The Orientation of Future Cinema: Technology, Aesthetics, Spectacle

312 Pages·2012·3.04 MB·English

by  Bruce Isaacs

The Orientation of
Future Cinema

The Orientation of
Future Cinema
Technology, Aesthetics, Spectacle
BRUCE ISAACS
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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www.bloomsbury.com
First published 2013
© Bruce Isaacs, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
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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