This blog is based on week 3 lecture content. 

Post-cinematic form introduces a new and novel form of visceral, kinaesthetic play and operative learning which in turn introduces a new intuitive sense of possibility (Denson & Leyda, 2016)， this brings my attention to two works that have benefited from post-cinematic form in recent years： Dreamcore and the Backrooms, they applied this to a wider context, creating the effect of broad continuity. 

Dreamcore usually comes in the form of pictures or videos, images that convey a familiar yet eerie feeling (Wiki, Dreamcore). For example, a dimly lit, empty water park.  The origin of Dreamcore can’t be traced back, but it became popular on the Internet in 2020 (Wiki, Dreamcore), with a large number of accounts producing such short videos. There are even related playlists on the Chinese video site BiliBili, with up to a million views.

Dreamcore is usually created using “base images” that are then processed in PS or CGI, and these base images are eventually overlaid with different elements to create a scene that one might see in a dream(Wiki, Dreamcore). These short videos (or a single image) don’t have any storyline, but they are addictive, and some viewers have commented that dreamcore can easily immerse people in their imagination or memories, creating a sense of distortion. In other words, Dreamcore, which is a secondary processing of real photo images, uses technology to give people a more realistic feeling when viewing these images, they can’t help but imagine what once happened in these finite spaces, and where the exits are.

The Backrooms is now famous for Steam launch game, but the origin lies in a photo posted on 4chan. This eerie image sparked an original story in which a young YouTuber used the free CGI software “Blender” to create a short film about The Backrooms(ABC News 2022), which has now been viewed by millions of people. The short video, which was made entirely in CGI, sparked a small-scale panic because it was “too much like reality”, people have even been asking if this is a real place. 

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Backrooms_model.jpg 2022)

As the Back Rooms was set up as a multi-story enclosed room, more people joined in the creation of their ideal “floor” until it was adapted into an online game, and the creation continued unabated, with the number of videos about it on the internet still increasing.

The post-cinematic form is reflected in these two works, which, although not presented as films, both involve the production and dissemination of video in their development. Their success suggests that the post-cinematic form has possibilities in other areas as well.

Reference

Denson, S. and Leyda, J. (2016) POST-CINEMA: THEORIZING 21ST-CENTURY FILM,. 

Wiki, C. to A. (no date) Dreamcore, Aesthetics Wiki. Available at: https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Dreamcore (Accessed: 08 November 2023). 

(2022) ABC News. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/backrooms-horror-storytelling-online/story?id=92623707 (Accessed: 08 November 2023). 

D R E A M C O R E (2020) YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/gHiQdJsdn_M?si=-6SnkGSrbP69swdk (Accessed: 08 November 2023). 

Nostalgiacore (2020) YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/24OAEfOnOus?si=qWlUZJlx4Q8zJcum (Accessed: 08 November 2023). 

(2022a) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Backrooms_model.jpg. The backrooms (found footage) (2022) YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/H4dGpz6cnHo?si=tm2ddV6kn2DrhO3C (Accessed: 08 November 2023).

Written by: Siyi Liu