Architectural Storytelling

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Architectural Storytelling

Johnson, Deven

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10429/2448

Date: 2023-04-28

Abstract:

The purpose of this thesis is to expose people to the major influence that film has on our opinions, beliefs, and preference in the ways we engage with architecture. An architectural experience in film is curated, vicarious, and restricted by the demand of narrative. A filmmaker’s priority is to engage the audience in their story. This often involves the usage of subjectivity, perception, and the establishment of place. What cinema requires the viewer to do is to cast away their immediate senses and substitute them with a more vicarious experience. This thesis also details different filmmaking techniques and their contribution to narrative. Production design, film composition and color palette are all techniques of filmmaking that combine to communicate these narratives. This study revolves around the following three questions: Do we develop stereotypes of spaces based on what we see in film? What can we learn from places being portrayed in film? Does depicting a place in a certain genre promote harmful ideas? As a primarily visual medium, cinema has an ideal platform to express ideas about a place. Film forces people to view things in a specific way. This allows for vicarious subjectivity but denies people’s sense of agency. This thesis uses various methods such as scenic diagramming of extant films and original work, as well as filmmaking, and storyboarding. Given that this thesis is a theoretical analysis, it is limited to relying on qualitative data. This study uses a phenomenological lens that has been established by philosophers Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is limited in this way, but this does not invalidate insight that can be gained from this study. Experimental exercises have been utilized to delve deeper into the process of filmmaking and production design. The value in this study lies in how it dissects the way narratives define and often dictate our perception of place.

Description:

A. Introduction The specific topic that will be explored is the craft of architecture and how it is reflected in cinema and used to relay messages to the audience. Production design is the overall aesthetic of the world being portrayed in a film which is often done through a strategic use of architecture. This form of architecture can contribute to the cinematic experience by affecting the overall tone and verisimilitude – the appearance of authenticity. The way we as humans often engage with the world is often through our immediate sense of perception. What cinema requires us to do is to cast away our immediate senses and substitute them for a more vicarious experience. Production design, narrative, cinematic composition, and subjectivity all combine to create narratives that contribute to how we perceive place. The goal of this investigation is to show the major influence that film has on our opinions, beliefs, and preference in the way we engage with architecture. People experiencing architecture by way of film is curated, restrictive, and vicarious by the demand of narrative. B. Background This thesis topic will use two conceptual frameworks. The primary framework used on this topic will be an Interjective/Contextual framework. The Interjective/Contextual framework will be used to explore the socio-cultural aspects of the films being analyzed. Another framework that will be used in this body of work will be a Perceptual/Subjective framework that shows how films can have meanings that vary from person to person. The objective of my thesis is to investigate the role that cinematic narrative plays on our perception of architecture in the real world. University of Florida Professor and Graphic Designer Maria Rogal defines “narratives” in her essay, Decolonizing Graphic Design, “Representations, when repeated, create a narrative which becomes our understanding of the ways things are. Representations construct our reality” (Rogal 1). The same can be applied to film. The theoretical and philosophical sources are utilized in research such as Phenomenology. Phenomenology is the study of phenomena and objects through direct experience. Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenology claims that naturalistic methods such as the hard sciences are distractions that are derivative of true experience. In the context of this research, Phenomena are defined as experiential essences and not determined by facts or metaphysics. French philosopher, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, follows Husserlian phenomenology but alters it by adding his own unique contribution, often referred to as the Body-Subject. This claims that humans are always embodied in the world and through this embodiment is how we perceive the world and give things meaning. Experience is always being interpreted as our body moves through the world encountering phenomena. One of the most common phenomena that every human interacts with is architecture. C. Research questions and intent/goals The research questions of this thesis revolve around the human perception of film and architecture and how our perception is affected through the medium. The discussion revolves around the following three questions: Do we develop stereotypes of spaces based on what we see in film? What can we learn from architecture being portrayed in film? Does genre placement promote harmful ideas? ex: Horror based movies? The goal of this investigation is to show the major influence that film has on our opinions, beliefs, and preference in the way we engage with architecture. Cinema informs our social and cultural norms. It is imperative to ask these questions to explore the reality of cinema influencing our perception of architecture like other aspects of our daily lives. D. Thesis The central argument being made is that film is an expressive artform that affects the way people see the world. This creates a lot of opportunity for bias and manipulation of narratives. Considering that architecture is a craft that the entire world engages in, it is always included in cinema. Narratives created by humans can perpetuate an unhealthy lens through which we view place. E. Evidence sustaining the thesis Analyzing and annotating clips and photos from films have been used as short exercises. Sketches, storyboards, and filming exercises are used as supplement to replicate metaphors or messages about inequality, social class, and housing. The final method to test the evidence of thesis will be to write and create a short film. A designed installation can be used for the setting. This setting has been filmed in multiple ways to experiment with how the same space can be falsely portrayed in contrast to a more neutral view. F. Critique of the thesis An obvious critique of the approach can be that it is too subjective. What I am researching is the effect of how cinema warps perception of reality by pushing narratives. Even though the narrative may be intended by the filmmaker, this does not guarantee that the narrative is being received that way by the audience. Everyone has a different preference or perception of architecture/place. Having a perspective is often a result of people’ s embodiment or subjectivity in the world. G. Concession and limitations of the study The theoretical and subjective nature of this thesis is an acceptable critique. A lot of the conclusions that I made often are made through research that are anecdotal. Cinema is a subjective media and supporting research can often be difficult to connect how the technical aspects of filmmaking and storytelling intersect. This thesis is a theoretical analysis. Therefore, it is limited in this way, but this does not invalidate the information or insight that can be gained from this study. H. Conclusion This study is valuable because it dissects how narratives define and often dictate our perception of space. Film can often be a manipulative artform. The relevance of this can be to bring self-awareness of how the audience can fall for propaganda about spaces. Architecture is a major part of filmmaking that allows for social critique and may even function as a reflection of the audience’s bias. This process of how film and architecture correlate is a bi-lateral process where one seems to compliment the other across the threshold-- the viewer’s perception. In conclusion, it is possible to argue that production design (set design) individually is not a complete comprehensive understanding of the relationship between film and architecture. These separate elements such as storytelling, aspect ratio, production design, subjectivity, and cinematography merge to create singular experience. Film is one of the only media where we are not free to experience architecture at our own will. We are forced to be manipulated by the narrative created by the filmmaker’s vision of space. Film forces people to view things in a specific way, thus losing our sense of agency.

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