Films about Perspective

A research guide to moving-image materials on perspective, vision, optics, geometry, photography, cinema and digital imaging.

Perspective appears across a wide range of films, documentaries, recorded lectures, television programmes and archival materials. Some examine perspective directly; others explore closely related subjects such as vision, optical imaging, spatial representation, photography, cinema, geometry, illusion, virtual reality and visual perception.

This guide distinguishes works principally concerned with perspective from films and lectures that provide useful historical, artistic, scientific or technological context. The collection is intended as a research resource rather than a ranked list, and the inclusion of a work does not imply endorsement of every interpretation it presents.

Availability may change over time. Titles are linked to films, lectures, archive records or further information wherever these are currently available.

General Histories and Theories of Perspective

These films and lectures introduce the history, theory and wider significance of perspective across art, science and visual culture.

Perspective: Keynote Lecture (2017) — Professor Kim Veltman. A 45-minute keynote presented at the Electronic Visualisation and the Arts conference in London, at the invitation of Carl Smith.
Representations of Space in Western Art (1986) — Professor Ernst Gombrich.
The History of Linear Perspective and Foreshortening (2022) — Amuze Art.
The Day the Universe Changed: Point of View—Scientific Imagination in the Renaissance — James Burke. Episode 3 includes an influential account of how linear perspective and perspective mapping helped transform conceptions of the world. Some of its explanations of visual rays, the eye and central projection should be approached critically.
Die Geburt der Perspektive [The Birth of Perspective] (2012) — Alain Jaubert.
Perspective Drawing in History and Practice (2022) — Peter Nelson.
The Maths of Perspective (2021) — Professor Sarah Hart.
Perspectives et Architecture (1987) — Marc Chaplet.

Linear, Graphical, Anamorphic and Spherical Perspective

These works examine the graphical construction of spatial appearances, from Renaissance linear perspective to anamorphic, spherical and alternative geometrical systems.

Understanding Linear Perspective (2022) — Amuze Art.
Two-Point Linear Perspective (2022) — Amuze Art.
The Discovery of Linear Perspective — Gary Welz. Short extract from The Art of Renaissance Science.
The Art of Renaissance Science: Galileo and Perspective — Professor Joseph W. Dauben.
Galileo and Perspective (2010) — Professor Joseph W. Dauben.
Brunelleschi’s First Experiments in Perspective — Nigel Konstam.
Renaissance Discoveries: Perspective — Ross King.
Introduction to Perspective Drawing (1994) — Marshall Vandruff.
De Artificiali Perspectiva, or Anamorphosis (1991) — Brothers Quay. An animated exploration of anamorphic image construction and optical transformation.
Termespheres: Total Worlds (2005) — Dick Termes.
Spherical Thinking (2007) — Dick Termes.
Representations — Massimo Scolari.
The Voice of Drawing, Part 1 — Yale University.
The Voice of Drawing, Part 2 — Yale University.
Real Is Only Halfway — Yale University.

Vision, Optics and Visual Perception

These lectures and films examine direct vision, optical information, visual space, pictorial interpretation, illusion, colour and perceptual organisation.

Modes of Perception (1976) — Professor Marshall McLuhan.
Perception of Visual Space (2019) — Professor Colin Blakemore.
20 Illusions and Bayesian Theory — Professor Richard Gregory.
The Philosophy behind the Exploratory — Professor Richard Gregory.
Colour: A Cultural History (2011) — Professor Will Ayliffe.
Development of Visual Concepts (2015) — Shimon Ullman.
Fooling the Eye (2023) — Brian Greene and the John Templeton Foundation.
Lecture on Ecological Optics, Part 1 — James J. Gibson.
Lecture on Ecological Optics, Part 2 — James J. Gibson.
Seeing Pictures and Seeing Things, Part 1 — Neuroscience and Humanities.
Seeing Pictures and Seeing Things, Part 2 — Neuroscience and Humanities.
A Study of Children’s Spatial and Temporal Concepts (1971) — Donald Lee Massey; Yale Film Archive.
Space as an Image of Time — Rudolf Arnheim.

Photography, the Camera Obscura and Image Formation

Photography occupies a central position within Instrument Perspective. These works explore cameras, optical image formation, photographic history and the relationship between photography and pictorial representation.

Secret Knowledge (2002) — David Hockney.
A Brief History of Photography — Elgin History Museum.
The Camera Obscura — The Art of Photography.
Machines of Memory — George Eastman Museum.
History of Photography, Part 1 — Couto Camera Company.
History of Photography, Part 2 — Couto Camera Company.
History of Photography, Part 3 — Couto Camera Company.
History of Photography, Part 4 — Couto Camera Company.
Abelardo Morell and the Magic of the Camera Obscura — Abelardo Morell.
A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China — David Hockney.
David Hockney: Painting and Photography — David Hockney.
Pioneers of Photography: The Moving Image (1974) — BBC.
Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (1992) — Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels.
David Hockney: A Bigger Picture (2017) — Bruno Wollheim.

Cinema, Moving Images and Visual Effects

These works examine moving-image technologies, cinematography, filmmaking, special effects and the transformation of perspective through recording, editing, projection and screen display.

Mirrors and Virtual Space in Film (1992) — Roman Gubern.
Moving Images (2022) — Lenny Lipton.
The Imagineering Story (2019) — Disney.
Side by Side (2012) — Directed by Christopher Kenneally; produced and presented by Keanu Reeves. A documentary about the transition between photochemical film and digital cinematography.
Light & Magic (2022) — Industrial Light & Magic.
The Pixar Story (2007) — Pixar.
Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) — Frank Pavich.
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) — Jan Harlan.
Spielberg (2017) — Susan Lacy.

Geometry, Scale, Dimensions and Spatial Models

These films and lectures explore mathematical space, scale, higher dimensions, fractal geometry, non-Euclidean space and alternative ways of organising spatial reality.

Flatland: The Movie (2008) — Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
Powers of Ten (1977) — Eames Office.
The Colours of Infinity (1995) — Presented by Arthur C. Clarke.
A Romance of Many—and Fractional—Dimensions (2021) — Professor David S. Richeson.
Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension — Documentary on fractal geometry in mathematics, science and nature.
BUCKY: A Fuller Future (2017) — Noel B. Murphy. A documentary concerning Buckminster Fuller, geometry, design and environmental systems.
Duchamp Symposium: Art, Science and Non-Euclidean Space (2009) — Professor Linda Henderson.

Virtual Reality, Computer Imaging and New Media

These works concern digital image formation, computer-generated environments, virtual space and the technologies through which spatial appearances are captured, reconstructed and displayed.

The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality — BluShades.
Interview with Paul Debevec — Paul Debevec.
The Light Stage with Paul Debevec — Paul Debevec.

Leonardo da Vinci, Art and Science

Leonardo’s studies of vision, optics, geometry, anatomy, representation and instruments occupy an important position within the history of perspective. The following films provide broader historical and cultural context for his work and its legacy.

Leonardo da Vinci (2024) — Ken Burns / PBS. Two-part documentary.
Decoding da Vinci — NOVA.
The Lost Leonardo (2021) — Andreas Koefoed.
Leonardo da Vinci — Three-part BBC series.
The Life of Leonardo da Vinci (1971) — Renato Castellani. Five-part television series.
Light Fantastic — Professor Simon Schaffer. Four-part series on the history, science and cultural significance of light.

Archival and Unverified References

The following titles appear in the PRC’s research records, but their bibliographical details, formats, creators or availability have not yet been fully established. They are retained here to support future investigation.

Dynamic Image (c. 1990) — Creator and publication details unconfirmed.
Putting You in the Picture — Date, creator and production details unconfirmed.
Perspective (2007) — Associated with the Arts Council of England, Films for the Humanities & Sciences and possibly Films Media Group. The precise title and production record require verification.
La Perspective (1954–55) — Georges Raynaud. Also recorded as La Perspective: 1. Perspective d’observation, films 1 et 2. It remains unclear whether the surviving catalogue record describes films, microfilms or a filmed version of a publication bearing the same title.
The Change from Visible to Invisible: A Study of Optical Transitions (1969) — Kirk Wheeler. A record with the same title has been associated with the United States Office of Naval Research, but further verification is required.
Taxonomy of Illusion — Terence McKenna. Date and production details unconfirmed.
High-Level Vision — Creator, date and production details unconfirmed.

About This Collection

The study of perspective extends beyond films explicitly devoted to linear perspective. It includes moving-image materials concerned with direct vision, optics, geometry, photography, cinema, illusion, instruments, computer graphics, virtual reality and the representation of spatial reality.

The PRC will continue to expand and verify this guide. Suggestions of additional films, lectures, documentaries or archival records are welcome through the Contact page.