Towards a philosophy of moving image design: a look at the aesthetics of montage in Black Mirror's editing gestures

Authors

  • Milena Szafir Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Grupo de Estudos Intervalos & Ritmos (#ir!) e Bolsas Projet'ares Audiovisuais, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14591/aniki.v6n1.463

Keywords:

image editing, motion graphics design, opening title sequence, audiovisual workflow, sci-fi.

Abstract

Towards a philosophy of the current tele-audiovisual, how does Black Mirror series affect us? Montage, between opacity and transparency, is related to its three ordinary operational agencies: 1. the logics of classical cinema – the continuity (raccords) and the cross cutting (parallel editing) inserts –, 2. the dialectical approaches of Soviet avant-garde film movement and 3. the “subversive” jump cut and split screen. However, the efficacy of Black Mirror is given to other gesturing of montage. Hence, this essay is a critical analysis of the image-montage aesthetics found therein: the creative-reflexive procedures of motion graphics form through a deep remixability of media.

Author Biography

Milena Szafir, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Grupo de Estudos Intervalos & Ritmos (#ir!) e Bolsas Projet'ares Audiovisuais, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brasil

Milena Szafir (Ph.D.) is Professor of Arts & Moving Images in Brazil and her research areas are Media Literacy and AV Rhetorics. In 2011, she received the most important Brazilian Art & Technology Prize (Sergio Motta Award). Some of her artworks: “Stream'engrams of a revolution” (data visualizing essay video, 2014-2016), “TMGM – The Memmory Game Mashup” (online database aesthetics AV editing app, 2010-2015), “Audio-Visual Rhetorics #MSc” (essay remix video – Master's Thesis, 2008-2010), “YouToRemix” (online interactive video, 2010), “Manifeste-se: todo mundo artista – mobile webtv live broadcast” (live streaming via cellphones from streets), “Vjiar: web-vj'ing-cam” (online live remix video app, 2005), “Panopticon Performances” (surveillance wireless VJing, 2003-2006), “ComunicaCidade: a educação através da arte-comunicação” (video-essay, live cinema & editing-app design – Graduation Final Work, 2002-2004); and recent ones: “Alice Remix” (experimental fulldome, 2018), “UnDe(r)sign Mirrorring” (video-article installation, 2018), “Alice 5x7” (AV new media installation, 2018) and “Let's Besprechen [On] Database Aesthetics Trial” (remix essay montage manifesto, 2018). Since 2013 she teaches at UFCE, where she supervises projects on aesthetics of montage.

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Published

2019-02-06

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2019): The viewing and criticism of television series

Section

Special Section