CinemaParisien3D

3DVisualizationasaToolforStudyingtheHistoryofCinema-going

JuliaNoordegraafUniversityofAmsterdamJ.J.Noordegraaf@uva.nl

LoesOpgenhaffenUniversityofAmsterdamL.Opgenhaffen@uva.nl

NorbertBakkerUniversityofAmsterdam

Norbert.G.E.Bakker@gmail.com

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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