Art Office

Similar to Panorama Mesdag, there were many more panoramic paintings at the end of the 19th century. These were often spectacles that gave the viewer the illusion of standing in the middle of a historical battlefield. 'Grande Finale' by Esther Urlus is a 360º moving cinematic panorama inspired by this, with 16mm images projected all around. This film installation combines a landscape with recordings of reenacted combat actions. Urlus: “Due to the movement of the camera and the movement of the riders, where camera movement and the charging of the riders do not always match, part of the (combat) actions will fall just outside the film frame.” The starting point is the 'Grande Finale' part of the Napoleon film epic (1927) by Abel Gance, where the polyvision techniques did not work out seamlessly. “Precisely that fact, of the 'falling apart' of the movement/action, is what I want to play with in my film panorama.” In a contemporary landscape, a historic cavalry unit races through the image only to disappear immediately, repeating this endlessly.  

As a director, Urlus has a preference for analog film techniques such as Super8, 16mm and 35mm. She is affiliated with Worm and founder of the Filmwerkplaats Rotterdam. Her films are screened at international film festivals in Zagreb, Ann Arbor, Oberhausen, at the Sonic Acts festival and the IFFR. The R&D committee thought this new plan was grand and dynamic, based on a clear preliminary investigation and with inspiring and strong references.  

After a few test runs on location in Rotterdam, the real shooting started with the riders of the Dutch Association for Mounted Weapons Skills 'Saint Georges' at Hippisch Centrum Muiderberg. Urlus had eight horses and riders in the clothing of the Red Hussars circle around the camera in a meticulous choreography. She developed the 16mm film herself, using the developing machine of the Filmwerkplaats in Rotterdam. All steps can be found on her website. An addition to the original idea is that she decided to separate the riders from the background with a 'traveling matte' – manually, frame by frame and therefore extremely labour-intensive – so that the positive image can be built up from different parts in the printing process. Due to corona, the planned premiere has been postponed, hopefully until the IFFR in 2021.