week 5 EARLY MODERNISM + ARCHITECTURE

Donald Albrecht's Designing Dreams: Modern Architecture in the Movies discusses the evolution of cinema as the seventh art.  At first merely a Parisian experiment considered not much more than an interesting spectacle, film eventually allied itself with the other "high arts" namely the architectural component of modernism, and became an accepted art form.  What is most fascinating about this alliance is its mutal dependency.  It was a complete coincidence that the science of cinema was born on the eve of modernism's debut but it was not an accident that their rise in public artistic prominence occurred simultaneously.

The art direction of L'Inhumaine (1924, Director: Marcel L'Herbier), the first film to use modern architecture, was tackled by a team of set directors and the combination of their input produced an overt, almost "pretentious attempt at promoting modern architecture." (Albrecht 45)  However, it was received by critics as "a striking example of what a synthesis of the arts can accomplish when enlisted in the service of the modern cinema." (Albrecht 50)  This early, avant-garde portrayal of modernism became propaganda in the name of art.  Although it did not do well with the pubic, the critical success of the film encouraged the production of more, similarly styled films and eventually the glamor of modern architecture became accepted by the public.  It was at this point that film was able to abandon the use of propaganda and modernism as a true and pure art form could exist in film.

À Nous la Liberté (1931, René Clair) was designed by Lazare Meerson and is considered one of the best examples of the use of modernism within a film that is "neither partisan or propagandist for the modern movement" fulfilling the essential tenant of Le Corbusier's aesthetic ideal by presenting a world of "plastic facts, clear and limpid, giving rest to our eyes and to the mind the pleasure of geometric forms."(Albrecht 60)  In this film we see modernism presented as the environment in which the plots unfolds - it is where regular life can now take place.


Propaganda in film today is almost exclusively associated with the documentary format, specifically for political gain via the salacious presentation of information or power.  The most obvious example being Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1934).

In this format, a specific style is used to promote a new political agenda by reinforcing specific sentiments such as strength, solidity and mass-appeal.  It is fascinating to think that before this, film propaganda was used merely to encourage the acceptance of an aesthetic ideal.  Architectural history does not often identify film as an influence on the emergence of modernism as prominent architectural style of the last century when in fact film was one of the critical components of the movement.

week 4 FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

Karl Swingle (MFA Film @ Columbia University, directer, screenwriter) stopped by our class today to help us get a handle on a few basic shooting and editing techniques.  He showed us some clips from a few films including Nobody's Fool, Sling Blade, and The Shining which highlighted the importance of distance, height, level, and angle of the camera when setting up and framing a shot.  We also discussed the 180 Degree rule, Point of View shots, and the difference between subjective and objective shots.  I was especially interested in how he showed us that sometimes its better to crop a portion of your subject instead of trying to get the whole thing in the shot, that widening the lens or moving back to capture more sometimes distorts the composition.

The following is the opening credit sequence from the movie Hud (1963) by Martin Ritt.  Almost every single establishing shot is filmed straight-on at eye level with the horizon in the center creating a very dead, flat impression of the town.  This was most likely Ritt's intention as the plot of the film focuses on the disintegration of a pre-pretroleum era.  Karl taught us that in trying to create a more favorable impression of a place we should shoot subjects at an angle and either above or below eye level...basically the opposite of what is shown here.

In this clip we can see how Hud's car is the subject of the shot but Ritt has chosen not include the entire car in the frame and yet the composition of the shot is uncompromised.  This is also the first shot of the movie that is filmed at an angle so we are finally starting to see some depth to the town, creating interest in the people that are inside the house beyond the car.

I just recently re-watched this film and I was surprised at how the majority of the film is shot at eye level or perpendicular to the subject, giving the overall style of the film a very flat look.  It is only during key moments that Ritt changes the angle of the shot, making that particular scene much more dramatic as a contrast to the rest of the film.


Overall, I think the most valuable contribution of Karl's lecture was how important it is to choose the shot you want, not just shoot randomly and hope you can edit your pile of footage down into something usable...make artistic choices.

week 3 STUDIO FIELDTRIP

This past week my studio traveled to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to investigation our site for this semester's project - an historical boat museum celebrating the rich history of boating technology on the Colorado River over the last 150 years. We had quite an adventurous time including a couple of plane rides, a helicopter ride into the canyon and a couple of days boating down the Colorado followed by three nights of camping along the South Rim to finalize our site analysis. I had been devouring information on the art of river running in the weeks previous to our trip so it was a great moment to finally confront the subject of my absorption.

During my research, I encountered the story of Ellsworth and Emery Kolb, enterprising young brothers who traveled to the the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to establish a photography business in 1903.  They made their money taking pictures of tourists as they traveled on the Bright Angel Trail by mule.  They also enjoyed a certain amount of canyon dare-devilry.

The Kolb Brothers taking it to the extreme to get the ultimate shot.

In 1911 they rowed the Colorado River from Wyoming to Mexico with their film cameras in tow, pioneering the documentary film genre with moving pictures that astounded the nation.  The following consists of clips from the film Emery Kolb showed to tourists at Grand Canyon National Park for over 50 years.  The video is courtesy of Cline Library at Northern Arizona University.

The brothers built a studio perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon which Emery Kolb used to show his classic 1911 film until his death in 1976.  The studio is still there today and is used to commemorate the contribution of the Kolb brothers' photography (and, of course, as a souvenir shop/bookstore).

Original Kolb Studo at the South Rim

View of the Grand Canyon form the front porch of the Kolb Studio

One of Emery Kolb's film cameras from the early Twentieth Century.

week 2 THE FILMIC IMAGINATION

In reading Mitchell Schwarzer's Zoomscape, I became interested in his discussion on the film Last Year at Marienbad (1961) and how the film was able to heighten the architectural mise en scene, thereby presenting "filmgoers with an engrossing view of architecture and landscape."  This got me thinking about another film in which the architecture itself was a dominating, dramatic presence.  The Court Martial Scene of Paths of Glory (1957) by Stanley Kubrick was filmed in the Great Hall of Schleissheim Palace in Munich.  Kubrick chose to shoot this scene here because the ornate, baroque styling of the hall was at one time, thought to be the height of civilization.  He uses this to contrast the incivility of what is occurring to the men being court martialed - the building itself poses the irony of the situation.  Kubrick stages the actors as if they are pawns on a chessboard in the Great Hall.



Trailer provided by Video Detective


Closing Argument by movieclips

Schwarzer is so correct in his statement that in "film, the camera does the moving for us; architecture moves while we remain stationary."  In Paths of Glory, we must make the physical effort to notice the architecture in the scene and what it's implied references are, giving deeper meaning to its use.

week 1 INTRO

I am studying the interrelation between film and architecture through a graduate course in the architecture department at Montana State University.  The focus of this course is on: the way architecture is portrayed in film; the way film can improve the presentation and representation of an architectural project; and how both disciplines are analyzed for their design in a similar manner of critical thought.

In thinking about the use of architecture in film, one of the first examples I thought of was how cities and their buildings are portrayed during times of war - how the architectural system that we intended has been broken down into rubble and the remaining forms take on a new landscape.  In these new landscapes, people adapt and utilize their world in ways that were never intended.  This is all taking place in horrific situations and my fascination with this idea is not meant to glorify war but there is something fantastical within the idea of reinventing how we use of our everyday landscape - it's like children inventing forts out of chairs and blankets.

War films - why are they so popular?  Why do I love looking at buildings that have been decimated on the screen (or in real life for that matter)?  Emily Godby, a professor at Albright College who has done extensive research on our fascination with destruction has some insight.  "We're able to experience the existential dilemma of human lives - that we know we're going to die," she says. "But if we're watching it and not in it, there's no real risk, and in a way you get to deny that you're not dying … and it's a moment of relief."  She also believes that this is preoccupation is a modern concept, a result of the industrialization.   "Part of what happens is that as industrialism spreads, people get these very routine lives," she explains. "The unexpected, no matter what it is, brings a certain kind of excitement to people's lives."  There is further detail on this subject here: http://www.alternet.org/story/138120/appetite_for_destruction:_why_are_americans_so_obsessed_with_disaster/


Enemy at the Gates (2001, Paramount Pictures & Mandalay Pictures), a film by Jean-Jacques Annaud about the battle between two snipers amid the besieged city of Stalingrad during World War II, had an incredible, large-scale set design.  The Soviet residents of Stalingrad have hunkered down in the rubble of their city to fight the advancement of German forces while the upper echelons of the Soviet military continue to live in relative splendor (as can be seen in the final minutes of the clip).  Viewer beware! Portions of this clip contain graphic imagery.