The elements of anamorphic composition: Two case studies.
Item
-
Title
-
The elements of anamorphic composition: Two case studies.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9000682
-
identifier
-
9000682
-
Creator
-
Contreras, Cynthia A.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Albert Bermel
-
Date
-
1989
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Cinema
-
Abstract
-
In this study, the influence of widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio upon film structure and meaning is examined through a sustained analysis of two films, Masaki Kobayashi's Seppuku and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. These films encompass the two principal contextual possibilities of architecture and landscape, of person in society and person in nature. The analysis of these films is meant to serve as a model for weighing questions related to aspect ratio and for suggesting general principles of widescreen composition.;The dissertation begins by tracing both the use of different widescreen formats, from as early as 1896, and the discourse which accompanied their introduction. Contrasting positions, beginning with those of Lloyd Jones and Sergei Eisenstein, are presented, and special emphasis is given to the realist-formalist debate about the merits of CinemaScope and the nature of film realism. The writings of Kohler and Arnheim on one side and of Bazin and Barr on the other are examined. Distortions of widescreen through exhibition practices are then discussed, especially in regard to the transfer of anamorphic prints to 16mm flat prints and the reframing of films for television and VCR formats, practices which disregard aspect ratio as an essential aesthetic element.;In Part II, the film Seppuku is placed within the traditions of Emakimono scroll painting and the Noh theatre. Topics such as "Space and Historical Context" and "The Static and the Dynamic" are discussed within a close structural analysis of the film. In Part III, Once Upon a Time in the West is seen in its relationship to the traditions of Italian theatre spectacle and film epics. Again, through close analysis, possibilities for presenting narrative and descriptive information simultaneously are explored, as are spatial arrangements in suggesting character relationships. The conclusion compares the approaches to anamorphic composition of these two films and underscores the crucial aesthetic implications of aspect ratio choice.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
