CinemaParisien3D
3DVisualizationasaToolforStudyingtheHistoryofCinema-going
NorbertBakkerUniversityofAmsterdam
CinemaParisien
InMarch1910,theDutch-basedcinemapioneerJeanDesmet(1875-1956)openedCinemaParisien,hisfirstpermanentcinematheatreatNieuwendijk69inAmsterdam.BuildinguponthesuccessofthecinematheatrethatheopenedunderthesamenameinRotterdamtheyearbefore,DesmetbrokethegroundinAmsterdamfortheestablishmentofpermanentcinematheatres.Thecinematheatreremainedfunctionaluntil1987,foralongtimealsoasanadultmovietheatre.Thecinema’s1924artdecointeriorwasreinstalledattheNetherlandsFilmmuseumatVondelparkintheearly1990sandtodaycanbeseeninarecentlyopenedcinemacomplexatDeHallen.ThehistoryoftheAmsterdamCinemaParisienhasbeenwell-documented,inparticularbecausebesidesadistributioncollectionofover900filmsfromthe1910sandacollectionoffilmpostersandphotographs,Desmetleftbehindavastbusinessarchive,thatuniquelydocumentsDutchcinemaindustryandcultureintheearlyperiod(Blom2003).Recently,inthecontextoftheImagesoftheFuturedigitizationprogram,theentireDesmetcollectionhasbeendigitizedatEYEFilmInstituteNetherlands.TheavailabilityofthecollectionindigitalformopensupnewopportunitiesforinvestigatingthehistoryofearlycinemaintheNetherlands.InthecontextoftheresearchprojectCreativeAmsterdam:AnE-HumanitiesPerspective,whichstudiesthehistoryof400yearsofculturalindustriesinthecitywiththehelpofdigitaldataandtools,theauthorsinvestigatedtheopportunitiesof3Dvisualizationasatoolforstudyingtheroleandplaceofcinematheatresintheentertainmentindustryofearlytwentieth-centuryurbanculture.
3DvisualizationasaResearchTool
The4DResearchLabattheUniversityofAmsterdam’sCentreforCulturalHistoryandIdentityaimstouse3DvisualizationasatoolthatrespondstothetheoreticalandmethodologicalprinciplesofarchaeologicalandhistoricalresearchaslaiddowninTheLondonCharter(2009):modelsarebasedondocumentationandtransparentregardingtheunderlyingsourcematerialandthechoicesmade.Inthecaseofcinemaheritage,3Dvisualizationallowsustosynthesizedifferenttypesofarchivedassets,allowingforthepresentationofthefilmsthemselvesinthecontextoftheirexhibition,thusevokingtheexperienceofcinema-goingataspecificplaceandtime.
Inthispaperweevaluatetherelevanceof3Dvisualizationasaresearchtoolforthehistoryofcinema-going.Howdoestheprocessofbuildinga3Dmodelofcinematheatresrelatetowhatwealreadyknowaboutthishistory?Inwhichwaysdoesthemodelingprocessallowforthesynthesisofdifferenttypesofarchivedcinemaheritageassets?Towhatextentdoesthispresentationof‘contentincontext’helpustobetterunderstandthehistoryoffilmconsumption?Wewilladdressthesequestionsviaadiscussionofaspecificcasestudy,ourvisualizationofDesmet’sAmsterdamCinemaParisientheatre.ThechoiceforthiscaseismotivatedbyitshistoricalimportanceasoneofthefirstpermanentcinematheatresinAmsterdamwithalong,richhistorythatisextensivelydocumented.
Figure1:CinemaParisienatNieuwendijk69,Amsterdam,in1976(left)and3Dvisualizationofthe1910situation(right)
First,wereflecton3Dvisualizationasaresearchtool,outliningitstechnologyandmethodologicalprinciplesanditsusefulnessforresearchintothehistoriographyofmovie-going.Then,wedescribeour3DvisualizationofCinemaParisien,discussingtheprocessofresearchingandbuildingthemodel.Specificattentionwillbepaidtothewaysinwhichwehaveincreasedthetransparencyofthemodelingprocess:first,bycreatingacolor-codedversionofthemodelthatindicatesthelevelofcertaintybehindourmodelingchoices,and,second,byconnectingthemodeltoanewlycreateddatabasethatallowsuserstoaccesstheunderlyingsourcematerialaswellasdocumentationdescribingthedesignprocessandchoicesmade.Finally,weevaluatetheresultagainsttheexistingknowledgeaboutthehistoryofcinemagoinginAmsterdamandofthiscinematheatreinparticular,andanswerthequestiontowhatextent3Dvisualizationasaresearchtoolcanaidourunderstandingofthehistoryofcinemaconsumption.
Figure2.ColorbaroftheLevelofCertaintyIndexdevelopedfortheCinemaParisien3Dproject.
Results
Theprojecthasgeneratedaninteractive,extensivelydocumentedmodelofoneofAmsterdam’searlypermanentcinematheatresasitopenedin1910.Itpresentsbothresearchersandgeneralaudiencememberswithacomprehensibleandevocativeinterfaceforexploringcinema-relatedheritage.A3Dvisualizationaddsanexperienceofspaceandscalethatcannotbeequaledbywrittendescriptionsor2Dimages.Besides,thelevelofdetailthatrealistic3Dvisualizationsrequire,steerstheresearcherindirectionsthattheymaynothaveconsideredbeforebutthatoftendoyieldunexpectedsources(suchasblueprintsofbuildingsortiletableauxadvertisementsthatcinemassharedwithshopsandcafes).Inaddition,thetransparencythatanacademicallysounduseof3Dvisualizationrequires,invitestheuseofadatabasethatnotonlyorganizesone’sresearchmaterialbutalsomakesitopenlyaccessibleforotherresearchers,increasingthesharingofknowledgeandtheverifiabilityofresults.
Usedinthisway,3Dvisualizationofcinematheatresmaybeseenasaformofhistoriographyoncinema-going,especiallyifuserscannavigatethevarioustransformationsofacinematheatreovertime,extendingitintoafourthdimension.3Dmodelingdoes,however,requiremultipleskillsandinvolvestime-consuming,interdisciplinaryresearch,whichisnotalwaysavailableoraffordable.Inaddition,thenon-linearityoftheviewingexperienceraisesthequestionhowexactlyitfunctionsashistoriography:howdoesonetranslatetheinsightsgleanedfromnavigatinginteractive,multi-layered3Dvisualizationsincoherenthistoriographicalaccounts?Forthetimebeing,3Dmodelswillhavetobeaccompaniedbywrittenaccounts,asprovidedintheproposedpaper,ortheiraudio-visualequivalents.Assuch,theypresentcompellingaccountsofthespatialexperienceofcinema-goinginthepast.
Figure3.Stillofthe3DrenderingoftheentryhallofCinemaParisien,withvendorboothsandtiletableauxadvertisements.Thebackgroundshowstheprojectionbeamintheadjacenttheatre.
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