Pavel Prokopic | University of Salford (original) (raw)

Papers by Pavel Prokopic

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Space: A Conceptual and Practical Approach to Cinematography

The Cinematography Journal, 2022

This article seeks to provide a theoretical justification and context to the understanding of cin... more This article seeks to provide a theoretical justification and context to the understanding of cinematography as affective space, both in the aesthetic effects in the film image and in how this understanding can inform a specific approach to cinematography in experimental camera practice, with a potential application to larger film productions. Affective space, as this article argues, depends on a film’s aesthetic impulse against the seamless impression of reality; the notion of affective space rests on the assertion that the aspects of the filmed reality and the aspects of the camera (such as framing or depth of field) merge into a single two-dimensional surface in the moment of capture, and that these two sides are inseparable on the level of the image, forming a new aesthetic reality, which has the potential to transform and partially abstract a sense of representation of ordinary space. The notion of affective space synthesises various sources in film theory and ontology, but then applies these concepts through film practice, leading to the development of new cinematographic techniques. Affective space represents an understanding of film developed through a wider AHRC-funded practice research entitled Affective Cinema, and relates to Deleuzian affect theory and Marks’s haptic visuality. This article explains the conceptual field surrounding affective space, and then presents a set of experimental methods and insights resulting from the practical application of the theory. In this way, the underlying research transcends the division and distinction between theory and practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the application of practice-based research on affective cinema to the teaching of creative cinematographic techniques within UK higher education

Film Education Journal , 2021

This article outlines an exploratory approach to the delivery of film practice education, as deve... more This article outlines an exploratory approach to the delivery of film practice education, as developed and tested with a second-year undergraduate module in cinematography. Students were provided with two existing creative sound pieces composed by a professional sound designer within the context of an AHRC-funded practice research project entitled Affective Cinema. These aspects of sound design inspired and informed the students’ work, while allowing them to focus upon the module’s key learning outcomes as related to camera and lighting skills. Above all, the approach allowed for aspects of the film theory synthesised through the preceding research – and pertinent to the nature and unique expressive potential of film – to be partially absorbed and learned by the students through practical experimentation, thus becoming an embodied, tacit practitioner knowledge. In this respect, I argue that such approaches help transcend the fraught divisions between film practice and film theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Chance Semiotics: The Value and Application of Contingency in Cinema Art Practice

Avanca Cinema , 2021

As this paper argues, chance is the key defining aspect of film, distinguishing it from other for... more As this paper argues, chance is the key defining aspect of film, distinguishing it from other forms of art and communication. This is because film has the ability to capture a direct, mechanical imprint of the unpredictable movement of reality as a series of equidistant static images. Through the enhanced visibility (such as the close-up or slow-motion) and replayability of this static state, film can reveal contingent nuances of this movement. Therefore, film can be seen as uniquely positioned on a semiotic threshold between movement and stillness-the infinitely complex movement of the real, and the conceptual stillness of language-translating randomness and chaos into aleatory significance, or revealing the unpredictable, contingent foundation of seemingly ordinary, habitual events. On the basis of a creative synthesis of particular aspects of the philosophy and theory of Bergson, Deleuze, Barthes and others, this paper sets out chance as the defining semiotic aspect of film. Furthermore, the paper discusses and presents outcomes of a practice research in film, which used this theoretical synthesis as a rationale for practical exploration and experimentation-establishing chance as a significant expressive tool and aesthetic element of film practice. In this way, the paper presents new filmmaking methods uniquely rooted in film philosophy, while contributing to the expansion of the understanding of the nature of film and to the narrative/stylistic potential of cinema art.

Research paper thumbnail of Mirrors and Tears

Screenworks, 2020

Mirrors and Tears is an audio-visual structure that does not aim to communicate specific meaning ... more Mirrors and Tears is an audio-visual structure that does not aim to communicate specific meaning or a story but instead brings together disjointed lines of dialogue, delivered by a group of performers who were under the influence of experimental production conditions and directorial methods. It is the eighth of a series of films resulting from the AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD in Affective Cinema, informed by art cinema and experimental film traditions, and by conceptual fields derived from film theory and philosophy (specifically film semiotics, and the writings related to Deleuze’s affect). The outcomes of the research are short films structured on the basis of affective significance – an original concept identified in various film moments from the history of cinema (such as the examples listed in the ‘context’ section below), and subsequently developed through the project. Affective significance is a sense of meaning that is felt before it can be thought: it eludes language, and transgresses the boundaries of traditional knowledge and (inter-subjective) communication. As well as the Affect theory, the concept of affective significance resonates with and is informed by Barthes’ (1977) third meaning, which describes a certain surplus of meaning, an insistence of the image after all intelligible meaning has been extracted from it – bearing a significance, without signifying anything. Similarly to the third meaning, affective significance is produced by chance being captured and revealed on film, in combination with stylistic aspects and decisions that do not coherently assimilate these flashes of contingency into the film’s ordinary signification, but instead amplify their nonhuman origin in the real outside of the world of reason, concepts and understanding. Through experimenting with film performance, and its ability to expose the nonhuman nature of the moving body as the real (below the human surface of intention, self-control, subjectivity, and meaningful gestures), the sense of affective significance can be amplified, when combined with the aforementioned aspects of style and chance.

Research paper thumbnail of 'I'm Not There Anymore': Film Performance Affects and the Loosening of Narrative

Open Screens, 2021

The film emerged from a wider, AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD entitled Affective Cinema, wh... more The film emerged from a wider, AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD entitled Affective Cinema, which experiments with cinematographic and directorial techniques, and methods of working with performers, in order to generate film structures that disrupt or offset narrative, semiotic and/or spatial coherence by the production of audiovisual affects. In this way, a certain boundary is being explored between the representational and the non-representational, which gives rise to a sense of 'affective significance'-a meaning that is felt before it can be thought.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Cinema: Experimenting with Feelings of Meaning

International Journal of Creative Media Research, 2019

Affective Cinema is an AHRC-funded practice research project in film, informed by art cinema, exp... more Affective Cinema is an AHRC-funded practice research project in film, informed by art cinema, experimental film traditions, film theory and philosophy. The outcomes of the research are films that combine aspects of cinematic style, nuances of performance and elements of chance. When all these attributes align in an unpredictable way, a feeling of meaning can be produced: a moment of cinema that is engaging and captivating without trying to tell a story or communicating something specific or intentional through the film. The research thereby aims to expand the potential of the cinematic form by producing experimental film structures in which this feeling of meaning can be identified, and by testing and developing methods that can lead to its emergence. The research also seeks to unite the practice and theory in a unique way – bringing the theory directly into the practice through a poetic voice-over. This submission to IJCMR represents a new version of Affective Cinema, one that was designed especially for the MediaWall at Bath Spa University, and which was exhibited between March 26–April 5 2019.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Space: A Conceptual and Practical Approach to Cinematography

The Cinematography Journal, 2022

This article seeks to provide a theoretical justification and context to the understanding of cin... more This article seeks to provide a theoretical justification and context to the understanding of cinematography as affective space, both in the aesthetic effects in the film image and in how this understanding can inform a specific approach to cinematography in experimental camera practice, with a potential application to larger film productions. Affective space, as this article argues, depends on a film’s aesthetic impulse against the seamless impression of reality; the notion of affective space rests on the assertion that the aspects of the filmed reality and the aspects of the camera (such as framing or depth of field) merge into a single two-dimensional surface in the moment of capture, and that these two sides are inseparable on the level of the image, forming a new aesthetic reality, which has the potential to transform and partially abstract a sense of representation of ordinary space. The notion of affective space synthesises various sources in film theory and ontology, but then applies these concepts through film practice, leading to the development of new cinematographic techniques. Affective space represents an understanding of film developed through a wider AHRC-funded practice research entitled Affective Cinema, and relates to Deleuzian affect theory and Marks’s haptic visuality. This article explains the conceptual field surrounding affective space, and then presents a set of experimental methods and insights resulting from the practical application of the theory. In this way, the underlying research transcends the division and distinction between theory and practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the application of practice-based research on affective cinema to the teaching of creative cinematographic techniques within UK higher education

Film Education Journal , 2021

This article outlines an exploratory approach to the delivery of film practice education, as deve... more This article outlines an exploratory approach to the delivery of film practice education, as developed and tested with a second-year undergraduate module in cinematography. Students were provided with two existing creative sound pieces composed by a professional sound designer within the context of an AHRC-funded practice research project entitled Affective Cinema. These aspects of sound design inspired and informed the students’ work, while allowing them to focus upon the module’s key learning outcomes as related to camera and lighting skills. Above all, the approach allowed for aspects of the film theory synthesised through the preceding research – and pertinent to the nature and unique expressive potential of film – to be partially absorbed and learned by the students through practical experimentation, thus becoming an embodied, tacit practitioner knowledge. In this respect, I argue that such approaches help transcend the fraught divisions between film practice and film theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Chance Semiotics: The Value and Application of Contingency in Cinema Art Practice

Avanca Cinema , 2021

As this paper argues, chance is the key defining aspect of film, distinguishing it from other for... more As this paper argues, chance is the key defining aspect of film, distinguishing it from other forms of art and communication. This is because film has the ability to capture a direct, mechanical imprint of the unpredictable movement of reality as a series of equidistant static images. Through the enhanced visibility (such as the close-up or slow-motion) and replayability of this static state, film can reveal contingent nuances of this movement. Therefore, film can be seen as uniquely positioned on a semiotic threshold between movement and stillness-the infinitely complex movement of the real, and the conceptual stillness of language-translating randomness and chaos into aleatory significance, or revealing the unpredictable, contingent foundation of seemingly ordinary, habitual events. On the basis of a creative synthesis of particular aspects of the philosophy and theory of Bergson, Deleuze, Barthes and others, this paper sets out chance as the defining semiotic aspect of film. Furthermore, the paper discusses and presents outcomes of a practice research in film, which used this theoretical synthesis as a rationale for practical exploration and experimentation-establishing chance as a significant expressive tool and aesthetic element of film practice. In this way, the paper presents new filmmaking methods uniquely rooted in film philosophy, while contributing to the expansion of the understanding of the nature of film and to the narrative/stylistic potential of cinema art.

Research paper thumbnail of Mirrors and Tears

Screenworks, 2020

Mirrors and Tears is an audio-visual structure that does not aim to communicate specific meaning ... more Mirrors and Tears is an audio-visual structure that does not aim to communicate specific meaning or a story but instead brings together disjointed lines of dialogue, delivered by a group of performers who were under the influence of experimental production conditions and directorial methods. It is the eighth of a series of films resulting from the AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD in Affective Cinema, informed by art cinema and experimental film traditions, and by conceptual fields derived from film theory and philosophy (specifically film semiotics, and the writings related to Deleuze’s affect). The outcomes of the research are short films structured on the basis of affective significance – an original concept identified in various film moments from the history of cinema (such as the examples listed in the ‘context’ section below), and subsequently developed through the project. Affective significance is a sense of meaning that is felt before it can be thought: it eludes language, and transgresses the boundaries of traditional knowledge and (inter-subjective) communication. As well as the Affect theory, the concept of affective significance resonates with and is informed by Barthes’ (1977) third meaning, which describes a certain surplus of meaning, an insistence of the image after all intelligible meaning has been extracted from it – bearing a significance, without signifying anything. Similarly to the third meaning, affective significance is produced by chance being captured and revealed on film, in combination with stylistic aspects and decisions that do not coherently assimilate these flashes of contingency into the film’s ordinary signification, but instead amplify their nonhuman origin in the real outside of the world of reason, concepts and understanding. Through experimenting with film performance, and its ability to expose the nonhuman nature of the moving body as the real (below the human surface of intention, self-control, subjectivity, and meaningful gestures), the sense of affective significance can be amplified, when combined with the aforementioned aspects of style and chance.

Research paper thumbnail of 'I'm Not There Anymore': Film Performance Affects and the Loosening of Narrative

Open Screens, 2021

The film emerged from a wider, AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD entitled Affective Cinema, wh... more The film emerged from a wider, AHRC-funded practice-as-research PhD entitled Affective Cinema, which experiments with cinematographic and directorial techniques, and methods of working with performers, in order to generate film structures that disrupt or offset narrative, semiotic and/or spatial coherence by the production of audiovisual affects. In this way, a certain boundary is being explored between the representational and the non-representational, which gives rise to a sense of 'affective significance'-a meaning that is felt before it can be thought.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective Cinema: Experimenting with Feelings of Meaning

International Journal of Creative Media Research, 2019

Affective Cinema is an AHRC-funded practice research project in film, informed by art cinema, exp... more Affective Cinema is an AHRC-funded practice research project in film, informed by art cinema, experimental film traditions, film theory and philosophy. The outcomes of the research are films that combine aspects of cinematic style, nuances of performance and elements of chance. When all these attributes align in an unpredictable way, a feeling of meaning can be produced: a moment of cinema that is engaging and captivating without trying to tell a story or communicating something specific or intentional through the film. The research thereby aims to expand the potential of the cinematic form by producing experimental film structures in which this feeling of meaning can be identified, and by testing and developing methods that can lead to its emergence. The research also seeks to unite the practice and theory in a unique way – bringing the theory directly into the practice through a poetic voice-over. This submission to IJCMR represents a new version of Affective Cinema, one that was designed especially for the MediaWall at Bath Spa University, and which was exhibited between March 26–April 5 2019.