Ray Privett & James Kreul, “A Cinema of Possibilities: Brian Frye Interview”
--How does Frye relate his work (including his film programming) to the following movements / concepts / genres:
Performance (and performance art)He, in a way, parodies the idea of performance art, by not really doing anything. Like in Brian Frye Fails to Masturbate.
Minimalism - He doesn't view his work as minimalism, because he puts a lot of effort into creating dense scenes.
Fluxus- He emphasizes performance for performance sake.
--How does Frye respond to the question about what he “adds” to films such as Anatomy of Melancholy? Letting the films do what they set out to do.
Scott MacDonald, “Maintenance”
--What are some of the reasons for rental income growth at Canyon Cinema between 1980 and 2003? How did Canyon distinguish itself from the Filmmakers Cooperative and the Museum of Modern Art? There was more interest from the increasing student sector of the avant garde community. Canyon did more to update their collection.
--What problems and controversies did video distribution cause for Canyon in the 1990s? To what degree were the sides of the debate related to the age of the filmmakers on each side? Based upon the interview with Dominic Angerame at the end of the chapter, what was his position on the video debate? Well, most older customers prefer the original format film. While the younger ones don't mind so much video. Angerame just wants Canyon to keep distributing videos.
--What were the advantages and disadvantages to funding from the National Endowment from the Arts? What controversies developed related to the publication of Canyon Cinema Catalog #5? You have a steady source of funding, but there is the possibility that you will have to curtail your selection to someone elses opinions of the films. This happened when the government objected to some of the films and removed the funding.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
April 12th
Reading Response 9: Due April 12
Miranda July's piece was strange definitely, but really awesome and interesting to watch. The narrative was hard to grasp and put together, but the emotions I felt during my viewing of the piece complement that. I was confused, nervous, and scared during the film, which I believe was in line with the character of the piece. The animation was fun to watch, and the projected video behind the performer worked well. Not as perfectly as earlier pieces, but good none the less. July's performance was very emphasized, in order to reach the entire audience.
Catching up from last week: Christie Milliken, "The Pixel Visions of Sadie Benning"
1. How is Sadie Benning's work related to general trends and characteristics in Riot Grrl subculture? Its got that lofi quality to it. Its subversive and promotes women (particularly the groups who are ignored.) How is Riot Grrl subculture similar to and different from punk subculture? Riot Grrrl subculture started out of magazines and seems to be more focused on promoting a political agenda for girls then punk culture was on promoting any kind of political agenda.
2. Why does Milliken refer to Benning's work as visual essays? What are the advantages of viewing the work in relation to this genre? What is meant by "radical feminist essayistic" form? The film cannot easibly be catagorized as a documentary, or a ficiton and that they are very expressive which seperates the work from the documentary tradition. Radical feminist essayist form means that the film doesn't attempt to answer problems but merely brings up their questions in an attempt to change the way things are.
Keller and Ward, "Matthew Barney and the Paradox of the Neo-Avant-Garde Blockbuster"
3. What has changed in the gallery art world that allows Barney to describe his work as “sculpture”? In other words, how has the definition of sculpture changed since the 1960s, and why? Well the definition of sculpture has become more relaxed. When a cutout of a trench in the desert was determined to be sculpture that opened the floodgates as to what scuplture is. Barney sees his film as a family of objects.
4. Tricky but important question: Why was minimalist sculpture seen as a reaction against the “modernist hymns to the purity and specificity of aesthetic experience”? In other words: Why do they say that minimalist sculpture is post-modernist? Minimimalism brings the viewer into the art. The purpose of minimalism is to say that the viewers perception of the art is highly related to the art.
5. Describe the role of the body in the works of Vito Acconci and Chris Burden. You may wish to consult the following links to supplement the descriptions in the readings: The body is the focus of the work. It's the object that the artist sculpts, and then its the object that the audience reacts to. Similar to a performance piece.
http://www.ubu.com/film/acconci.html
http://www.ubu.com/film/burden.html
5. In the opinion of the authors, what are the key differences between performance art of the 1960s/1970s and Barney’s Cremaster cycle? What do they mean by the term "blockbuster" in relation to the gallery art world? There is a lot of marketing and overhead which is kind of strange for the art world.
Walley, "Modes of Film Practice in the Avant-Garde"
6. What is meant by “mode of film practice”? Give two well known examples of non-experimental modes of film practice. Why does Walley argue that the concept of the mode of film practice can help distinguish between the experimental film and gallery art worlds? Just the guidelines for how the film is produced. Types include studio era hollywood, and French new wave. How the film production is financed plays a crucial role.
7. What are some of the key differences between the experimental and gallery art worlds in terms of production and distribution? The experimental films are more often than not more personal, independent works while the art gallery work is more collaborative. In the art gallery world the prints are editioned.
Posted by jimbosuave at 9:31 AM 0 comments
Miranda July's piece was strange definitely, but really awesome and interesting to watch. The narrative was hard to grasp and put together, but the emotions I felt during my viewing of the piece complement that. I was confused, nervous, and scared during the film, which I believe was in line with the character of the piece. The animation was fun to watch, and the projected video behind the performer worked well. Not as perfectly as earlier pieces, but good none the less. July's performance was very emphasized, in order to reach the entire audience.
Catching up from last week: Christie Milliken, "The Pixel Visions of Sadie Benning"
1. How is Sadie Benning's work related to general trends and characteristics in Riot Grrl subculture? Its got that lofi quality to it. Its subversive and promotes women (particularly the groups who are ignored.) How is Riot Grrl subculture similar to and different from punk subculture? Riot Grrrl subculture started out of magazines and seems to be more focused on promoting a political agenda for girls then punk culture was on promoting any kind of political agenda.
2. Why does Milliken refer to Benning's work as visual essays? What are the advantages of viewing the work in relation to this genre? What is meant by "radical feminist essayistic" form? The film cannot easibly be catagorized as a documentary, or a ficiton and that they are very expressive which seperates the work from the documentary tradition. Radical feminist essayist form means that the film doesn't attempt to answer problems but merely brings up their questions in an attempt to change the way things are.
Keller and Ward, "Matthew Barney and the Paradox of the Neo-Avant-Garde Blockbuster"
3. What has changed in the gallery art world that allows Barney to describe his work as “sculpture”? In other words, how has the definition of sculpture changed since the 1960s, and why? Well the definition of sculpture has become more relaxed. When a cutout of a trench in the desert was determined to be sculpture that opened the floodgates as to what scuplture is. Barney sees his film as a family of objects.
4. Tricky but important question: Why was minimalist sculpture seen as a reaction against the “modernist hymns to the purity and specificity of aesthetic experience”? In other words: Why do they say that minimalist sculpture is post-modernist? Minimimalism brings the viewer into the art. The purpose of minimalism is to say that the viewers perception of the art is highly related to the art.
5. Describe the role of the body in the works of Vito Acconci and Chris Burden. You may wish to consult the following links to supplement the descriptions in the readings: The body is the focus of the work. It's the object that the artist sculpts, and then its the object that the audience reacts to. Similar to a performance piece.
http://www.ubu.com/film/acconci.html
http://www.ubu.com/film/burden.html
5. In the opinion of the authors, what are the key differences between performance art of the 1960s/1970s and Barney’s Cremaster cycle? What do they mean by the term "blockbuster" in relation to the gallery art world? There is a lot of marketing and overhead which is kind of strange for the art world.
Walley, "Modes of Film Practice in the Avant-Garde"
6. What is meant by “mode of film practice”? Give two well known examples of non-experimental modes of film practice. Why does Walley argue that the concept of the mode of film practice can help distinguish between the experimental film and gallery art worlds? Just the guidelines for how the film is produced. Types include studio era hollywood, and French new wave. How the film production is financed plays a crucial role.
7. What are some of the key differences between the experimental and gallery art worlds in terms of production and distribution? The experimental films are more often than not more personal, independent works while the art gallery work is more collaborative. In the art gallery world the prints are editioned.
Posted by jimbosuave at 9:31 AM 0 comments
April 5th, Coming Soon
First, respond to Tribulation 99 in relation to Zryd's description of student responses in his own classes.
Michael Zryd, “Found Footage Film as Discursive Metahistory: Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99”
1. Explain Paul Arthur's distinction between the "realist" use of found footage and the "figurative" use of found footage. Which becomes important in Tribulation 99 and why? the realist footage shows real events, and the figurative is only graphic representations of things. Pharoah for Castro.
Marc Masters, “The Offenders: No Wave Cinema”
2. Name at least three similarities between the punk music scene and the punk/no-wave filmmaking scene, in terms of technology, style, and community.
Going out and doing it, not learning particular medium, angry sensibilities.
William Wees, “Peggy’s Playhouse: Contesting the Modernist Paradigm”
3. According to Wees, what are the 5 characteristics of the modernist paradigm dominating North American avant-garde filmmaking before the 1980s? Medium specificity, unique sensibilities of the artist, universal significance, disctinction of high art vs low art, and the autonomy of art
4. Given the 5 characteristics above, how does Awhesh reject or question each of them (give examples from throughout the article).
5. What does Ahwesh mean by rejecting the “aesthetics of mastery” and how is this related to punk filmmaking? doesnt force a particular viewpoint on the film
6. Why does Wees argue that The Color of Love subverts conventional wisdom about mainstream pornography?
7. In what ways does Awhesh transform images from Tomb Raider in She Puppet?
she shoes croft going about the fictional world
First, respond to Tribulation 99 in relation to Zryd's description of student responses in his own classes.
Michael Zryd, “Found Footage Film as Discursive Metahistory: Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99”
1. Explain Paul Arthur's distinction between the "realist" use of found footage and the "figurative" use of found footage. Which becomes important in Tribulation 99 and why? the realist footage shows real events, and the figurative is only graphic representations of things. Pharoah for Castro.
Marc Masters, “The Offenders: No Wave Cinema”
2. Name at least three similarities between the punk music scene and the punk/no-wave filmmaking scene, in terms of technology, style, and community.
Going out and doing it, not learning particular medium, angry sensibilities.
William Wees, “Peggy’s Playhouse: Contesting the Modernist Paradigm”
3. According to Wees, what are the 5 characteristics of the modernist paradigm dominating North American avant-garde filmmaking before the 1980s? Medium specificity, unique sensibilities of the artist, universal significance, disctinction of high art vs low art, and the autonomy of art
4. Given the 5 characteristics above, how does Awhesh reject or question each of them (give examples from throughout the article).
5. What does Ahwesh mean by rejecting the “aesthetics of mastery” and how is this related to punk filmmaking? doesnt force a particular viewpoint on the film
6. Why does Wees argue that The Color of Love subverts conventional wisdom about mainstream pornography?
7. In what ways does Awhesh transform images from Tomb Raider in She Puppet?
she shoes croft going about the fictional world
Monday, March 22, 2010
You may post these responses Wednesday, after your return from Spring Break.
1. As requested in class, post your response to Carolee Schneeman's Fuses. If you need a reminder of the film (which I doubt) a version of it is available here (as you recall, this is "not safe for work," due to explicit content)
Fuses was, I feel, the most explicit film by far. Thus the fact that it was authored by a woman, makes for an interesting topic to talk about. The film is designed it seems in the same fashion as Brakhages "Cats Cradle." The sexual tension, however, is more explicit then implied, resulting in a less romanticized view of the events. Nothing is hidden, and nothing is to personal to be used for the film. I thought some of the cuts of the lake, were humorous as they were so obvious in what they were referring to.
If you need help focusing your response, consider responding to this Schneeman interview in which she discusses sexual politics, in relation to your response to Fuses:
http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article carolee_schneemann_transforming_art_and_discourse_sexuality_and_gender
Sitney, “Structural Film”
2. How is structural film different from the tradition of Deren/Brakhage/Anger, and what are its four typical characteristics? The structural film is structured by certain film characteristics such as loop printing, fixed camera, rephotography, and flicker effect.
3. If Brakhage’s cinema emphasized metaphors of perception, vision, and body movement, what is the central metaphor of structural film? Hint: It fits into Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde that we have discussed previously in class. The structural film represents a metaphor of consciousness.
4. Why does Sitney argue that Andy Warhol is the major precursor to the structural film? Without his films like empire, sleeping, and haircut their would have been no link. His emphasis on duration provided that link.
5. The trickiest part of Sitney’s chapter is to understand the similarities and differences between Warhol and the structural filmmakers. He argues that Warhol in a sense is anti-Romantic and stands in opposition to the visionary tradition represented by psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. But for Sitney’s central argument to make sense, he needs to place structural film within the tradition of psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. Trace the steps in this argument by following the following questions:
a. Why does Sitney call Warhol anti-Romantic? He attempts to take the filmmaker out of the equation. Points the camera and shoots.
b. Why does Sitney argue that spiritually the distance between Warhol and structural filmmakers such as Michael Snow or Ernie Gehr cannot be reconciled? Warhols fixed camera, was an attempt to outrage while Snow and Gehr's is an attempt to explore space.
c. What is meant by the phrase “conscious ontology of the viewing experience”? How does this relate to Warhol’s films? How does this relate to structural films? To use duration to create a sense that the viewer can look around, but still at the same time to direct their eyes, and mind. Warhol is a wink at the audience, but the structural films require the audience to work to understand the piece.
d. Why does Sitney argue that structural film is related to the psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical tradition, and in fact responds to Warhol’s attack on that tradition by using Warhol’s own tactics? The people who saw Warhols work, saw a potential metaphor for consciousness, and therefore using his tactics delivered films that work as that.
6. What metaphor is crucial to Sitney’s and Annette Michelson’s interpretation of Michael Snow’s Wavelength? A search for purity of the images and the trapping of time.
1. As requested in class, post your response to Carolee Schneeman's Fuses. If you need a reminder of the film (which I doubt) a version of it is available here (as you recall, this is "not safe for work," due to explicit content)
Fuses was, I feel, the most explicit film by far. Thus the fact that it was authored by a woman, makes for an interesting topic to talk about. The film is designed it seems in the same fashion as Brakhages "Cats Cradle." The sexual tension, however, is more explicit then implied, resulting in a less romanticized view of the events. Nothing is hidden, and nothing is to personal to be used for the film. I thought some of the cuts of the lake, were humorous as they were so obvious in what they were referring to.
If you need help focusing your response, consider responding to this Schneeman interview in which she discusses sexual politics, in relation to your response to Fuses:
http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article carolee_schneemann_transforming_art_and_discourse_sexuality_and_gender
Sitney, “Structural Film”
2. How is structural film different from the tradition of Deren/Brakhage/Anger, and what are its four typical characteristics? The structural film is structured by certain film characteristics such as loop printing, fixed camera, rephotography, and flicker effect.
3. If Brakhage’s cinema emphasized metaphors of perception, vision, and body movement, what is the central metaphor of structural film? Hint: It fits into Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde that we have discussed previously in class. The structural film represents a metaphor of consciousness.
4. Why does Sitney argue that Andy Warhol is the major precursor to the structural film? Without his films like empire, sleeping, and haircut their would have been no link. His emphasis on duration provided that link.
5. The trickiest part of Sitney’s chapter is to understand the similarities and differences between Warhol and the structural filmmakers. He argues that Warhol in a sense is anti-Romantic and stands in opposition to the visionary tradition represented by psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. But for Sitney’s central argument to make sense, he needs to place structural film within the tradition of psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. Trace the steps in this argument by following the following questions:
a. Why does Sitney call Warhol anti-Romantic? He attempts to take the filmmaker out of the equation. Points the camera and shoots.
b. Why does Sitney argue that spiritually the distance between Warhol and structural filmmakers such as Michael Snow or Ernie Gehr cannot be reconciled? Warhols fixed camera, was an attempt to outrage while Snow and Gehr's is an attempt to explore space.
c. What is meant by the phrase “conscious ontology of the viewing experience”? How does this relate to Warhol’s films? How does this relate to structural films? To use duration to create a sense that the viewer can look around, but still at the same time to direct their eyes, and mind. Warhol is a wink at the audience, but the structural films require the audience to work to understand the piece.
d. Why does Sitney argue that structural film is related to the psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical tradition, and in fact responds to Warhol’s attack on that tradition by using Warhol’s own tactics? The people who saw Warhols work, saw a potential metaphor for consciousness, and therefore using his tactics delivered films that work as that.
6. What metaphor is crucial to Sitney’s and Annette Michelson’s interpretation of Michael Snow’s Wavelength? A search for purity of the images and the trapping of time.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Response to Chelsea Girls
I don't see how Chelsea Girls got the mainstream push it received. I found it to be crazier and harder to understand than some of the other stuff I'd seen in the class. I think it may have had something to do with the rising counterculture movement more so than the specific film. A right time/right place kinda deal. However, I enjoyed the film somewhat, and I think I'd like it more if the version I was presented had weaved in both sound tracks. People on drugs are hilarious, frightening, and innocent therefore creating some damn good entertainment. I do like the dual images, which require active participation and will make for a completely different second viewing.
Monday, February 22, 2010
2-22
1. What were some of the venues associated with the early underground film movement in New York City? What were some of the unique characteristics of the Charles Theater and its programming? Cinema 16, The Charles, The Thalia, NewYorker, The Bleecker Street Cinema. The Charles offered a larger variety of movies. Musicals, neorealist films, Silent films, Ukranian films, then experimental on the weekend.
2. Which filmmakers did Jonas Mekas associate with the “Baudelairean Cinema”? Why did Mekas use that term, and what were the distinguishing characteristics of the films? Rice, Jacobs, and Smith. He used the term to compare these filmmakers to Baudelaire, being that the characteristics of their films are that they bring a new experience to cinema. They are both terrible and beautiful, good and evil. Something for the social outcasts to love.
3. Why did underground films run into legal trouble in New York City in 1964? What film encountered legal problems in Los Angeles almost on the same day as Mekas’s second arrest in New York City? They didn't get licence's from New York, so legally they couldn't show them for profit. They tried to get away with it by asking for donations. Then the world Fair came, and New York decided to clean up its act, so the police tried to shut down the "obscene" screenings. Scorpio Rising.
4. What were some of the defining characteristics of Andy Warhol’s collaboration with Ronald Tavel? What were some of the unique characteristics of Vinyl? How does Edie Sedgewick end up "stealing" the scene in Vinyl? One camera setup, quickly and cheaply made, Actors came and went. Vinyl is kind of an adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, but only a bare bones one at that. The film is a single setup, static shot, black and white film. Edie Sedgewick was originally supposed to just balance the composition of the shot, but she ends up "stealing" the scene with her attractive eyes and by flicking her ashes on the boy being tortured.
5. In what ways did the underground film begin to "crossover" into the mainstream in 1965-1966? What films and venues were associated with the crossover? How were the films received by the mainstream New York press? Chelsea Girls moved to more mainstream theatres, and was exhibited in many cities in the Us. Newsweek called Chelsea Girls "The Illiad of the underground", while the New York Times critic claimed it went to far.
6. Why was Mike Getz an important figure in the crossover of the underground? He packaged underground films and sent them to places that hadn't been introduced to this type of cinema before.
7. How do Hoberman and Rosenbaum characterize Warhol’s post-1967 films? Nudity based pictures that cashed in on Chelsea Girls.
2. Which filmmakers did Jonas Mekas associate with the “Baudelairean Cinema”? Why did Mekas use that term, and what were the distinguishing characteristics of the films? Rice, Jacobs, and Smith. He used the term to compare these filmmakers to Baudelaire, being that the characteristics of their films are that they bring a new experience to cinema. They are both terrible and beautiful, good and evil. Something for the social outcasts to love.
3. Why did underground films run into legal trouble in New York City in 1964? What film encountered legal problems in Los Angeles almost on the same day as Mekas’s second arrest in New York City? They didn't get licence's from New York, so legally they couldn't show them for profit. They tried to get away with it by asking for donations. Then the world Fair came, and New York decided to clean up its act, so the police tried to shut down the "obscene" screenings. Scorpio Rising.
4. What were some of the defining characteristics of Andy Warhol’s collaboration with Ronald Tavel? What were some of the unique characteristics of Vinyl? How does Edie Sedgewick end up "stealing" the scene in Vinyl? One camera setup, quickly and cheaply made, Actors came and went. Vinyl is kind of an adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, but only a bare bones one at that. The film is a single setup, static shot, black and white film. Edie Sedgewick was originally supposed to just balance the composition of the shot, but she ends up "stealing" the scene with her attractive eyes and by flicking her ashes on the boy being tortured.
5. In what ways did the underground film begin to "crossover" into the mainstream in 1965-1966? What films and venues were associated with the crossover? How were the films received by the mainstream New York press? Chelsea Girls moved to more mainstream theatres, and was exhibited in many cities in the Us. Newsweek called Chelsea Girls "The Illiad of the underground", while the New York Times critic claimed it went to far.
6. Why was Mike Getz an important figure in the crossover of the underground? He packaged underground films and sent them to places that hadn't been introduced to this type of cinema before.
7. How do Hoberman and Rosenbaum characterize Warhol’s post-1967 films? Nudity based pictures that cashed in on Chelsea Girls.
Monday, February 15, 2010
2/15
1. 14 Yoko Ono—One
I really do enjoy these Fluxus films, and Yoko Ono's one is one that I really like. Anyone with a slow motion camera could make it; I see the debate on whether the inclusion of the slow motion camera kinda runs contrary to their whole premise. The film One, is just fun to watch. To see the match being struck, then watching it die out is just cool. It is like one of those scientific films. I could watch slow motion all day.
2. Look up “Fluxus” and any of the Fluxus artists in the index of Visionary Film. Why are they not there? Are the Fluxfilmscompatible with Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde?
No they aren't. Sitney argues American cinema tries to show the inside the human mind, and the FluxFilms are concerned with democratizing art, and thus can't possibly have a central theme or objective like that to their work.
3. Chapter 4. What are some of the reasons suggested for Smith’s obsession with Maria Montez? What are some of your responses to the clips from the Montez films (especially Cobra Woman)?
Nostalgia for cinema during his childhood, as well as he could relate her essence of being to the drag movement; she was a diva. Her acting is very strange, a bit overacted but at the same time really interesting.
4. Chapter 5. What were some attributes of the New York art community in the 1960s, and what was the relationship between the economics of the time and the materials that Smith incorporated in to his work and films? [How could Smith survive and make art if he was so poor in the city so big they named it twice?]
The NYC art community was a tight knit group of artists. Rent was pretty inexpensive, and there were a lot of resources for a low budget filmmaker to work with.
5. Chapter 6. What problems emerged after the obscenity charges against Flaming Creatures in the relationship between Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas? What metaphor emerged from the conflict between Smith and Mekas? The film became synonymous with a movement that Jack Smith did not support. Mekas was made to seem like a saint, to be in a position where he was defending the film but he was really kicking it to death.
6. Chapter 7. What is John Zorn’s argument about Normal Love? How does his argument relate to some of the changes in the New York art world in the 1960s that we discussed in class? What are some arguments made about the influence of Jack Smith on other filmmakers (including Warhol)? The real show was Jack's filming. It correlates with the idea that the real art is the activity of creating it. That Jack influenced Fellini, and was copied to an extent by Warhol, though he clashed with him.
7. Chapter 9 and 10: In what ways did Jack Smith become “uncommercial film personified”? What is meant by the slogan, “no more masterpieces” and how did Smith resist commodification (or the production of art products)?
He would produce unfinished films so that no one could take them away from him, and use it for their own benefit.
8. How does Angell characterize the first major period of Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period, and what formal qualities did they share? What are some significant differences between Sleep and Empire? A minimalist, unmoving camera, with no editing. Sleep was heavily edited because the film camera Warhol used could only hold 4 minutes worth of film at a time, but Empire could hold 50 minutes.
9. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
They were kind of a film guest book, that personalities who came to the factory would sign in with.
10. How does Angell characterize the first period of sound films in Warhol’s filmmaking career? Who was Warhol’s key collaborator for the early sound films? What are some of the films from this period and what formal properties did they share? He emphasized that the actor was him/herself, as well as themselves performing. So he would throw the actors in situations where they were free to improvise. He worked with Ronald Tavel, and Edie Sedwick. These films could also be called documentaries.
I really do enjoy these Fluxus films, and Yoko Ono's one is one that I really like. Anyone with a slow motion camera could make it; I see the debate on whether the inclusion of the slow motion camera kinda runs contrary to their whole premise. The film One, is just fun to watch. To see the match being struck, then watching it die out is just cool. It is like one of those scientific films. I could watch slow motion all day.
2. Look up “Fluxus” and any of the Fluxus artists in the index of Visionary Film. Why are they not there? Are the Fluxfilmscompatible with Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde?
No they aren't. Sitney argues American cinema tries to show the inside the human mind, and the FluxFilms are concerned with democratizing art, and thus can't possibly have a central theme or objective like that to their work.
3. Chapter 4. What are some of the reasons suggested for Smith’s obsession with Maria Montez? What are some of your responses to the clips from the Montez films (especially Cobra Woman)?
Nostalgia for cinema during his childhood, as well as he could relate her essence of being to the drag movement; she was a diva. Her acting is very strange, a bit overacted but at the same time really interesting.
4. Chapter 5. What were some attributes of the New York art community in the 1960s, and what was the relationship between the economics of the time and the materials that Smith incorporated in to his work and films? [How could Smith survive and make art if he was so poor in the city so big they named it twice?]
The NYC art community was a tight knit group of artists. Rent was pretty inexpensive, and there were a lot of resources for a low budget filmmaker to work with.
5. Chapter 6. What problems emerged after the obscenity charges against Flaming Creatures in the relationship between Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas? What metaphor emerged from the conflict between Smith and Mekas? The film became synonymous with a movement that Jack Smith did not support. Mekas was made to seem like a saint, to be in a position where he was defending the film but he was really kicking it to death.
6. Chapter 7. What is John Zorn’s argument about Normal Love? How does his argument relate to some of the changes in the New York art world in the 1960s that we discussed in class? What are some arguments made about the influence of Jack Smith on other filmmakers (including Warhol)? The real show was Jack's filming. It correlates with the idea that the real art is the activity of creating it. That Jack influenced Fellini, and was copied to an extent by Warhol, though he clashed with him.
7. Chapter 9 and 10: In what ways did Jack Smith become “uncommercial film personified”? What is meant by the slogan, “no more masterpieces” and how did Smith resist commodification (or the production of art products)?
He would produce unfinished films so that no one could take them away from him, and use it for their own benefit.
8. How does Angell characterize the first major period of Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period, and what formal qualities did they share? What are some significant differences between Sleep and Empire? A minimalist, unmoving camera, with no editing. Sleep was heavily edited because the film camera Warhol used could only hold 4 minutes worth of film at a time, but Empire could hold 50 minutes.
9. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
They were kind of a film guest book, that personalities who came to the factory would sign in with.
10. How does Angell characterize the first period of sound films in Warhol’s filmmaking career? Who was Warhol’s key collaborator for the early sound films? What are some of the films from this period and what formal properties did they share? He emphasized that the actor was him/herself, as well as themselves performing. So he would throw the actors in situations where they were free to improvise. He worked with Ronald Tavel, and Edie Sedwick. These films could also be called documentaries.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Reading Response 3: Due February 8 @ Noon
1. Post your response to Brakhage's Prelude: Dog Star Man.
I really, almost violently, disliked Prelude: Dog Star Man. Perhaps its because I reject Brakhages mission to find the "untrained eye". I like the supposed "story" of the film, but while seeing the film I couldn't connect any of the dots. I liked the intro with the black screen, then it gradually becomes red reproducing the sunlight shining through your eyelids. In theory I am a big fan of the soft editing too. Which you would think would make the film easier to watch. I just thought it was too long, and way to fast. To keep my head from exploding I had to shut my mind out, and let the visuals work on me. I think its easy to see that Brakhage worked really hard to achieve the look he was going for in this film, but I just do not like it.
Sitney, “Apocalypses and Picaresques”
2. Why does Sitney argue that synechdoche plays a major role in Christopher Maclaine’s The End, and how does the film anticipate later achievements by Brakhage and the mythopoeic form? He uses metaphor throughout the film. The images have a direct and indirect relationship to the narrative, similar the film scratching of the blind mans eyes in Brakhages Reflections of the Black.
3. What are some similarities and differences between the apocalyptic visions of Christopher Maclaine and Bruce Conner? Both Maclaine and Conner use metaphor to create distance from the material, as well as a doom and gloom mood. Howerver, Conner relies on humor, eroticism, and violence to do this.
4. Why are the films of Ron Rice (The Flower Thief) and Robert Nelson (The Great Blondino) examples of Beat sensibility and what Sitney calls the picaresque form? It portrays the absurd, anarchistic, often infantile adventures of an innocent hero.
Bruce Jenkins, “Fluxfilms in Three False Starts.”
5. How and why were the “anti-art” Fluxfilms reactions against the avant-garde films of Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger. [Hint: Think about Fluxus in relation to earlier anti-art such as Dada, and Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain."] "Anti-Art" Fluxfilms relied on humor to attack the hierchies of cinema.
6. What does Jenkins mean by the democratization of production in the Fluxfilms? That the medium itself was easy and appropriate to replicate, and should be cheap to get copies of the art.
7. Why does Jenkins argue that Nam June Paik’s Zen for Film “fixed the material and aesthetic terms for the production of subsequent Fluxfilms”? How does it use the materials of the cinema? What kind of aesthetic experience does it offer?
It shows a black leader, a clear leader, sound and silence, to offer a zen like meditation on film form.
1. Post your response to Brakhage's Prelude: Dog Star Man.
I really, almost violently, disliked Prelude: Dog Star Man. Perhaps its because I reject Brakhages mission to find the "untrained eye". I like the supposed "story" of the film, but while seeing the film I couldn't connect any of the dots. I liked the intro with the black screen, then it gradually becomes red reproducing the sunlight shining through your eyelids. In theory I am a big fan of the soft editing too. Which you would think would make the film easier to watch. I just thought it was too long, and way to fast. To keep my head from exploding I had to shut my mind out, and let the visuals work on me. I think its easy to see that Brakhage worked really hard to achieve the look he was going for in this film, but I just do not like it.
Sitney, “Apocalypses and Picaresques”
2. Why does Sitney argue that synechdoche plays a major role in Christopher Maclaine’s The End, and how does the film anticipate later achievements by Brakhage and the mythopoeic form? He uses metaphor throughout the film. The images have a direct and indirect relationship to the narrative, similar the film scratching of the blind mans eyes in Brakhages Reflections of the Black.
3. What are some similarities and differences between the apocalyptic visions of Christopher Maclaine and Bruce Conner? Both Maclaine and Conner use metaphor to create distance from the material, as well as a doom and gloom mood. Howerver, Conner relies on humor, eroticism, and violence to do this.
4. Why are the films of Ron Rice (The Flower Thief) and Robert Nelson (The Great Blondino) examples of Beat sensibility and what Sitney calls the picaresque form? It portrays the absurd, anarchistic, often infantile adventures of an innocent hero.
Bruce Jenkins, “Fluxfilms in Three False Starts.”
5. How and why were the “anti-art” Fluxfilms reactions against the avant-garde films of Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger. [Hint: Think about Fluxus in relation to earlier anti-art such as Dada, and Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain."] "Anti-Art" Fluxfilms relied on humor to attack the hierchies of cinema.
6. What does Jenkins mean by the democratization of production in the Fluxfilms? That the medium itself was easy and appropriate to replicate, and should be cheap to get copies of the art.
7. Why does Jenkins argue that Nam June Paik’s Zen for Film “fixed the material and aesthetic terms for the production of subsequent Fluxfilms”? How does it use the materials of the cinema? What kind of aesthetic experience does it offer?
It shows a black leader, a clear leader, sound and silence, to offer a zen like meditation on film form.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sitney, “The Lyrical Film”
1. While Brakhage’s Reflections on Black is a trance film, why does Sitney argue that it anticipates the lyrical film?
The film uses techniques and materials that reflect on filmimaking as a form.
2. What are the key characteristics of the lyrical film (the first example of which was Anticipation of the Night).
Filmmaker behind the camera; as the 1st person protaganist. The film consists of movement that is percieved to be the visions of the filmmaker. Brings to light the limitations of the screen.
3. Which filmmaker was highly influential on Brakhage’s move to lyrical film in terms of film style, and why?
Marie Menken for her emphasis on rhythmic camera movements, as well as her direct influence on the image.
4. What does Sitney mean by "hard" and "soft" montage? What examples of each does he give from Anticipation of the Night? {Tricky question; read the entire passage very carefully.]
hard is a collision of shots; soft is a “preview” shot cut with camera movement or a drift in colors.
5. What are the characteristics of vision according to Brakhage’s revival of the Romantic dialectics of sight and imagination? [I’m not asking here about film style, I’m asking about Brakhage’s views about vision.] We’ve been taught to see things a certain way, but that’s not actually how we see them. The Romantic dialects were all about focusing on the argument of which is truer reality, or our perception of reality.
Sitney, “Major Mythopoeia”
6. Why does Sitney argue, “It was Brakhage, of all the major American avant-garde filmmakers, who first embraced the formal directives and verbal aesthetics of Abstract Expressionism.”
7. What archetypes are significant motifs in Dog Star Man, and which writers in what movement are associated with these four states of existence?
Divided Titan, Blake, Romantic
Sitney, "The Potted Psalm"
[This is an addition to the syllabus. After reading the introductory paragraphs, focus on the discussions of The Cage and Entr'acte (p. 47-54 and The Lead Shoes (p. 68-70).]
8. According to Sitney, what stylistic techniques are used to mark perspective and subjectivity in The Cage, and why is this an important development in the American avant-garde film?
Use of Radical lens techniques as metaphors for perception and consciousness that led to future cinematic ideas regarding perspective.
9. For Sitney, what are the key similarities and differences between Entr'acte and The Cage?
They both use camera distortion, and slapstick comedy but Entr’acte has more emphasis with snubbing their nose at the beourgoius(In the Dada tradition), while The Cage seems to be focusing more on the Artform.
10. How does Peterson synthesize the seemingly incongruent suggestions of his Workshop 20 students into The Lead Shoes?
Carried the editing principle into conception of the film.
11. Compare your response to The Lead Shoes with the descriptions by Sitney and Parker Tyler.
Their responses seem to be focused on the themes of the piece, where as mine was on a different level. I didn’t try to figure the story out, rather I just focused on how the shots were juxtaposed. I guess I assumed that the meanings behind the juxtaposition were convenient, and the real meat of the film is its sampling of what editing can offer.
1. While Brakhage’s Reflections on Black is a trance film, why does Sitney argue that it anticipates the lyrical film?
The film uses techniques and materials that reflect on filmimaking as a form.
2. What are the key characteristics of the lyrical film (the first example of which was Anticipation of the Night).
Filmmaker behind the camera; as the 1st person protaganist. The film consists of movement that is percieved to be the visions of the filmmaker. Brings to light the limitations of the screen.
3. Which filmmaker was highly influential on Brakhage’s move to lyrical film in terms of film style, and why?
Marie Menken for her emphasis on rhythmic camera movements, as well as her direct influence on the image.
4. What does Sitney mean by "hard" and "soft" montage? What examples of each does he give from Anticipation of the Night? {Tricky question; read the entire passage very carefully.]
hard is a collision of shots; soft is a “preview” shot cut with camera movement or a drift in colors.
5. What are the characteristics of vision according to Brakhage’s revival of the Romantic dialectics of sight and imagination? [I’m not asking here about film style, I’m asking about Brakhage’s views about vision.] We’ve been taught to see things a certain way, but that’s not actually how we see them. The Romantic dialects were all about focusing on the argument of which is truer reality, or our perception of reality.
Sitney, “Major Mythopoeia”
6. Why does Sitney argue, “It was Brakhage, of all the major American avant-garde filmmakers, who first embraced the formal directives and verbal aesthetics of Abstract Expressionism.”
7. What archetypes are significant motifs in Dog Star Man, and which writers in what movement are associated with these four states of existence?
Divided Titan, Blake, Romantic
Sitney, "The Potted Psalm"
[This is an addition to the syllabus. After reading the introductory paragraphs, focus on the discussions of The Cage and Entr'acte (p. 47-54 and The Lead Shoes (p. 68-70).]
8. According to Sitney, what stylistic techniques are used to mark perspective and subjectivity in The Cage, and why is this an important development in the American avant-garde film?
Use of Radical lens techniques as metaphors for perception and consciousness that led to future cinematic ideas regarding perspective.
9. For Sitney, what are the key similarities and differences between Entr'acte and The Cage?
They both use camera distortion, and slapstick comedy but Entr’acte has more emphasis with snubbing their nose at the beourgoius(In the Dada tradition), while The Cage seems to be focusing more on the Artform.
10. How does Peterson synthesize the seemingly incongruent suggestions of his Workshop 20 students into The Lead Shoes?
Carried the editing principle into conception of the film.
11. Compare your response to The Lead Shoes with the descriptions by Sitney and Parker Tyler.
Their responses seem to be focused on the themes of the piece, where as mine was on a different level. I didn’t try to figure the story out, rather I just focused on how the shots were juxtaposed. I guess I assumed that the meanings behind the juxtaposition were convenient, and the real meat of the film is its sampling of what editing can offer.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The lead shoes
I really actually liked The Lead Shoes, by Sidney Peterson, though I must admit I was glad when it ended. The Lead shoes was definitely in the same category as the surrealist un chien andelou, although there are definitely some differences. There are two separate storylines going on. The first a girl plays hopscotch on the street, and second a woman tends to a scuba man. The stories are juxtaposed to each other, and both at times run in reverse. The hopscotch kind of works as a metaphor for film, in that the squares can be traversed forward or backward. I feel that the dream logic worked better on me here than in Un Chien Andelou only because it feels less aggressive. For instance, I especially like the connection of the girls chalk marking the sidewalk in reverse to the scuba divers oxygen hose (at least I think that’s what it is); it’s a simple graphic match, but follows a dream logic; in that two times, and subject matters are connected but only barely. However in un Chien Andelou the content seems to be shocking for shocks sake. I can understand why the filmmakers would choose this technique but I think the shocking nature of it is an ineffective way of showing what surrealistic qualities film is capable of. Also adding to why I enjoyed The Lead Shoes, is its slow pace. The pace gives me an opportunity to see the connections, and build some ideas as to what I am seeing. I loved the lens distortion. I often have dreams where part of my vision is blurred. The score was appropriate with both the playfulness of the girl, and the surreal qualities of the woman and the scuba diver. There seemed to be many things going on in the score, which played with the images to bring a sensory overload. Things are firing off, and they aren’t specifically connected to the images but they seem to fit.
Monday, January 25, 2010
response: 1/25
Sitney, “Ritual and Nature”
1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?
A passive protagonist struggles with internal conflicts projected on an external world. The authors of the film also occupy the lead roles. The subjects of the film represent the filmmaker’s minds, and usually embark on a quest for identity.
2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?
Instead having a linear structure Choreography for the Camera takes a gesture, isolates it, and then uses it as a complete film form.
3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film?
Mythological
4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
Obviously his interpretation is more detailed since I only saw the film once and was inundated with all this new information on the avant garde movement. I was still trying to create (force) a linear plot on the film and in doing so I missed out on the aspects Sitney brings up. I didn’t, and still don’t quite understand the mythological aspects of the film, but I do see the transformation from Meshes to Ritual.
Sitney, “The Magus”
5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
What the camera sees is equivalent to what and how the filmmaker and subject (synonymous) view the object in the cameras path.
6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?
Whatever divinity the others obtain comes through the Magus. The mythic characters inside the Magus combine to turn the Magus into a god.
Scott MacDonald, “Cinema 16: Introduction”
7. What were some general tendencies in the programming at Cinema 16, and how were films arranged within individual programs?
Vogel chose to exhibit a variety of films that challenged conventional Hollywood. He would choose types of films the emphasized individuality- such as documentary and avant garde. Usually he would put specifically films in a package that would relate to each other, creating a conversation that would give context to the films as well as new meaning.
8. What kinds of venues rented Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks?
The venues included mostly colleges and film societies, as well as other Venues and individuals that presented alternative cinema.
9. What impact did Cinema 16 have on New York City film culture?
More people began to go to Cinema 16, which prompted a rise in Art House theatres, alternative T.V. programming, film courses taught at universities, as well as more alternative filmmakers.
Hans Richter, “A History of the Avantgarde”
10. What conditions in Europe made the avant-garde film movement possible after World War I?
The conditions were political and economic unrest, opposition against conventional film routine, and the artistic climate in Europe.
11. If the goal of Impressionist art is “Nature Interpreted by Temperament,” what are the goals of abstract art?
The goals of abstract art are to overcome pure individualistic emotional expression and to find instead the way for the expression of universal feeling.
1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?
A passive protagonist struggles with internal conflicts projected on an external world. The authors of the film also occupy the lead roles. The subjects of the film represent the filmmaker’s minds, and usually embark on a quest for identity.
2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?
Instead having a linear structure Choreography for the Camera takes a gesture, isolates it, and then uses it as a complete film form.
3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film?
Mythological
4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
Obviously his interpretation is more detailed since I only saw the film once and was inundated with all this new information on the avant garde movement. I was still trying to create (force) a linear plot on the film and in doing so I missed out on the aspects Sitney brings up. I didn’t, and still don’t quite understand the mythological aspects of the film, but I do see the transformation from Meshes to Ritual.
Sitney, “The Magus”
5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
What the camera sees is equivalent to what and how the filmmaker and subject (synonymous) view the object in the cameras path.
6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?
Whatever divinity the others obtain comes through the Magus. The mythic characters inside the Magus combine to turn the Magus into a god.
Scott MacDonald, “Cinema 16: Introduction”
7. What were some general tendencies in the programming at Cinema 16, and how were films arranged within individual programs?
Vogel chose to exhibit a variety of films that challenged conventional Hollywood. He would choose types of films the emphasized individuality- such as documentary and avant garde. Usually he would put specifically films in a package that would relate to each other, creating a conversation that would give context to the films as well as new meaning.
8. What kinds of venues rented Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks?
The venues included mostly colleges and film societies, as well as other Venues and individuals that presented alternative cinema.
9. What impact did Cinema 16 have on New York City film culture?
More people began to go to Cinema 16, which prompted a rise in Art House theatres, alternative T.V. programming, film courses taught at universities, as well as more alternative filmmakers.
Hans Richter, “A History of the Avantgarde”
10. What conditions in Europe made the avant-garde film movement possible after World War I?
The conditions were political and economic unrest, opposition against conventional film routine, and the artistic climate in Europe.
11. If the goal of Impressionist art is “Nature Interpreted by Temperament,” what are the goals of abstract art?
The goals of abstract art are to overcome pure individualistic emotional expression and to find instead the way for the expression of universal feeling.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
For me trying to interpret Kenneth Angers Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome will just end in confusion. I’m not familiar with most of the mythic characters within the film, and can only begin to understand the film’s point. That’s not to say I wasn’t entertained with Pleasure Dome’s trippy editing techniques, its provocative content and use of fantastical color. I can’t help but think the film is about mind altering substances- whether it be drugs, or alcohol- and their affects on identity and being. Without the knowledge of Alexander Crowley’s work of which this film is apparently based, I don’t think I could come to any other conclusion. To put it mildly, the visuals of this film are bizarre. The colors are plucked some kind of LSD induced dream. They are bright, neon, and I could never tell where they were coming from. The backgrounds of the film are mostly black sheets, although sometimes their dreamy landscapes. My main problem with the film was its running time. Toward the end, the characters seemed to be repeating actions, which made for a weird viewing experience. The visuals and editing were always in flux, but it seemed that the plot was going nowhere.
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