anamorphosis
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun In perspec., a method of drawing which gives a distorted image of the object represented when it is viewed directly or nearly so, but a natural image when it is viewed from a certain point, is reflected by a curved mirror, or is seen through a polyhedron.
- noun In botany, an anomalous or monstrous development of any part of a plant, owing to some unusual condition affecting growth, so that it presents an appearance altogether unlike the typical form, as when the calyx of a rose assumes the form of a leaf.
- noun In zoology and botany, the gradual change of form, generally ascending, traced in a group of animals or plants the members of which succeed each other in point of time.
Examples
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Cinemascope and others condense a wide scene into a narrow one in a single picture and expand it again into a wide one on projection, all by means of special lenses. This process is called anamorphosis, which is simply a mathematical word meaning controlled transformation of shape.
John T. Rule, 'Movies and TV: Murder or Merger?' The Atlantic, October 1, 1953
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Starring Willem Dafoe and Scott Speedman, Anamorph is a psychological thriller based on the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas.
Worth Watching - April 8: Willem Dafoe's Anamorph Trailer « FirstShowing.net
Note
This word comes from the Greek 'anamorphoun,' to transform.
