The sense of flowing lens in poetic films: Jean Epstein

Since the 1920s, it has been the wish of countless directors to master the mystery of poetry. Some non-mainstream directors, that is, the pioneers of the "experimental school", are more congenial to painters and poets than other film directors. In recent years, film directors have been swimming among various art categories, combining movies with music, painting and poetry. However, apart from the most external form of poetry, poetry cannot be summarized by theory, and the rhythm of poetry belongs to the classical era. Since The Romantic Period, western poetry has been challenging the limits of language. What it expresses is something that only poetry can express, which can not be expressed by rational and logical language. Therefore, it is natural to summarize the theory of film poetics.

Jean Epstein's theory embodies this difficulty. Inspired by symbolism and avant-garde poetry, he tried to explore the unknown characteristics of images. He opposes naturalism and faded symbolism in silent films, and realism is too limited in his view. Epstein's pursuit of film aesthetics in his youth originated from the premise that "both modern literature and film are against drama". This aesthetic proposition combines some characteristics of modernism and symbolism poetry: the rapid change of image, suggestion and sensibility, and the harmony between spiritual world and material world. The film "no longer narrates, but hints". It wants people to see what they can't see, and its tentacles reach into the inner world of things to reveal the mystery of reality. Film aesthetics is a new art, not a traditional art, which is bound to bring forth the old and bring forth the new: "The image of a certain poem is eternal", and few literary critics have never said this sentence. This sentence is stupid (...) People have aesthetic fatigue, images will always become old and lack originality (...), and words will become old. " ( 192 1)

"photoge'nie" becomes an ideal solution at this time. "Photography" Nie "was originally a photographic term, and anything that can produce clear images is considered as" photography "Nie" (according to the definition in Park Yung-soo's dictionary). Later, this word was only used to describe the person being photographed, his (her) figure and appearance, and his (her) figure and skin. A photogenic person is a person who has all the conditions and can show beauty in photos. Gradually, in this concept, the external material conditions such as light disappeared, but the significance of these characteristics such as beauty, charm and loveliness remained. At the beginning of the 20th century, people used "photography Nie" to describe the magical relationship between photography and some people who are good at performing in front of the camera. Louis R26 Dell UC (1890-1924) borrowed this word in a series of articles of 19 19. He was only satisfied with the mystery of the word, but did not give an accurate definition. The most important thing is not to use this word only in photography: the sense of lens in photography has no meaning, because it just shows a little charm in appearance. On the contrary, movies let us find that the sense of lens has a broader world. However, in 1920, the main difference between film and photography is still dynamic and static, so Delluc and his partners later called the dynamic lens sense "focal plane".

This is the concept that Epstein inherited. In the book Bonjour Cine'ma written by 192 1, the sense of lens is described as a concept opposite to literariness and story: "The beauty of face is a visual problem, and it takes a long time for our eyes to find it directly, but the camera lens can focus and filter out the sense of lens from many lenses. Of course, if you shoot again, you will look at it differently. "

Epstein tried to determine the position in the film that can produce photogenic effect. The first thing he thought of was the close-up shot-"the window to the soul of the film". But close-up is only one of the conditions, it is neither sufficient nor necessary. Another feature of the lens sense is more important: it is fleeting in nature, such as a flash in the pan. "You lame people who worship crutches, never say that limitations and obstacles make art, and movies can prove you wrong. Movies are completely dynamic and don't need stability and balance. Among all the perceptual parameters in reality, the sense of lens represents the sense of movement. "

The sense of lens is fast and fleeting: "If a painting moves and changes in time and space at the same time, it may have a sense of lens." Therefore, Epstein's views on the moments and characters of camera sense are quite different from our accustomed views. As Charlot commented: "What he did was like the reaction of a man with nervous fatigue. When the bell or horn rings, he will jump up and feel anxious and overly nervous, as if he had a nervous breakdown because of the camera sense. " In short, Epstein's point of view can be summarized in one sentence: "A face will never have a sense of lens, but the expression on its face may have a sense of lens."

This term is convenient because it is vague. Epstein is very loyal to this concept and has no intention to clarify its meaning, but he regards it as the characteristics of the film itself, a poetic feature, as expressive as poetry and as touching as poetry: "The concept of lens sense makes people think that the film is art, and the lens sense is to the film what color is to painting and space is to sculpture: this is the characteristic of this art."

Is there a better definition of this elusive lens feeling? The sense of lens is an artistic feature of movies, and it doesn't need any special definition. So ten years later, during the period of 1934- 1935, Epstein used this word in another term ("lens sense in unpredictable art"), but the focus shifted. The center of this term is "unpredictable art", which means that movies have been.