AIC, 1988 - AIC Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia ...

50 LTMMAGINEDELNOSTROSECOLO
AIC
"Luci lontane" di Renato Tafuri
instance, cinematographic images,
which can formally be termed
"expressive", are interspersed with
those of the publicity spots, news and
current affairs programs, shows and
quizzes, which tend, on the whole, to
be either "communicative" or
"entertaining", with the result that the
cinematographic images no longer
function as a "reference".
When the cinematographic images
have been assimilated, comparisons can
no longer be made, and they are no
longer thought-provoking or
stimulating, it will tend to render all
the images similar and their messages
indistinguishable.
Besides this, the images as we are used
to seeing them in the cinema combine
to form unique figurative whole. Their
"paging", or rather their sequence and
way in which they appear, is also of
particular importance.
There is no absolute quality of light or
colour, no absolute size or form, in that
each image acquires its particular
quality through its dynamic
interrelationship with the images that
both precede and follow it.
Often an image will communicate
more of what has actually been left out
of it, than that which is seen.
Furthermore the continuous dialogue
which can be established between the
image and the audience in the cinema,
is constantly interrupted when a film
viewed on television, by the fortuitous
and unrelated daily events that
constantly occur in the viewer's world.
It only takes just one of these daily
happenings to interrupt the viewing,
suspending and throwing out the
time/space relationship of the images
as it was specifically conceived to
communicate the film's message.
The fact that the viewing can be
interrupted by a series of outside
events, breaks the viewer's
concentration, and jnwents the image
from stimulating thought or
"transfert" taking place.
What seems even more serious to me, is
the fact that television exerts a
negative influence on the film's visual
language, causing it to regress and
progressively deteriorate from "poetry"
into "slang".
We Directors of Photography are
coining to the movie theatre's defence
to see that it survives as the one and
only place for a film to be shown: first,
because it is only here that the film is
seen under perfect conditions and
therefore communicated to the full;
and second, because it is the place
where our creativity and professional
identity have their most natural
expression.
While the cinema's role in society —
which has overtaken it with positive
and negative results — is being
redefined, it is our duty as Director of
Photography to decide exactly where
we stand.
Being culturally autonomous, the
cinema is considered something of a
rebel medium which cannot therefore
exploited to either win over audiences
or create status.
So, the "centres of power", in order to
gain both political and economic
advantages use "other" images to
influence the public either socially or
ideologically, bombarding them with
symbolism which penetrates, conditions
and sustains the current social reality.
The fact that we have to make a
choice will be confirmed — should there
still be any need — in I989 when,
somewhat apprehensively and with a
certain amount of suspicion we look
out of "our window onto the video
wonderland of the future" — as its
promoters, the Milan City Council,
unhestitatingly refer to it.
The "Ministero del Turismo e
Spettacolo", "RAI Radio Televisione
Italiana", the "Confcommercio" and
Ente Gestione^Cinema, together with
the Milan City Council, are still
involved in the organization of their
video wonderland project, which
virtually ignores the cinema, and
concentrates on promoting — in
accordance with the desire of the
political forces championing said
project — new technology that will
foster the quantitative and qualitive
growth of the audio visual industry.
Many of us cannot help but express,
however, the hesitation and doubt of a
generation that, on the one hand, has
inherited the traditions and myths of
its predecessors, to which we are still
deeply attached; and on the other
hand, finds itself facing a future with
all manner of technobgical
enticements set before it, such as video
discs, video-fiction, high definition,
laser and hobgraphic images and
satellites, that can only leave us feeling
disoriented.
It is also true that literature, music, art
and the theatre are in the same
unhealthy state as the cinema, as it is
our culture itself that is ailing.
However, while we are waiting for the
much needed redefinition of cultural
politics, and their application, we have
to seek to understand the workings of
audio-visual communication and
conduct our own politics. If we don't,
it's like abstaining from voting.
Evolving our own theories regarding
the technique of figurative
representation; our own doctrines
regarding the creation, conservation
and communication of the image; and
amassing a vast knowledge of the light
itself, means that we will be among the
protagonists of visual communication
which is responsible for creating, in a
more subtle and yet profound way
than its verbal counterpart, our basic
awareness as contemporary citizens.
It is a mistake to believe that images
merely represent objects, things or
people, or that they conform to them.
"Images conform to thoughts." Their
particular characteristics conform to
the laws which govern thought and the
spiritual feelings of their creator.