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Somewhat related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automavision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automavision "Automavision is a cinematic technique invented by Dani

by vodou 4y ago

Somewhat related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automavision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automavision "Automavision is a cinematic technique invented by Danish director Lars von Trier. Developed with the intention of limiting human influence, in Automavision no cinematographer is actively operating the camera. The best possible fixed camera position is chosen and then a computer chooses framing by randomly tilting, panning or zooming the camera. In doing so it is not uncommon that the actors appear in the shots with a part of their face and head cut from the frame. With this technique then the blame for any "errors" are entirely attributable to a computer." I always felt this was a bit of joke from Lars von Trier, though. I am not aware of any other film than "The Boss of it All" where it was used. A good joke after all. As von Trier says: "If you want bad framing, Automavision is the perfect way to do it."

cpach 4y ago
Man, I’ve been thinking for years that I should re-watch The Boss of it All. IIRC, it was very funny. Unfortunately not available on streaming anywhere. Hopefully available via “other means”.
- mvdwoord 4y ago
  I did recently, and it is still as good as that first time I saw it, together with one other person in an otherwise empty arthouse movie theater. I picked it completely at random, on a day I skipped work, and the whole thing felt completely magical.
  - cpach 4y ago
    Wonderful!
pavlov 4y ago
You could extend this technique to realtime random framing. Shoot everything with a fisheye lens, then screen the film with a player application that randomly crops each scene at runtime (applying correction for the fisheye distortion). Maybe call it Automascope.
goto11 4y ago
"The Boss of it All" takes place in some kind of IT software firm. I'm pretty sure "automavision" is inspired by the kind of online meeting camera which tries (and often fails) to focus on the person talking. While most of the satire in the movie is unrelated to IT, there are some in-jokes. In one scene, a developer is getting suspicious towards the boss of it all (who is really a hired actor with no understanding of the business) and asks "do you even know what agile development means?" The actor who is trained in improvisational theater cleverly retorts "Well, can you explain what agile development is?", which shuts up the developer.
- formerly_proven 4y ago
  > a developer is getting suspicious towards the boss of it all (who is really a hired actor with no understanding of the business) The Consultant is similar, though one of these obsessively weird for the sake of if productions.

by vodou 4y ago

cpach 4y ago

Man, I’ve been thinking for years that I should re-watch The Boss of it All. IIRC, it was very funny. Unfortunately not available on streaming anywhere. Hopefully available via “other means”.

mvdwoord 4y ago
I did recently, and it is still as good as that first time I saw it, together with one other person in an otherwise empty arthouse movie theater. I picked it completely at random, on a day I skipped work, and the whole thing felt completely magical.
- cpach 4y ago
  Wonderful!

pavlov 4y ago

You could extend this technique to realtime random framing. Shoot everything with a fisheye lens, then screen the film with a player application that randomly crops each scene at runtime (applying correction for the fisheye distortion). Maybe call it Automascope.

goto11 4y ago

"The Boss of it All" takes place in some kind of IT software firm. I'm pretty sure "automavision" is inspired by the kind of online meeting camera which tries (and often fails) to focus on the person talking. While most of the satire in the movie is unrelated to IT, there are some in-jokes. In one scene, a developer is getting suspicious towards the boss of it all (who is really a hired actor with no understanding of the business) and asks "do you even know what agile development means?" The actor who is trained in improvisational theater cleverly retorts "Well, can you explain what agile development is?", which shuts up the developer.

formerly_proven 4y ago
> a developer is getting suspicious towards the boss of it all (who is really a hired actor with no understanding of the business) The Consultant is similar, though one of these obsessively weird for the sake of if productions.