CONTINUUM CITY
A case study on the construction of cinematic space
2011


SpaceTime_Web.jpg SpaceTime Map - Pigment Print / mounted on Forex - 120cm x 80cm



TimeSpace_Web.jpg TimeSpace Map - Pigment Print / mounted on Forex - 120cm x 80cm



SpaceTime_Web.jpg SpaceTime Map - Close Up



TimeSpace_CloseUp_Web.jpg TimeSpace Map - Close Up



SpaceTime_Web.jpg SpaceTime Shadow Map - Pigment Print / mounted on Forex - 120cm x 80cm



TimeSpace_Web.jpg TimeSpace Shadow Map - Pigment Print / mounted on Forex - 120cm x 80cm



SpaceTime_Web.jpg SpaceTime Shadow Map - Close Up



TimeSpace_CloseUp_Web.jpg TimeSpace Shadow Map - Close Up








The San Fernando Valley is home to over 1.7 million people and covers an area of approximately 900 square kilometers. De facto part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area it is dominated by a suburban street grid and single family houses. Branches of the LA River historically drew through the valley but are now bordered in concrete channels which intersect the grid at various angles. Usually dry - these channels contain the flood water in case of heavy rainfall.
The iconic chase scene in James Cameron`s Terminator - Judgment Day (1991) was filmed within these channels in disparate locations around the valley while the edited scene constructs a continuous chase along a single coherent trajectory. The exchangeability of the uniform backdrop fosters cinematic spatial constructs such as protagonists entering under one bridge and emerging in a completely different place after the cut.
The point is that the cinematic construct is a critique of the banality of suburban space. It literally cuts it apart, removes certain parts, stretches or compresses certain parts and reassembles it to create an augmented and thrilling virtual reality.
Continuum City reconstructs the construction. The SpaceTime Map localizes all camera positions and focal planes in real space while merging the different city fragments together. In a second step the TimeSpace Map sequences all takes in order of appearance. The distance between the first and the last take is kept the same as in the SpaceTime Map which means that slow motion takes stretch the corresponding space and vice versa.
The Shadow Maps are variations which highlight the constant change of geographic direction.