La rencontre des contraires : attraction/narration et immersion/réflexivité dans le film en IMAX 3-D
This thesis examines the ways in which IMAX 3-D films positions its spectator. First, we look at the history of 3-D cinema, from its origins to the inauguration of IMAX 3-D in 1986. We argue that for the first 70 years of its history, 3-D cinema was staged as a return to the cinema of attractions, and that this aesthetic was an obstacle to its institutionalization in the mid-50’s and 80’s. Then, we describe the “IMAX experience” and argue that IMAX films induce a state of immersion and, at the same time, draw the viewer’s attention to the presence of the apparatus and the act of mediation. In analysing the movies Sea Monsters: a Prehistoric Adventure and Haunted Castle, we demonstrate that this tension between viewer immersion and medium reflexivity serves to glorify the IMAX trademark. Furthermore, we examine the relationship between the punctual structure imposed by the logic of attractions and the narrative line held by each and every IMAX film.
IMAX 3-D narration attraction immersion Sea Monsters Haunted Castle