Cine-Machine as Method: Introduction - Revision history

Kzxpr: /* The Purpose and Parts of Thesis */

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The Purpose and Parts of Thesis

Kzxpr: /* Handmade film */

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Handmade film

Kzxpr: /* What is a Cine-Machine? */

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What is a Cine-Machine?

Kzxpr: /* The object of the study */

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The object of the study

Kzxpr: /* What is a Cine-Machine? */

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What is a Cine-Machine?

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Kzxpr at 16:15, 5 November 2019

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Kzxpr: /* Note to the reader */

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Note to the reader

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Kzxpr: Kzxpr moved page Master Thesis to Cine-Machine as Method: Introduction

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Kzxpr moved page Master Thesis to Cine-Machine as Method: Introduction

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 == The Purpose and Parts of Thesis ==
-The purpose of this thesis is to develop the concept of the film machine as a method. The method consists of:
+The '''algorithm''' can be seen as a model for this method that unites all three dimensions.
-    an archaeological dimension that uncovers the film machine and its historical practices. Empiri can be the film machine itself (if it still exists), works, demonstration videos, technical records, manuals, manifests, reconstructions, simulations, interfaces , etc.
+Chapter 1 defines what a film machine is and how the approach can be seen in continuation of the art-historical tradition of material studies. Next, in Chapter 2, I will characterize the four environments of the film mediality in order to create a framework of how the signals and machines of the environments make constitute creative practices.
-The algorithm can be seen as a model for this method that unites all three dimensions.
+The last three chapters are all dedicated to film machines in one environment with a main focus on a single artist's practice. In Chapter 3, the film machine is the computer program ''Arabesque'' developed (with Larry Cuba) and used by John Whitney. Here the geometry-based program serves as a prototype for the algorithm model, and Whitney's film as a model for algorithmic practice.
+Chapter 4 focuses on Len Lye's practice with the film projector, the Gasparcolor system, and the optical printer in the chemical-mechanical environment. Lye uses these three film machines in a kind of "hacking" where he reveals their inner workings through vitalizing and algorithmic use. By analyzing two of his works, I will demonstrate the agency of the respective film machines, and this leads to 5 of the 6 ''leitmotifs'', which are continued in Chapter 5.
-Chapter 1 defines what a film machine is and how the approach can be seen in continuation of an art-historical tradition of material studies. Next, in Chapter 2, I will characterize the four environments of the film media in order to create a framework of how the signals and machines of the environments make traces.
+Chapter 5's focus is on Stephen Beck's ''Beck Direct Video Synthesizer #1'' in the electronic environment. Here, the synthesizer's structure and genealogy is compared to other film machines to show how 6 ''leitmotifs'' are created and transformed according to the synthesizer's algorithm. Thus, this chapter will analyze and discuss whether these motifs are respectively mechanically or iconographically motivated.
-              The last three chapters are all dedicated to film machines in one environment, with the main focus on one artist's practice. In Chapter 3, the film machine computer program Arabesque is developed and used by John Whitney. Here, the geometry-based program serves as a prototype for the algorithm model, and Whitney's work as a model for algorithmic practice.
+In conclusion, I summarize the method's principles and round up on the 6 ''leitmotifs'' to see how the cases together can form a foundation for a ''film history of film machines''. Finally, I discuss the application of these principles to contemporary digital film machines.

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 == Handmade film ==
-In Handmade: The Moving Image in the Artisanal Mode (2012), Gregory Zinman addresses a similar problem in which the film artist is also understood as an artisan. In his analyzes of direct film (animations painted directly on the film strip), color organs , psychedelic light shows and video synthesizers, Zinman argues that in these traditions we find an "artisanal mode" within the film medium, where both the film object's " well " -made-ness ' and the film artist's " attention to and respect for a material " (Zinman 2012: 8) are prominent. Here, in its intimate relationship with the material base of the film objects, the artist must exhibit " an empathy with another matter's distinctive properties, laws, or conventions " (ibid: 8-9), which stands in opposition to the industrial products of film studies.
+To some extent, my project is similar to Zinman's in that our empiricism overlaps greatly, and I also assume a craft-like practice in relation to the film machines. But in terms of his focus on film objects, my project suggests a lens shift where I use the film machines rather than the film works as the object of analysis. Here film machines must be understood both as the specific film machines that I want to analyze and as the abstract idea of ''the Film Machine'' that unites these individual studies.
-              To a degree, my project is similar to Zinmans in that our empiricism overlaps greatly, and I also practice craft-like practices around the film machines. But in terms of his focus on film objects, my project involves a plan shift where I have the film machines rather than the film works as objects. Film machines must be understood here both as the specific film machines that I want to analyze and as the abstract idea of the Film Machine that unites the individual studies.
+Using the assumption that the film machines inherit their motifs, it will also be relevant to investigate how motifs are remediated across film machines and environments. The motifs can be both a result of the film machines' mechanical motivations and a film-historical imitation of it's predecessors.
 == The Purpose and Parts of Thesis ==

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 == What is a Cine-Machine? ==
-Film machines, first and foremost, are understood as very specific machines that are part of the production of live images - obviously you can mention cameras and displays such as a projector, a screen or the "pre-cinematic" Zoetrope. But there are also more hidden film machines such as the optical printer, video synthesizers, and software for editing and 3D animation.
+Film machines, first and foremost, are understood as very specific machines that are part of the production of moving images - obviously you can mention cameras and displays such as a projector, a screen or the "pre-cinematic" Zoetrope. But there are also more hidden film machines such as the optical printer, video synthesizers, and software for editing and 3D animation.
 It is my assumption that film machines put their imprint on film production. For example, how the machines transform the cinematic signal (such as physical film strip, electromagnetic videotape or binary computer file); an inclination in the way they make images (the camera creates space with perspective; the kaleidoscope's symmetrical patterns); or a particular logic in the movement patterns when they animate (3D software calculates the movement of the characters in a certain way). This should not be seen as an assertion of technological determinism or a downward prioritization of the importance of the human factor, but my focus will be on how the film machines function as conditions for the imagery and movement patterns of the works.

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 == The object of the study ==
-I have selected this assignment's film machine cases on the basis of (1) that they must show breadth in relation to the different environments of the film media, (2) that there is sufficient empirical evidence for the selected film machines, both in the form of technical documentation and in works, so that they can be systematically investigated and (3) that these film machines are implemented in works where they are also used and algorithmically explored.
+In particular, the last point is a crucial inference to the general validity of the study, as there are many film works where the film machine operates under the same algorithmic conditions, but is not algorithmically explored by the artist. For example, many classic Hollywood movies use the optical printer to make slow motion, freeze frames, dissolves, etc., just as video synthesizers up to the 90s were used for TV graphics. But in these contexts, the film machines serve a different function, as their imagery must convey e.g. a fictitious content.
-              In particular, the last point is a crucial inference to the general validity of the study, as there are many film works where the film machine operates under the same algorithmic conditions, but is not algorithmically explored by the artist. For example. Many Hollywood movies use the optical printer to make slow motion, freeze frames, dissolves, etc., just as video synthesizers up to the 90s were used for TV graphics. But in these contexts, the filmmakers serve a different function, as their imagery must convey e.g. a fictitious content.
+Such applications are also a central part of the film machines' history, but because of the scope of this study, they can only be included in passing. By contrast, my primary focus is on films that are often categorized as experimental films. That these films "use and explore the algorithms of a film machine" is in opposition to traditional filmmaking, where the film machines must be invisible and are operated by film technicians who follow and fulfill an director's wishes. Here, the director is considered the actual ''auteur'' because it is her/him who has the vision. By contrast, the specialists who manage the camera, optical printer, animation, etc. are regarded as mere technicians who have to realize the director's visions.
-              Such applications are also a central part of the filmmakers' nature, but because of the scope of this study, they can only be included as perspectives. By contrast, my primary focus is on films that are often characterized as experimental films. That these films "use and explore the filmmaker algorithmically" I understand, unlike traditional filmmaking, in which the filmmakers must be invisible and served by film technicians who follow and fulfill an director's wishes. Here, the instructor is considered the actual artist because it is him / her who has the vision. By contrast, the specialists who manage the camera, optical printer, animation, etc. are just technicians who have to realize the instructor's visions.
+In this thesis, the film technician is the artist - either as the one who made the machine (Beck), got it tailor-made (Whitney) or has in-depth technical knowledge of it (Lye). The word "artist" does not mean that it is crucial whether the works have an artistic or entertainment ambition. By contrast, I believe that the distinction between film director and film technician may reflect a current and broader art-historical theme in which the artist (artist) is confronted by the artisan (artisan). Since the Renaissance, this distinction has dominated the discourse, ascribing that the artist works in the sphere of ideas (e.g. with painting), while the artisan works with matter. Here, crafts were considered somewhat lower and often attributed to "otherness," associated with female pursuits, non-Western cultures, etc. (Tarp 2011). Pamela Smith's ''The Body of the Artisan'' (2004) made a show of this oppression, arguing that the artisan's dialogue with the material is a particular "artisanal epistemology".
-              In this task, the film technician is the artist - either as the one who made the machine himself (Beck), got it tailor made (Whitney) or has in-depth technical knowledge of it (Lye). The word "artist" here does not mean that it is crucial whether the works have an artistic or entertainment ambition. By contrast, I believe that the distinction between film director and film technician may reflect a current art-historical theme in which the artist (artist) is confronted by the artisan (artisan). Since the Renaissance, this distinction has been applicable, with the artist working in the sphere of ideas (eg with painting), while artisans working with matter. Here, crafts were considered somewhat lower and often attributed to "otherness," associated with female pursuits, non-Western cultures, etc. (Tarp 2011) Pamela Smith's The Body of the Artisan (2004) made a show of this oppression, arguing that the artisan's dialogue with the material is a particular "artisanal epistemology".
+Of course, these conditions cannot be transmitted directly to film history that has a different historical, technological, and political context. But the general discussion raises an interesting question as to whether the film technician's practice is different when she/he does not simply execute the film director's orders.
 == Handmade film ==

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 Film machines, first and foremost, are understood as very specific machines that are part of the production of live images - obviously you can mention cameras and displays such as a projector, a screen or the "pre-cinematic" Zoetrope. But there are also more hidden film machines such as the optical printer, video synthesizers, and software for editing and 3D animation.
-              It is my assumption that filmmakers put their imprint on film production. It can, for example. be how the machines transform the cinematic signal (such as physical film strip, electromagnetic videotape or binary computer file); an inclination in the way they make images (the camera creates perspectivistic spaces; the kaleidoscope's symmetrical patterns); or a particular logic in the movement patterns they are animated with (3D software calculates the movement of the characters in a certain way). Without this relationship being an assertion of technological determinism or a downward prioritization of the importance of the human factor, my focus will be on how the film machines function as conditions for the imagery and movement patterns of the works.
+It is my assumption that film machines put their imprint on film production. For example, how the machines transform the cinematic signal (such as physical film strip, electromagnetic videotape or binary computer file); an inclination in the way they make images (the camera creates space with perspective; the kaleidoscope's symmetrical patterns); or a particular logic in the movement patterns when they animate (3D software calculates the movement of the characters in a certain way). This should not be seen as an assertion of technological determinism or a downward prioritization of the importance of the human factor, but my focus will be on how the film machines function as conditions for the imagery and movement patterns of the works.
-              Film machines are thus not only the concrete machines that can be lifted, knocked and destroyed. They are also optical-kinetic instruments that, in their structure, contain certain ways of creating image and motion. Each film maker must then also be regarded as an abstract principle, for example. requires certain optical-kinetic inclinations and delineates a particular expression space. This basic feature will describe my task with an algorithm model that identifies machine inputs, parameters and outputs, and explores how this system facilitates creative practice.
+Thus film machines are not only the concrete machines that can be lifted, knocked upon and destroyed. They are also optical-kinetic instruments that, in their structure, contain certain ways of creating image and motion. Each film machine must then also be regarded as an abstract principle which affords certain optical-kinetic inclinations and limitations of expression. This basic feature of the machines will be describe here with an ''algorithm'' model that identifies machine inputs, parameters and outputs, and explores how each system facilitates a creative practice.
 == The object of the study ==

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-=== Periods or environments ===
+== Periods or environments ==
 However, there is a difference to whether one defines "film" as a base for storage, as Streible does, or as an abstract mediality. In the first case, "film" means the emulsion film in which "the filmic" (or "cinematic") are features derived from it. On the other hand, as a mediality "film" extends that meaning, and the "cinematic" is not bound to one format, but has many co-organized manifestations in media history. Even though dominant film theory is not particularly explicit about this assumption, the discourse is characterized by an orientation toward the film strip and/or film camera as an anchor point. This can be seen - among other thing - in the exclusion of animated films in film theory (which, however, is being corrected in recent years (Beckman 2015)). And this in turn challenges the canonized idea that the Lumiere brothers' ''cinematograph'' is the first cine-machine, labeling the preceding film works and animation devices as "pre-cinematic" because they lack the photochemical base of the film strip. Similarly, Dan Streible asks if we should today call the medium "post-cinematic" to reflect the transition from "film" to "file".
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-=== Foundations for a film archeology ===
+== Foundations for a film archeology ==
 This extended concept of film is based on a medial definition of cinematic, but it is also supported by the same "cinematic language" occurring across the environment. However, it is not only at the work level that the imitations happen. Similarly the tools used to produce films will borrow and remediate principles from one another.
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-=== What is a Cine-Machine? ===
+== What is a Cine-Machine? ==
 Film machines, first and foremost, are understood as very specific machines that are part of the production of live images - obviously you can mention cameras and displays such as a projector, a screen or the "pre-cinematic" Zoetrope. But there are also more hidden film machines such as the optical printer, video synthesizers, and software for editing and 3D animation.
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-The subject matter of the study
+== The object of the study ==
 I have selected this assignment's film machine cases on the basis of (1) that they must show breadth in relation to the different environments of the film media, (2) that there is sufficient empirical evidence for the selected film machines, both in the form of technical documentation and in works, so that they can be systematically investigated and (3) that these film machines are implemented in works where they are also used and algorithmically explored.
@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
-Handmade film
+== Handmade film ==
 In Handmade: The Moving Image in the Artisanal Mode (2012), Gregory Zinman addresses a similar problem in which the film artist is also understood as an artisan. In his analyzes of direct film (animations painted directly on the film strip), color organs , psychedelic light shows and video synthesizers, Zinman argues that in these traditions we find an "artisanal mode" within the film medium, where both the film object's " well " -made-ness ' and the film artist's " attention to and respect for a material " (Zinman 2012: 8) are prominent. Here, in its intimate relationship with the material base of the film objects, the artist must exhibit " an empathy with another matter's distinctive properties, laws, or conventions " (ibid: 8-9), which stands in opposition to the industrial products of film studies.
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
-Purpose and section of the study
+== The Purpose and Parts of Thesis ==
-The purpose of this assignment is to develop the concept of the film machine as a method. The method consists of:
+The purpose of this thesis is to develop the concept of the film machine as a method. The method consists of:
      an archaeological dimension that uncovers the film machine and its historical practices. Empiri can be the film machine itself (if it still exists), works, demonstration videos, technical records, manuals, manifests, reconstructions, simulations, interfaces , etc.

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 Film is inextricably linked to technology. As a product of industrialization, what we usually understand as film is conditioned on two technological breakthroughs. On the one hand, the chemical invention of photography , which fixes light onto a transparent film strip, and on the other hand the mechanical projector, which can display images at such a fast pace that they create an illusion of movement.
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-=== Beyond film? ===
+== Beyond film? ==
 In recent years, digital technologies have become a new condition which film theory must address. Since the 90s, CGI (computer-generated imagery) has become an integral part of the way film is made. For example. The sci-fi film ''Gravity'' (2013) combines traditional photography with digital manipulation so that the camera can now move freely in space and even "melt" through a space suit glass in front of our eyes. Or the fantasy movie ''Life of Pi'' (2012) where the protagonist mostly resides in a computer-generated space - quite controversially, the film won an Oscar for best photography, although many of the photographic virtues such as lighting, colors, etc. were performed digitally.

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 Writing about films presents communicative challenges, especially when the analytical points relate to the way figures move or fully synthetic direct film sequences. I have tried to gather snapshots of the sequences analyzed to illustrate the analytical pointers, but otherwise I will refer to the "Other Resource" section at the back, with links to the four primary works, so the reader can experience them for him-/herself.
-When the images in the text are from these films (John Whitney's Arabesque (1975), Len Lye's A Color Box (1935) and Rainbow Dance (1936), and Stephen Beck's Illuminated Music 2 & 3 (1972-3)) I haven't stated the title explicitly, hoping it will be obvious from the context. In pictures from other film examples, the title is listed in the caption and I will refer to the "Work List" for further information.
+When the images in the text are from these films (John Whitney's ''Arabesque'' (1975), Len Lye's ''A Color Box'' (1935) and ''Rainbow Dance'' (1936), and Stephen Beck's ''Illuminated Music 2 & 3'' (1972-3)) I haven't stated the title explicitly, hoping it will be obvious from the context. In pictures from other film examples, the title is listed in the caption and I will refer to the "Work List" for further information.
 The images that come from other sources (and which are not my own work), I have listed the source in "Image References" at the end.

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 But not only in the indexical aspect has the digital challenged the dominant view of what film is. As Dan Streible has pointed out, "digital film" is an oxymoron because "film" etymologically refers to the emulsion base that is currently replaced with files and hard drives (Streible 2013). And the development is going fast, because where the old 35mm format was expensive to record and distribute, digital is a far cheaper alternative for both film studios and cinemas.
-Historically, the emulsion film has previously been challenged by electronic formats such as TV and video, but where TV and video largely became a parallel sphere of film life[1] , digitization today threatens both film production and distribution as well as TV and home video in a way where the old formats risk being replaced rather than co-existence.
+Historically, the emulsion film has previously been challenged by electronic formats such as TV and video, but where TV and video largely became a parallel sphere of film life[1: Where films (with 8mm films as an important exception) was situated in the cinema, while TV and video was in the home], digitization today threatens both film production and distribution as well as TV and home video in a way where the old formats risk being replaced rather than co-existence.
 Although cinemas, museums and art galleries hold on to the old equipment, many commercial cinemas have moved to digital films, making the experience of new analog productions (e.g. when Tarantino has a film in 70mm distribution) and the re-experience of old movie classics in original format an exception.
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                In the rounding, I summarize the method's tools and pick up on the 6 leads to see how these results together can form a foundation for a filmmaker's film history . Finally, the concept of application to contemporary digital film machines is discussed.

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