Échanges en noir et blanc: les enjeux double dans le film Renaissance de Christian Volckman

Abstract

The film Renaissance, a feature black and white science fiction animated film, proves the power of the image exploited by the cinema, in particular that of animation. Released in 2006, this film, directed by Christian Volckman, combines a series of technical and scriptwriting elements from various moments in the history of cinema, in particular a scenario which makes a link with classical cinema, particularly with the American Black Film of the fifties, with thrillers, and their archetypes. Additionally, the film uses an animation technique which combines both traditional 2D animation with modern 3D animation, which is based on capturing movements by creating a work where the visual aesthetics reminds us of video games. From this perspective, Renaissance is a unique film that fits into a new type of cinema: transludic cinema. The analysis presented here considers three perspectives: intermedial, video game and narratological, which aim to demonstrate how in Renaissance, various media elements intersect with the objective of producing a hybrid that generates a new aesthetic. All of this is encompassed in the exploration of the central theme of duality within the narrative of this fictional black and white animated film.