40 Florin ŢOLAȘ
Florin ŢOLAȘ
THE DEPTH OF VISUAL FIELD
Abstract. The legacy of the Renaissance painting and The fascination for the depth of space
visual arts upon the coagulation of the film language was dominated the visual arts beginning
enormous and the film makers took over an elaborated with the period of great cultural and
visual experience that resounded profoundly with the
artistic effervescence of the Renaissance,1
specific of the cinematographic picture based on the
capture of reality by two dimensional optics. when the antique cultural values were
Key words. Perspective, linear, aerian, painter, deep resurrected together with the humanistic
of field, filmmaker, film, point of wiew. study methods and were bringing back
in the highlights the human being, with
all its personality qualities, self-assured
but also capable of deep emotions, domi-
nating with its presence all major themes
approached by arts.
The Renaissance brings a fresh rea-
listic vision, based on the values and di-
mensions of the human personality res-
toring knowledge through study and
investigation of the nature and also know-
ledge from science, philosophy and art
fields.
The architect Fillipo Brunelleschi2
(1377-1446) painted two panels in the
Florin ŢOLAŞ
Media University Bucharest
E-mail: florintolas@gmail.com
1 Renaissance term introduced by the French
historian Jules Michelet the 19th century,
then taken over by the art historian Carl
Jacob Christoph Bruckhardt in his book ‘Die
Kultur der Renaissance in Italien’,1860.
EKPHRASIS, 2/2011 2 Fillipo di ser Brunellesco Lapi (1377-1446),
PRACTICE BASED RESEARCH architect and engineer in Florence, is one
IN VISUAL CULTURE INTERPRETATION
pp. 40-46
The Depth of Visual Field 41
course of an experiment that, according of the Renaissance period. And later on
to Samuel Y. Edgerton “linear perspective the appearance of photography certified
for painters, was first conceived by the the intuitions and discoveries of the
italian Filippo de Ser Brunelleschi in Renaissance scientist and artists.
Florence, and was one of the most decisive One of the first results of this new
ideas in the history of Western technology vision upon the approaching of rendering
and science, as well as art”3. These two the space was a different painters’ attitude
pannels (have not been preserved) are when choosing the sets into which they
probably the first pictures to correctly placed the action. These are interior spaces
embody linear perspective. He imposes or places in the middle of nature provided
at that time the geometrical method when with very large profoundness that unfurls
rendering the linear perspective defining towards the horizon.
the transposition modality within a plane The Renaissance artists stress on the
two-dimensional space of the real space place the scene is seen from ( also named
depth. in film production “point of view”) on
Leonardo da Vinci considered tho- defining the position of the horizon line
roughly the studies about the human that sometimes appears into the frame and
perception upon the space and rendering on the vanishing points towards which the
the perspective concerning nature by sets lines converge.
bringing into discussion the effect of The visual exploration of the tridi-
desaturations and “cooling” the colors mensional space was a fascinating theme
within the field of depth, thus setting for painters and Renaissance led this
down the basis of the aerial perspective. obsession towards the creation of some
This way, using the linear and aerial thrilling masterpieces.
perspective was something that pro- The composition of Piero della
foundly marked the whole Renaissance Francesca, “Flagellatione di Cristo”,
painting and fundamentally influenced (approx. 1470) where the main subject
the entire history of visual arts. which represents Christ’s lashing by
The optical formation of the image on Romans is placed into the far-off plane
a plane surface constituted a major object while the foreground is dominated by
of study for the visionary personalities
three characters that are unresponsive to
the drama behind them, reflects the way
the author uses perspective for leading
of the foremost artist of the Italian Renais-
sance, designing the Santa Maria del Fiore
the eye through the visual and narrative
Dome of the Florence Chatedral, Chapel of labyrinth of the frame.
the Pazzi Family. Besides the complicated mysteries
3 Samuel Y. Edgerton, Brunelleschi’s mirror, that surround the subject of the painting,
Alberti’s window, and Galileo’s „Perspective we perceive the fascinating clarity of
Tube”, Williams Colege, Massachusetts,
the frame, which is rendered with an
2006, p. 152.
42 Florin ŢOLAȘ
the eye straight to the Christ’s face, the
interest point of the painting. Thus
the eye explores without restraints the
profoundness of the frame being invited
by the very strong compositional lines to
take part to a fascinating trip.
Many times the painters invited the
eye to travel beyond the foreground
characters through windows or roads
that wind towards the horizon just as it
Fig. 1. Piero della Francesca, „Flagellatione di Cristo”, happens into Jan van Eyck’s “The Virgin
(1470) Galleria Nationale delle Marche, Urbino, Italy.
of Chancellor Rolin” masterpiece.
accentuated geometrical perspective re-
presented by the to gate from the three
men, Christ tied to a column in the front
of the king and then beyond the palace’s
courtyard towards the clear sky behind
the trees. The characters are also disposed
into different plans for emphasizing the
perspective. After a few moments the
eye leaves the foreground characters that
vex through their indifference and slides
towards Christ face shaped on a column.
By choosing a raccourci point of view
and choosing a low view position“photo-
graphed” like by a photo camera with
short focal distance that amplifies the
distance among characters, the frame Fig. 2. Jan van Eyck, “Madonna with Chancellor Rolin”,
leads the eye towards the middle ground Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
where the group of the main characters When trying to understand the deep
is placed. effect upon the contents of the field’s depth,
The painter seized to the maximum the filmmaker appeals to the profoundly
the effect of the set’s lines based on the innovating experience of the Renaissance
well marked slabs and on the columns about rendering the perspective.
that come into turn within the frame The pictorial opera poses some kind
profoundness. The raccourci view allows of coherence that cannot be assigned
the artist to render the ceiling in a well neither to the objects disposed into space
defined and rhythmic way, the black nor to the treated subjects. There is a
line on the upper left of the ceiling leads formal coherence that is related to the
The Depth of Visual Field 43
concatenation of pictorial elements within The details of Rolin’s costume and the
the pictorial space. well traced features on the charismatic
“The opera is represented as a complex Chancellor’s face with sharp look take our
of figures and tones that forms a intrinsic thought towards the expressive portraits
ordered ensemble and also balanced. The of the beginning of the 20th century with
look goes over this ensemble so that the Dorothea Lange’s5 photos.
elements might call and relate to each The Renaissance painter was the first
other” 4 great explorer of the visual space who
The main characters Madonna, baby created a real obssesion for the second plan,
Jesus and Rolin equally share the viewer’s enriching the imagination and ennobling
interest with the magnificent landscape with unsuspected and profound signi-
behind the two columns that delimit fications the fundamental themes of the
the interior space. Painter’s sensitivity universal culture.
for landscape evidently appears into the Few centuries later photography
and then cinematography took over an
extreme depth of the rendered space, with
audience sensitive to the visual expres-
the terrace of the chancellor’s Palace and
sivity of two dimensional space, capable
continues with a winding river towards
of understanding and perceive the erudite
the horizon flanked by the beautifully
alchemies of playing with the depth of the
painted mountains through an effect of
field.
aerial perspective magnificent assimilated.
The subtle suggestion generated by the
The control over the means of plastic
erudite landscape conceived by Leonardo
expression makes possible the creation of
da Vinci behind the mysterious Mona Lisa,
an almost unreal atmosphere through the who sinks the magical face of Gioconda
richness of the content, but in the meantime behind of a full-of-mystery feminine smile,
real through the multitude of tangible is basen on hypnotizing the viewer’s eye
details that compose the frame. Starting and mind into the winding labyrinth of the
with the embroidery on Madonna’s meander river from which high cliffs rise
mantle in the foreground, the look crosses sunk into the bluish mist of the distance.
the space, following the meander of the
lines on the expensive material towards
Madonna’s serene face and then goes 5 Dorothea Lange, the American photographer
through the firm columns that edge the of German origin who marked the photo-
graphy history with her portraits and docu-
interior space towards a landscape that
mentary photos which shaped a remarkable
impresses us. The Divine and the Real portrait of the America at the beginning of
coexist in a perfect harmony, this seems the 20th century. The portraits she realized
to be the theme of van Eick’s painting. become an emblem of the expressivity and
drew the attention on some painful aspects
of the great economic crisis, see photo
4 Noel Mouloud, Painting and Space, Ed. “Florence Leona Christie – Immigrant
Meridiane, 1978, p. 27. Mother”, 1936.
44 Florin ŢOLAȘ
experience when exploring the depth
of the space accumulated by visual arts
before photography and film.
The science of choosing the point of
view of the apparent distance between
subjects’ plans and the use of linear and
aerial perspective when rendering depth
created a solid visual culture on which
were based the esthetical principles of film
art. The expansion of three dimensional
movie is part of the film’s destiny to enter
the play space and will prove if it is indeed
a viable option only when the spectator
will guarantee this desire to perceive the
Fig. 3. Leonardo da Vinci, “Mona Lisa”,
Louvre Museum, Paris, France. magical features of the amage. The future
of the visual exploration belongs to the
The strong contrast between the warm modern creators that perpetuated the
dominant of the portrait and the cold viewer’s wish to enter the secret universe
effect given by the aerial perspective of the image.
upon the far off space of the background The process of visualizing the charac-
brings its contribution to the hallucinating ters’ visual choregraphy into the cinemato-
profoundness of the picture. The visionary graphic frame and the camera into the
type of Leonardo created this chromatic play space paradoxically has deep roots
contrast, which is similar to that created in the Renaissance fine art which explored
by the difference in color temperature: with fervor the depth of field.
between the warm interior light and the Based on optical capture of moving
cold exterior one into cinematographic reality and having the possibility to move
frame. the camera into the play space, the film
The Renaissance mysterious magician leads the spectator in a dictatorial through
combined the most subtle fine sensations the space it explores not leaving too much
uniting the expressive form of two cinema space for the imagination as painting.
extreme plans: touching expressivity of Joining frames and mobility that goes
the Close Up shot and astounding vertigo near or away the subject creates an own
sensation of the Ansamble shoti. Visual visual dynamism that enriches it with
space complexity imagined by the artist unique visual qualities.
reveals unsuspected volences to Gioconda, The filmmaker having a solid visual
the foreground character. culture and based on a native creator
This brief foray among Renaissance instinct may see with his mind’s eyes the
visual masterpieces suggests a consistent stamp of the frame before being filmed.
The Depth of Visual Field 45
On these qualities all decisive options reography within the definite space of the
are based starting with the first preparation frame where characters and sets coexist
phase of a film, the phase when deter- in a directive and suggestive relationship.
minative choices regarding sets, characters The DOP lighting the scene, positions and
or costumes in the film are made. moves the camera trying to explore this
Just like in the painting field, the choreography and it generates to the eye of
selection of elements that compose the the viewer an intense esthetic satisfaction.
final frame is initially based on the signi- Positioning the camera for the shoot
fiance of the filmed sequence. is decisive for the angle from which the
Composing the frame elements in spectator sees the action and confers
space is an eminently creative process upon the stylistic stamp into the sequence
that finally defines the expressivity of the construction.
respective creation. In case of a real set locations there is to
That is the reason why during the be chosen the most interesting direction
film preparation period of time, all those from scenography point of view that takes
responsible for the film visual aspect:
into consideration the main illumination
director, director of photography, set
direction. The volumetry interesting
designer, costume designer prepare very
from the visual point of view and space’s
minutely the constitutive elements of the
depth are arguments for choosing a
future film.
certain area for the setting. The progress
Choosing the filming place and the
into profoundness of this one confers a
perspective point of view represents a
powerful sensation of tridimensional and
very important process that solicits to the
it creates the possibility of accomplishing
maximum the capacity of the filmmaker
a separation of plans through distinct
to visualize the frame. There are locations
that offer a deep perspective and a very illumination.
rich visual essence, which may lend an The plans of the setting elements also
unique atmosphere to a scene. allow masking possible light sources
Finding these locations is a team activity phased into depth. In case there are some
that needs a very good documentation and windows we must take into consideration
a lot of patience. The chosen locations must the effect produced by their light upon
be seen at the moment in accordance with the entire frame, the influence upon the
the filming moment, the part of the natural illumination level and upon the color
light in that place being determinative temperature.
for the image aspect. That is the moment The photos taken from the location
when work photos can be taken, which prospections outline the potential of
are about to point out the characteristics the setting, taking into consideration
of the chosen space. the location light conditions, define the
The filmmaker establishes the shooting possible camera angles and generate
direction and realizes the characters’ cho- possible characters and camera movement.
46 Florin ŢOLAȘ
The film creator visualizes almost The possibility of exploiting the deep
instinctively the contents and the aspect perspective of space empowers a setting
of the two dimensional wanted frame and with the real cinematographic value and
he outlines the modality of disposal of the this is the reason why it is chosen to be
frame elements into space. The importance organized on stage following sketches of
of the frame look is overwhelming and it the set designer so that it might sustain the
emphasizes the personality of those who entire visual theme of the whole.
contribute to its creation.
References
Edgerton, Samuel Y., Brunelleschi’s mirror, Alberti’s window, and Galileo’s „Perspective Tube”,
Williams Colege, Massachusetts, 2006.
Mouloud, Noel, Painting and Space, Ed. Meridiane, 1978.
