Reality Is the Whole World Around Us - Inge de Leeuw

In ‘For Real’, the boundaries of cinema are stretched and a relatively uncultivated area emerges somewhere between film and reality – where the power of the audience’s imagination plays the leading role.

As early as 2001, media pundit Lev Manovich posited in his Language of New Media that the rules shaping cinema are fixed in a set of specific cultural conventions – the mobile camera, representation of space and editing techniques – it’s all laid down. Manovich points out that these conventions are not restricted to cinema. The visual language of other media, such as internet, is based on these cultural conventions. With the advent of smartphones and mobile internet, moving pictures have penetrated deeply into our everyday lives. We are constantly exposed to them. As a result, a cinematographic gaze has become second nature. More and more, we spontaneously interpret the world around us according to cinematographic conventions. In other words, reality is increasingly becoming film.

Not only is the moving image always within reach these days, but the interaction between virtual and physical space has become considerably more intense. This means that the mingling of film and reality is a fact of life – the start of a new era for cinema; an era in which cinema partly takes place within reality, and partly in our heads. This also changes the role of the audience, who no longer sit passively in the cinema, but participate as an actor, or even director. Not only are the boundaries between film and reality fading, but the boundaries between professional filmmaker and film-lover are too, while the frontiers between film studio and exhibition space, between script and spontaneous improvisation, are also being stretched. This is the central theme of the For Real programme. The most appealing cinematographic conventions – such as framing, script, set design and sound – are superimposed upon reality, transforming the festival locations into a huge potential film set. Together with several subtle interventions in reality and a few new technologies, this turns each For Real project into a special cinematographic experience.

Screen with a view

The rectangular cinema screen makes its appearance in several For Real projects, but each time it’s a little different. For Eye Trap, Germaine Kruip uses the view from the Cruise Terminal by the river (Nieuwe Maas) as a cinema screen. The Metropole Orchestra will perform a soundtrack specially composed by the Multimedia Music Institute, briefly making reality seem very different. Wouter Huis will be framing the public space by placing a huge disclaimer sign, with the proportions of a cinema screen. Everyone who reads this sign immediately experiences reality as a film set in which he himself is playing a leading role.

Scripting reality

The script – the basis of most fiction films – is used precisely in For Real to orchestrate reality. The results are clear: the Finnish artist Pilvi Takala, for instance, prefers nothing more than disrupting everyday reality with actions that do not fit in with social conventions. For instance, in Real Snow White (to be seen in Among Others) she visits Disneyland dressed as Snow White. Of course, she is thrown out of Disneyland, because she looks too much like the real Snow White; Disney is afraid of the new and unknown reality she brings with her. In 100 Meters Behind the Future by American artist duo eteam, reality is scripted in a very subtle way. Passers-by and everyday actions are filmed and put on the screen ten seconds later. In this case, two screens are used – a car windscreen and a tablet – so real reality runs 100 meters ahead of filmed reality.

The set is all around you

Production design determines the style and mood of a film. One section of this that appeals to the imagination is the film set. All the film sets in For Real require interaction with the audience. Whether the backdrops in Michel Gondry’s Home Movie Factory or Meet Your Stranger, all these sets depend on active participation by the audience. In Home Movie Factory, the audience is challenged to make its own short film in ready-made film sets – in just three hours, no more is necessary.
The Schouwburgplein and a partial virtual space form the set for Dutch project Meet Your Stranger. In this exciting ‘mobile film’, you can join in the action with the smartphone acting as your prompter. Do you want to know more about the link between reality as experience and design? Then go to Designed Realities, in which Professor Timo de Rijk talks to production designer Carol Spier. She is best known for her inventive set design on films by David Cronenberg, such as Videodrome, Eastern Promises and eXistenZ.

Sound Escapes

Sound is crucially important for film – a soundtrack can completely change our film experience. In the project Soundtrackcity Rotterdam, our experience of reality is transformed by sound into a cinematographic experience. For this project, special soundtracks were composed. The more-than-cinematographic backdrop for these is formed by the Kop van Zuid area, which will instantly undergo a real transformation. Sound also plays an essential role in the subtlemob Our Broken Voice, for instance. This happens literally in your head; you hear instructions whispered to you through an MP3 player. If you follow them, the world around you will become an exciting film.

Reality Check

During the festival, there will be a special space, a space in which films and events just pop up: it is called Reality Check. A lot will happen here – conversations with For Real artists, special film screenings, an exclusive book presentation. Here you can find out all about the various For Real projects, and this is where Meet Your Stranger and Our Broken Voice will start. In addition, the special installation Reframing the Artist by Sascha Pohle can be seen here. And of course you can sit down and enjoy again all the experiences you’ve had. A visit to Reality Check is a constant cinematographic thrill for the senses. Upon entering, you’ll immediately be surprised by the newly framed reality, designed by Glamcult Studio. Combine this with the alienating soundscapes by Rotterdam sound designers Daniel Sillem and Enio Ramalho and the experience is complete – the perfect starting point for your For Real experience. Look on the website or read the festival Daily for the programme. You’ll find Reality Check at Schouwburgplein 54.

For Real is a programme by Rutger Wolfson, Edwin Carels and Inge de Leeuw. Soundtrackcity Rotterdam is compiled by Michiel Huijsman and Renate Zentschnig on behalf of the Soundtrackcity Foundation and Peter van Hoof (IFFR). With grateful thanks to Corto Blommaert and Katrien Lamers