The evolution of black-and-white cinematography has officially begun. The shadow-play and etched starkness of two-tone movie-making has always been more of an artistic statement than a reasonable field in which to play out a story told on-screen. Christian Volckman’s 2006 noir-thriller Renaissance dives head-first into the deep end of exploring, and destroying, the probable limitations of filming with 3D motion-capture animation in an exclusively black-and-white setting. The images that he and his team have created over the staggering production span of seven years help to redefine the nature of black-and-white cinema, ushering in new field on which to play.

From the opening shot you can see that Renaissance is a very different kind of film. The shadows and light have a multi-dimensionality on a level never before seen in the animated format. This plays with the viewer’s sense of what is real and unreal, giving birth to a unique new feel for the audience witnessing the plot unfold on the other side of the ‘fourth wall’ of the filmmaker’s lens. Coupled with the visual aesthetic of using computer generated facial molds and motion capture, a heightened illusion is created where the audience can’t help but sense that what they are seeing is reality merely captured by a camera. The delicacy of the rain falling, the growth of plants and the blowing of nonexistent, animated wind seek to trick viewers into believing that ‘these things truly exist.’

Volckman’s setting of Paris, France, in the year 2054 is a magnificent achievement of cinematic wonder. It’s not just a city re-imagined; it is a character unto itself. Volckman’s team has created a city that, while fictionalized, has grounded itself in the basic aesthetics of an authentic cityscape. Mirroring the subtleties that make defines the urban soul of a city, the sweeping metropolis in Renaissance appears limitless in its ability to recreate reality: crowds react, lights flicker, and the breathtaking scope of this digitally-realized Paris-of-the-future successfully sucks the viewer further behind the veil of unreality. The neo-gothic architecture serves that aesthetic as well in the European stylization of a city yet to be.

Renaissance has elements that could be compared to any number of films of eras past, such as the noir-styled aesthetic and missing person storyline of Orson Welles’ The Third Man, and also the futuristic neo-technological nightmare plotline of Bladerunner. Even the technological invention of motion capture owes a debt to other special-effect techniques, including but not limited to Max Fleischer’s innovative - if often mishandled – invention of rotoscoping, Hayao Miyazaki’s highly detailed animations, and the Wachowski Brothers’ infamous ‘Bullet Time.’ Renaissance is, however, an expressionistic hybrid of all of these, bending only black-and-white to suit its purpose.

These breathtaking elements contribute to Renaissance’s slow progression through its mind-bending storyline, but nothing is as visually dazzling or more pioneering than Volckman’s use of the moving camera. Previous films have dabbled in the motion-capture medium fairly well: Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City resembles it most closely in visual reference. A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life, and the numerous works of Hayao Miyazaki, all have have a similar aesthetic and use of the medium; however, the camera work involved in creating the sometimes frenetic pacing of Renaissance is more akin to any of Martin Scorcese’s live action films. Somewhere near a half-hour into Renaissance, the camera seems to float throughout the city and descend, as though on the wings of an insect, between cars embroiled in a chase scene that makes Steve McQueen’s famous chase from Bullitt seem like a trolley ride through Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood. This bird-in-flight narrative camera style gels together so many visual tricks and elements of visual storytelling, it’s as if Volckman is actually testing the very limits of his own motion capture technology.

Christian Volckman’s Renaissance is a feast for the eyes, and it revels in it, wringing every ounce of believability from any possible corner of this challenging and unwavering visual masterpiece. There is a line which the film’s protagonist says nearly half-way through the film: “This could get complicated.” How right he is.

Written by d/visible contributor Brian Tipton.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 10:17 am and is filed under Graphic Arts, Technology, Culture, Illustration, Film, Art & Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.