The Orientation of Future Cinema The Orientation of Future Cinema Technology, Aesthetics, Spectacle BRUCE ISAACS Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 175 Fifth Avenue 50 Bedford Square New York London NY 10010 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.com First published 2013 © Bruce Isaacs, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Isaacs, Bruce. The orientation of future cinema : technology, aesthetics, spectacle / by Bruce Isaacs. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4411-8422-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Motion picture industry--Technological innovations. 2. Motion pictures--Aesthetics. 3. Digital media--Influence. I. Title. PN1995.9.T43I83 2013 791.4301--dc23 2012033532 ISBN 9781441184221 2012045678 ISBN: 978-1-6235-6913-6 Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN Contents Acknowledgements ix PART ONE The age of late cinema 1 1 On cinematic experience 3 Early and late cinema 3 Old and new technologies of the image 5 Image as itinerary: The image of reality and the synthetic image 9 The image of reality and the synthetic image in concert 17 The digital image 24 On the function of theory 31 2 Theoretical trajectories in the age of late cinema: Time and space 39 The unfortunate burden of time 39 The potential distraction of time 51 Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and cinema’s spatialities 54 Conclusion 59 3 The autonomous image of cinema 61 The image as object in reproduction 61 The narrative image and the image-in-itself 65 Action cinema; the image of attraction; The Road Warrior 71 The close-up, and Sergio Leone 79 The sound image in reproduction: The Conversation 85 The Conversation: ‘He’d kill us if he got the chance’ 91 The Conversation: The autonomous image of sound 93 Not a still, but a restless frame 95 vi CONTENTS Requiem for a Dream: Random thoughts on the frame (10th minute) 96 Requiem for a Dream: The memory of cinema (34th Minute) 100 On the possibilities of a pure cinema 105 PART TWO The spectacle image 109 4 New American cinemas: 1967–79 111 Image, narrative and spectacle in mass entertainment 111 The new American cinema: An aesthetic of ambiguity 120 A historical departure (1) 127 Transformations: The Player 129 Beyond narrativity 131 High concept, effect, spectacle 137 The ontology of the spectacle image 139 5 The technological image 141 Between reality, illusion and effect 141 The imprint of technology: On early cinema (Vertov) and late cinema (Spielberg) 147 The technological image and its properties 157 A historical departure (2): Industrialized effect 161 Simulated motion and complex compositing: The Dykstraflex system 163 Conclusion: Image, effect, commodity 168 6 Neo-baroque form: Excess and disambiguation 171 The blockbuster auteur: On the cinema of Steven Spielberg 171 Film style, method and analysis 175 Framing spectacle: Jaws and neo-baroque excess 180 Second shark attack: Spielberg’s neo-baroque aestheticism 183 Incitement to action, realist spectacle and the neo-baroque aesthetic: Omaha Beach, Saving Private Ryan 191 7 Spectacle affect 203 Image, narrative and affect: Theoretical paradigms 203 Image functionality and affect: Sensation and mise en scène 213 Affect and the spectacle image 218 CONTENTS vii The technology of vision and visuality: The technological image reprised 223 The technology of material and non-material bodies (including ocean- liners): Endo-skeletons, morphing shapes and machines 227 PART THREE On the Characteristics of Future Cinema 237 8 New cinematic imaginaries 239 Teleological and transcendental narratives in image media: The Dark Knight Rises, IMAX film, and HFR cinema 239 Is it even cinema? 3-D, Avatar, and immersive cinema experience 244 The paradox of immersive 3-D 248 The mobility of the image 255 A vivid philosophy of the image espoused by Pixar’s Rick Sayre 258 Nostalgia for a lost object: A visit to the museum 262 Bibliography 265 Filmography 279 Index 287 Acknowledgements This book benefited enormously from financial support from the University of Sydney. The School of Letters, Art and Media provided two annual grants that contributed to research and writing. I also received a research grant from the United States Studies Centre that enabled me to undertake research in Los Angeles and San Francisco in early 2012. I’m very fortunate to work with a number of great people, who help to make my job as a film academic a source of genuine pleasure. I wish to make special mention of the constant support and encouragement over a number of years of David Kelly, Peter Marks, Judith Keene and Jennifer Milam. These people, in one way or another, have been instrumental in the development of my career, my thinking on cinema and art, and my own place in the evolving role of arts-based scholarship. I am deeply grateful for the generosity of Sam Cosentino and Jenny Ward, who were instrumental in getting me ‘connected’ with key practitioners in the studio system. I thank Steve Ross at USC, who put me in touch with Tad Marburg, who in turn put me in touch with key production personnel in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I especially wish to thank Rick Sayre at Pixar, who was generous with his time, but also interested in what I had to say. I got to spend an afternoon with Richard King, a key sound designer and editor at Warner Bros. – Richard’s insights into the contemporary studio system were illuminating. John Lee, second editor on The Dark Knight Rises, provided the kind of insight into large-scale studio production that is hard to get at second or third hand. Philip Lelyveld and Bryan Gonzales at the Entertainment Technology Center at USC provided up-to-date and insightful commentary on contemporary 3-D image (and sound, yes, 3-D sound) technology. Katie Gallof at Continuum Press has been an absolute pleasure to work with on this project. She brought a fantastic presence to the profes- sional side of things. I wish to thank my family, who are keen film enthusiasts. A great deal of my thinking in this book filters through my twin brother, Herschel, whose experience of cinema accompanied, and continues to accompany, my own. Last, I wish to thank Rebecca Goldsworthy, my wife, who has supported every aspect of my fascination with cinema. Every thought in
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