Cinema data is characteristically complex, heterogeneous and interlinked. Rather than relying on simple information retrieval techniques, researchers are increasingly turning to the creative exploration and reapplication of data in order to more fully explore the meaning of newly available and diverse data sets. In this context, the cinema historian becomes the creator of visual texts which can be assessed for both their interpretive insight and their aesthetic qualities. This paper presents four research projects that develop different spatio-temporal visualisation techniques to understand the industrial dynamics of post-war film exhibition and distribution in Australia. The research integrates groundbreaking work by a group of inter-disciplinary investigators into the effectiveness of techniques such as dendritic mapping, Circos, time-series graphs, animation, cartogram mapping, and multivariate visualisation for the study of cinema circuits and operations at a number of scales.  

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SPATIAL VISUALISATION FOR
HETEROGENEOUS CINEMA
DATA SETS
Colin Arrowsmith1 , Deb Verhoeven2 and Alwyn Davidson2
1School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University
2School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University
HOMER Prague
June 12-14, 2013

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OBJECTIVE
To explore cinema data sets using geovisualisation and
spatial analysis

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BACKGROUND
• Why spatial?
• Issues of spatial visualisation
– Complex
– Heterogeneous
• Illustrate with 4 studies

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FOUR CASE STUDIES
• The Greek cinema circuit
• Post-war cinema venues in Australia
• Multivariate visualisations
• Global film screenings

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CASE STUDY 1: THE GREEK CINEMA
CIRCUIT
• Objective
–To explore historical changes in the diasporic Greek
cinema distribution of Finos and Anzervos films during
the period 1956 to 1963
• Rationale
–To demonstrate the role of geographic analysis in
understanding cinema circuit behaviour

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DATA ACQUISITION
• Archival newspaper and oral history research
• Government records
– censorship records
– theatre licence and company records
• Geo-location using street address or via GPS

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ANZERVOS

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FINOS

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ANZERVOS (SECTION)

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FINOS (SECTION)

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KEY CHAINS IDENTIFIED
No. of
venues
Anzervos Finos
1 B C B A
2 BC CB BC AD
3 BCB CBC BCB BCA
4 BCBC MGPC BCBC BCBA

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CIRCOS – CIRCULAR VISUALISATIONS
• Film sequence (Fort of Freedom):
–BCBBBBBCAABBBBBB by screening
or
–BCBCAB venue sequencing

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CHANGE IN SEQUENCE
(ANZERVOS)
The Fort of FreedomAli Pasha and Mrs Frossini

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CHANGE IN SEQUENCE
(FINOS)
AsteroMusic, Povery and Pride

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CHANGE OF VENUE DATE

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CHANGE OF VENUE DATE
Ali Pasha and Mrs Frosini
SJA
AACC
CBBBBBBCB
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Days
Months
The Fort of Freedom
BBBBBA
ACB
BBBBCB
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Days
Months

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CHANGE OF VENUE DATE
Music, Poverty and Pride
F
KKDDDDABBBBBB
BBBBB
II
AAG
CP
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Days
Months
Astero
DKFJJJJJJ
BBBBBB
DOO
BBBBB
AA
AABBCBBBBBBCBBB
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 50 100 150 200 250
Days
Months

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• The olives are where films finished: green= Sydney venue,
purple = Melbourne venue
• Leaves are screenings: yellow is QLD, light green is NSW, darker
green is VIC, dark brown is SA
• The distance is days between screenings and done to scale
Anzervos Finos
OLIVE TREES

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KEY FINDINGS (CASE STUDY 1)
• Main cinema circuits can be identified via Markov-Chain
analysis
• Various approaches to visualising cinema sequencing
–At different temporal and spatial scales

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CASE STUDY 2: POST-WAR CINEMA IN
AUSTRALIA
• Objective:
–To undertake a geographical analysis of Post-War cinema in
Australia
• Rationale:
–Geographic variation of cinema distribution and survival
poorly understood
–Methods for representing historical data require development

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METHODOLOGY
• Scan “Film Weekly” summaries
• Convert scanned files to text
• Generate “base year” (1948) spreadsheet
• Determine new and closed cinemas for subsequent years for study
period
• Link to suburb polygons in GIS
• Significant post-processing of data

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FILM WEEKLY SCAN

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CINEMA CARTOGRAMS
• Cartogram is a map where a thematic variable is substituted for
area (or distance)
• Population substituted for area

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CARTOGRAM OF POPULATION WITH
CHANGES IN CINEMA NUMBERS

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1948 to 1953
HOT SPOT
ANALYSIS

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1953 to 1958

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1958 to 1963

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1958 to 1963

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1963 to 1968

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1968 to 1971

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URBAN SCALE CHANGES
(MELBOURNE)
1948 to 1953
1963 to 1968 1968 to 1971
1953 to 1958 1958 to 1963

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KEY FINDINGS (CASE STUDY 2)
• Steady decline in total numbers from 1958 stabilising around
1969-71
• Significant geographic variation with time
• Difficulties working at multiple scales

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CASE STUDY 3
• Objective
–To investigate the spatial and multivariate aspects of large cinema
company venues
• Characteristics
–Change over time, geographical nature, the relationship between
different variables
• Key Criteria
–Flexible, multivariate, show change of geography and variables,
analytical, bases for discussion

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KEY FINDINGS (CASE STUDY 3)
• Visualisations can offer new insights into information and can
be used to facilitate or drive research
• Multivariate data can be understood when a visual mode of
communication is introduced
• A flexible model allows users to investigate data that is relevant
to their own inquiry

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CASE STUDY 4: GLOBAL
CONTEMPORARY FILM SCREENINGS
• Objective
–Identify factors connecting film distribution and exhibition
–To create a digital atlas of cinema practice
• Rationale:
–Changes in modes of film distribution
–Plan for sustainable cinema industry

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DATA SOURCE
–Records of screenings of all films in all cinema venues
–Screenings for 48 countries
–Many additional attributes

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LIFE OF PI
30 November 2012 7 December 2012
14 December 2012 21 December 2012

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LIFE OF PI
28 December 2012 4 January 2013
11 January 2013 17 January 2013

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KEY FINDINGS (CASE STUDY 4)
• Unique challenges of working with large data sets
• Number of small errors and inconsistencies
• Work still in progress

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CHALLENGES OF WORKING WITH
CINEMA DATA
• Multiple sources of data
• Working at multiple scales
• Working with historic data
• Multiple definitions

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FURTHER INFORMATION
• Colin Arrowsmith: colin.arrowsmith@rmit.edu.au
• Deb Verhoeven: deb.verhoeven@deakin.edu.au
• Alwyn Davidson: alwyn.davidson@deakin.edu.au
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Colin Arrowsmith and Deb Verhoeven, 'Visual methods for showing cinema circuits at
varying temporal and spatial scales’, in Colin Arrowsmith, Chris Bellman, William
Cartwright, Simon Jones and Mark Shortis (ed.) Proceedings of the Geospatial Science
Research Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 12-14 December 2011, pp. 1-15.
Alwyn Davidson, Colin Arrowsmith and Deb Verhoeven, A Method for the Visual
Representation of Historic Multivariate Point Data, in ADVANCES IN CARTOGRAPHY
AND GISCIENCE. VOLUME 2, Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography, 2011,
Volume 6, Part 2, 163-178
Petal Diagrams: http://figshare.com/authors/Alwyn_Davidson/101452