Sensory Screens, Digitized Desires: Dancing Rasa From Bombay Cinema To Reality TV

Bombay cinema incorporated songs, dances, choreography, staging, and costumes from a variety of traditional forms to mark a modern national identity. The pioneering figure for using dance in films was Uday Shankar in his experimental film Kalpana. Bombay’s spectacular song-and-dance cinema then moves through films such as Chandralekha to contemporary Bollywood and its byproducts such as dance reality shows. The search for aesthetic modernity in India is embodied in the concept of “desire” as it evolved from traditional aesthetics to contemporary culture and new media technology; to uncover its evolution from Bombay cinema to reality show, I first analyze the historically transforming cinematography and content through a few select musicals. Secondly, I trace the emergence of the “Item” numbers in Bollywood and their relationship to music videos; and third, I explore the current expressions of screendance on reality shows in India as expressions of class mobility and democratization of cultur

Cinematography in Cinema: Relationship Between Teaching Contexts And Its Application

This paper approaches the two situations by being part of a conference on teaching cinematography and the real experience of shooting in a remote area in Africa with very little resources and conditions to do so. This article divides itself into two distinct moments: 1) one where an account of the teaching of cinematography is elaborated against the backdrop of the conclusions of the Teaching Cinematography Conference of 2017, of which the author was one of the organizers; and 2) a concrete case study of the author’s experience as a cinematographer for the film A Ilha dos Cães [The Island of Dogs], which premiered in theatres in Portugal in April 2017, and which corresponds precisely to an illustration of what the exercise of cinematography is today, in the European context. The articulation between these two cases allows us to understand how, while the essential nature of the relationship between artistic practice and teaching has not changed in the case of the cinematography, a very significant set of transformations requires a rethinking of the methods and processes in which this relationship might be built

Autonomous Execution of Cinematographic Shots with Multiple Drones

This paper presents a system for the execution of autonomous cinematography missions with a team of drones. The system allows media directors to design missions involving different types of shots with one or multiple cameras, running sequentially or concurrently. We introduce the complete architecture, which includes components for mission design, planning and execution. Then, we focus on the components related to autonomous mission execution. First, we propose a novel parametric description for shots, considering different types of camera motion and tracked targets; and we use it to implement a set of canonical shots. Second, for multi-drone shot execution, we propose distributed schedulers that activate different shot controllers on board the drones. Moreover, an event-based mechanism is used to synchronize shot execution among the drones and to account for inaccuracies during shot planning. Finally, we showcase the system with field experiments filming sport activities, including a real regatta event. We report on system integration and lessons learnt during our experimental campaigns

DocuDrama

This paper presents an approach combining concepts of virtual storytelling with cooperative processes. We will describe why storytelling is relevant in cooperation support applications. We will outline how storytelling concepts provide a new quality for groupware applications. Different prototypes illustrate a combination of a groupware application with various storytelling components in a Theatre of Work

"I make films to be seen": the narrative issue of Flora Gomes

The feature films by Flora Gomes: Mortu nega (1988), Udju azul di Yonta (1992), Po di sangui (1996), Nha fala (2002) and Republica di mininus (2012) narrate stories that speak of transits, music, woman, children, war, (neo) colonialism, cosmogony, life, death, love, birth, migration, tradition, modernity, collectivity; taking place in the countryside, or outdoors generally, in an ironic, critical and metaphorical tone of speech. In this sense, the present abstract "I make films to be seen": an analysis of the film narrative of Flora Gomes" proposes to shed light on the elements of narrative cinematography of the fiction films of Flora Gomes which are present in the speech, themes, soundtrack, orality, time, duration, space, camera movements, actors' preparation, the work of illumination of the black body, the scenery, and the visual metaphors of this director. Note that the present text is an extract of some of Gomes's trademarks from doctoral thesis defended in 2018.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Automated cinematography for games.

This thesis deals with the issue of automated cinematography for games. In 3D videogames, the system must continuously provide the player with a view of the virtual world and its characters. The difficulty is that contrary to the cinema the actors are unpredictable. In particular the player continuously modifies the virtual environment by moving objects or by interacting with the other non-playable characters. The latter, because of their more and more sophisticated artificial intelligence, can have behaviours that were not predicted by the developers themselves (such as the complex behaviours that emerge from the combination of basic behaviours). Some games have solved the problem by predefining the possible positions of the camera during the game development while some others give control of the camera system to the player, so that he can find by himself the best possible view. I aim however at finding an intermediate solution, where the camera system would automatically generate both engaging and usable views. The camera system should be able to adapt to every situation of the virtual world without user intervention, and should allow the player to interact with his surrounding in the most efficient way. Such a camera system could be of interest for the game industry. Currently, in many games, the camera movements, positions, etc. are set using scripts manually written by the developers. Having a fully automated system could potentially save hours of work. This system could also be used for the 3D virtual worlds or “3D chats” on the Internet. For example, the avatars – the characters played by the users – could be “filmed” in a different way depending on the mood of the users. I aim to develop techniques which can be generalised to these and other areas of application. Existing approaches to automated cinematography will be reviewed – focusing on the constraint-based and idiom-based ones – in order to highlight the strength and limitations of each one. A solution to the problems found will be proposed in the form of a camera system implemented using Adobe Director. It will be based on “rules” derived from existing cinematographic knowledge. One of my aims will also be to show that using generic rules can give results close to the idiom-based approaches with the convenience of being able to adapt to any type of scene

Optimal Multi-UAV Trajectory Planning for Filming Applications

Teams of multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used to record large-scale outdoor scenarios and complementary views of several action points as a promising system for cinematic video recording. Generating the trajectories of the UAVs plays a key role, as it should be ensured that they comply with requirements for system dynamics, smoothness, and safety. The rise of numerical methods for nonlinear optimization is finding a ourishing field in optimization-based approaches to multi- UAV trajectory planning. In particular, these methods are rather promising for video recording applications, as they enable multiple constraints and objectives to be formulated, such as trajectory smoothness, compliance with UAV and camera dynamics, avoidance of obstacles and inter-UAV con icts, and mutual UAV visibility. The main objective of this thesis is to plan online trajectories for multi-UAV teams in video applications, formulating novel optimization problems and solving them in real time. The thesis begins by presenting a framework for carrying out autonomous cinematography missions with a team of UAVs. This framework enables media directors to design missions involving different types of shots with one or multiple cameras, running sequentially or concurrently. Second, the thesis proposes a novel non-linear formulation for the challenging problem of computing optimal multi-UAV trajectories for cinematography, integrating UAV dynamics and collision avoidance constraints, together with cinematographic aspects such as smoothness, gimbal mechanical limits, and mutual camera visibility. Lastly, the thesis describes a method for autonomous aerial recording with distributed lighting by a team of UAVs. The multi-UAV trajectory optimization problem is decoupled into two steps in order to tackle non-linear cinematographic aspects and obstacle avoidance at separate stages. This allows the trajectory planner to perform in real time and to react online to changes in dynamic environments. It is important to note that all the methods in the thesis have been validated by means of extensive simulations and field experiments. Moreover, all the software components have been developed as open source.Los equipos de vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAV) son sistemas prometedores para grabar eventos cinematográficos, en escenarios exteriores de grandes dimensiones difíciles de cubrir o para tomar vistas complementarias de diferentes puntos de acción. La generación de trayectorias para este tipo de vehículos desempeña un papel fundamental, ya que debe garantizarse que se cumplan requisitos dinámicos, de suavidad y de seguridad. Los enfoques basados en la optimización para la planificación de trayectorias de múltiples UAVs se pueden ver beneficiados por el auge de los métodos numéricos para la resolución de problemas de optimización no lineales. En particular, estos métodos son bastante prometedores para las aplicaciones de grabación de vídeo, ya que permiten formular múltiples restricciones y objetivos, como la suavidad de la trayectoria, el cumplimiento de la dinámica del UAV y de la cámara, la evitación de obstáculos y de conflictos entre UAVs, y la visibilidad mutua. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es planificar trayectorias para equipos multi-UAV en aplicaciones de vídeo, formulando novedosos problemas de optimización y resolviéndolos en tiempo real. La tesis comienza presentando un marco de trabajo para la realización de misiones cinematográficas autónomas con un equipo de UAVs. Este marco permite a los directores de medios de comunicación diseñar misiones que incluyan diferentes tipos de tomas con una o varias cámaras, ejecutadas de forma secuencial o concurrente. En segundo lugar, la tesis propone una novedosa formulación no lineal para el difícil problema de calcular las trayectorias óptimas de los vehículos aéreos no tripulados en cinematografía, integrando en el problema la dinámica de los UAVs y las restricciones para evitar colisiones, junto con aspectos cinematográficos como la suavidad, los límites mecánicos del cardán y la visibilidad mutua de las cámaras. Por último, la tesis describe un método de grabación aérea autónoma con iluminación distribuida por un equipo de UAVs. El problema de optimización de trayectorias se desacopla en dos pasos para abordar los aspectos cinematográficos no lineales y la evitación de obstáculos en etapas separadas. Esto permite al planificador de trayectorias actuar en tiempo real y reaccionar en línea a los cambios en los entornos dinámicos. Es importante señalar que todos los métodos de la tesis han sido validados mediante extensas simulaciones y experimentos de campo. Además, todos los componentes del software se han desarrollado como código abierto

In light of moving images: technology, creativity and lighting in cinematography

ThesisThis practice-led doctoral research examines lighting techniques used by cinematographers and more widely amongst practitioners working with moving imagery. The widespread adoption of digital technologies in the film production industry has received a good deal of critical attention from practitioners and scholars alike, however little specific consideration about changing lighting practices can be found amongst this discourse. The control and orchestration of lighting have significant aesthetic connotations for moving image work, so it is surprising that this practice remains an under-explored area in the digital age. Informed by a series of research-driven experimental installations and collaborative cinematography work on independent films, presented in a separate portfolio, this thesis offers an understanding of how light is orchestrated during the production of moving imagery through direct creative inquiry.The contribution to knowledge made through this doctoral research is distilled into three areas. First, understanding lighting in moving image production through a relational, new-materialist perspective which foregrounds the flow and energy of light as a generative force and a cultural and creative process. Second, providing a more detailed first-hand investigation into lighting processes than is currently available that uses autoethnographic methods to capture practical knowledge that is deployed in situ during moving image production. Third, offering a new approach to the relationship between a cinematographer and his/her equipment by applying the actor-network theory framework to the consideration of moving image, and explicitly lighting technologies. The new-materialist perspective outlined in this thesis provides a strong foundation for further studies of lighting in emerging forms of moving image production because of its emphasis on process and a practitioner’s correspondence with light. This theoretical framework offers an effective way to understand and analyse creative lighting work across changing technologies, while the insight into practical processes captured during this enquiry can be employed directly in cinematography education.PortfolioDeveloped between 2014-2017 as part of a doctoral research enquiry, In Light of Moving Images brought together a series of film and video works by cinematographer and filmmaker Alexander Nevill. The exhibition included five research-driven moving image installations as well as three single screen short films created collaboratively in the role of Director of Photography. Although varied in form and production context, these works all investigate cultural and creative orchestrations of light on screen.Providing visual documentation, this publication serves as a record of the exhibition and, moreover, offers an account of the practice-led research journey through which it emerged. The following pages incorporate written contextual insights about each practical work, describe the timeline of and rationale behind them and also include a variety of supplementary artefacts such as sketches, lighting diagrams and photographs of the work in progress to reveal creative processes.Traditionally considered the responsibility of a cinematographer, lighting in a filmmaking context refers to the arrangement of illumination sources around a location or set to create a specific aesthetic. Expanding this term, lighting can also refer to creative control over the passages of illumination which constitute moving imagery, shaping ways that audiences perceive the frame. Selected amongst a larger body of cinematography and moving image experimentation, the work in this portfolio and exhibition engages with both facets of lighting, taking the form of spatial projections that weave together light in and of moving imagery while questioning the material tensions of mediated illumination

Branded city living: Taipei becoming-Paris in Yi ye Taibei/Au Revoir Taipei (2010)

This article analyses Yi ye Taibei/Au Revoir Taipei (Chen, 2010). Due to its status as a co-production (with talent drawn from across borders, its various international funding sources and its deliberate appeal to global audiences through the festival circuit), the film is seen to provide a transnational perspective on Taipei. In this the film’s relationship with a film tourism agenda, a branding process pursued by the Taipei authorities, is stressed. Au Revoir Taipei’s consideration of life in Taipei, as a ‘branded city’, is analysed in terms of its three becomings (becoming-Paris, becoming-imperceptible, becoming-dance), in relation to Gilles Deleuze’s idea of the time-image (a striking example of which concludes the film) and it’s intertextual referencing of several ‘world’ or ‘art’ cinema classics, including Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à Part (1964). The film’s transnational view of life in the branded city is thus understood to emerge at the conjunction of global production and distribution realities for film-making, and contemporary work and lifestyle opportunities in Taipei, the convergence of which create a cinematic construction of Taipei city that can be deciphered using Deleuze’s concepts