This study proposes an integrated analytical framework for understanding characters
in dance film not as fixed outcomes but as continuously reconstituted processes
unfolding across scenes. Combining perspectives on embodied perception and processual
i...
This study proposes an integrated analytical framework for understanding characters
in dance film not as fixed outcomes but as continuously reconstituted processes
unfolding across scenes. Combining perspectives on embodied perception and processual
identity, the research first establishes a theoretical foundation through a literature
review, identifying how bodily variables—such as breath, pulse, center of gravity, and
direction of gaze—sustain both the continuity and variation of character. It also
conceptualizes the pathways through which external elements, including costume, color,
lighting, space, camera work, editing, sound, and props, materialize emotional states.
Through a case analysis of 'GEMINI', the study examines how texture and speed of
movement, spatial usage, editing rhythm, lighting and color schemes, and sound design
sensorially externalize the character’s state across a sequence of settings: rooftop,
seaside, mirror space, memory recollection, pre-death delirium, and a zone of tranquility.
The analysis demonstrates how recurring motifs—such as the moon and roses—organize
affective continuity across scenes, and how the transition from formal attire in the early
part to red and multicolored dresses in later scenes functions as a shift in
self-articulation. From a methodological standpoint, the study proposes a production
pipeline consisting of predefined symbolic systems and affective indices, improvisational
rehearsals grounded in emotional memory, movement sketches supported by concise
core-phrase notes, a time score integrating shot lists with breathing patterns, and
camera strategies and on-site sound design tailored to the material conditions of each
space.
The findings indicate that character coherence is maintained not through explanatory
dialogue but through physiological rhythms—exemplified by breath and pulse—and that
mobility and multilayeredness are strengthened through repetition and variation across
scene transitions. This study systematizes character-making as a synthesis of bodily
rhythm and audiovisual grammar, and empirically demonstrates the co-constitutive
mechanisms between internal and external elements. Practical implications include
strategies for anchoring emotional direction around breath and pulse during
choreographic planning, directing principles for aligning cinematography and editing with
movement qualities, and collaborative standards applicable in educational contexts.
Limitations lie in the focus on a single work and the absence of audience reception
data; future research should expand to comparative studies across genres and cultural
contexts, incorporate reception analysis using physiological and eye-tracking measures,
and explore validation through XR and AI-based production environments. 'GEMINI'
ultimately reveals character as a sensory text emerging from the friction between body
and world, thereby expanding the narrative potential of dance film as a medium.