Web, New Media & Vertical Films

The rapid transformation of screen forms and the emergence of new media have significantly changed the context of cinema. The enormous influence of film culture on the content and modes of expression in the new media is evident. At the same time, their influence on cinema is undoubtedly inverse.

About the possibilities of the vertical form and the criticism of the horizontality of the screen Sergei Eisenstein wrote in his essay “The Dynamic Square” as early as 1932: “I do not wish to be overly symbolic or crude in comparing the reptilian rectangles of the proposed forms with the reptilian spiritual level of cinema, brought to this by the weight of commercial pressure of dollars, pounds, francs or marks – depending on the point in the world where cinema suffers! But I have to point out that in offering these proportions for discussion we are only emphasizing the fact that for thirty years we have been satisfied with fifty percent of the compositional possibilities to the exclusion of all other possibilities, which was the consequence of the horizontal form of the frame…”

The vertical screen remained a field of experimentation and individual experiments in splitting horizontal projection across several screens, such as in the 1968 film The Boston Strangler.

That all changed when the Internet made it possible to download and watch videos with a cell phone. According to recent studies conducted for mobile app developers, users generally prefer not to flip the screen but to watch videos in vertical projection. Vertical projection dominates social media and in particular TikTok, a social network that is now taking the lead, leaving Instagram, Facebook and YouTube behind. Humanitarian knowledge has failed to keep up with the rapid transformation. Hopes are replaced by confusion over the published statistics and successes of TikTok stars, lamentations about the degradation of humanity, and the disappearing object of study, which yesterday was the epicenter of attention and today is being absorbed by an explosive new social network.

The TikTok user is both the viewer and the director of his own narrative, who mounts his film tape by means of a swipe and a neural network algorithm. The algorithm, being a product of the element of financial capital, is a fate, a fate that condemns the modern narcissist to idle alone with his image, wasting his eros in the cave of shadows, which in the 20th century was a popular metaphor for the movie theater. Today, however, at the end of the first third of the 21st century, even the authoritarian architecture of the cinema is sometimes helpless before the 9:16 vertical.

For a better understanding of the topic, we recommend reading our publications on the subject.

TIME-IMAGE: EVOLUTION FROM SHORT FILMS, CINEMA TO NEW MEDIA (text)

DIGITAL CINEMA, NEW MEDIA, SHORT FILMS AND GLOBALISED CAPITALISM (text)

This festival program is devoted to new cinematic forms in the media.

THE GOOD PLACE TO BE

Charles Tytgat (Belgium, 3 min; 2022)

“What a crime I committed against you at birth; and yet I understand that my only birth is a big enough crime” – Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

DOING IS EVERYTHING

Petr Cerny (Czech Republic, 3 min)

It may be a cliché, but … this is a short film about life.

3EMW

Carlos Vazquez (Mexico, 2 min; 2022)

In a quest against time, W travels through different ecosystems. He fights against tiredness and weather conditions to reach his destination, but as time goes by, W feels trapped in an endless journey.

PLUS

Bohdan Romanko (Ukraine, 9 min; 2022)

This Ukrainian short – created using state-of-the-art technology – follows a heart-breaking chat between an ordinary Ukrainian man, compelled to join the defense forces on the front-line of the 2022 Russian War, and his emerging girlfriend who anxiously follows his journey as war rages all around him doing what she can to help. <Website>

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