Atmospheric dimension of cinematic space : a study on spatial narrative in cinema

Abstract

Over the past century, more sophisticated cinematic productions increasingly sought to use architectural space as an active element, rather than a passive backdrop. This dissertation explores how spatial narratives and atmospheres in cinema serve as visual and sensory tools that convey meaning independently of the spoken score. The study examines these tools through the lens of architectural discourse, to both address and build on, the limited available research on the subject. The study explores the notion of the body both as a mechanism through which space is experienced, as well as the very condition that dictates how space is revealed and inhabited. In cinema the relationship is affected through the spectator’s embodied gaze, objective memory, sensory projection, and mimetic response. The study reveals how architectural space in cinema can perform by visually presenting the time and place the characters inhabit, their socio-political conditions and the ideologies influencing them. Architectonic gestures are used to convey meaning and evoke symbolic associations. When combined with the right atmospheric qualities, they cultivate an emotive disposition in the film’s spectator, prompting a perceptually embodied and intersensory experience. Illuminating architectural space in cinema to be anthropomorphic in nature, proving its function to act as a character in its own right. The embodied poetics of architectural space and its ability to curate intentional narratives and meaning in film are explored through a qualitative, analytical, and phenomenological research methodology. Theoretical research is synthesised with professional insight gathered through a masterclass and open-ended interviews with film professionals. Through their synthesis, a set of analytical parameters are conceived to aid the analysis of Dune, a film by Denis Villeneuve, screened in two halves. This cinematic production, clearly demonstrates space as narratively significant, spatial atmosphere as an effective medium in cinema, and architecture as an anthropomorphic character. Ultimately, architectural cinematic space is portrayed as a tool capable of conveying identity, intent and emotional resonance through spatial narrative, symbolic associations, and atmospheric shifts which help prognosticate the narrative’s trajectory.