The Un_Reel

So it's finally been released! Here is the final version of 'The Un_Reel', my final project for a Masters in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Enjoy!

Un_Reel - Synopsis

The Un_Reel is an experimental short which focuses on Hyperreality and the way in which we perceive Architecture when created through photography, cinematography and image based representation . It explores the ways in which architecture, as a practice of visual consumption can manipulate, warp and enhance the way in which we imagine and absorb the cities we live in.

The film begins with a photographic portrayal of London where all seems in order. Little by little the cityscape begins to display traits of the uncanny whereby landmarks multiple, artifice is uncovered and the physical structure of London is questioned suggesting that London is actually fake, a construct that holds no relationship to authenticity.

The time comes where the conscience of Jed Wright is introduced and suggests that what has just been documented are the visions of London through his mind. As he explores deeper into his perception of built space it becomes clear that his visions are not of his own but of what he experiences through image representation of city life.

The progression of his state of conscience develops over the years into a state of complete synthetic existence where all matter is nurtured from his consumption of visual media in photographic and cinematographic formats.

The Un_Reel - Part 02

Film stills of Part 02

Un_Reel Part 01 Recap

These are a few images to refresh what your minds as to what part one of the film looked like.

Production Graphics - Chronograms of The Un_Reel

These three images are the chronograms (explanatory drawings) for The Un_Reel. which guide the viewer through the film in graphic format. This group of three includes the chronogram for part one of the film made back in December.

Centrepoint Vista

The overall vista of London fromt he top of the newly extruded Centrepoint means that The Man now becomes aware that this phenomenon is not only something that he is experiencing. It is a concept of experiencing space which is city wide, if not worldwide. The towers are other versions of the cubicle spaces that are working away at delivering the various spaces required for all other users of each of those towers.

Film Shoot

These are some shots from a production I worked on as a set designer. The film was a no budget sci fi film directed by a friend of mine. The over all concept was that biodroids have become part of society in the near future and during their integration with humans one droid in particular goes awol. This leads to a battle between the remaining biodroids and a group of rebel forces.

The film was mainly shot on location however one scene required slightly more design. This was the armoury of the biodroids. Constructed in the same location (the warehouse) I designed it on no budget and managed to produce a set as shown below. The design mainly consisted of imitation weaponary and clever use of lightling to create the millitant feel that an armoury should possess.

London Land

London Land from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the final edit for the critique held at The Bartlett School of Architecture on 2010/12/14. This short film will form part of the overall edit that will last close to 15minutes. The following parts will explore deeper into the artifice of London and potentially into the realm of globalization and condensed geographies.

Inhabited Canyon

On 'Jed's' journey he ventures into the deep canyons created by the multiple Centre Points. As he explores further it becomes apparent to him that only what he sees is actually constructed. Finding himself to the rear of the film set unveils that all the buildings are only partially constructed.

Following his nose he ascends into the skyscrapers to find that the spaces within these high rise studio constructions are actually inhabited. The internal organs of these buildings have functions and facilitate studio upon studio that are either the remanence of past film productions or studios in full use.

Backstage

The rear of the film studio shows how the panels of Oxford Circus are simply made of timber panels with the fronts painted by matte painters. They are hung from mobile hoists which enable the production crew to fully erect the large scale matte panels.

Warehouse Studio Production Drawing

Once 'Jed' completes the transition, between the confines of his domestic space and the synthetic space of his imagination, two spaces await him. Beginning in the warehouse space, it is unveiled to him that what he may have perceived as real space is actually constructed out of flat planes that simulate built form and therefore construct the world as he knew through artifice.

The first space is the foreground of the warehouse which is at a scale that falsifies the scale of Oxford Circus so that it could fit the physical and spatial constraints of the space that houses the overall production design.

As the exploration continues into his synthetic space, he finds that the scale of the environment has warped and increased to that of the real world.

This warping and growth signifies the effect that his imagination is having of his mental state of mind in that what is generated within his mind becomes evermore real.

An idea on an A4 piece of paper

Starting with the idea that architecture exists within film there occurs a formation of boundaries between narrative, production and existing space. ‘Movies and cities have different kinds of temporalities, and are constituted, through different imperatives, of various spaces and events’. It is these events that form the blurred boundaries between the three above-mentioned types of space.

Narrative space will always take ‘place’. It is this translation from narrative to place that presents an analytical viewpoint through which the imagined or perceived world of the film simultaneously occurs with the referential aspects of the film itself taking ‘place’. As a viewer, and individual, that experiences space, both imagined and materialized, there is a consideration towards the film whereby attention and perception of space must slide between the location of the fiction and the real world that the film resides within.

Individual perception and experience of space are what I think will drive the content of the project. Through analysis of existing space I wish to dissect selected cinematic spaces that, through visual digestion influence and inform our experiences of landscapes. By stating that there are three main architectures of cinematic space the analysis of these will produce a newly formed composite space comprised of the three aspects that contribute to an individuals perception.

The choice of specific location could be endless so I may choose one film or theme that is set or part set in London as a starting point for the investigation. The main focus will be on the formation of new spaces constructed out of the processes behind filmmaking itself. Elements such as logic behind the narrative form geographies of the city and some times impossible geographies for example in situations when the camera is used to cheat and bend the reality of space to conform to the needs and requirements of the production process and the direction of film. The production process itself whereby physical entities are used to create synthetic space that form part or entire sequences of the motion picture. Fabricated landscapes, such as built sets or virtual environments are the physical and virtual constructs of the cinematic spaces that exist in fiction and non-fiction. This leads to the final contrasting architecture, which resides in reality. Location shoots for instance, occur in the realm of everyday life and there then becomes a duality of existence between the two. Where do the borders of the cinematic space end and the borders of reality begin? At anyone site of filming there will always be a governing force through which the blurry borders occur, and this is governed by what the camera sees and intends to show the viewer. It is only when you step just outside of this zoning that the blurred borders become apparent. From this establishment of cinematic space you can then begin to break down how any one space involved in the process of film production defines multiple borders that respond to time, physical and metaphysical based parameters.

What comes from the aforementioned components of film is the ability of individuals to consume this information, digest it and form perceptions of what cinematic spaces look, feel and act like. Obviously from one film to the next the experience of space may differ but it is these variations in experiential visual space that all combine to allow ones mind to enter into the fictional or non-fictional existence of filmic space. Further to the cinematic space contained within the duration of any film it is important to also understand how these visions and interpretations of space contribute to the data bank of information we hold within our minds of landscapes. Can one fully understand a space simply through the visual portrayals of it in cinema and how do these interpretations affect the experiences we may have or have had of existing space.

At this moment in time the over-riding interest I have in these issues is how the fabrication of physical or virtual environments form the elements, landscapes or even worlds of the narratives found within film. Further to on screen existence they are obviously conceived through various processes of thought and one in particular is how they may be formed and arranged with respect to the cheating of space though camera techniques, requirements and visual manipulation. It is these environments that I wish to draw focus to and begin to dissect and illustrate how that no matter what level of reality they may hold they will all have to exist somewhere and it is that somewhere which I intend to create the proposition of cinematic architecture within.

The cinematic city will be constructed out of multiple spaces and composited together. The imagined landscapes of the city will grow out of the abstraction of the pragmatisms and logistics of film making processes.