Volume 12 - Issue 70
/ October 2023
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http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.70.10.1
How to Cite:
Alshaie, F.S. (2023). The aesthetic function of the natural scenography in Hail City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A regional and
global gateway to the arts and cinema. Amazonia Investiga, 12(70), 9-22. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.70.10.1
The aesthetic function of the natural scenography in Hail City,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A regional and global gateway to the arts
and cinema
Received: September 5, 2023 Accepted: October 26, 2023
Written by:
Fouzi Salem Alshaie1
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3792-5328
Abstract
This study aims to shed light on the artistic potential
of Hail City's natural scenery (KSA), including its
formal elements with expressive and symbolic
connotations that are unaltered by human
intervention. It attempts to highlight the
significance of scenography for the fields of theater,
film, light, and color shows. The framework of the
research is an analytical descriptive approach
through two axes: the first is an analysis of the
natural scenography in Hail city from an aesthetic
and functional standpoint. The second axe involves
polling a sample of (15) experts in the arts and film
to determine whether natural scenography serves an
artistic purpose in Hail city and to what extent it is
still relevant to the arts and film. One of the findings
of the study is that Hail city's mountainous scenery
offers distinctive and lovely natural scenography
that may be exploited for a variety of purposes. The
study recommends promoting Hail city 's natural
beauty through marketing and advertising to
highlight its aesthetic features and to profit from the
visual treasure the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has to
offer in its charming landscape.
Keywords: Aesthetic Function, Natural
Scenography, Hail, Arts, Cinema.
Introduction
The interaction of human creativity with natural
landscapes has long been a major source of
inspiration in the arts and film. When the alluring
beauty of nature is skillfully combined with
creative expressions, it has the capacity to arouse
feelings, spark the imagination, and produce life-
changing experiences.
1
Assistant professor of Visual Arts and Dean of the College of Arts - University of Ha'il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
WoS Researcher ID: JHV-0626-2023
Hail City, a cultural precious stone hidden in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, exhibits an amazing
fusion of the arts and nature. This study examines
the aesthetic function of Hail City's natural
scenography and considers how it serves as a
regional and international entry point for the arts
and movies. Hail City is well-known for its
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amazing views, varied terrain, and alluring
natural treasures. Hail's natural scenery, which
ranges from the enormousness of the Nafud
Desert to the majestic mountains and lush
valleys, has an allure all its own that has
enthralled audiences, movie makers, and artists
alike. This research examines how these
landscapes have a significant aesthetic influence
on Hail's artistic and cinematic productions,
shedding light on the ways in which these
landscapes support the city's distinctive artistic
identity and international acclaim. Hail City's
rich visual arts scene serves as a gateway,
bringing the local artistic community in line with
worldwide trends and inspirations and presenting
Saudi Arabia's varied talents and experiences to
a global audience.
Attempts are made to shed light on the
tremendous aesthetic role that nature plays in
shaping the cultural landscape of Hail City by
examining the complex relationship between the
city's natural scenography and artistic
expressions. In order to shed light on the
transformative power of Hail's breathtaking
scenery in promoting artistic imagination,
cultural exchange, and establishing the city as a
regional and international the entry point to the
arts and cinema, this study will investigate
artistic works, films, artist interviews, and
audience reception analysis. The natural scenery
in Hail City serves an aesthetic purpose that goes
beyond simple aesthetic appeal to become an
essential component of the city's artistic fabric.
By interacting with the stunning scenery and
taking cues from the area's natural treasures,
filmmakers and artists produce immersive
experiences that profoundly connect with
viewers. The merging of nature and artistic
expression in Hail City continues to captivate,
inspire, and transcend cultural boundaries. This
is made possible by the city's dedication to
fostering the arts as well as its breathtaking
natural surroundings.
In short, this paper delves into the aesthetic
function of the natural scenography in Hail City,
exploring its role as both a regional and global
gateway to the arts and cinema. According to the
aforementioned, the potency, originality, and
distinctiveness of the visual and symbolic
connotations produced by nature itself are
essential to the success of nature scenography.
This study primarily focuses on this field since it
is widely believed that it is the responsibility of
visual arts researchers to unveil the aesthetic
functions of nature and its boundless potential.
Literature Review
Few works have examined various facets of
location and nature-themed scenography in
theatre and film. One study carried out by
Al-Jabas (2021) brought to light the low regard
for the open-air theatre in Minya City, Egypt,
because of its absence of a direct link to the most
important historical waterway in the city's past.
This negativity was due to design errors in its
construction, neglecting to build impressive
visuals for the performances amidst the
surrounding natural environment to embody
visual and sensory atmospheres. Joslin
McKinney (2008) examines how the audience
and the scenery communicate with each other. It
is the first instance of practice-based research
that looks at the specific role that the
stenographic plays and how audiences respond to
it.
Another study conducted by (Ahmed, 2020)
investigates the digital technology tools and
applications utilized in designing theatrical
scenery as a workable remedy to the issues with
design and the process of directing on stage as
the technological development in the modern era
has a great impact. Technology facilitates the use
of theatrical landscape design to provide a scenic
image that is in line with the demands of the
current historical period. The study concluded
that theatrical language has been rehabilitated.
Since the theatre shapes collective consciousness
by expressing its ideas and content, it seeks to use
digital technology as a tool of creative action to
create scenography by using computers and
contemporary programs to draw up a more
creative and expressive scenography. According
to a study by Masoud (2021), digital scenography
can go beyond the limitations of traditional static
theatre and all its traditional techniques. This
opens wide horizons for experimentation and
innovation in the technical form. The purpose of
this aspect is to engage the recipient in the
theatrical game text and presentation through his
participation in events, virtual reality, and
cyberspace. According to the study, to provide
the audience with dazzling and enjoyable
experiences, it is still needed to learn about the
Arab world's theatre-audience interaction culture
and modern digital theatre technologies.
Gibson (1979) covers a variety of subjects,
including how people perceive events, surfaces,
and objects, as well as how movement and action
affect perception. Gibson also addresses the
connection between perception and how one
perceives social affordances, time, and space.
John Urry’s book (2005) looks at a number of
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aspects of the tourist gaze, such as the importance
of visuality, how landscapes and attractions are
consumed, and how experiences are turned into
commodities. In addition, Urry examines the
connection between modernity and tourism,
highlighting the ways in which tourism is
influenced by larger social and economic
developments. Allen Carlson (2000) examines
the relationship between aesthetics and the
environment with a particular emphasis on
appreciating art, architecture, and nature. It
explores diverse viewpoints on our perceptions
of and values for the natural world, as well as the
philosophical underpinnings of environmental
aesthetics. The book offers insightful
information about the aesthetic value of natural
scenery and how important it is to improve our
awareness of and interaction with the
environment. Film theorist Vivian Sobchack
(1992) explores the embodied and subjective
experience of watching movies. She looks at how
interacting with cinematic images and stories
affects our perception, physical experiences, and
emotional reactions. In her work, Sobchack
highlights how the body, perception, and
emotions of the audience shape the cinematic
experience.
The previous studies have shown how important
it is for Arab nations to adopt scenography's
modern viewpoint in the arts, particularly in the
fields of place and nature-related art. To the
researcher's best knowledge, there is a scarcity of
studies that address this issue, as not a single
study dealing with natural scenography has been
recorded. There are various reasons for the
paucity of research on natural scenography: the
study of natural scenography may not have
gotten much attention from academics,
especially in places like Hail City. Academic
interest and research funding frequently place
different priorities on different fields of study,
and natural scenography may not have been the
main focus in the past. Thus, few if not at all
research on this particular subject may have been
done as a result. A wide range of academic fields
are included in natural scenography, including
environmental aesthetics, theater studies, film
studies, and landscape architecture. The subject's
interdisciplinary nature can occasionally make it
difficult to identify a particular research niche or
develop precise methodology for study. This
could explain why there aren't as many studies on
natural scenography as there are. Researching
natural scenography frequently calls for
cooperation with artists or filmmakers, access to
particular locations, and financial and material
resources. Restricted access may make it more
difficult to conduct research and lead to fewer
studies being done. Future studies on natural
scenography might surface as it becomes more
well-known and intriguing in the artistic and
cultural fields. There are fewer studies conducted
as a result of cultural norms, language obstacles,
or restricted research dissemination.
Nature in general is determined by place and
time, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is
distinguished by a unique nature in many of its
regions. Hail city, the subject of this study, has a
mountainous landscape that is as old as recorded
history, combining the region's ancient past with
its natural beauty. This includes Hail City among
the areas of natural scenography that are very
special and distinguished and the role that has in
the tourism boom and the cultural and
entertainment movement. This study aims to
clarify this, making it distinct from prior studies
that concentrated on traditional scenography.
Thus, by defining the term and the field of natural
scenography in all its facets and providing a vivid
example from the geography of Hail city in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this study becomes
the first of its kind.
Methodology
The article's framework is an analytical
descriptive technique along two axes: first, it
analyzes Hail City's natural scenery from both an
aesthetic and practical perspective. The second
axis is surveying a sample of fifteen art and
cinema professionals to ascertain whether natural
scenography in Hail City fulfils an artistic
function and how much it still contributes to the
arts and movies.
A combination of literature review, data
collecting, visual analysis, case studies,
comparison analysis, and interpretation make up
the methodology used in this study. After the
interviews were recorded, important ideas and
themes about the aesthetic role of Hail City's
natural scenery were found. After being given
codes, these themes were categorized. To obtain
insights, the coded themes were analyzed by
looking at their frequencies, patterns, and
variations. Analyses were conducted on visual
materials, including pictures, paintings, and
movie stills that showed the natural scenery of
Hail City. Composition, color, lighting, and
symbolism were among the elements that were
evaluated according to certain standards. Finding
patterns, motifs, and distinctive representations
that support the aesthetic function was the main
goal of the analysis.
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The results were analyzed in light of historical,
cultural, and creative contexts. The selection of
case studies was predicated on their pertinence to
the research subject and their capacity to offer
discernments into the artistic role of organic
scenery. Information was gathered from sources
like critical reviews, production notes, and artist
statements. To find the similarities, variations,
and distinctive elements of the aesthetic function
among the case studies, a comparative analysis
was done. The results were combined to create a
thorough understanding. Using these methods,
the study sheds light on Hail City's regional and
international relevance as a gateway to the arts
and movies while also examining the special role
that the city's natural surroundings play in
supporting artistic and cinematic undertakings.
Determining the study's scope, research terms,
limitations and research objectives is the first
step in the methodology. With a particular focus
on the aesthetic role of Hail City's natural
scenery, the study intends to investigate how the
natural surroundings of the city support the
growth of art and film on a regional and
international level.
The study is to investigate how Hail City's
natural surroundings support the growth of art
and film on a regional and international
dimension, with a particular focus on the
aesthetic role of the city's natural scenery. The
study attempts to answer the following questions:
What are the aesthetic characteristics of the
natural scenography in Hail city in Saudi Arabia?
What are the possibilities of benefiting from the
natural scenography of Hail city in the field of
performances and cinema?
Research Objectives
1. Clarifying and rooting the term natural
scenography in the realm of visual arts in
Saudi society.
2. Identifying the aesthetic characteristics of
the natural scenography in the Hail region.
3. Extracting ways to benefit from the natural
scenography in the Hail region in the fields
of performing arts and cinema.
Limitations of Research Study
The following determines the study:
− Spatial boundaries: Hail region, Saudi
Arabia.
− Time limits: Data is collected during the
second half of the year 2022.
− Objective limits: The study is limited to the
natural scenography in the Hail region.
Search Terms
Scenography: (the Greeks) defined it as "the art
of decorating the stage and decorating the colours
that result from this technique." It is defined as
the art of shaping exhibition space and the scenic
image. It is an artistic creative activity that
assumes knowledge of drawing and architecture
(images, colours, shapes, and sizes), and the
techniques used in theatre, lighting, and sound
engineering (Shubar, 2014, p. 72).
Procedural scenography: It is all the creative
decorative arts, whether traditional or
technological, that accompany performances
related to the visual scene in theatre and cinema.
These intended and studied arts aim to show and
complete the desired message from the show
through (colours - effects - images - space
processing - accessories - and everything related
to the visual scene).
Procedural natural scenography: It is all the
creative decorative arts, whether traditional or
technological, that deal directly with nature, and
accompany shows related to the visual scene
related to place (such as natural visual theatre
shows, cinematic nature scenes, and
documentaries related to space and time).
Results and discussion
The results and discussion section are created.
For presenting each of the questions and their
respective results in this section. To answer the
question of the first study, which is what the
profitability of natural scenography in Hail is, the
following is required:
Examples of natural scenography in Hail:
Hail is characterized by nature that carries the
fragrant interpretations of history in addition to
its formal and visual distinction, which makes
this nature a fertile and distinct source of
inspiration and imagination for artists in general,
and those interested in the arts of performances
and cinema in particular. The study presents a
few examples that stand out due to their use of
time and space, which are crucial factors in both
the performing arts and cinema. For example, the
aesthetic side created by nature in the rocks of
these mountains creates unique views but, it
doesn't get enough attention. A model like this is
shaped by wind, rain, and water. These factors
give it an exceptional and distinctive aesthetic
shape, especially since the nature of the rocks in
this region is sandy and sedimentary, as it is
subjected to wind erosion with the sand it carries,
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in addition to the rain that gives its outer surface
an aesthetic and distinctive appearance. The
Great Sphinx Rock, shown in Figure 1, is in the
village of Aba al-Hiran, about 100 kilometres
south of Ha'il City, and was given this name
because of its resemblance to the Pharaonic
Sphinx sculpture. It also symbolizes the focus of
the Ha'il man's attention, who created numerous
stories and hypotheses about it.
Fig. 1. The rock of the Great Sphinx in the village of Aba al-Hiran.
Taken from a video posted on YouTube (Alekhbariya TV, 2020)
It bears the features of a face that reminds us of
the face of the Great Sphinx in terms of shape and
size, as well as posture, and what is meant here is
the sitting position that reflects prestige, strength,
and solemnity. This is a strange coincidence that
combines what is seen from nature, and what was
made by a person who belonged to one of the
largest ancient civilizations. As a result, this rock
structure can greatly influence imaginative and
surreal interpretations, especially if the show and
cinematic arts intervene in such natural
landscapes. This calls for more care, as it
contributes to enriching tourism and artistic
aspects in general and it is a unique field of
natural scenography. In the Sphinx (Egypt), the
scenography of sound and light shows was
implemented, and the same site was the place for
the performances, figure (2), to be a scenography
area for performances, cinema, and a field of
tourist attractions.
Fig. 2. Natural scenography at the site of the Sphinx
Source: (Photo by Al-Barbari (2023)
The Hail rocks have a wide variety of different
formations, sometimes including animal, or even
human-like characteristics. A rock structure that
was observed at Aga Park resembles a human
face or, more particularly, the head of a
prehistoric warrior wearing a helmet, as shown in
Figure (3). These faces send us to the world of
fantasy or also to the world of cinema, history,
and myths. How can natural factors mimic the
human face in more than one location, such as the
Sphinx, the ancient warriors and their distinctive
weapons, or strange creatures that may resemble
us but differ from us, as if they were aliens? The
shapes that nature provides without charge
capture our attention in foreign fantasy films, as
well as movies and cartoons, and Star Wars flicks
where we encounter odd creatures.
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Fig. 3. Rocky cavities with suggestive human faces or masks.
Location: Aja Mountains in the Emirate of Hail. Saudi Arabia (Own authorship)
In addition, the nature in Hail includes shapes
distinguished by their beauty and peculiarity,
which link them to some of the colors utilized in
contemporary and subsequent art. Although it is
a completely natural form in which no human
hand has been involved, The Hanging Rock,
which is also located in the village of Aba Al-
Hiran, can be categorized within the arts and
post-modernism. It alludes to visualizing a
variety of forms, just as it alludes to an
architecture that has a pleasing equilibrium
because it is uncomplicated in its surroundings
and avoids being the cause of that balance. Due
to the viewer's lack of understanding of the laws
of balance, it might have futuristic or space
interpretations. How can a rock of this carved
shape, which seemed to be made by an artist,
maintain its balance on top of a slender and
slanted rock column, as if inside this column
there is something that guarantees its balance like
the concrete buildings that we know today,
Figure (4). Its roundness or shape, which takes
the form of a disk or a cylinder, also refers to
dimensions that we are not familiar with in the
world of rocks. Rather, it refers us to the world
of living organisms and plants such as
champignon. This is a reason to dazzle the
viewer, and thus this rock model is no less
important than the model of the Great Sphinx
since it is adjacent to it in place and perhaps at
the time of its formation.
Fig. 4. A supernatural rock architecture, perhaps futuristic or space, where the laws of equilibrium are
absent.
Taken from a video posted on YouTube Alekhbariya TV (2020, October 19).
Additionally, we come across shapes in the Hail
Mountains, in particular in Aja Mountains,
wonderful sculptures that extend from the
heights of the Aja Mountains to its foothills.
These forms arouse in us a sense of the duality of
life and death or the duality of the spontaneous