Movie Quarter
I've "discovered" a new form of film making that makes it possible to make films like a poet writes a poem.
In the 70s, I've heard from Alexandre Astruc and his essay of 1948 "La caméra stylo".
Quotes:
"... Soon it will be possible to write ideas directly on film (...)"
"Therefore, I would like to call this a new age of cinema, the era of pen-camera."
"The filmmaker / author writes with his camera as a writer with his fountain pen."
In my view, with that the idea was born, but Astruc primarily thought of the "author's cinema". The writer / director alone should make the film, but using the whole "film apparatus". What firmly sat in my head then was the idea, to make the whole film alone by myself.
A poet actually needs a piece of paper and a pen only to e.g. write a poem. Just like that I wanted to make films. Just as I had written poems also.
In 1974 I became a student at the German Film and Television Academy, where I learned the craft of film making, with the conclusion as a director. After that I had to do with professional cameras only, so always with a lot of equipment and crew. Everything was wonderful and nothing to regret, but no trace of caméra stylo. Until 2010.
Since 2007 I was fascinated by the virtual world of "Second Life". Second Life is not a computer game, but a virtual world parallel to the so-called real world. Second Life is a big gigantic film set with beautiful actors (avatars) cities, landscapes, fantastic structures, which do not exist in real life.
In 2010 the graphic quality was so good that I started to make films in Second Life. And programming the camera. The "camera" in virtual worlds is just a place in the coordinates system and a viewing direction. The location and direction of view may change similar to a tracking shot in real life. The films I made then I called "Coded Movies", because they were written with a computer language. My software made it possible to make a film in minutes and ready to be watched. There it was, the "caméra stylo"!
With my software the virtual camera can be instructed to perform all the desired movements in space. Since the movie is playing in real time and shows the virtual reality and not a pre-recorded film, you can jump into the film and you are part of the film then. I programmed a HUD for everybody to use. I called it Coded Movie, now Virtual Movie. It reads single shots (coordinates/rotation) from a notecard and shows it on your screen. Single shots, but no camera movements so far with the HUD. I can do it without a notecard and I'm working on a notecard version for movements, usable for everyone.
Ok, some water added to the wine. One can make films very quickly with this method. For more complex projects with actors etc. you'll need a certain preparation time. Some wine added: This kind of film making costs from Nothing to Little!
Ataro Asbrink, June 11th 2022
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