Module description
Cinema and architecture have often been closely related but not often enough studied together. This module aims to explore the rich formal and technical parallels between them, the shared intellectual debates which have shaped them, the representation of architecture and architects by filmmakers, and the ways in which motion pictures have influenced architects in their practice and design.
Organized in a way which is partly thematic and partly historical, the module will necessarily approach cinema and architecture from a variety of directions:
The image and use of real buildings in movies, especially buildings of noted architectural significance, as well as the design and construction of studio sets in which real buildings are replicated or far-fetched ones imagined;
Both fiction films and documentaries about architects; the architect as artist and technocrat; the film director and architect as superstars; the tension between art and industry, mass culture and the avant garde, in both fields;
The special ability of the film or digital video camera to render in moving pictures the shapes, masses, spaces, surfaces, and textures of the built environment - and its acoustics through sound;
Similarities between the techniques of architecture and filmmaking; the use of sketches, plans, storyboards, models, and studios; the manipulation of materials, space, light, and sound; the navigation of space, the creation of point of view and narrative;
The architect as a kind of set designer for whom buildings must be spectacular, entertaining, and performative, a sense especially evident in the classical era and, more recently, in postmodernism where architecture has been heavily informed by mass media.
You do not need to have a pre-existing knowledge or understanding of architecture to take the module - key aspects of architecture history and theory will be explained as we go along.
Further information: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/filmstudies/modules/level6/6AAQS397.aspx
Assessment details
15% Seminar participation, including short student presentations
25% Essay 1 (2000 words)
60% Essay 2 (3000 words)
Teaching pattern
The module will be taught via ten three-hour screenings, ten one-hour lectures and ten one-hour seminars.
Suggested reading list
Core course readings will be provided.