Cinema Parisien 3D 3D Visualization as a Tool for

CinemaParisien3D
3DVisualizationasaToolforStudyingthe
HistoryofCinema-going
JuliaNoordegraaf
UniversityofAmsterdam
[email protected]
LoesOpgenhaffen
UniversityofAmsterdam
[email protected]
NorbertBakker
UniversityofAmsterdam
[email protected]
CinemaParisien
InMarch1910,theDutch-basedcinemapioneerJeanDesmet(1875-1956)openedCinemaParisien,
hisfirstpermanentcinematheatreatNieuwendijk69inAmsterdam.Buildinguponthesuccessof
thecinematheatrethatheopenedunderthesamenameinRotterdamtheyearbefore,Desmet
brokethegroundinAmsterdamfortheestablishmentofpermanentcinematheatres.Thecinema
theatreremainedfunctionaluntil1987,foralongtimealsoasanadultmovietheatre.Thecinema’s
1924artdecointeriorwasreinstalledattheNetherlandsFilmmuseumatVondelparkintheearly
1990sandtodaycanbeseeninarecentlyopenedcinemacomplexatDeHallen.Thehistoryofthe
AmsterdamCinemaParisienhasbeenwell-documented,inparticularbecausebesidesadistribution
collectionofover900filmsfromthe1910sandacollectionoffilmpostersandphotographs,Desmet
leftbehindavastbusinessarchive,thatuniquelydocumentsDutchcinemaindustryandculturein
theearlyperiod(Blom2003).Recently,inthecontextoftheImagesoftheFuturedigitization
program,theentireDesmetcollectionhasbeendigitizedatEYEFilmInstituteNetherlands.The
availabilityofthecollectionindigitalformopensupnewopportunitiesforinvestigatingthehistory
ofearlycinemaintheNetherlands.InthecontextoftheresearchprojectCreativeAmsterdam:AnEHumanitiesPerspective,whichstudiesthehistoryof400yearsofculturalindustriesinthecitywith
thehelpofdigitaldataandtools,theauthorsinvestigatedtheopportunitiesof3Dvisualizationasa
toolforstudyingtheroleandplaceofcinematheatresintheentertainmentindustryofearly
twentieth-centuryurbanculture.
3DvisualizationasaResearchTool
The4DResearchLabattheUniversityofAmsterdam’sCentreforCulturalHistoryandIdentityaims
touse3Dvisualizationasatoolthatrespondstothetheoreticalandmethodologicalprinciplesof
archaeologicalandhistoricalresearchaslaiddowninTheLondonCharter(2009):modelsarebased
ondocumentationandtransparentregardingtheunderlyingsourcematerialandthechoicesmade.
Inthecaseofcinemaheritage,3Dvisualizationallowsustosynthesizedifferenttypesofarchived
assets,allowingforthepresentationofthefilmsthemselvesinthecontextoftheirexhibition,thus
evokingtheexperienceofcinema-goingataspecificplaceandtime.
Inthispaperweevaluatetherelevanceof3Dvisualizationasaresearchtoolforthehistoryof
cinema-going.Howdoestheprocessofbuildinga3Dmodelofcinematheatresrelatetowhatwe
alreadyknowaboutthishistory?Inwhichwaysdoesthemodelingprocessallowforthesynthesisof
differenttypesofarchivedcinemaheritageassets?Towhatextentdoesthispresentationof
‘contentincontext’helpustobetterunderstandthehistoryoffilmconsumption?Wewilladdress
thesequestionsviaadiscussionofaspecificcasestudy,ourvisualizationofDesmet’sAmsterdam
CinemaParisientheatre.Thechoiceforthiscaseismotivatedbyitshistoricalimportanceasoneof
thefirstpermanentcinematheatresinAmsterdamwithalong,richhistorythatisextensively
documented.
Figure1:CinemaParisienatNieuwendijk69,Amsterdam,in1976(left)and3Dvisualizationofthe1910situation(right)
First,wereflecton3Dvisualizationasaresearchtool,outliningitstechnologyandmethodological
principlesanditsusefulnessforresearchintothehistoriographyofmovie-going.Then,wedescribe
our3DvisualizationofCinemaParisien,discussingtheprocessofresearchingandbuildingthe
model.Specificattentionwillbepaidtothewaysinwhichwehaveincreasedthetransparencyof
themodelingprocess:first,bycreatingacolor-codedversionofthemodelthatindicatesthelevelof
certaintybehindourmodelingchoices,and,second,byconnectingthemodeltoanewlycreated
databasethatallowsuserstoaccesstheunderlyingsourcematerialaswellasdocumentation
describingthedesignprocessandchoicesmade.Finally,weevaluatetheresultagainsttheexisting
knowledgeaboutthehistoryofcinemagoinginAmsterdamandofthiscinematheatreinparticular,
andanswerthequestiontowhatextent3Dvisualizationasaresearchtoolcanaidour
understandingofthehistoryofcinemaconsumption.
Figure2.ColorbaroftheLevelofCertaintyIndexdevelopedfortheCinemaParisien3Dproject.
Results
Theprojecthasgeneratedaninteractive,extensivelydocumentedmodelofoneofAmsterdam’s
earlypermanentcinematheatresasitopenedin1910.Itpresentsbothresearchersandgeneral
audiencememberswithacomprehensibleandevocativeinterfaceforexploringcinema-related
heritage.A3Dvisualizationaddsanexperienceofspaceandscalethatcannotbeequaledbywritten
descriptionsor2Dimages.Besides,thelevelofdetailthatrealistic3Dvisualizationsrequire,steers
theresearcherindirectionsthattheymaynothaveconsideredbeforebutthatoftendoyield
unexpectedsources(suchasblueprintsofbuildingsortiletableauxadvertisementsthatcinemas
sharedwithshopsandcafes).Inaddition,thetransparencythatanacademicallysounduseof3D
visualizationrequires,invitestheuseofadatabasethatnotonlyorganizesone’sresearchmaterial
butalsomakesitopenlyaccessibleforotherresearchers,increasingthesharingofknowledgeand
theverifiabilityofresults.
Usedinthisway,3Dvisualizationofcinematheatresmaybeseenasaformofhistoriographyon
cinema-going,especiallyifuserscannavigatethevarioustransformationsofacinematheatreover
time,extendingitintoafourthdimension.3Dmodelingdoes,however,requiremultipleskillsand
involvestime-consuming,interdisciplinaryresearch,whichisnotalwaysavailableoraffordable.In
addition,thenon-linearityoftheviewingexperienceraisesthequestionhowexactlyitfunctionsas
historiography:howdoesonetranslatetheinsightsgleanedfromnavigatinginteractive,multilayered3Dvisualizationsincoherenthistoriographicalaccounts?Forthetimebeing,3Dmodelswill
havetobeaccompaniedbywrittenaccounts,asprovidedintheproposedpaper,ortheiraudiovisualequivalents.Assuch,theypresentcompellingaccountsofthespatialexperienceofcinemagoinginthepast.
Figure3.Stillofthe3DrenderingoftheentryhallofCinemaParisien,withvendorboothsandtiletableaux
advertisements.Thebackgroundshowstheprojectionbeamintheadjacenttheatre.
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