week one - cinematic site device

Brief Analysis:

This brief, Cinematic Space : Centre for Moving Image, asks students to investigate and explore the relationship between cinematic space and urban space. We have the option to situate our design in Queen's Arcade, a private carpark, or Imperial Lane. I am excited about the broad range of possibilities that this brief provides and how it gives students to a lot of freedom to interpret the brief in a multitude of ways so that we can direct our project towards our unique skills, interests, and passions. I am feeling motivated and enthused to start to discover the path my project will take. I really like the given site options, they all provide their own challenges which I find exciting to address and attempt to overcome.

Public Intimacy - Giuliana Bruno

In class we read Public Intimacy by Giuliana Bruno to gain a better understanding of the evolution of cinematic devices and cinema itself. I was very interesting reading about the connection of museographic displays and the formation of films and cinematic devices. What I found particularly interesting was the key transitional point of moving from a mobile spectator experiencing still phenomena positioned in a sequence, to that of a stationary spectator whom observes a moving sequence of phenomena. This made me think of how movie theatres are designed today; the space is designed in a way that places the observer in a dream-like state where they are situated in one place and position for a long period of time and their surroundings are darkened so that they can purely focus on what is on the screen in front of them.

I also found the connection to memory and architectural paths quite intriguing. Memories are not necessarily perceived as a linear sequence, more so as fragments that we can piece together. It is interesting how using spatial memorisation techniques (mentally placing certain elements you want to recall in a sequence of rooms in a building) can aid in recollection in a linear fashion. Perhaps designing a linear or a contrasting non-linear sequence in a spatial design would create an interesting experience in the formation of memories or even just in the public comprehension of the space.

Primary Knowledge of Fort Lane area:

Fort Lane is a defining location of Auckland's night life. This steep and narrow alleyway consists of numerous populated bars/clubs and restaurants. My initial perception of this lane is that it is quite a dangerous place, especially at night, and it appears dark and uninviting. I have heard about multiple assaults occurring here, with the busy clubs likely adding to the dangerous atmosphere. During the day, this lane is shared by both pedestrians and vehicles and this tension can prove to be quite chaotic. Tackling the safety issues of the site would be an important and inspiring challenge that I would feel deeply passionate about. I would love to focus my design intention around solutions for women's (and other at risk groups ~ LGBTQIA+, etc.) safety issues, tackling a very important social sustainability issue. The downtown area near Fort Lane was named the "most dangerous spot for random street violence" by Metro.

Safety Issues in Night-Life Environments:

-"A YouGov study from 2017 found that 72% of people reported witnessing sexual harassment on a night out – a shocking statistic that indicates our commonplace acceptance of such behaviour." - https://metro.co.uk/2021/05/30/before-nightclubs-reopen-we-need-to-make-sure-women-feel-safe-in-them-14492778/

-According to Dr. Cathy Stephenson, who works with sexual assault victims in New Zealand, sexual violence disproportionately affects people 15 to 24 years old. She writes that only 10 percent of people who are sexually assaulted ever report it.(Norris, 2011)

-This issue also disproportionately affects women. In a national study “more than 95% of adult sexual assault victims were found to be women; assailants of both male and female victims are usually men.”According to the study the age group that is the most vulnerable are university aged women. (Zawacki, 2021)

-From the paper “Perpetrators of Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assaults” examined multiple rape cases from various sexual assault cases,found that in approximately 50% of all sexual assaults, the victim and/ or the perpetuator had consumed alcohol. Most of the time, both individuals had been drinking (Zawacki, 2021)

Early Site Visits:

My initial visits to the site revealed the degraded materiality of the interior and exterior walls. This adds to the unsafe and uneasy feeling some may experience. The video to the right shows a flickering red neon light giving the atmosphere an eerie feel, almost like a horror movie! I also realised how narrow and unsafe the lane was both during the day and at night and how narrow and steep the alley feels. I analysed sight lines within the site and found that it was unclear at times which adds to the dangerous potential of the area. I used a long exposure effect on the photos that captured the bright red hue that encapsulates the space at night. This was to create an effect of motion, perhaps a sense of fleeing from danger or being under the influence of alcohol and in a vulnerable state - capturing the nightlife scene in the area.

3 Cinematic/Pre-Cinematic Devices:

1. Panorama - a panorama is a wide-angle perspective, whether that be a painting, photograph, or film. The action of capturing a panoramic photograph informs the cinematic motion of 'panning'. Panoramas were also created as a sequence of planar sketches combined into a cylinder. Large scale installations of panoramic images of landscapes and scenes were situated upon walls within 'panorama rooms' and made the viewers feel more immersed in the surrounding scene.

2. Zoetrope - "a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion". Upon researching zoetropes, I found 3D versions of them that still produced a cinematic effect when rotated. The use of a 3D rotating zoetrope set in 21 Savage, Tyler the Creator, and Pharell's new music video, Cash in Cash Out, was visually intriguing and I thought was one of the most skilled and carefully crafted music videos I had ever seen. A singular static scene of sequentially-placed objects created a moving image of multiple events once set in motion.

3. Phenakistoscope - "An early animation device consisting of a disc or drum which rotated, showing successive images through slits, often via a mirror, thus producing the illusion of motion". It was the first widespread animation device that created an illusion of motion.

Cinematic Site Device:

In designing a cinematic device that will aid in the site analysis process, i thought about combining aspects from all three of the devices above. I want to create multiple panoramic images of different perspectives of the sites with my phone camera and then print these out and shape them into a cylinder to map the site. Creating a portrait version of a panorama would be effective in revealing and analysing the site's dangerous atmosphere, exposing and emphasising it's narrowness and hidden areas. Exaggerating the ceiling height and the narrowness of the walls will give a sense of feeling small, vulnerable, and trapped. This directly relates to the issue I would like to confront about women's safety in the area. The device I designed was a hand-held panoramic rotation device that enhances the stability of the phone camera when taking a panoramic image and also ensures that the photographer is not in the image. This also allows for a range of viewpoints, including; low to ground-level, high above the head, and also allows for portrait-oriented panoramas. It is made out of scrap wood and painted using spray-paint.

Musical Research:

A conversation with Sue made me want to explore the significance of musicals. I am interested in how I could integrate the safe and feel-good feelings that musicals evoke into my design to help create a safer environment for the at-risk populations in Auckland city. I watched La La Land, Mamma Mia!, and Grease in search of what qualities are used to create these feelings and how.

"Not only are songs used to further the story along in a musical, but they also have the ability to put the audience in the emotional state of the character singing. Song has always been used as a good conductor for emotional understanding". "Music also allows the viewers of musicals to almost experience the movie firsthand. One can easily get caught up in the songs of the musical" and thus feel a greater sense of immersion. https://phdessay.com/analysis-of-the-film-genre-musical-film/

"Given its stagy nature, it is quite common for the musical to embrace a very escapist vision of reality". http://www.cinemablography.org/blog/the-musical-film-genre-capturing-the-magic-of-the-stage-on-the-screen This point is interesting as I may want to create a space that is an 'escape' from the surrounding dangers of fort lane, and perhaps looking at musical qualities will aid in making the design effective.

A large reason for why musicals personally instil feelings of comfort, happiness, and safety is because of the nostalgia factor they pertain. I revert back into a child-like state and feel safe.