ABSTRACT
Immersed in digital 3D stereoscopic vision, we float in a low orbit above Earth’s atmospheric threshold, which glows blue against an otherwise black screen. A velvety, thick silence fortifies the authenticity of this sensorial encounter made possible by way of seamless integration between cinematographic excellence and high-performance computation. In this visually immense opening sequence of director Alfonso Cuarón’s film Gravity (2013), a few minutes later we see astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) being hurled into the depth of space after a deadly shower of space debris severs her lifeline to the ship. Our gaze trails Dr. Stone’s detachment and subsequent spin into the far distance. Within one continuous camera movement, and as such distinct from its 20th-century emblematic predecessors, Gravity’s virtual camera moves from a buoyant overview increasingly closer until at some point we effortlessly penetrate the thin layer of the protective visor into the inner helmet’s claustrophobic atmosphere. 1 The shot ultimately cuts to Dr. Stone’s point of view, i.e. into her head. This is the 21st-century plastic screen space tailored for a floating spectator, where any connection regardless of scalar, material, or temporal disparities can be rendered into a coherent, elastic, and convincing cinematic space. Measured by its revenues as well as critical appraisal, Gravity’s employment of the capabilities of digital 3D to create a novel, seamless rendering of deep as well as proximate space was heralded as a victory for linear, theatrical cinema in an age characterized by cinema’s radical relocation to new arenas and platforms. 2
