University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Somatic montage: supra-dimensional composition in cinema and the arts

(USC Thesis Other)

Somatic montage: supra-dimensional composition in cinema and the arts

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract This dissertation initiates a new cinematic language specific to immersive cinema—somatic montage. A language specific to immersive cinema is an area of cinema theory neglected up until now. Immersive and hyper-cinemas, because of their formal multivalency, occupy a post-cinematic critical space between film and media theory, art history, and art-science-technology. Somatic montage describes a conceptual approach to composing narrative structures in cinematic forms that occupy three and higher dimensions of space-time, examining the roles of proprioceptions, memory, and synaesthesia in experiencing a work of art. We propose a new montage syntax specific to immersive cinema that addresses cinema as a supra-dimensional, embodied construct. The four-dimensional tesseract provides a useful model-metaphor of a somatic montage for addressing concepts of space-time, spatial and temporal ambiguity, the faceting of perspective via multiple viewpoints or screens, and the subjective participation of the viewer in an unfolding narrative. ❧ The concept of somatic montage developed here begins with the impact on the arts of the turn of the 20th-century discoveries of hyperspace, non-Euclidean geometry, relativity theory, and quantum mechanics that established Modernism. We follow with a brief spatial history of montage from linear-temporal cinematic montage, multi-layered spatial montage in two dimensions, assemblage in three dimensions, and finally somatic montage, a montage in (4:n)-dimensions. Advances in neuroscience demonstrating the embodied, somatosensory conceptualization of multiple dimensions of information in the mind are brought to bear on developing a polysensory language for perceiving and composing supra-dimensional cinema. ❧ We demonstrate the relevance of somatic montage in contemporary and historical art forms, including giant screen and “hypercinemas,” video art, multi-projection media installations, panoramas, experimental film, stereoscopy, holography, and the frameless, immersive cinema formats of fulldome, 360° cinema, and virtual and augmented reality. A detailed analysis of the media installation “Ice-Time,” the praxis portion of this dissertation, concludes this research. “Ice-Time” is an immersive, multi-channel audiovisual installation whose formal structure exemplifies embodied, supra-dimensional cinema composition while demonstrating the significance of interdisciplinary art-science research.

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Asset Metadata

Creator von Chamier-Waite, Clea Theresa (author)

Core Title Somatic montage: supra-dimensional composition in cinema and the arts

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Cinematic Arts (Media Arts and Practice)

Publication Date 05/07/2019

Defense Date 12/04/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 360° cinema,A.R.,art and science,art and technology,assemblage,augmented reality,cinematic montage,climate change,collage,cryosphere,embodiment,experimental cinema,fulldome,giant screen,hyperbolic geometry,hypercube,hyperspace,Ice,Ice-Time,immersion,immersive cinema,kinesthesia,modernism,montage theory,Moonwalk,non-Euclidean geometry,nonlinear narrative,OAI-PMH Harvest,poetics,proprioception,quantum mechanics,relativity,science-art,Sergei Eisenstein,simultaneity,somatic,somatic montage,somatosensation,space-time,supra-dimensional,tesseract,video art,video installation,virtual reality, V.R.

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Fisher, Scott (committee chair), Hoberman, Perry (committee member), Kratky, Andreas (committee member), Panushka, Christine (committee member), Willis, Holly (committee member)

Creator Email cleawaite@gmail.com,ctw@clea-t.de

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-168429

Unique identifier UC11662463

Identifier etd-vonChamier-7419.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-168429 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-vonChamier-7419.pdf

Dmrecord 168429

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights von Chamier-Waite, Clea Theresa

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA