Assembling a series of essays from various writers co-editors Steven Allen and Laura Hubner put forth the argument that movies are a visual art like painting, graphic design and photography. The introduction for Framing Film: Cinema and the Visual Arts published by Intellect Books states, "This book charts the intricate and diverse intersections between cinema and the visual arts and considers the cinematic experience as a discourse with adjacent art forms and graphic designs."
Included among the four parts labelled, Intertextual Relays of Art and Design, Movement and Stasis, Paintings, Artists and Film and Evocative Frames are still images as well as writings that talk about a diverse selection of topics. The opening piece Crafting Worlds: The Changing Role of the Production Designer by Ian Christie explores the origins and the evolution of the cinematic profession responsible for building and manipulating already existing physical structures to suit the artistic needs of the filmmaker. Dorota Ostrowska discusses how movie posters have gone beyond being mere decoration to conveying social messages in Poster Graphic Design and French Films in Poland after World War II. Here's Johnny! Re-Framing The Shining authored by Laura Hubner theorizes how particular movie images can become iconic. Tina Kendall examines the role of technology plays in enhancing the artistic qualities of cinema for viewers in The Still Life: DVD Stills Galleries and the Digital Uncanny; she observes of the DVD presentation for Ratcatcher (1999) directed by Lynne Ramsay, "I would argue that the design of this particular DVD works to promote the values of contemplation, aesthetic looking and introspection that are in keeping with a tradition of images as art as opposed to information."
In many ways, it is the painterly skill that goes into the cinematic imagery which has allowed movies to become a part of our cultural and social consciousness; if you wish to learn more about the topic then look no further than Framing Film: Cinema and the Visual Arts.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.
Included among the four parts labelled, Intertextual Relays of Art and Design, Movement and Stasis, Paintings, Artists and Film and Evocative Frames are still images as well as writings that talk about a diverse selection of topics. The opening piece Crafting Worlds: The Changing Role of the Production Designer by Ian Christie explores the origins and the evolution of the cinematic profession responsible for building and manipulating already existing physical structures to suit the artistic needs of the filmmaker. Dorota Ostrowska discusses how movie posters have gone beyond being mere decoration to conveying social messages in Poster Graphic Design and French Films in Poland after World War II. Here's Johnny! Re-Framing The Shining authored by Laura Hubner theorizes how particular movie images can become iconic. Tina Kendall examines the role of technology plays in enhancing the artistic qualities of cinema for viewers in The Still Life: DVD Stills Galleries and the Digital Uncanny; she observes of the DVD presentation for Ratcatcher (1999) directed by Lynne Ramsay, "I would argue that the design of this particular DVD works to promote the values of contemplation, aesthetic looking and introspection that are in keeping with a tradition of images as art as opposed to information."
In many ways, it is the painterly skill that goes into the cinematic imagery which has allowed movies to become a part of our cultural and social consciousness; if you wish to learn more about the topic then look no further than Framing Film: Cinema and the Visual Arts.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.