science

Multi-dynamic image technique

Multi-dynamic image technique is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Multi-dynamic image technique rather than just read about it. In short: Multi-dynamic image technique is a name given by its Canadian creator Christopher Chapman (January 24, 1927 – October 24, 2015) to a film innovation which shows several images shifting simultaneously on right-angled panes within the overall image, with these panes variously containing a single image or forming part of an image completed by one or a number of other panes. The process was first used in his film A Plac…

Key takeaways

Multi-dynamic image technique belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Multi-dynamic image technique to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Multi-dynamic image technique from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Multi-dynamic image technique is a name given by its Canadian creator Christopher Chapman (January 24, 1927 – October 24, 2015) to a film innovation which shows several images shifting simultaneously on right-angled panes within the overall image, with these panes variously containing a single image or forming part of an image completed by one or a number of other panes. The process was first used in his film A Place to Stand, produced for the Ontario pavilion at Expo 67, held in Montreal.

Background The 1956 Associated British-Pathe fantasy/science-fiction release The Door in the Wall (dir. Glenn Alvey, screenplay by Alvey and H. G. Wells) can be seen as a primitive forerunner of Chapman's technique. Using what it announced as "The Dynamic Frame – in which the shape and size of the picture change according to the dramatic needs of the story", the film displayed, however, neither movement of image panels nor multiplicity or division of images. Chapman felt "it was clear that its failure was creative, not technical" and decided against advice to employ this matting technique when making a film for the Telephone Association Pavilion at Expo 67.

Chapman initially had great difficulties with the technical aspects of his expanded concept for A Place to Stand and almost gave up on the idea as a result; in his own words, he "had nothing to read about how to do it." Working from 350 pages of notes, he was limited to editing on a two-picture-head moviola, so that only two images could be viewed simultaneously; he "could never 'see' the film develop". Shots were viewed "with an eye to vertical frames and horizontal frames, odd frames, small frames and large frames". It was important to also shoot material that would be of limited interest, so as not to confuse the viewer with too many visual stimuli. Editing required close attention to where the various images would direct the viewer's gaze. The technique as employed in A Place to Stand displayed as many as 15 images at a time. In this way, the under-18-minute film contained an actual hour and a half of footage. The dimensions of the original screen used were 66 feet or 20.12 m (wide) by 30 feet or 9.14 m (high). Unlike other multi-image films, it did not require special equipment or a special theatre.

Response The film and its innovative technique enjoyed great immediate popularity. It was seen by an estimated two million at Expo 67 and was later distributed to theatres, ultimately reaching an audience of an estimated 100 million in North America and Europe. A Place to Stand was nominated in two categories at the 1967 40th Academy Awards presented on April 10, 1968, Best Documentary Short Subject and Best Live Action Short Subject, winning in the latter. It also won Chapman the Canadian Film Award (later to become the Genie Awards) for Film of the Year (and additionally won for Best Non-Feature Sound-Editing). Chapman himself was ultimately appointed to the Order of Canada in 1987.

Influence

Prints of Chapman's film were purchased for viewing by executives, producers and directors by almost all of the major studios in Hollywood. The technique has inspired many films and television series, most notably Norman Jewison's 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. Steve McQueen, star of the film, was on hand for the premiere screening of A Place to Stand at the Todd-AO studios in Hollywood, and personally told an unsure Chapman (who "thought it was a failure") that he was highly impressed; the following year, Norman Jewison had incorporated the technique into the film, inserting the scenes into the already finished product. (Chapman later dissuaded a "very disappointed" McQueen from using the technique in his 1971 vehicle Le Mans, claiming "it was much too big a film, with too many writers; it wouldn't work that way". He has stated that "many filmmakers then adopted multi-dynamic image even though few understood it".) The Boston Strangler, also from 1968 (director Richard Fleischer), has several long multi-frame sequences clearly based on Chapman's original in terms of arrangement and rhythm; here, however, the panes remain static and do not show identical images in simultaneous multiplicity. Fleischer used the technique again, this time with subdivided images and moving panes closer to Chapman's original, in the title sequence to his 1973 film Soylent Green. Chapman's innovation found quick favour in late 1960s and 1970s television, notably in title sequences. Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Kojak, Medical Center, The Odd Couple, Dallas, Phyllis, Lancelot Link, Me and the Chimp, The Brady Bunch and The Bob Newhart Show (beginning with the fifth season in 1976–77) are all examples of the technique being used in opening credits to some extent, whether by combining multiple panes as in A Place to Stand or overlaying panes on full-screen images (as with The Bob Newhart Show). Indeed, the multi-dynamic image technique has been referred to in the press as the "Brady Bunch effect". The more contemporary U.S. action drama TV series 24 as well as the Canadian documentary series Final 24 both also use the technique. More broadly, the multi-dynamic image technique has been credited with laying the groundwork for the IMAX format.

See also Multi-image – Obsolete multimedia presentation format Split screen (film and video production) – Filmmaking techniquePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Hyperlink cinema – Multilinear filmmaking style

References

External links A Place to Stand, 1967, Archives of Ontario YouTube Channel The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) title sequence, MovieTitles YouTube Channel The Brady Bunch Opening Credits Comparison

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Multi-dynamic image technique

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Multi-dynamic image technique claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Multi-dynamic image technique before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Multi-dynamic image technique ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Multi-dynamic image technique

In research: Multi-dynamic image technique appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Multi-dynamic image technique in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Multi-dynamic image technique is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1967 in Canada, Canadian inventions, Cinematic techniques, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Multi-dynamic image technique outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Multi-dynamic image technique in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Multi-dynamic image technique means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Multi-dynamic image technique out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Multi-dynamic image technique in simple terms?

Why does Multi-dynamic image technique matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Multi-dynamic image technique?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Multi-dynamic image technique.