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Cinematic Narratives - Pittodrie Film School + Cinema

Part 2 Project 2013
Matthew Tranter
Robert Gordon University | UK
“Architecture exists, like cinema, in the dimension of time and movement- one conceives and reads a building in terms of sequences.” Jean-Nouvell

Many in the past have considered music to be the most closely linked art form to architecture. But others, like Pallasmaa, contest that cinema is even closer to architecture than music because of its temporal nature and spatial structure. Both architecture and cinema articulate space and create images of life, culture and cities; defining dimensions and existence of space, they both narrate scenes of life situations.

The difficulties of recreating the dramatics of architecture in cinema in cinema-architecture are the parameters and constraints of practical functions, regulations, technologies and cost. Film makers are alleviated from these chains to provide buildings with only artistic merit and psychological impact through physical impossibilities and time-space shifts.
Pascal Schoning’s Manifesto for a Cinematic Architecture offers a glimpse into an all too rare kind of architectural structure- one which is built entirely by, and for, architectural imagination. An architectural imagination can allow us to look beyond the capacity of reality and built surface to understand and appreciate the intangible qualities that comprise “cinematic architecture”.

The brief I set myself was to comprise a building that encompassed the ephemeral qualities of cinematic design whilst adhering to the functional requirements of a film production facility. My approach was to create a simple architectural expression befitting the industrial context of Pittodrie, whilst making a considered effort to design a sequential narrative for the patron of the cinema.

The intention was to focus on the design of experience of light, projec¬tion, film and materiality to create an architectural narrative that alleviates itself from the chains of technology and regulation with the hope of forming a space and architecture that feels truly cinematic. I explored the use of architecture in carefully selected film case studies which reveal the key concepts of the built proposal- voyeurism and escapism- resulting in the creation of a short film: Cinematic Narratives. The film portrays one personal journey and experience from context, to Film School and into the temporal world of cinema.


Matthew Tranter

Tutor(s)

2013
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