Space in Cinema, Part OneA 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 film’s world is revealed to us.

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“Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out.”

Martin Scorsese

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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://filmmakermagazine.com/49337-the-blue-velvet-project-143/

SpaceInside the frame is material, physical, specific.

Outside the frame is imagination, suggestion, memory.

SpaceInside the frame is material, physical, specific.

Outside the frame is imagination, suggestion, memory.

http://filmmakermagazine.com/49337-the-blue-velvet-project-143/

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Aside – The “frame” also defines time in cinema, but that’s a different definition of frame. More on that later.

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The frame obviously comes in different sizes, depending on the viewer’s choice of medium.

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An aside from Director David Lynch

http://youtu.be/wKiIroiCvZ0http://youtu.be/BcNLEwf2pOw

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Movies are a two dimensional medium. As with the frame, there is width and height, but all depth is an illusion.

SpaceThe frame also comes in a variety of shapes.

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The frame’s shape is described by a ratio of its width to its

height, its aspect ratio.

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Aspect Ratios

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image)

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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. This became the official ratio for American films in 1932.

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Aspect Ratios – 1.33:1 or 4:3 Academy Ratio

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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.

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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)

https://youtu.be/Ix083lwckFshttps://youtu.be/im_pEraUTUs

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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)

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http://vimeo.com/26322723http://youtu.be/cMlnRP3qOYE

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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 – One of the inventors of the water ski. Waller devised his skis, Akwa Skees, as a camera platform (1925).

Aside

http://www.cineramaadventure.com/skees.htm

Fred Waller – As a director, championed African-American performers.

Aside

http://www.cineramaadventure.com/featurette.htm

Fred Waller – Director

“Symphony in Black” (1935)

Aside

Duke-Ellington-and-his-Orchestra-Symphony-in-Black.mov

https://youtu.be/YEA2NpGA8gc

Fred Waller – Invented a 360 Degree Still Camera

Aside

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm

Fred Waller – Developed Vitarama for the 1939 World’s Fair.

The system used eleven synchronized cameras and projectors for a gigantic image.

Aside

http://jimlanescinedrome.blogspot.com/2012/08/ups-and-downs-of-rollercoaster-part-1.html

Fred Waller – The Vitarama was overshadowed by another technology that debuted at the same World’s Fair - Television

Aside

http://www.earlytelevision.org/worlds_fair.html

Fred Waller – Adapted the Vitarama technology into a “virtual reality” training system for World War II pilots – the Waller Gunnery Trainer (1943)

Aside

http://www.cineramaadventure.com/trainer.htmhttp://in70mm.com/cinerama/archive/gunnery/index.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 – The Gunnery Trainer evolved into Cinerama (2.60:1), a wide screen movie system employing three synchronized cameras and projectors (1952).

Aside

http://www.in70mm.com/cinerama/archive/story/index.htm

Cinerama (2.60:1)

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Cinerama (2.60:1)

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Cinerama (2.60:1)

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Cinerama (2.60:1)

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http://youtu.be/lII5rXbxcCs

Today’s Cinerama, another technology to distract movie goers from smaller screens, is IMAX (1.36:1)

The aspect ratio is similar to that standardized in the 1930’s but MUCH BIGGER.

Standard IMAX screen is 22 × 16.1 m (72 × 52.8 ft)

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The Dark Knight Rises Premieres in IMAX at Liberty Science Center http://youtu.be/Wm2vIaD3GYQ

IMAX – 1.36:1 (old shape, new size)

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http://youtu.be/Ou6_MkIvKOo http://youtu.be/2p8OALI74h0

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Common Aspect Ratios – 1.66:1 European and British Standard Widescreen

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Common Aspect Ratios – 1.85:1 Standard Widescreen

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Common Aspect Ratios – 2:35:1 Anamorphic of Super 35mm Widescreen

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? The Real World?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? The Real World, Staged?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? The Real World, Dressed?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? The Real World, Dressed?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, 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

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, 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

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? A Constructed World?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? A Constructed World?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? A Constructed World?

Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 1of2 http://youtu.be/0sUIxXCCFWw

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? A Constructed World?

Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 2of2 http://youtu.be/IfJ8rK7eJeQ

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, 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

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• 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

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The 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

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• 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)

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• Set Extension - Extending or replacing various elements within through various special effects.

• Virtual extension.

Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Reel 2012-Demo https://vimeo.com/35769675

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? A Generated World?

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Set - An environment created through digital effects. “Tron: Legacy” (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhyScbAZrFs

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors – “Tron: Legacy” (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhyScbAZrFs

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The 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

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - “Terminator Salvation” (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7YYfgx_cHo

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - “The Avengers” (2012)

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

Dirtgirlworld - Get Grubbyhttp://youtu.be/rR2Ac3ZvidU

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/stories/2012/02/uncanny.html

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

Extra Credits: The Uncanny Valley http://youtu.be/9K1Kd9mZL8g

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors - The Uncanny Valley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNdAIPoh8a4

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The World Seen Through the Frame

• Virtual Actors – “Sim0ne” (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salcZxwspxg

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The World Seen Through the Frame

So, what do we see through this frame? An Animated World?

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And how are we meant to perceive this reality.

As Reality? As Idealized Reality?

As Stylized Reality? As Fantasy?

Gotham City (1989)

Gotham City (1989)

Gotham City (1992)

Gotham City (1992)

Gotham City (1995)

Gotham City (1997)

Gotham City (2005)

Gotham City (2008)

Gotham City (2012)