If you’re standing five feet away from a ten foot wide, high-definition video display:

• Is it Television?

• Is it Imax?

• Or is it something else…

A Magic Window:The Emergent Aesthetics ofLarge-Scale Video Display

Jim BizzocchiNMC Summer Conference

University of British ColumbiaJune 2004

OverviewOverview• Introduction and Assumptions• Evolution of the Video Image• Conditions of Reception• Proof of Concept Production• Future Work

IntroductionIntroduction

• Background

• Critical Stance

• Assumptions

• Reception and Production

Evolution of the Video Image

Evolution of the Video Image

• Image size is increasing• Image quality will increase• Prices will come down

Rogers Technological Innovation Curve

I.&

E.A.

Majority

Early Late

Implications for ContentImplications for Content• Film-like aesthetic• Wide shot re-privileged• Close-up less critical• Editing pace can slow• Spatial montage

Split ScreenSplit Screen

• A form of “narrative compression”– spatial analog to fast-cut temporal

compression

• Encyclopedic capability

• Multi-linear and multi-layered narrative

• Encourages and rewards repeated viewing

Layered TransitionsLayered Transitions• Another form of “narrative compression”• Based on common video and photo

production tools• Multi-layered narrative• Aesthetic of “magic realism”• Encourages and rewards repeated viewing

A More Pictorial VideoA More Pictorial Video• Superior image:

– Subtleties of form & color

• Lighting• Composition• Slow motion• Visual poetics

Foreground & BackgroundForeground & Background

• Experience: foreground or background• Cinema is foreground experience• TV is a chameleon:

– foreground or background experience• Ambient Video ?

• Experience: foreground or background• Cinema is foreground experience• TV is a chameleon:

– foreground or background experience• Ambient Video ?

Ambient VideoAmbient Video• “Living Painting”• Highly pictorial• Slow form• Transitions and layering• Waits….

Production & Next StepsProduction & Next Steps• General Approach• Initial Prototype Productions• Initial Findings• Next Set of Prototypes• Future work

Production & Next StepsProduction & Next Steps

• General Approach

• Initial Prototype Productions

• Initial Findings

• Future work

Future WorkFuture Work

• Production

• Research and Scholarship

• Support

• Partnerships

Rock VideoCredits

Director - Jim BizzocchiD.O.P. - Glen CrawfordEditor - Craig AnderlTechnical Director - Luke van DykVisual Effects - Christopher Bizzocchi

Cast - Jordan Crawford- Chandra Crawford- Lionel Shadd

A Co-Production of DadaProcessing and the Banff New Media Institute

Jim BizzocchiAssistant ProfessorSchool of Interactive Arts and TechnologySimon Fraser UniversitySurrey, British Columbia, Canada

jimbiz@sfu.cawww.dadaprocessing.com604-268-7437