well as a large depth of field to invite awareness of all detail in a shot than select ones. Shot on film using a 35mm lens, the movie encapsulates the serene countryside-feel through the bright yellow and green hues in the postcard-reminiscent shot of Elio’s hand reaching for a ripe homegrown peach amidst a bunch just like it. In addition, touching on Elio’s note in the novel that Oliver’s multi-colored shorts represent a different attitude for the day, the film depicts them changing color and angle over a span of time as they hang off the faucet before the glossy tiles of the boys’ connecting bathroom. This visually emphasizes key details about Elio’s home and Oliver’s space for the audience to remember now that only Elio would have noticed before.

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I. COMPOSITION: ISOLATION

Normal People

While it is true Normal People’s composition suggests great depth into the psychology of the characters as shown in the isolating, mentally opposing, negative space in these wide shots, the framing simultaneously invites the spectator to be in Marianne and Connell’s capacity. Separated from the background and surrounded by no other beings, these wide landscapes are memorable by their clear visibility and aesthetic appeal. However, they still immerse the viewer in an intrusive way, as if to allow an experience of loneliness in these seemingly empty settings together with Connell and Marianne.

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II. SOUND

• Whether in theaters or on a streaming device, sound plays an active role in evoking space outside of a screen, placing the spectator in the storyworld by collapsing the divide between it and reality. 💡
• “Sound is the immersive medium par excellence. Three-dimensional, interactive, and synesthetic … that feeling of being here and now, of experiencing oneself as engulfed, enveloped absorbed … in an environment” (Horton 188).
• As Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky would have called it, “territory sounds” like that of unseen birds chirping in the background enrich the presumed image of an exterior space with “hints of a fully realized world” (Horton 192).
• Visual imagery and editing for cinematic continuity (showing and telling) draws almost a direct parallel to how sound can help create a full picture of a world beyond what is shown on the screen.
• Music affects mood: building dimension and emotional undercurrent, soundtracks and scoring are imperative to modern cinema as it stimulates endorphins, influencing emotional investment among spectators (Staff).

II. SOUND: FULL CIRCLE AND IN THE FOREGROUND

Jewish background, and nationality. As they briefly chat, vibrant sounds of birds chirping and cicadas buzzing are endlessly heard in the background, exemplifying Tarkovsky’s “territory sounds” to create a seamless boundary between the onscreen environment and the space beyond that engulfs the viewer. Eventually, as Elio continues to talk, he noticeably tries to speak over the loud rush of vehicles passing by behind them and the town clock ringing for the new hour. Rather than finding ways to minimize the sound of the distractions around them altogether to ensure only Elio and Oliver are heard, these background noises are instead brought to the foreground. In doing so, misfortunes of a realistic conversation are emulated, pushing active viewership and loss of awareness of life outside this simple cinematic atmosphere.

by Stephen Rennicks, this particular track from the score is played over several other special occasions including Marianne and Connell’s first time having sexual intercourse and their previously mentioned first kiss. Showing the depth of serious first relationships, Rennick’s “HNY” performs as a leitmotif in these two characters’ peak romantic activities. Stating,“In the music, there aren’t necessarily themes for each character … music is used as a way of adding another colour to a particular scene, or adding an atmosphere, or a smell” (O’Toole), Rennick’s score creates vivid memories of the past for attached viewers to recall and re-insert themselves into as if it were the first time witnessing it all over again.

Normal People

Focusing on the New Year’s scene (18:52), the music layered on top of the cross cut sequence of Marianne and Connell’s first and present day kiss exhibit a sentimental full circle moment for the couple. Composed

Call Me By Your Name

In this still from an early conversational scene in the film (10:14), Elio and Oliver vaguely discuss their summer plans,

III. LONG TAKES

• In stepping away from speedy jump cuts and the aimless three seconds-per-shot rule when necessary, Call Me By Your Name and Normal People utilize long takes to discreetly emphasize detailed settings and narrative pacing. 💡
• Mini-stories in and of themselves, long takes may capture raw moments of vulnerability and contemplation between characters, but they especially offer extended time to embrace environmental opportunities and space on a memorable level.
• In Jonathan Bignell’s academic film and tv essay, “Seeing and Knowing,” he writes that long takes “produce the impression of temporal continuity … [following] characters in a space that they interact with to reveal themselves and the relationship between character and environment” (164).
• Much like theatrical set-ups, long takes provide a space to privilege performances and the production value indicated by the details of the mise-en-scene (Bignell 164-166).

I. LONG TAKES: YOU HAD TO BE THERE

bikes in the Italian countryside. In tandem with prominent sounds of birds and cicadas buzzing over Ravel’s “Une Barque sur L'Ocean” and warm color grading representative of a perfect summer’s day, the long take contributes an extra layer of preservation for this environment. Upon meeting locals and passing loud vehicles, these factors are of no disturbance to Elio and Oliver’s intimate world. Instead they are crucial parts to how these long takes invite the audience to not only appreciate the slow paced, quiet nature of the town but to feel as though they are in the landscape themselves. As audiences feel capable of taking vivid mental snapshots within these lengthy takes, this detailed seductive atmosphere is truly unforgettable.

Call Me By Your Name

Following a 5 min. long take of a scene in which the boys directly confront their feelings for each other while running errands, this sequence of several long captures Elio and Oliver endlessly riding their

prevalent amount of close ups, the establishing shot above overall renders Connell’s small, yet cozy bedroom to be a safe space for vulnerability. With a wall of photos and a twin size bed, the lingering long take gives enough time for the viewer to mentally record the environment with which Connell and Marianne have exchanged their personal thoughts, traumas, and physical intimacies. Additionally, it enables the audience to take on an invasive, voyeuristic-like perspective of this private moment in time.

Normal People

Amongst the array of sexual interactions throughout the series, the orchestration of Marianne and Connell’s first time includes various long takes ranging from close ups, mediums, to over the shoulder shots. By utilizing long takes, the consensual dialogue and excited body language are explicitly captured in this sexual affinity. Despite the

content NSFW, click image to view scene at own discretion

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMERSION

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMERSION

It affects us all, not just you. In this second component of the two, psychological immersion entails character depth on a cognitive and emotional processing level (Zhang 2). Its facets of centripetal complexity, character arc, and body language within the frame all stress an inwards analysis of character depth. Though aided by visual aesthetics applicable to the environmental immersion traits, the psychological emphasizes the quality of writing in the production process. Additionally, it searches for the “why” factor of the certain mentalities characters hold, as well as what consequential impacts come of it.

I. CENTRIPETAL COMPLEXITY

• Starting with centripetal complexity, a concept in quality television introduced by American media professor Jason Mittell in his essay, “The qualities of complexity: Vast versus dense seriality in contemporary television,”
• This narrative movement “pulls actions and characters inward, establishing a thickness of backstory and character depth that drives the action” (Mittell 52) and “seems to always hold its main characters accountable for past misdeeds and refuses to let them (or us) escape these transgressions at the level of story consequences or internal psychology” (Mittell 53).
• Centripetal complexity invites the audience to analyze the characters’ thought processes, triggers, and memories layered in their experiences with great rationality and comprehension of why they act the way they do. 💡

I. CENTRIPETAL COMPLEXITY: VERTICAL GROWTH

Depicted in both Call Me By Your Name and Normal People, the expansion of the storyworld heavily depends and inevitably traces back to both central couples. This vertical growth portrays the outpouring impacts of these characters’ decisions, in which everything they do is not only at the expense of someone else’s feelings, but nothing is a one-and-done event, for all their actions contribute to an inescapable causal history. Aside from navigating queer sexual identity or absence of parental role models, it’s evident much of their issues are especially rooted in their lack of communication with others.

This is exemplified in the way Call Me By Your Name is told through Elio’s perspective and his obsessive focus on Oliver that leads him to hurting his friendship with Marzia, who laters forgives him; and in the way Normal People’s absence of subplots essentially permit an extreme close up of Marianne and Connell’s fluctuating relationship that remains the core issue of every interpersonal conflict.

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(1:42:03) Elio rejects Marzia’s romantic inquiry after his relationship with Oliver begins.

E5: Marianne and Connell re-address a past “misdeed” that caused them to part ways until college.

II. CHARACTER ARC

• Structuring a horizontal evolution over time, arcs provide thorough cognizance of how these characters intricately develop as individuals facing the inevitable challenges of life. 💡
• Arcs allow audiences to form a special connection with characters as they undergo personal transformation via turning points, low points, overcoming obstacles, or acquiring new motivations (Pelican).

• In modern television shows that prioritize fewer episodes, longer running times, depth, and quality production, “Arc TV is all about backstory and evolution … where small gestures and table manners reveal the content of a character molded by convention, class and culture” (Doherty).
• Underlines “interconnected action unfolding over the life span of the series” (Doherty).
• Dealing with unfamiliar themes, difficult themes, individual character complexity, narrative complexity, this helps grasp the concept of “glance versus gaze,” (Ellis) where viewers are attentively compelled to stick around and see all the possible outcomes for a character as opposed to passively watch.

II. CHARACTER ARC: ACROSS THE BOARD

Though both productions chronicle the growth of two very similar deep-feeling couples who struggle to effectively communicate with each other, Call Me By Your Name showcases an unfamiliar theme of a homosexual relationship whose struggles are not just that of sociocultural standards and the prohibition of sexual proclivity. Much like Marianne and Connell, a heterosexual couple, Elio and Oliver also encounter obstacles in experiencing true love, libido, and having to live independent lives from each other for the first time. As these characters’ personalities mature throughout the span of story and don’t reach a full stop even by the end of it, the two couples evidently become mentally expressive with each other, practicing honesty and no longer holding back how they feel. They come to accept the dramatically harsh, but inevitable circumstances of life by understanding everything they have endured together was a learning experience beyond lust. Bringing out the better traits in each other, the mental growth of these couples deeply tug on the audience’s heartstrings after sticking around with them through every step of the process.

(47:02) Though Oliver initially repudiates Elio’s confession of romantic interest, this 5 min long take presents Elio’s growing ability to become more vocally upfront about his emotions and less of a shy, internal thinker.

E12: The Final Ending. Mutually deciding to live apart from each other in this next stage of adulthood, Marianne encourages Connell to take on a job offer in New York while she contently stays in Carricklea.

III. BODIES WITHIN THE FRAME

• Lastly, through meticulous blocking and body language within the frame, relationship dynamics and personal intentions are revealed. 💡
• Providing non-verbal context to a narrative, body language encompasses several expressions (Højbjerg) including:
• Kinesics: body/facial expressions and gestures
• Proxemics: body distance, body in space, relative to boundaries and borders
• Prosodics: attributed to non-phonetic segments of voice but rather rhythm, loudness, intonation (i.e. sighing, mumbling, articulation)
• Accessories: makeup, costume, hair
• In an essay about blocking as one of the filmmaking fundamentals, video journalist Jourdan Aldredge speaks on Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s ability to demonstrate “power dynamics between characters” by considering “compositional space between the foreground, middleground, and background, and subtle elements in body language” in his scenes.
• Bodily expressions suggest unspoken intentions and meaning in messages for receivers -- characters and the audience -- to decode (Højbjerg).

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III. BODIES WITHIN THE FRAME: IN ACTION

Oliver to massage him. In contrast, with Marzia, Elio says nothing at all, exhibiting signs of annoyance as he eventually walks off uninterested. This scene takes place within the first 15 minutes of the film and the beginning of the two boys’ acquaintanceship; yet it is later referenced in a night-time discussion when they realize they wasted time not being with each other. As Elio wonders why Oliver didn’t give him a sign, Oliver pleads, “I did, remember when we were playing volleyball and I touched you… just to show you I liked you.” Without dialogue to explicitly state their motives, their physical movements prove what narration from the book can not: Elio and Oliver are undoubtedly into each other.

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Call Me By Your Name

As Oliver massages Elio’s neck urging that he’s too tense and needs to relax, Elio noticeably pulls away but stays when Oliver pulls him back. Retaliating, Elio states, “I am relaxed,” only to continue allowing

their independent adult lives. Sitting nearly 3 ft. apart at 00:17, their chat is mainly portrayed through individual close ups, making them to appear to be much closer and intimate than they really are. Complementing Marianne’s social prosperity in college, medium shots frequently have her centered in the frame. Yet, Connell, now unhappy and lonely, unlike high school, is isolated from his surroundings, and constantly pushed to the edge of the frame. Indicated by Marianne’s wit and relaxed posture while maintaining attentive eye contact in combination with Connell’s sad eyes and slow, but assertive speech, it’s clear the two deflect from their inner sorrows about each other and are only pretending to be okay.

Normal People

Reuniting in the first months of college, Marianne and Connell continue to water down their true feelings about past conflicts and persistent sentiments for each other despite starting to navigate

• As we see the layered complexity of Call Me By Your Name and Normal People develop through the same immersive storytelling tactics to draw audiences away from the once preferred passive spectatorship to the now admirable active participation,
• it ultimately raises question of whether the film and television mediums are crossing boundaries.
• With artistic mediums constantly adapting from higher art forms, tracing all the way back to early theatre, the influences of film trickle down to modern television, eventually evolving into what is known as the matured, multi-stranded “quality tv” today.
• As advancements in the entertainment industry continue to reach new creatives heights by designing convenient streaming services and elaborative methods to connect with users via digital platforms, it seems highly plausible for modern television to exceed the success of cinema as an attribute of film only.
• Expected from Covid-19 and the fast pace of American individualism, more people are staying home and willing to take the time to binge series involving characters they can personally grow alongside with.
• Engaged in a reflective relationship, while film is slowly losing its cachet among the people, there is no doubt that television is dying out anytime soon. Its comeback is just getting started.

CONCLUSION:

TV THE NEW CINEMA, CINEMA THE NEW TV?

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LSURRENDERL LTOL LSATISFACTIONL

A Short Film Directed by Nicole Condez

Starring Milena Ortega-Paganini

Based on exemplifying the qualities of immersive storytelling and familiar humans, this expository short film meets a young female artist who finds great difficulty in ever being satisfied with her work.

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COMING SOON TO A LINK NEAR YOU...

THANK YOU

FOR LISTENING!

nicoleirencondez@my.smccd.edu

“Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater.” r.p.

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“I often feel like an outsider wherever I go, so I'm always attracted to stories about identity and the meaning of home.” C.Z.

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“IF WE OPENED PEOPLE UP, WE’D FIND LANDSCAPES.” A.V.

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WORKS CITED

Aldredge, Jourdan. “Filmmaking Fundamentals: Using Blocking to Get Your Scenes Moving.” The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat, 6 Oct. 2020, www.premiumbeat.com/blog/filmmaking-fundamentals-using-blocking/.

Bignell, Jonathan. "Seeing and Knowing: Reflexivity and Quality." Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond. Ed. Janet McCabe and Kim Akass. London: I.B.Tauris, 2007. 158–170. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. April 29 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780755696376.ch-012>.

Doherty, Thomas. “Storied TV: Cable Is the New Novel .” The Chronicle Review, 17 Sept. 2012, www.chronicle.com/article/storied-tv-cable-is-the-new-novel/1 of 111/15/21, 12:13 PM.

“The Dual Meaning of Cinematic Voyeurism -: College of Humanities.” | College of Humanities, 2 Dec. 2015, humanities.byu.edu/the-dual-meaning-of-cinematic-voyeurism/#:~:text=Cinematic%20voyeurism%20is%20the%20act,what%20he%20or%20she%20sees.

Ellis, John, and Annie Van den Oever. “Storytelling and Mainstream Television Today – A Dialogue.” Stories, edited by Annie Van den Oever and Ian Christie, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2018, pp. 155–166. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5rf6vf.14. Accessed 26 Feb. 2021.

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WORKS CITED

Heckmann, Chris. “WATCH: How to Craft a Perfect Character Arc (Rain Man Video Essay).” StudioBinder, 19 Apr. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-character-arc-definition/.

Højbjerg, Lennard. “The Moving Image: Body Language and Media Context.” Kosmorama, 2 Dec. 2014, www.kosmorama.org/en/kosmorama/artikler/moving-image-body-language-and-media-context#:~:text=Body%20language%20is%20a%20tool,presenting%20news%20and%20background%20reports.

Jane Feuer: HBO and the Concept of Quality TV (2007)

Maio, Alyssa. “Empathizing an Anti-Hero With Shot Composition.” StudioBinder, 26 Jan. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/rules-of-shot-composition-in-film/#:~:text=Composition%20refers%20to%20the%20way,to%20convey%20an%20intended%20message.

Mittell, J. (2013). The qualities of complexity: Vast versus dense seriality in contemporary television. In J. Jacobs & S. Peacock (Eds.). Television Aesthetics and Style (pp. 45–56). New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved May 1, 2021, from http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781628928327.ch-002

WORKS CITED

O'Toole, Lucy. “Stephen Rennicks: On Composing the Stunning Score for Normal People.” Hotpress, Hotpress, 18 June 2020, www.hotpress.com/music/stephen-rennicks-on-composing-the-stunning-score-for-normal-people-22819404.

Staff, NFS. “Here's How Music Can Add Meaning To Your Film.” No Film School, No Film School, 16 Sept. 2020, nofilmschool.com/heres-how-music-can-add-meaning-your-film#:~:text=The%20score%20is%20the%20subliminal,dopamine%20and%20can%20stimulate%20endorphins.

VICE News. “Inside The Making Of ‘Call Me By Your Name’ (HBO).” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u2MAUPbFxo.

"Visual storytelling in films." ukessays.com. 11 2018. UKEssays. 02 2021 <https://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/visual-storytelling-in-films.php?vref=1>.

Zhang, Chenyan & Hoel, Aud & Perkis, Andrew. (2016). Quality of Immersive Experience in Storytelling: A Framework.

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