#Re-Imaging Classic Film Scenes Through the Apps of Social Distancing

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• Meg Shields
• June 11, 2020

Here’s a short film that re-frames classic movie scenes in the context of the apps that have become popular in the age of social distancing.

Anyone who first saw The Thing on cable knows that the context of exhibition is crucial. When those anxious wide-angles are compressed to fit the dimensions of a cathode-ray television, John Carpenter’s sci-fi whodunnit feels like a totally different film. And what good’s a split diopter if static obfuscates anything even resembling a “sharp” image?

Everything about interface alters intent. And as trite as the power of his original message has become, Marshall McLuhan wasn’t wrong: the medium is the message. And as far as human contact is concerned, the medium has shifted considerably this year. To put it lightly.

That’s the idea behind From screening to (live) streaming, a short film that imagines famous movies in the context of popular live-streaming apps in the era of COVID-19. The Breakfast Club as seen through distance learning. Risky Business as a Tik Tok. The “Cat Lady” from A Clockwork Orange re-envisioned as a live-streamed yoga class. The short film offers a marriage of our present predicament and our pop culture past; inviting us to look at a familiar visual language from another perspective.

You can watch From screening to (live) streaming here:

Who made this?

“From screening to (live) streaming” was created by Milan-based video artists and directors Davide Rapp and Andrea Dal Martello. You can check out Dal Martello’s official website here. You can peruse Rapp’s Vimeo account here.

More Videos Like This

• Here’s another from Davide Rapp on how cinema envisions the future of interior design
• And another from Rapp: ten ways to use a whip according to the Indiana Jones franchise
• A tribute from Rapp on cinema’s obsession with being lost in a maze of mirrors 
• Ah, what’s this? More Rapp with more mirrors: a tribute to the “impossible mirror” shot
• A significant part of the video above features a clip from Paris, Texas. Here’s what color means in Wim Wenders’ film
• While we’re talking Paris, Texas here’s Harry Dean Stanton talking about the film in a 6-minute vintage interview
• Rapp participated in the 14th International Architecture Exhibition – Fundamentals at the 2014 Venice Biennale. You can watch the trailer for his submission here.