Cinema and Architecture in Translation

Catalog description

Cinema and Architecture in Translation is a seminar that will survey key cinematic moments and techniques within the history of film and find new intersections between architecture and narratives. The focus will be on the relevance of mise-en-scene, the background and building figures of architecture and future speculations of the city, yet in relation to narrative dynamics. One of the challenges is to consider techniques that will affect both conceptualization and the production of spatial manifestations using potent visual platforms. Current pre and post-production techniques in film making methods are converging with architectural digital representation. This is an opportunity that provides fertile ground for architects to re-examine the 'digital' in a variety of scales in relation to impactful narratives and visualizations. These tools, specifically the technique of "matte-painting" will be explored in this course. There is a rich history in constructing images, speculative worlds and scenes for the film industry. We will explore the parallels between the tools and strategies of cinematic visualization as it relates to advanced architectural image making. Students will have the opportunity to analyze filmic scene making, learn advanced representation and techniques in matte painting and zbrush. Above all this course will engage students in the conceptual as well as practical complementarities of architecture and cinema, while watching some of the best films ever made and the most provocative and insightful books to help process them. An important aspect of this course will be to explore the differences between "real" architecture and the cinematic architecture. The expansive Space and Time in which cinematic architecture is located, creates an incubator where true innovated speculation can occur. This is an advanced representation course that produces 2D images…