Arch 443/646: Architecture and Film
Fall 2010: Course Home Page

"metropolis"

FRIDAYS 10:00 to 2:00, Cambridge, Main Floor Lecture Hall ARC 1001 (please note change of day)

Course Description:
This course explores the relationship between Architecture and the development of early and modern films. Students will look at the source and portrayal of architectural expression in film: precedents for imagery, its relationship to the development of early modern architecture, and its vision of the urban future.

The theme for this term is "METROPOLIS". We will be viewing a variety of films that make the urban environment a true character in their narrative. The films will include documentaries, contemporary settings and futuristic societies.

We will be using FinalCutPro to make our films. The films will be required reflect on the role of urban architecture and urban setting in film.

NOTE: Films produced by you from this course will be used for the UnSilent Night evening in Cambridge. In these installations, the films are projected on buildings or large temporary screens throughout Cambridge. I will try to have more information on this later in the term. It is being coordinated with Jeff Lederer. You do not have to design your film to this format. Only G rated films will be used.

UNSILENT NIGHT CAMBRIDGE 2010 - STUDENT VIDEO INSTALLATIONS

Have a look at Vera Guo's Film installation for Unsilent Night 2009!

Pedagogic Objectives:
The course is intended to develop a critical perspective of the use of architecture in film. Students will learn to examine both the medium of film and the form and style of architecture as they relates to the development of both film media and culture. Students will engage in research to understand the choices and expression of architecture used in film, as well as the relationship between the idea of the future city and its relationship to both built and natural environments.

Completion Requirements:
The course will be run in a seminar format. Each week we will view a film, discuss its relevance to architecture, culture, environments, and the perception of all three. The discussions will take place in a “for credit” mode and include a digital submission of an answer to an assigned question. Attendance is mandatory. Two missed classes will constitute failure of the course. Discussions to be effective require all students to be present. Students must also submit their short intro exercise film and completed Unsilent Night film.

IMPORTANT: IF YOU MISS SEEING A FILM
Many of these films are not in Musagetes. If you miss seeing a film in class, please arrange to see it. I am not lending out my personal copies.

last updated Monday, December 27, 2010 9:28 AM

Schedule of Classes and Films:

The list of films posted below is subject to revision prior to September 2010.

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis 1926 | 115 minutes

Fritz Lang's most famous silent film uses science fiction and spectacular special effects to tell a story of biting social criticism. In a futuristic time and place, an above ground city of lightness, culture and respectability is kept going only by the enslaved proletariat laboring beneath in the underground city: a nightmarish, cruel and dark place. An innovative and influential film in its day and now considered one of the hippest films of the sci-fi genre.

http://shipofdreams.net/sfmovies/metropol.htm http://www.kino.com/metropolis/ http://www.uow.edu.au/~morgan/Metroa.html http://www.activitaly.it/immaginicinema/metropolis.html http://www.silentera.com/DVD/metropolis-cmhDVD.html

The complete restored version is not due out until November 16, 2010....

This is a visual symphony in five movements celebrating the Berlin of 1927: the people, the place, the everyday details of life on the streets. Director Walter Ruttman, an experimental filmmaker, approached cinema in similar ways to his Russian contemporary Dziga Vertoz, mixing documentary, abstract, and expressionist modes for a nonnarrative style that captured the life of his countrymen. But where Vertov mixed his observations with examples of the communist dream in action, Ruttman re-creates documentary as, in his own words, "a melody of pictures."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017668/

A cameraman travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness. This playful film is at once a documentary of a day in the life of the Soviet Union, a documentary of the filming of said documentary, and a depiction of an audience watching the film. Even the editing of the film is documented. We often see the cameraman who is purportedly making the film, but we rarely, if ever, see any of the footage he seems to be in the act of shooting!

Both of these documentary films use filming devices to manipulate the truth of the story that they tell about their respective cities.

http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_the_
http://www.25hrs.org/vertov.htm
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/

H. G. Wells’ Things to Come 1936 | 97 minutes

One of the most important science fiction films of all time, it opens prior to World War II and takes the viewer on a hundred year time trip to 2036 A.D. when a man and woman are rocketed to the moon. This inspired saga predicts television, jet planes and evil dictators. Featuring fabulous sets, a rich musical score and sweeping visual grandeur. Visionary science fiction novelist H.G. Wells teams up with ace producer Alexander Korda to produce this landmark motion picture epic.

Just Imagine 1930 |

Very rare 1930 science fiction film about futuristic 1980 New York where airplanes have replaced cars and features a combination of booze jokes, sci-fi, lewd sex, vaudeville jokes. Babies are gotten through vending machines, and a trip to Mars proves Martians to be twins, (Each set has a good over-sexed one, and an evil homicidal one.) Pepper this oddity with bad puns, miniature effects, and musical numbers and you got a bizarre wacky film! It stars El Brendel, Maureen O'Sullivan & John Garrick.

We are just watching the amazing intro portion of this film as time permits to the end of the class.

Playtime: Jacques Tati 1973 | 119 minutes

Jacques Tati, the choreographer of the charming, comical ballet that is Playtime, casts the endearingly clumsy Monsieur Hulot as the principal character wandering through modernist Paris. Amid the babble of English, French and German tourists, Hulot tries to reconcile the old-fashioned ways with the confusion of the encroaching age of technology.

Interesting view of 1960's (Modern) Paris. Intriguing filming, sets and a highlight of the "sounds" of modernity.

Paris, je t'aime is about the plurality of cinema in one mythic location: Paris, the City of Love. Twenty filmmakers will bring their own personal touch, underlining the wide variety of styles, genres, encounters and the various atmospheres and lifestyles that prevail in the neighborhoods of Paris. Each director has been given five minutes of freedom, and we, as producers, carry the responsibility of weaving a single narrative unit out of those twenty moments. The 20 films will not appear in the order of the arrondissements, from one to twenty, but rather, in a pertinent narrative order, initially unknown to the audience.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401711/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_je_t%27aime

http://www.firstlookstudios.com/pjt/

FinalCutPro Tutorial
Use of this software is not mandatory to produce your movies but it will be "supported". The video lab at the school is set up with computers for exclusive FCP use by students. Students may also use iMovie as the regular lab computers are all equipped with iMovie/iDVD.

Please note that if you are using a new AVCHD camera, FCP will not support your footage. You can only edit AVCHD material on a new Intel MacPro with Final Cut Express - or use a PC.
extra notes

Excellent tutorial:
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/multimedia/tutorials/finalcut/

These also look like great help sites:
http://users.design.ucla.edu/
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/
http://www.atomiclearning.com/finalcutprox.shtml
http://www.sjmclib.umn.edu/viscomm/finalcutpro/
http://www.lafcpug.org/tutorials.html

Apple support:
http://www.apple.com/support/finalcutexpress/
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=936
http://www.fcpbook.com/FAQ.html

Blade Runner 1982 | 117 minutes

Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) prowls the steel and microchip jungle of 21st century Los Angeles. He's a "blade runner" stalking genetically made criminal replicants. His assignment: kill them. Their crime: wanting to be human. The story of Blade Runner is familiar to countless fans. This cut is director Ridley Scott's own vision of his sci-fi classic. This new version omits Deckard's voiceover narration, develops in slightly greater detail the romance between Deckard and Rachael and removes the "uplifting" finale.

The Fifth Element 1997 | 126 minutes

Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich and Gary Oldman star in acclaimed director Luc Besson's outrageous sci-fi adventure. An extravagantly styled tale of good against evil set in an unbelievable twenty-third century world.

Terry Gilliam’s Brazil 1985 | 2 hours 30 minutes

Brazil is a surrealistic nightmare vision of a "perfect" future where technology reigns supreme. Everyone is monitored by a secret government agency that forbids love to interfere with efficiency. Johathan Pryce and Robert De Niro star with Michael Palin in this chilling black comedy directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam. When a daydreaming bureaucrat becomes unwittingly involved with an underground superhero and a beautiful mystery woman, he becomes the tragic victim of his own romantic illusions.

In 2054, Paris is a labyrinth where all movement is monitored and recorded. Casting a shadow over everything is the city's largest company, Avalon, which insinuates itself into evry aspect of contemporary life to sell its primary export, youth and beauty.

This French film was only shown briefly in the US. It features the extensive use of motion capture as the basis for the animation of the people in the film as well as the layering of recognizable architecture of Paris with that of 2054.

http://www.renaissance-lefilm.com/accueil.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_(film)
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/movie/upcoming

10

Nov 26

THIS IS TORONTO COOP DAY. WE WILL BE SHOWING A FILM REGARDLESS DUE TO THE MIXED NATURE OF THE CLASS.

I Robot 2004 | 114 minutes

Will Smith rages against the machines in this sci-fi action thriller set in futuristic Chicago. The future has become "brighter"?

In contrast to the traditional darkness of the dystopic futuristic film type, this film is very bright due to a confidence in animation accuracy as a result of the use of the CGI processes.

Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis 2001 | 109 minutes

"Metropolis is the new milestone in anime. It has beauty, power, mystery and above all... heat. Images from this film will stay with you forever." James Cameron

In the industrial tri-level world of Metropolis, Duke Red is a powerful leader with plans to unveil a highly advanced robot named Tima. But Duke Red's violent son Rock distrusts robots, and intends to find and destroy Tima. Lost in the confusing labyrinth of Metropolis, Tima is beginning a friendship with the young nephew of a Japanese detective. But when Duke Red separates the two innocents, Tima's life - and the fate of the universe - is dangerously at stake.

Undergraduate Requirements:
Weekly Comments 20%:
Each week I will distribute a series of "questions" regarding the film viewed. The answers will be submitted and discussed at the beginning of the next class. Answers are to be around 400 to 500 words in length. The answers will be posted on this webpage.

Assignment #1: The Video Short 30%
Each student will be producing a short music video (around 30 seconds in length) for an assigned segment of a piece of music. The segments will be joined and we will view the composite piece.

Assignment #2: (HBAS)The Video 50%
The major work will be the creation of a Music/Architecture 'video' that will serve as an installation in the Unsilent Night Event in Cambridge, Ontario on the evening of December 22 (date/time/TBA). This will be a GROUP project. It is anticipated, that based on the number of students in the class and the number of available sites, that the groups will be 3 or 4 students max.

Graduate Requirements:
Weekly Comments 30%:
Each week I will distribute a series of "questions" regarding the film viewed. The answers will be submitted and discussed at the beginning of the next class. Answers are to be 700 to 800 words in length. The answers will be posted on this webpage. The responses are to show evidence of research and contain links out to references that pertain to the movie/question.

Assignment #1: The Video Short 30%
Each student will be producing a short music video (around 30 seconds in length) for an assigned segment of a piece of music. The segments will be joined and we will view the composite piece.

Assignment #3: The Video 40%
The major work will be the creation of a Music/Architecture 'video' that will serve as an installation in the Unsilent Night Event in Cambridge, Ontario on the evening of December 22 (date/time/TBA). This will be a GROUP project. It is anticipated, that based on the number of students in the class and the number of available sites, that the groups will be 2 or 3 students max.

FORMAT FOR THE WEEKLY SEMINAR RESPONSES:
Given the increased class size this year the class will be divided into two groups. Groups will alternate weeks for presenting their assigned question but ALL students must submit responses each week. Students that are not presenting will be expected to be in attendance and contribute to the discussion. Responses are due at the end of the weekend immediately following the Friday presentation to allow you to refine your responses based upon the discussion in class. Questions submitted after midnight on the Sunday immediately following the Friday presentation will be given a grade of zero.

References:

complete list from my film library

Some of these are out of print. There are no specific weekly readings. Please conduct research as required to answer your weekly questions and to support your web projects.

Recommended:

Deitrich Neumann, editor. Film Architecture from Metropolis to Blade Runner. Prestel, 1999. (only available now through amazon.com, in their used books area link1, link2. Or try www.alibris.com as they have some and a good selection of other used books.) This is a simply amazing book that is now out of print.

Mark Lamster, editor. Architecture and Film. Princeton Architectural Press, 2000.

Donald Albrecht. Designing Dreams: Modern Architecture in the Movies. Hennessey + Ingalls, Santa Monica, 2000.

Maggie Toy, editor. A.D. Architectural Design Profile no. 112. Architecture and Film. Academy Group Ltd. 1994.

Maggie Toy, editor. A.D. Architectural Design Profile no. 150. Architecture + Animation. Wiley-Academy. 2001.

Francois Penz, editor. Cinema & Architecture: Melies, Mallet-Stevens, Multimedia. British Film Institute, 1997.

Thomas Hine. Movie Houses. Architectural Record. 04.02.

Terry Smith, editor. Impossible Presence: Surface and Screen in the Photographic Era. University of Chicago Press, 2001.

http://www.mrqe.com/
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/2976/SF_FilmResources.HTML
The Cinematic City: The City and Architecture in Motion Pictures
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/cinematiccity.html
http://shipofdreams.net/sfmovies/movielinks.htm
http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/film/films/
http://www.scifimoviepage.com/index.html
Filming Locations used in Many Movies:
http://www.movie-locations.com/