Cinema and Technology: An Essay

Résumé du document

'The cinema of attractions directly solicits spectator attention, inciting visual curiosity, and supplying pleasure through an exciting spectacle' Gunning (1990), p. 58. To what extent does mainstream cinema today continue to operate as a 'cinema of attractions'? Illustrate this argument with detailed reference to major SFX-driven blockbusters of the 1980s, 1990s, or 2000s.

Nowadays, the term 'blockbuster' has a pejorative connotation. One understands it to denote “mass entertainment” rather than “art”. Nevertheless, we can still associate some of these enormous budget movies to film, in its most noble sense. At first, through a flashback to the beginning of the 20th century, with the 'cinema of attractions' and a short study of audiences expectations, we will see the basic lines of the subject. Then, we will focus on The Lord of the Rings trilogy to understand how mainstream cinema continues to operate as a 'cinema of attractions'.

The concept of 'cinema of attractions' was introduced in the 1980s by Tom Gunning and Andre Gaudreault. As Gunning explains: 'The cinema of attractions directly solicits spectator attention, inciting visual curiosity, and supplying pleasure through an exciting spectacle'. This cinema is based on several principles, amongst which one includes involving the spectator in the action; this can be done by the recurring look towards the camera by the actors.

An example of this is perceived in 'L'homme à la tete en caoutchouc' by George Melies. This famous French illusionist used to resort to various tricks as part of his film-making arsenal to surprise his audience and keep them on the edge, for example, he was well-known for making his actors disappear and reappear on screen. Something usual too, was the spoken commentaries made by masters of ceremonies, or musicians playing on their instruments to accompany the show. The point here, was to make the film more lively, especially as the films were mostly silent, and this called for some extra attractions to maintain the dynamics of the movie.

Extraits

[...] In: The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [DVD extras] Directed by Peter Jackson. New Zealand, USA: New Line Cinema, Wingnut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company. The Lord of The Rings trilogy 2002 2003. [film] Directed by Peter Jackson. New Zealand, USA : New Line Cinema, Wingnut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company. L'homme à la tête en caoutchouc [film] Directed by George Méliès. France : Star Film. Cinderella [film] Directed by George Nichols. USA: Thanhouser Film Corporation. AP. 17/12/3003. Les chiffres du Seigneur des Anneaux. [...]

[...] As Gunning explains: 'The cinema of attractions directly solicits spectator attention, inciting visual curiosity, and supplying pleasure through an exciting spectacle'. This cinema is based on several principles. First, involving the spectator in the action. This can be done by the recurring look at the camera by the actors. We can see this in 'L'homme à la tête en caoutchouc' by George Méliès. This famous French illusionist used to recourse to trick machines as part of his film-making to surprise his audience. For example, he was well- known to make his actors disappearing and reappearing on screen. [...]

[...] The magnificence of the films depends mostly on the use of Computer-Generated Imagery. For example, the war scenes were actually shot with a reduced number of actors while we see enormous crowds on screen. The trick here is called 'Massive' for Multiple Agent Simulation System in Virtual Environment. This Weta Digital software gave artificial intelligence to each figure, allowing them to react according to several options, created by the programmers. Another example to talk about the CGI work on the films is the creation of the character Gollum. [...]

[...] Bibliography Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2008). Film art : an introduction. London: McGraw-Hill. Brunelle, R., Film Sound History, The Art of Sound Effect [Online] Rumblestiltskin Sound FX Design, Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20031203095914/http://www.windworld.com/emi/artic les/soundeffects.htm Accessed on November, 26th 2008 Christie, I. (1995). The last machine, early cinema and the Birth of the Modern World. London: British Film Institute/BBC. Graves, Mark A. and Engle, Bruce F., (1963). Epic. In: Blockbusters. London: Greenwood press, pp. [...]

[...] Besides, there is the whole promotion stage. Producers invest money in the advertising of their movies, including posters, cinema adverts, world premières, TV shows, mostly promoted by the actors. Actors are no-longer just a figure incarnating a role, but a big part of the teasing process. However, at the beginning of the XXth century, what was advertised was not the director or the actors but the technologies employed, the trick machines. And it certainly did not involve so much promotion nor budget. [...]