Jumps in Scale

Film by Sarah Woodley

Charles and Ray Eames’ Powers of ten; is a 9 minute long, analytical view of the relative size of things in our universe. Through the lens of a camera we are presented with a view of the world in increasing and decreasing scales of 10. Throughout the film we gain different perspectives of the city through the use of techniques such as voiceover, graphics, frame and composition (close ups and long shots). Once the camera reaches a distance of 100 million lightyears away; the camera starts to move slowly back to the first shot, giving the viewer a sense of perspective on the city within the context of our universe.

Figure 1: Various perspectives in Powers of ten, Film by Eames office (see references)

Within my own film, the jumps in scale and perspective are illustrated through a series of jump cuts and the use of sped up footage, as the camera moves forward and backwards throughout the space, as well as the use of framing and composition. (zooming in on various objects within the space)

Both films use varying but similar techniques that enable us to read cities and architecture in different contexts. Jumps in scale provide different perspectives of and within a city, this provides the viewer a context through which to view a city and shapes how the viewer reads a city and its architecture.

References:

Figure 1: Eames office 2010, Powers of Ten™ (1977), videorecording, Youtube, viewed 26 October 2017, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0>