The interactive potential of post-modern film narrative. Frequency, Order and Simultaneity.

A considerable number of contemporary films are now using narrative models that allow several adaptations on digital and interactive operating systems. This trend is seen in films such as Memento by Christopher Nolan (2000), Irréversible by Gaspar Noé (2002) and Smoking / No Smoking by Alain Resnais (1993), concerning the chronological organization of their narrative parts – here it is a question of order. Or in films such as Elephant by Gus Van Sant (2003), Groundhog Day by Harold Ramis, 1993 and Rashômon by Akira Kurosawa (1950), for the diegetic repetition – a question of frequency. Or even, in films such as Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson (1999) and Short Cuts by Robert Altman, 1993 which use the idea of expansion or compression of the narrative – a question of simultaneity. To change the accessibility of the cinematographic experience and to constantly re-evaluate the way in which the narrative tool is used, is from now on considered the interactive potential of the contemporary film narrative

The interactive potential of post-modern film narrative: frequency, order and simultaneity

A considerable number of contemporary films are now using narrative models that allow several adaptations on digital and interactive operating systems. This trend is seen in films such as Memento by Christopher Nolan (2000), Irréversible by Gaspar Noé (2002) and Smoking / No Smoking by Alain Resnais (1993), concerning the chronological organization of their narrative parts – here it is a question of order. Or in films such as Elephant by Gus Van Sant (2003), Groundhog Day by Harold Ramis, 1993 and Rashômon by Akira Kurosawa (1950), for the diegetic repetition – a question of frequency. Or even, in films such as Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson (1999) and Short Cuts by Robert Altman, 1993 which use the idea of expansion or compression of the narrative – a question of simultaneity. To change the accessibility of the cinematographic experience and to constantly re-evaluate the way in which the narrative tool is used, is from now on considered the interactive potential of the contemporary film narrative

O hiper no modernismo e na ficção

O conceito de hiper-modernidade, cunhado por Gilles Lipovetsky em meados da década de 1970, parece indicar uma ruptura com o modernismo e a noção de pósmodernidade. Veremos neste breve exercício crítico se tais pressupostos se justificam e tentaremos verificar quão distante (ou próximo) o hiper-modernismo está das sociedades ditas pós-modernas. O próprio Jean-François Lyotard já previa o fim dos grandes esquemas explicativos do mundo e com ele o término da linearidade histórica rumo ao progresso. Assim sendo, fará sentido pensarmos nas grandes narrativas de ontem à luz de uma sociedade em constantes mutações? Que pensar desses novos formatos de comunicação que são as meta e hiper-narrativas? Num mundo globalizado e digitalizado não será de prever uma mutação na forma como cada um entende o texto, a literatura e a ficção; Como cada um entende a ciber-literatura (Jean-Clément) ? E essa ciber literatura não será ela própria uma forma de produção da hiper-ficção ou não serão os romances generativos, promovidos por Jean-Pierre Balpe, um dispositivo narrativo próprio do nosso tempo? As lan-party, os videojogos em rede para multi-jogador, as vivências excêntricas do artista francês Matthieu Laurette, são alguns dos exemplos que veremos nesta curta viagem ao mundo da ficção e do modernismo elevados à potência do hiper

O projecto experimental “Carrossel”: para uma aproximação ao cinema interactivo

Este artigo descreve os processos de implementação e realização do projecto experimental “Carrossel”. Este projecto tem como objectivo estudar novos processos de interacção com a imagem em movimento, nomeadamente a imagem vídeo. Em primeiro lugar expomos as questões teóricas que motivaram a realização deste projecto, novas perspectivas e estruturas narrativas e o contexto histórico no qual se insere. Posteriormente, é descrito o processo de instalação e funcionamento do mesmo. “Carrossel” procura uma nova aproximação ao que poderíamos intitular de “cinema interactivo”

Configuring the art object in the age of digital computing: meaning, intentionality and virtualization

This paper highlights the art object nature as a theoretical anchor regarding contemporary virtual art, as well as traditional art practices, like painting. The analysis takes as a starting point the new immaterial status of the artistic object in the computer age. Despite the widespread prevalence in the analysis, our goal is to detach some key features as: meaning, intentionality and virtualization. These subjects prove to be related to each other and most of all, the link between intentionality and virtualization, brings forward the inconclusive nature of the art object and the decisive role of the spectator in the outcome of the creative process. Therefore, we acknowledge that the virtual fosters creativity, although remarking the lack of substance in some expressions of new media art. So, a final statement reassesses the importance of traditional practices, but now with the awareness of new media cultural logic, and its contribution to creation

Le récit filmique: à la rencontre d´un discours interactif

Depuis tôt le Cinéma influença distinctes formes d’expressions artistiques, les utilisant également comme source d'inspiration. Cette étude cherche à enquêter sur les affinités existantes entre un récit interactif et la production de signifiants dans le récit cinématographique, et à vérifier comment le cinéma trouve dans les procédés d'expression artistique actuels, des nouveaux modèles et formats pour son discours narratif. Notre propos s´élabore en plusieurs étapes : (1) D´abord par une caractérisation du récit interactif à travers les perspectives de Jean-Louis Boissier, nous avérerons les différents modèles de structuration : la non linéarité et la notion de bifurcation (qui impliquent la segmentation), la répétition et la mémorisation. (2) Ensuite, nous vérifierons la reproduction de modèles similaires dans le récit cinématographique, en faisant référence à plusieurs films qui contribuèrent à l'innovation de ces propos narratifs comme dans The Life of an American Fireman (1903) de Edwin Stanton Porter, Rashomon (1950) de Akiro Kurosawa ou Elephant (2003) de Gus Van Sant. (3) Postérieurement nous conférerons les premières expériences rapportées à une notion de Cinéma Interactif, indiquant différentes expérimentations réalisées dans les années 1960, dont "Kinoautomat, One Man and his Jury" de Radúz Çinçera. (4) Finalement nous envisagerons les implications des nouvelles technologies dans la production d'un récit cinématographique actuel. Bien que d´autres recherches aient déjà été conduites sous une même perspective, notre approche cherche à exposer différents modèles ou exemples qui pourront contribuer à une nouvelle analyse du récit cinématographique

Editorial: On Cinema

In the past decades, the field of cinema has undergone several transformations. The digital turn increasingly called for new forms of production, distribution, and exhibition, which imply different ways of thinking, doing, and experimenting cinema. These new forms also reduced the gap between cinema to other so-called visual arts. If cinema and visual arts were already in the process of merging, the last years forced the naturalization of thinking in similar theoretical grounds. This special issue aims to be a forum for the discussion of new practices of researching cinema, and the changes in cinema’s forms of experience and production