Space in Cinema, Part One A Window Onto A World Edward Bowen MTSU EMC 3000
Space
• Space in Cinema is defined by “the frame.”• The frame is a two-dimensional boundary, a rectangle with height
and width, a window through which, at any given moment, a part of the world of the film is revealed to us.
Space• In an essay from 1929, “The Filmic Fourth Dimension,” Sergei Eisenstein
wrote about the impossibility of “the single-meaningness” of the film frame, which “can never be an inflexible letter of the alphabet, but must always remain a multiple-meaning ideogram.” And part of the frame’s meaning lies outside of the frame itself, in the implied off-screen space that surrounds it, accumulated in fragments from places the film has already taken us.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2012/07/the-blue-velvet-project-143/
Space
Inside the frame is material, physical, specific.
Outside the frame is imagination, suggestion, memory.
Space
Inside the frame is material, physical, specific.
Outside the frame is imagination, suggestion, memory.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2012/07/the-blue-velvet-project-143/
Space
Aside – The “frame” also defines time in cinema, but that’s a different definition of frame. More on that later.
Space
• An aside from Director David Lynch
http://youtu.be/wKiIroiCvZ0http://youtu.be/BcNLEwf2pOw
Space
• Standard or Academy ratio (4 X 3 or 1.33:1). In adopting the 35 mm format, early filmmakers established the standard aspect ratio as a classical rectangle with a ratio of four units of width to three units of height. Thus if the projected image is twenty feet wide it will be fifteen feet high.
Space• The frame’s shape is described by a ratio of its width to its height,
its aspect ratio.• Widescreen. Experiments in wider aspect ratios are almost as old
as cinema itself. Early filmmakers often employed mattes to reshape their images WITHIN the 4:3 ratio, straining against the tyranny of the frame.
Space• The frame’s shape is described by a ratio of its width to its height,
its aspect ratio.• Widescreen. Experiments in wider aspect ratios are almost as old
as cinema itself. Early filmmakers often employed mattes to reshape their images WITHIN the 4:3 ratio, straining against the tyranny of the frame.
“The Wildcat” Ernst Lubitsch (1921)
Space• The frame’s shape is described by a ratio of its width to its height,
its aspect ratio.• Widescreen. In 1927, director Abel Gance’s combined three side-by-
side regular-sized screens, producing an effective aspect ratio of 3.99:1, for “Napoleon.”
“Napoleon”– Abel Gance (1927)
Space
http://vimeo.com/26322723http://youtu.be/cMlnRP3qOYE
Space• The frame’s shape is described by a ratio of its width to its height,
its aspect ratio.• Widescreen: Efforts to introduce widescreen technology were not
successful until the 1950s when cinema tried to counter program against television. Some of the 1950s widescreens had a ratio of as much as 2.66:1 (CinemaScope).
Fred Waller – Inventor; Oversaw the photographic research and special effects department for Paramount Studios in the 1920s and 30s
Aside
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2002/this_is_cinerama/chapters/index.htmhttp://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2008/persons-of-interest-fred-waller/243/
Fred Waller – Akwa Skees
Aside
http://www.cineramaadventure.com/skees.htm
Fred Waller – Director
Aside
http://www.cineramaadventure.com/featurette.htm
Fred Waller – Director
Aside
Duke-Ellington-and-his-Orchestra-Symphony-in-Black.movhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7653085842645884021#
Fred Waller – 360 Degree Still Camera
Aside
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm
Fred Waller – Vitarama (Developed for the 1939 World’s Fair
Aside
http://jimlanescinedrome.blogspot.com/2012/08/ups-and-downs-of-rollercoaster-part-1.html
Fred Waller – Waller Gunnery Trainer
Aside
http://www.cineramaadventure.com/trainer.htm
Fred Waller – Waller Gunnery Trainer
Aside
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/waller01.htm
Fred Waller – Waller Gunnery Trainer
Aside
http://www.in70mm.com/cinerama/archive/war/index.htm
Fred Waller – Cinerama (2.60:1)
Aside
http://www.in70mm.com/cinerama/archive/story/index.htm
Cinerama (2.60:1)
Space
http://youtu.be/lII5rXbxcCs
IMAX – 1.36:1Standard IMAX screen is 22 × 16.1 m (72 × 52.8 ft)
Space
The Dark Knight Rises Premieres in IMAX at Liberty Science Center http://youtu.be/Wm2vIaD3GYQ
IMAX – 1.36:1 (old shape, new size)Space
http://youtu.be/Ou6_MkIvKOo http://youtu.be/2p8OALI74h0
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• The Real World, Staged?
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• The Real World, Dressed?
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• The Real World, Dressed?
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• The Real World, Dressed?
Behind the Scenes: Filming Marvel's The Avengers in Cleveland, Ohiohttp://youtu.be/h9eKsv-icXQ
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• Location - A real place chosen to shoot one or more shots for a film.
Jaws filming locations http://youtu.be/7cRpoMpUgC0
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• A Constructed World?
Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 1of2 http://youtu.be/0sUIxXCCFWw
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• A Constructed World?
Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 2of2 http://youtu.be/IfJ8rK7eJeQ
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameSo, what do we see through this frame?• Stage Set - A place built to specifications as an environment for one
of more shots in a film.
New SKYFALL Production Videoblog http://youtu.be/GK5ws85Rxd8
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within a
scene through various special effects.• Glass Shots and Hanging Miniatures.
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Hollywood Glass Shots Miniatures.mov
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Foreground (hanging) miniatures. “Ben-Hur” (1925)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Foreground (hanging) miniatures. “Ben-Hur” (1925)
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Ben Hur.mov
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Mattes. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Mattes. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Mattes. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Mattes. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Mattes. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within
through various special effects.• Virtual extension.
Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Reel 2013-Demo http://vimeo.com/53122532
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Set - An environment created through digital effects.
“Tron: Legacy” (2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhyScbAZrFs
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Actors – “Tron: Legacy” (2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhyScbAZrFs
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Actors - “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”
(2004) Laurence Olivier (1907-1989)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqGBt0124bY
Space
The World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Actors - “Terminator Salvation” (2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7YYfgx_cHo
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley
Dirtgirlworld - Get Grubbyhttp://youtu.be/rR2Ac3ZvidU
SpaceThe World Seen Through the Frame• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley
http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/stories/2012/02/uncanny.html
Technology of Motion PicturesIntrashot Communication• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley
Extra Credits: The Uncanny Valley http://youtu.be/9K1Kd9mZL8g
Technology of Motion PicturesIntrashot Communication• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNdAIPoh8a4
Technology of Motion PicturesIntrashot Communication• Virtual Actors. “Sim0ne” (2002)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salcZxwspxg
Space
The World Seen Through the FrameAnd how are we meant to perceive this reality.
As Reality?
As Idealized Reality?
As Stylized Reality?
As Fantasy?