Lekti Rose Jacobs: Contextual studies – Formative Essay Research

The following texts and scanned in book pages are some of the research I have done involving my essay.

My essay will focus on The Fifth Element and its use of Realism to portray a believable futuristic city.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Author(s): Floyd Nigel, Bruzzi Stella

Title: Infinite city.

Journal Name: Sight & Sound

Publication Date: June 1997

Stetson, special visual effects supervisor on the project for nearly 20 months, sums up the thinking behind the film's overall design: "The work Luc and his production designer Dan Weil did on the New York cityscape had a very specific aim," he explains. "Although traditionally New York is characterised by its grid-like, rectilinear street layout, curving streets and !-intersections would normally be used to constrain the view, so as to fit it onto a model stage in miniature, or into a live-action screen for that matter. Luc and Dan didn't want to do this. They wanted to depict New York as they saw it - a European rather than an American view.

Moebius' style is at once sweeping and meticulous in its architectural detail, an evocation of alien civilisations far away in time - and a wry study of the all-too-human beings stumbling through them. Mézières, rather less wellknown outside France, achieved cult status as illustrator of a series featuring Valerian, the Spatio-Temporal Agent. His work, too, is highly architectural, though distinctly more realist in line - with a 60s art deco look to it (not unlike the French strip Barbarella, which of course inspired the Roger Vadim film). Both Giraud and Mézières worked closely with Besson during pre-production, contributing designs for cityscapes, vehicles and interiors, with some shots taken almost directly from their illustrations.

Author(s): Newman, Kim

Title: The fifth element/Le cinquième élément.

Journal Name: Sight & Sound Go To Journal

Volume: VII

Issue Number: 7

Publication Date: July 1997

Various factions dash about an overpopulated universe colliding coincidentally with each other, so that the chaotic second half even stirs distant memories of such 60s larks as Casino Royale or Modesty Biaise. The most subtle joke comes when, on Fhloston, the alien diva performs in an auditorium which is, we are told, a perfect recreation of the Royal Opera House, prompting an audience aware of Euro-funding to muse cynically that a fortune has just been saved on big sets. The pay-off is that parts of the opera house are then comprehensively trashed in a big shoot-out, suggesting that it is a James Bond film-sized set after all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Book Scans:

Book one: Building Sci-fi Moviescapes, by Matt Hanson