Please do not forget to send your film/fear partner your 2000 word text so that he/she can comment on it before Thursday. Please edit your partner's text by hand or on the computer and bring in the print-out. Happy reading.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Friday, 4 November 2011
Film realism for architects
For our most recent submission I have tried to focus on the development of film realism in a world, British and Japanese context. I have then looked at the personal approaches of both Karl Reisz and Yasujiro Ozu in a broad way, all with an attempt to providing an insight into what makes realism relevant for architects. Here's a sample:
In the 1930s John Grierson pioneered the highly influential British documentary movement, of which Flaherty was a sometime employee. The work of Grierson is emblematic of his personal concern with film as primarily a social record and with its ability to “photograph the living scene and the living story”. His film unit was responsible throughout the 30s and 40s for the production of a number of government sponsored films covering a range of issues such as the famous Night Mail (1936) which focused on the London to Scotland mail train, to smaller scale films like Children at School (1937). Grierson said of his work that:
“The basic force behind [documentary] was social and not aesthetic. It was a desire to make a drama out of the ordinary, to set against the prevailing drama of the extraordinary: a desire to bring the citizen‟s eye in from the ends of the earth to the story, his own story, of what was happening under his nose.”
In a wider context, films such as Pather Panchali (1955) by Indian director Sanyajit Ray show us that the concerns of realism were not an exclusively European or indeed urban phenomenon. A rural drama filmed entirely in one small Indian village it highlights another key aspect of realism which is pertinent to us as architects – that these films were highly individual interpretations of social conditions and as such were powerful tools to highlight contemporary issues and inspire action. The Rome of Rossellini is a different city than that of de Sica, indicating the ability of realism to draw our attention to the primacy of an individual‟s view of urbanity and that the city cannot be all things to all people. This individual crafting, framing and creating of a personal view of real world situations is fundamental to their value for architectural learning.
In the 1930s John Grierson pioneered the highly influential British documentary movement, of which Flaherty was a sometime employee. The work of Grierson is emblematic of his personal concern with film as primarily a social record and with its ability to “photograph the living scene and the living story”. His film unit was responsible throughout the 30s and 40s for the production of a number of government sponsored films covering a range of issues such as the famous Night Mail (1936) which focused on the London to Scotland mail train, to smaller scale films like Children at School (1937). Grierson said of his work that:
“The basic force behind [documentary] was social and not aesthetic. It was a desire to make a drama out of the ordinary, to set against the prevailing drama of the extraordinary: a desire to bring the citizen‟s eye in from the ends of the earth to the story, his own story, of what was happening under his nose.”
In a wider context, films such as Pather Panchali (1955) by Indian director Sanyajit Ray show us that the concerns of realism were not an exclusively European or indeed urban phenomenon. A rural drama filmed entirely in one small Indian village it highlights another key aspect of realism which is pertinent to us as architects – that these films were highly individual interpretations of social conditions and as such were powerful tools to highlight contemporary issues and inspire action. The Rome of Rossellini is a different city than that of de Sica, indicating the ability of realism to draw our attention to the primacy of an individual‟s view of urbanity and that the city cannot be all things to all people. This individual crafting, framing and creating of a personal view of real world situations is fundamental to their value for architectural learning.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Invisible Rooms: Sensing Space in Tarkovsky Films
The films of the Soviet/ Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky will be analysed from the viewpoint of an architecture student. I will primarily focus on the architectural qualities and use of space in two of the director's films, Solaris (Russia, 1972) and Stalker (Russia, 1979). How does the director use space to provoke an emotional response from the audience? This dissertation will be related to our imagination and how we as architects perceive the spaces portrayed on screen. Tarkovsky’s films are rich in poetic imagery and symbolism, he uses these cinematic images to reveal to us, a character’s inner thoughts, memories and feelings.
How can spaces be designed to portray a powerful emotive quality as seen in Tarkovsky’s films?
Keywords: architecture, film, space, sound, senses, time, materiality, light, colour, fire, water
How can spaces be designed to portray a powerful emotive quality as seen in Tarkovsky’s films?
Keywords: architecture, film, space, sound, senses, time, materiality, light, colour, fire, water
Friday, 21 October 2011
Architecture and film: working class homes in post-WWII cinema
What can architects learn from the portrayal of working class homes in post-WWII cinema: specifically in the work of Karel Resiz and Yasujiro Ozu?
This dissertation is a study of the films Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Dir: Karel Reisz, 1960) and Record of a Tenement Gentleman (Dir: Ozu Yasujiro, 1947) in an attempt to examine the potential lessons they hold for architecture, the design of mass housing and surrounding spaces. These films have been chosen because of their realist treatment which is deeply rooted in a unique sense of place, people and the everyday. With their focus on natural performance, dialogue and location filming they allow for their discussion as a means to investigate the relationship between architecture, film and social issues.
Through study of these films and the support of contemporary design research it will be shown that despite a fluid surrounding context the relationship with the home and urban space remains fundamentally unchanged in its’ basic form and desires. I present these films as a combination of documentary and poetry, where the everyday is treated as a subject rich in interest, consequence and responsibility.
Keywords: Architecture, Film, Housing, Occupant, Realism, Society, Space, User, Karel Reisz, Yasujiro Ozu
Thursday, 20 October 2011
In the beginning.....
This is a blog for for the MArch1 dissertation tutor group at Queen's University Belfast. The group consists of Darren Cameron, Blayne Fulton, Melissa Arnold and Sean McCann.
Darren and Blayne are writing on Architecture and Film, Melissa and Sean are writing on Architecture and Fear. Individual posts to follow with a description of each member's initial progress....
Darren and Blayne are writing on Architecture and Film, Melissa and Sean are writing on Architecture and Fear. Individual posts to follow with a description of each member's initial progress....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)