Os cineastas como performers – desde o cinema mudo de 1890 até ao live cinema atual

Filmmakers as performers – from silent film in 1890 to live cinema today

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to argue that nowadays filmmakers can also be performers. They are able to create and tell stories in real time through the manipulation of live visual elements — using analog and digital tools (e.g. midi controllers, computer softwares).

In the first part we trace a state of the art from the early days of cinema (1890 with silent films) to the present day with the live cinema genre — in which we explain the evolution of in live image manipulation, and question whether or not the filmmaker could be considered a performer.

In the second part we tell the story about the Portuguese artist collective Moda Vestra and their live cinema performances — where the filmmaker adopted the same role as the musicians (of performer). We also explain their methodology used to create a narrative with a beginning, middle and end — and how this narrative is "played" in real time.

To conclude we propose a new genre "real-time cinema". "Cinema" because all its structures and goals go along the lines of traditional cinema. "Real Time" because the audiovisual elements are created and mixed at the moment of the performance — considering in this way the filmmaker a performer.