Styles and Techniques of Cinema

Between the art of the real – architecture – and the art of representing reality – cinema – there are reciprocal attractions, evidence of a shared yet different relation in the ties between space and imagination. The cinema, wrote G.C. Argan, is “a newly established system of signification and the most structuring” of all compositional techniques. Cinema and architecture depict humanity’s inhabitation of the world and history, responding like litmus paper to continuous changes in the urban habitat. Like architects, film directors (together with their main co-workers: production designers, cinematographers, film editors) can become builders of visions, determining future spaces and new perceptions. The architect-directors are those capable of producing images with their eyes closed, creating spatial ideas and original compositional figures. Their cinematographic corpus is studded with architectural elements that are essential to the structure of each film.