Journal of Fine Arts: Performing Arts and Music
Year:2018 | Volume:23 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:8

The technology of film editing had been one of the effective parameters on film editing aesthetics through the editing history. Explanation of historical film editing technologies developments and its effects on technical structures of editing is the main objective of this article. Non-linear digital film editing technology is selected as an approach for above explanation, also as one of the historical turning point in developments of editing technology. Through the explanation of objective by combination of documental and library research, at first the article divides the history of film technologies into five periods which have created five turning points in the developments of film aesthetics and film form: Invention of cinematograph in 1895. Invention of sound recording technology for films in 1927. Invention of color film at beginning of 1940s. Invention of wide screen systems in 1950s. Invention of digital technologies for film production at the beginning of 1990s. Then article divides film /video editing technologies into five periods: 1. Pre-mechanical period (1895-1925): handy film cutting/editing (by using scissors, emery, film glue and metal clips). 2. Mechanical period (1925-1965): from invention of first electromechanical editing machine (Moviola) as first historical turning point in developments of film editing technologies to invention of EUC (Editing Unit Control) machine in television. This period begins from last years of silent movies era until the last years of 1960s, when compact cassettes of video tape and EUC invented for video tape linear editing. 3. Linear video editing period (1970-1985): by using electromagnetic editing and tape recording machines. 4. Non-linear/electronic period of film-video editing (1985-1995): by invention of "Edit Droid" and "Montage" editing systems ("transitional period" from analogue to digital technology of editing). 5. Digital film editing period ( from the mid of 1990s) by invention of "Avid" and "Light Works" editing systems as the second historical turning point in the developments of film editing technologies (beginning of digital non-linear film/video editing era). Through study in these periods and finally by approach to digital film editing, the article discusses and analyzes the subject in below domains: 1. By introducing the main parameters that had the most effects on film editing aesthetics through history of editing, including editing technology parameter. 2. By introducing and analyzing the editing aesthetics structures and their elements which editing technology affected them. 3. By comparing a certain group of Hollywood feature/fiction films through "transitional period" from analogue to digital editing technology, in view point of editing structures. Finally the article comes to this conclusion: Film editing technology developments-as one of the effective parameters-had a series of effects on the editing aesthetics in certain periods of film editing history. These effects are obvious in the editing structures of some Hollywood fiction films which edited by digital technology through "transitional period", when comparing them with films that edited by analogue technology in same period. Film Editing-Film Editing Aesthetics-Film Editing Technology-Editing Structures-Digital Editing

This paper intends to have a deep consideration of a 1500-years stone board under the title of Boar Hunting with a length of 5m and width of 4m. It has been engraved at body of a mountain located at Tagh Bostan belonging to the last dynasty of Sassanid Emperor. According to the findings of research, this stone tableau is a sample of the first idea of animation in the world. This is because animation art history came back to 1892 in Paris without any previous records in any papers, books and/or encyclopedia about ancient animation. This essay is based upon documents, library notes, field studies and also laboratory technique at animation workshops and university photography to find out any ideas about Iranian 1500-years hunting. Animation is a new phenomenon with a short life span. Jean Alberto Bendazi has written that it is a little more than 100 years from first animation play (Paris, 1892) as some real historical accidents (Alberto, 2006: Method A). All rules of ASIFA 1980 of animation as follows: Animation is a virtual movement in single frame and one by one form moving images or animation in cinema. Animation film is a simple display of live movements without 24 frames. (Bendazi, 2006: Method C). As a result, the age of modern animation is 50 years in Iran. Meanwhile the findings of this research show that the position of ancient Iranian artists is equal with most advanced ideologists of animation in the world. Since Iranian plateau always includes a lot of doctors, astronomers, poets, policy makers and specific artists, there is a question that " Why there is not any name of artists in the field of playing arts, music and painting at any historical proves? It is in a way that foot prints of Iranian animation designers have been remained from third millennium at Zabol and Sassanid Emperor in Tagh-e Bostan of Kermanshah. It would be considered as a fundamental discovery of Iranian animation innovation in art. If it is accepted by scientific associations of playing arts, archeology, history and ethnology of Iran and throughout the world, it is possible to mention Iran in the list of World’ s Animation Founders. Tagh Bostan area is a very attractive Tourism place of Iran. The stone carved tableau of boar hunting is one of the pioneer arts of stone cutting and animation of Iranian artists at Sassanid age in the world. Rather than narration art and movement and native/ religious story telling art, stone carved Boar Hunting shows that its artist was firstly an Iranian person and secondly had an animation idea in his mind. Since Iranian plateau always includes a lot of doctors, astronomers, poets, policy makers and specific artists, there is a question that " Why there is not any name of artists in the field of playing arts, music and painting at any historical proves? It is in a way that foot prints of Iranian animation designers have been remained from third millennium at Zabol and Sassanid Emperor.

Mais M. D. Nazarli (writer of Dva mira vostochnoi miniatiury: problemy pragmaticheskoi interpre tatsii sefevidskoi zhivopisi, 2006) researches based on some manuscripts in Russa have shown that Soltan Mohammd, Aqa Mirak, Sheykh zadeh, Mirza Ali, Mir seyed Ali, and the other Safavid miniature paintings allow the historical and social readings based upon anthropological details of the artists’ societies, alongside the common literary interpretations. Therefore, the visual differences which can be found among the various musicians in the Allegory of Worldly and Otherworldly Drunkness (that was painted by Sultan Mohammad; active first half 16th century; Folio from an illustrated manuscript; Iran; Tabriz; Jointly owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Staurt Cary Welch Jr 1988), would not be merely an artistic entertainment or meaningless. We can find many details about artists’ s society among their paintings or maybe their ideas about many events: wars, ceremonies, coming foreing ambassadors and etc. Various vestures (special Amama, Arabic Emama: the turban. Imbued with symbolic significance, the turban was once the almost universal headgear of adult male muslims. ) and faces, different instruments (ney, robab, daf, tonbak; old persian instruments), and the uneven sizes of the bodies, implicitly begs notification of each musical group which these individuals represent. The present research aims to recognize the various groups of musicians in the time of Sultan Mohammad (early Safavid period; about first half 16th century) by comparing the miniatures painted almost at the same time. It also tries to show the social status of these musicians and artists in the time they lived. It seems, the musicians whom this painting presents contain the royal, Sama (is a Sufi ceremony performed as dhikr. Sama means listening, while dhikr means remembrance. These ritual often includes singing, playing instruments, dancing, recitation of poetry and prayers, wearing symbolic attire, and other rituals. ) Ring, and the itinerant musicians. In the Allegory of Worldly and Otherworldly Drunkness the artist values the Sufids’ group over the others, while he pictures the itinerants’ in the least valuable place. The research method in the present essay is fundamental, explanatory-analytic which is based upon the analysis of the content. Gathering the historical data (travelogue: Jean Chardin Travels or Pietro Della Valle Travels, simultaneous historical records: Iskandar Beg Munshi or Iskandar Beg Turkoman’ s reports. Iskandar Beg was a Persian or Turkoman historian, the court historian of the Safavid emperor Shah Abbsa I. ) and the visual documentations (the remained paintings in international collections in around the world especially Iranian masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of art, Naser Khalili’ s collection in London, Cartier’ s collection at the Denver Art Museum, Topkapi collection in Turky) is based on documentary methods and their analysis is qualitative. This case study merely focuses on the three groups of musicians in the painting (royal musicians who worked for Safavid Court on the right painting, sufi musicians on the middle painting and the itinerant musicians on the left) not other present figures.

Pleasant, tuneful and moving sound is the principal element in playing a musical instrument. One of the major concerns facing musicians of woodwind reed instruments all over the world is having the right reed in order to produce sweet-sounding and appropriate music. The quality of reed cane material has significant impact on tune, timbre and difficulty of performance. Air current in reeds made from inferior quality canes is disturbed and thus negatively affects the most fundamental principles of musical performance such as tune, balance of different registers, creating various dynamics and maintaining diverse articulations. Musicians of woodwind reed instruments are often frustrated because of sudden changes in their reeds and their unstable condition. These changes generally occur due to subtle fluctuations in weather, temperature and humidity as a result of the organic nature of the cane. Various efforts and researches have been made in order to overcome the deficiencies and weaknesses of this natural material and substituting it with synthetic alternatives; however due to obvious differences in timbre and sound quality of synthetic and natural reeds, musicians insist on using the latter. Then again, diverse physical conditions of the performers and numerous methods of reed making, force many musicians and in particular performers of double-reed woodwind instruments, to make their own reeds. These musicians face several issues in the process of reed making such as the whole process being time-consuming and laborious, brittleness of the reed, expensiveness, instability of the natural material and inconsistency of the reed quality coming from various canes. Contrary to popular belief between musicians, inefficient and defective reeds are not usually the outcome of flawed reed making process or incompetency of the reed maker, but it is the inhomogeneous structure and divergent quality of the canes which lead to such deficiencies. One of the main reasons for inconsistencies in reed cane quality is neglecting the microscopic inspection of the fiber bands of Arundo donax plant at the time of harvest and solely relying on particular height of the plant. Cane species have different structure and growth rate based on their genetic formation, received sunlight and mineral compounds present in the soil. Therefore two different cane plants may be at different internal growth stages and maturity while having the same height. Fatigue phenomenon of the reed which occurs in reed’ s motion cycle due to Bernoulli's principle is another major reason for flaws of this natural substance in making reed for woodwind instruments. This fact forces the reed under constant stress and results in minuscule and subsequently larger cracks in the reed body over time. The significance of reed making and the direct connection of this process with performance conditions are neglected in current educational programs of wood wind instruments in Iran and musicians are trained without considering reed quality effects on improving performance skills. This paper is the first attempt towards pointing out the significance of reed making in professional instruction of double reed wood wind instruments and the difficulties of using Arundo donax plant in the reed making process.

Igor Stravinsky, one of the most influential Russian composer of 20th century, is known for his revolutionary pieces that influenced the music of his time thereafter. His vast compositions from pieces for small ensemble to Opera and Ballets for large orchestras have opened new dimensions in orchestral music and introduced a new era of musical sounds to the world of music. His three Ballets including “ Petrushka” , “ Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)” and “ Firebird” form an important part of repertoire of today’ s professional Orchestras; these ageless ballets have been gaining increasing attention since their birth. Sacre du printemps is a masterpiece known for its complex nature that offers challenges to musicians. The sophisticated graphic of this ballet is perceived to be a challenge to understand immediately upon studying the score. In contrast to the complex nature, The Rite of Spring is structured based on a strong logic that if understood, will mitigate the challenge of understanding the music. The logical Rhythmic structure of The Rite of Spring in relation to its complexity is the authors’ motivation for dedicating the rest of this article to a brief analysis of The rhythm in the Rite of Spring ballet. Complex polyrhythms and difficult rhythmic figures used in this ballet make us ask “ Why did Stravinsky choose such difficult rhythmic patterns and polyrhythms to compose this work? ” , “ What did he want to express during this rhythmic patterns? ” , “ As performers, how can we understand his music and achieve his intended sound through the written notes? ” , “ What is the relationship between his personality and his way of combining Rhythmic patterns in such an orderly form? ” . In order to find answers to these questions, some dimensions of Stravinsky`s life and character will be mentioned followed by an rhythmic analysis of rehearsal numbers 1 to 55. We will then be able to find the connection between the complex nature and logical rhythmic structure of this ballet. A comparative review of the classic treatises, a thorough survey of the writings of contemporary authors on music, the life of Igor Stravinsky, and a special focus on the full score of The Rite of Spring, as well as personal experiences as a conductor; has guided the author to introduce a simplified method for understanding background of Stravinsky’ s work and the complex Rhythm of Sacre du printemps to get a deeper interpretation of the Stravinsky’ s music. The author strongly believes that studying the score and learning the written notes are not enough to perform The Rite of Spring in the way intended by Stravinsky. Discovering and understanding Stravinsky’ s thought that motivated him to compose such a revolutionary piece is a crucial factor that leads to a successful performance. Unfolding this unwritten part of the music is the most adventurous part of the journey that musicians go through to perform The Rite of Spring. Learning about the life and personality of the composer is an important part of studying the score which leads us to a more accurate interpretation of Stravinsky’ s music.

Fine arts form a communication system between artist and viewer, represented in a manner not afforded by language alone. Neuroscience of Art is a new interdisciplinary field which explores scientifically the neural basis for perceiving the emotional content embedded in a piece of art-e. g., a literary text or performance-as a form of cognitive task to be processed by the neural network of human brain. Drama, per se, entails a wide range of elements such as, plot, character, dialogue, symbolism, genre, rhythm, and theme, all of which as a non-reducible whole, leads to emotional arousal of the audience. The positive or negative valence of emotional stimulus (such as, happiness or sadness, respectively) as well as its power to dominate the viewer (e. g., to make the audience feel scared or surprised) may impose limits on higher cognitive functions in the brain, namely, attention and memory, in such a way that the sensory data of a neutral scene be ignored by the brain cortex under the impression of either an earlier or a later dramatic event. Suspense, mind reading, and empathy with the protagonist of drama are but a few states of mind which the audience experience during sustained attention on a well-directed or written piece. This experience may well cause and/or reflect significant electrophysiological changes in the nervous system of the audience, an outcome which further lets the affective and social prospects of neuroscience come into view, specifically if the event holds at a theatre hall-as one of the best models for real life society. The most important matters of fact are (i) human neural system has a limited capacity for letting in the sensory data over a timespan, which permits only part of the surrounding data enter the sensory network of the brain, and (ii) the higher cognitive procedures mentioned above do not usually happen at the conscious level, yet often subconsciously or even at the non-conscious level. While this latter fact may disturb psychologists who assess mental states and behavior of the audience by means of traditional techniques (such as, questionnaires, interviewing, and observation), neuroscientists get the chance to keep a robust track of the spatial and temporal changes in the brain of an individual engaged with a piece of art. Brain-Mapping techniques (such as fMRI, qEEG and ERP), as well as Eye-tracking and Autonomous Nervous System monitoring may help researchers from two disciplines of Arts and Cognitive Neuroscience achieve a common insight of the influence of performing arts on the immediate neural response of the audience. Main goal of this review is to reveal such common basis and the multidisciplinary path that is underway by the current team of researchers who aim (at a later time) to focus on imaging the viewers’ brain function during watching different parts of a dramatic work, in order to answer the questions ‘ which part of a performance may dominate the attentional network of the brain, be significantly memorized, and better recalled in the future, and why does it happen so? ’

The current study attempts to investigate the main compositional thoughts and innovative ideas of an Iranian composer, Hormoz Farhat, in the piece entitled toccata. The study divided into four sections. The first section associates with a brief history of toccata in western repertory and different approaches toward this genre. Appearing the term, toccata, in different contexts, from middle-ages to the present time, may lead to misconceptions about the genre. Thus, studying different concepts, and the main features of this genre in various styles such as virtuosic passages, fast moving arpeggios, extreme chromatism, sudden modulations (changing of tones), and imitative styles like having polyphonic sections in slow tempo is imperative. The rest of the paper mainly discusses compositional elements of toccata composed by Farhat. The second part of the current study, explores the genre, formal structure, and the themes’ function in the current piece. The piece can be described as a ternary form in which A section, by using B elements, prepares the atmosphere for appearing Koraishim theme and its development in B. Though composer states that only B section has been created based on a Persian mode (Koraishim), for making the piece coherent, A section also deals with motifs of the theme and Persian modes like Shure. Using Koraishim theme, and exploiting its rhythmic and motivic potential, the composer creates the piece based on the theme which is suitable for the genre of toccata. In other words, main features of this genre, mentioned previously, can be achieved by using this theme. Owing to composing the piece based on Persian folklore themes and the different approach toward modality in Persian music, the third part of the paper focuses on modal structure of the piece. The modality of the piece, in diatonic parts, mainly can be described as Shure and Dashti. It should be mentioned that Shure and Dashti have the same modality as Phrygian mode, if intervals are changed to equal well-tempered system. Nevertheless, the importance of some degrees (other than tonic-dominant relationships like those of western tonal system), intervallic system, and melodic patterns which determine the modality of Persian modes, differentiate between Phrygian and Shure. The last section of the paper deals with harmonic elements used in the piece. From harmonic point of view, the composer has used combination of neo-tonal composers’ techniques such as poly-tonality, quartal and quintal harmony, non-functional triads, and triads with added notes which can be seen in works of composers including Debussy, Bartok, Hindemith, and Prokofiev. In order to combine mentioned techniques, Farhat has used various elements. For instance, as examples in the study illustrate, the voice leading and counterpunctual motion of lines can justify the connection of triads and quartal chords or appearance of triads in a quartal context which do not damage the coherency of the piece from harmonic point of view. Using the Persian theme alongside these various techniques and combining them in this piece not only result in incoherency, but also result in an innovative musical language which is unique to Hormoz Farhat.

Depending on the main objective of researches about videogames, videogame studies fall into three categories. Some of them study the videogames as such, some study the artistic aspect of videogames, and some study the effects of videogames on users, society, environment, and etc. Those researches studying videogames as such, study videogames as a game, those studying the artistic aspect of videogames, study videogames as an art, and those studying the effects of videogames, study videogames as a media. This division forms the structure of videogame studies. One of the subjects which is related to the study of videogames as art, is the sense of presence. Sense of presence in videogame studies is a theory arguing that the climax of videogames is creation of a situation that leads to the unity of the user and the character, so user sees him/herself present in the virtual world of videogames; an exclusive achievement which makes videogames completely different from other forms of arts. This theory explains the necessary requirements which are needed for creating a situation that the user experiences the sense of presence in a videogame. This theory offers some models for analyzing the elements of a videogame individually and in relation to each other. These models are the environmental presence and the narrative presence; the first analyzes the non-narrative elements of videogames and the second focuses on narrative elements. The full coherence between each element in the environment and narrative together, eventually leads to the complete sense of presence for the user. This article, accordingly, while introducing the environmental presence model and its main elements in videogames, analyzes a videogame based on the model. The videogame which is chosen for the review is Butterfly: Legacy of the Light's Guardians; this videogame won several awards including the best video game of the year at the fourth videogames festival in Tehran 2014. The paper, therefore, tries to find out that what are the all necessary elements for creating a situation, which causing the user to become united with the in-game character? Or is there any missing elements which ruined the experience of the user during his/her playing time. In the initial review, when the user had confronted this videogame, this assumption emerged that the videogame due to the weakness in the choice of the proper perspective as well as the improper use of the logic in the game environment that challenged the cohesion of the whole game, is failing to create the environmental presence for the user. To verify this assumption, this article is consisted of two parts; theoretical and practical. In the first part, the role of the sense of presence in the structure of videogame studies is described, and also the main elements of the environmental presence model are explained. In the second part, based on the introduced model, the videogame is analyzed and the reasons for the lack of success of the videogame in creating the sense of presence in the environment is elaborated.