Photogenie
The most initial concept of “photogenie” was introduced by French filmmaker, Jean Epstein (1923), in “On Certain Characteristics of Photogenie” in the development of French Impressionism in the 1920s. Jean Epstein described that photogenie was called “filmic reproduction”. It aesthetically “transformed” the aspects of things, beings or characters in realistic to the virtual medium, film. More simply, Louis Deller called the process of filmic reproduction as “the art of cinema”. Perhaps, it is more appropriate to describe this concept as physical Phase Transition: Under different conditions, water will transit to solid or gas. Essentially, the appearance of water is changed, but the molecules of water are still water.
“Any aspect of the material, not enhanced by filmic reproduction is not photogenic, plays no part in the art of cinema”. Jean Epstein (1923) emphasised that if a film was not produced in this way, then it was not cinematic. Hence, he stated that filmmakers should consist of “mobility” and “personality” in their artworks. It was believed that the photogénic characteristic of things referred to its ability to move through time and space, which meant: the ability to reflect changes in space and the passage of time. As the eighth category of art, the ability of cinema had more approaches to demonstrate the sense of space and express the flow of time than paintings. “If a painting ignored the construction of the three-dimensional space, it was not a good painting.” Similarly, if the film was lack of mobility, then it should not be called “motion picture”. In short, the aesthetics of the film was highly related to “the possibility to show time flow through images”.
Reference List
- Epstein, Jean. “On Certain Characteristics of Photogénie.”, French Film Theory and Criticism 1907-1939. Vol. 1: 1907-1929.
- Ed. Richard Abel. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988. 314-18.