(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
4. Relationship of still image (single) to moving images (multiple)
Vilém Flusser states that “No single photograph, but only a series of photographs, can
show the photographer's intentions.” [Flu00]
Figure 9: I build a pyramid, 1978. Photo series by Duane Michals.
What was previously discussed in this article on ‘reality vs. construct’ may suggest an
alternative view that the sum of multiple subjectivities carries more potential of telling
more than a single layer of objectivity. A proof for this fact are the motion studies by
Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey motion studies which reveal phases of
movements that are otherwise not possible to be seen by neither naked eye, nor single
still image, nor video.
Figure 10: Woman walking downstairs, late 19th century. Photo series by Eadweard
Muybridge.
On the other hand, a simple succession of photos in the right intervals (avoiding a
“slide show” aesthetics), with the support of masterful sound effects and narration, can
be more than enough to stimulate the feelings to be expectedly instigated by movies
proper, that have much faster frame rates. La Jetée (English: The Jetty or The Pier),
dated 1962, is a perfect example for this: It is a 28-minute black and white science
fiction film by Chris Marker that is constructed almost entirely from still photos which
remain on the screen for relatively much longer periods of time, as compared to the real
movie rates like 1/24 th of 1/30 th of a second. Telling the story of a post-nuclear war
experiment in time travel, the film constitutes a clear source of inspiration for Terry
Gilliam’s 1995 movie “12 Monkeys.”
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