Multi-dynamic image technique

Multi-Dynamic Image Technique is a name given by its Canadian creator Christopher Chapman to a film innovation which shows several images shifting simultaneously on panes, some comprised of a single image and others forming part of an image completed by 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, Canada.

Background

Chapman initially had great difficulties with the technical aspects of the concept and almost gave up on the idea as a result; in his own words, he "had nothing to read about how to do it." 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 18-minute film contained an actual hour-and-a-half of footage. The dimensions of the original screen used were 66 feet (wide) by 30 feet (high).

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 subsequently appointed to the Order of Canada in 1987.

Influence

The technique has inspired many films and television series, most notably Norman Jewison's 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.

The opening credits of the fifth season of The Bob Newhart Show (1976-77) display an example of the technique being used in television to some extent, combined with regular film sequences. The contemporary TV series 24 also utilizes the technique.