Augmented reality technology based on projections in the film “Variations on Pomegranate” (1975) by J. Val del Omar

The article analyzes the film “Variations on a Pomegranate” (1975) by Spanish film director and a pioneer of media art J. Val del Omar. It is shown how film images are created using augmented reality technology based on projections (with help of analog-mechanical tools without computer technologies). The film director projected anthropomorphic images onto pomegranate fruits and increased the dramatic impact of the film with lighting effects. Thereby he created a critical mass of historical and mythological associations connected with the city of Granada, and also visualized the folklore character “duende”. It is substantiated that the specific mystical materialism of images in the film by J. Val del Omar is due to the film director’s use of visual and conceptual dominants of the artistic tradition in the still life genre of the Spanish Golden Age.

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