Reading Response 5: Due Oct. 27 @ 5 p.m.

Sitney, “Structural Film”
Visionary Film, Chapter 12

You may find it helpful to read the first few pages of the other assigned reading for this week (James Peterson, “Rounding Up the Usual Suspects”) before tackling this chapter, focusing particularly on p. 72-76. Read that overview, which will review key concepts from the first half of this class, then tackle this chapter and answer the following questions.

1. How is structural film different from the tradition of Deren/Brakhage/Anger, and what are its four typical characteristics? What is meant by “apperceptive strategies”?

Four characteristics of the Strucutural film are its fixed camera position(fixed frame from the viewers perspective), the flicker effect, loop printing, and rephotography off the screen.Very seldom will you find all four characteristics in a single film, and there are structural films which modify these usual elements.

Definition of APPERCEPTION

1: introspective self-consciousness

2: mental perception; especially : the process of understanding something perceived in terms of previous experience

Apperceptive strategies Sitney says, "is cinema of the mind rather than the eye".

2. 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.

It seems that Sitney is saying the central metaphor of structural film has to do with the minds eye instead of the perception we try to interpret through tour actual eye.

3. Why does Sitney argue that Andy Warhol is the major precursor to the structural film?

Sitney says Warhol made the prolific of footage the central fact of all of his early films, and he advertised his indifference to direction, photography and lighting. That he let things unfold in front of the camera naturally by "simply turning on the camera an walking away."

4. 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?

Warhol defines his art "anti-romantically". Pop art, especially as he practiced it, was a repudiation of the processes, theories, and myths of Abstract Expressionism, A Romantic school.He made himself familiar with the works of Brakhage, Markopoulos, anger and especially Smith., but Warhol turned his genius for parody and reduction against the American avant-garde film itself.

b. Why does Sitney argue that spiritually the distance between Warhol and structural filmmakers such as Michael Snow or Ernie Gehr cannot be reconciled?

Warhol's fixed camera was at first an outrage, later an irony, until the content of his films became so compelling to him that he abandoned the fixed camera for a species of in-the-camera editing. In the work of Michael Snow and Ernie Gehr, the camera is fixed in a mystical contemplation of a portion of s[ace. Spiritually the distance between these poles cannot be reconciled.

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?

The term Ontology comes from Greek and means "to be". So I'm guessing “conscious ontology of the viewing experience” has a similar meaning in that the viewer takes what they see on the screen and interpret in a way that their mind seems fit. I believe this relates to Warhol's films because this is the way that I watch and relate to his films, by putting together the pieces in my mind. The same as with Structural films.


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?

Sitney says, "the Strucural film is not simply an outgrowth of the lyric.It is an attempt to answer Warhol's attack by converting his tactics into the tropes of the response."

5. On p. 352 Sitney begins an analysis of the Wavelength rooted in conveying the experience of watching it; this style of analysis is admittedly hard to read without having seen the film (we’ll discuss this style of analysis in class). Try your best so that you can answer the following question related to p. 354: What metaphor is crucial to Sitney’s and Annette Michelson’s interpretation of Michael Snow’s Wavelength?

Annette Michelson finds this film a metaphor for "consciousness itself". I believe that the changing of night to day and all of the other things seen changing throughout time in the background can convey this consciousness, the fact that we are aware of our environment and surroundings although sometimes we must look a little deeper to find it.

For the rest of the chapter, focus on the discussions of the following films:

Paul Sharits: T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G

George Landow: Film in Which There Appear Edge Lettering, Sprocket Holes, Dirt Particles, Etc.

James Peterson, “Rounding Up the Usual Suspects”
[Found in "Kreul Articles" folder on your flash drives]

The following questions ask about three reading strategies for the minimal strain of the avant-garde. They are all previewed on p. 77. Your answers should incorporate details from the subsequent discussions of them (see page numbers in the parentheses).

6. What is the reading strategy associated with the “phenomenological schema” (include details and examples from 77-80)?

“Phenomenological schema” can be seen as "the link between cinema and consciousness, and his films represent " an inquiry into the modes of seeing, recording, selecting, composing, remembering and projecting" "For Michelson the clearest example is Snow's, One Second in Montreal (1969), in which the flow of time is somehow inscribed in the filmic image, immediately given, perceptible in our experience of it" This can be related to any long take with little dramatic action.

7. What is the reading strategy associated with the “art-process schema” (include details and examples from 80-85)?

The “art-process schema” is somewhere between art and life an example given is the film Mothlight by Stan Brakhage, which one can derive meaning on several levels.

8. What is the reading strategy associated with the “anti-illusion schema” (include details and examples from 85-90)?

Derived from the art criticism of Clement Greenberg, “anti-illusion schema” is any element on the screen that does not produce an impression of three dimensional space is read as a demonstration of the inherent flatness of the cinematic image

Reading Response 4: Due Oct. 13 @ 5 p.m.

First, write a brief response to the Ann Buchanan screen test. How is it similar to / different from the Fluxus films screened in class?

The film was like the fluxus films in that, these screen test was a film that anyone could do, and also the subject matter was really the same. These two types of films seem very relevant to each other. Watching a close up of Ann Buchanan for three minutes straight while she is trying no to blink or changing any facial expression at all, wasnt hard because she was quite beautiful but it made me feel uncomfortable for her seeing her eyes tear up and you could also see her swallow at that moment like she had a lump in her throat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhYfCWd5XQ0 (I would advise muting the recently added music track).

You might find this blog post by JJ Murphy (my advisor back in Madison) interesting and/or helpful
http://www.jjmurphyfilm.com/blog/?p=82


J. Hoberman, Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Underground

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?

Some of the venues include the Living Theater(where Cinema 16 had already programmed experimental films),the Charles, the Thalia,,the New Yorker, and the Bleeker Street Cinema. Some unique characteristics of the Charles offered an eclectic program. Astaire-Rogers musicals alternated with Italian Neorislitic dramas.

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?

Mekas included Ron Rice, Jack Smith and Ken Jacobs. In the article Mekas says in regards to Balderian Cinema, "there is now a cinema for the few too terrible and too decadent for an average man in any organized culture." These films were treading on the verge of perversity.

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?

The Pocket Theater and Grammercy Arts were shut down. The same day as the second arrest of Mekas, Scorpio Rising was shut down because of breif moment of male frontal nudity.Getz was convicted by an all woman jury.


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? (You may choose to add your own observations of the film based on our screening.)

Some defining characteristics of the Tavel /Warhol collaboration include long takes with few camera angles. Edie Sedgwick stole the show for me because she was a beautiful woman in the foreground of the film. She was also the only female in the film, brilliant of Warhol and Tavis to put her in the film in the front right. otherwise there was an overkill of testosterone in a really long scene.

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?

The films began being shown at different festival's many of which involved hallucinogens and such. Every magazine in the country was doing articles on the films, and the stars of the movement. There was a huge word of mouth buzz also. All of these things contributed to the crossover.One of the biggest and most highly praised (by critics) films was Warhol's Chelsea Girls, but there also naysayers such as Bosley Crowther who adamantly insists Warhol is pushing things too far.

6. Why was Mike Getz an important figure in the crossover of the underground?

Getz was the guy found guilty on obscenity charges for showing Scorpio Rising, he managed the Cinema a 500 seat movie house in Hollywood.
He helped helped by showing that these films could be money makers, by distributing underground films as packages to more prestigious theaters, the idea was an instant success.

7. How do Hoberman and Rosenbaum characterize Warhol’s post-1967 films?

Hoberman and Rosenbaum characterize Warhol's post '67 films as being mostly "flesh films" this was a big trend in this period. Nudity usually brought in more money and created more of a buzz about the film and filmmaker.

Robert Pike, “Pros and Cons of Theatrical Bookings”
[in folder: notes_from_the_creative_film_society_pros_and_cons_of_theatrical_booking]

8. What were some of the advantages and disadvantages to the move from non-theatrical to theatrical bookings for experimental films?

Pike Says, the advantages are money...for the first time a filmmaker can not not only recoup his out of pocket production costs, especially the ones with female nudes in them.Another advantage prestige a filmmaker can rise from nothing to something in a matter of months" and"the disadvantages are: wear and tear on the prints...a one week booking at a theater can do more damage to a print than a dozen normal nontheatrical single screening bookings, partly because most often 16mm theater size projectors are poorly designed and scorch, scratch, and rip films in a way that almost negates the monetary advantage of the longer play date;(2) lack of respect by the exhibitors---and projectionists---for the physical prints and the subject matter, which adds to the sloppy handling of the films, as well as the psychological linking of New American Cinema with sexploitation."

9. What issues developed concerning non-exclusive and exclusive representation by distributors?

Non-exclusive means that the distribution of the film may be through many distributors and leads to loyalty of the customers. Exclusive means that the one distributor will be able to show the film therefore having a monopoly on it and raising viewing rates to a price that they choose.


10. What problems did the Creative Film Society run into with devious theater owners?

Rivoli Theaters was using false advertising to get people in their doors. They advertised films that were being played at the Uptown Theater but were really showing "beaver" films.

Reading Response 3: Due Oct. 7 @ 5 p.m.

1. Respond to Chieko Shiomi's, Dissappearing Music For Face. How doe the minimalism and duration of the film affect your engagement with the image?

The length of the film and the minimalism on the screen really made me go off into another place almost a daydream. I scanned the entire screen and noticed that the image was a really slow motion extreme close up of a mouth going from smile to lips closed.As I stared at the image, it became blurred and the image took on a new sense of calm to me, that is when the dreamy surreal experience began to take over.

How does the film relate to the following issues:

a) Maciunas definfiton of art vs. his definition of fluxus art-amusement?

Maciunas started the fluxus movement and believed that art should be something that could be made by anyone. This film definitely falls into this category it's simplicity and quirkiness alone makes this film in line with fluxfilms.

b) art as object vs.art as performance and activity?

The fluxus filmmakers were against art as an object. they believed art should not be bought or sold, not something to be mass produced and make "gobs "of money off of and exploited like everything else good. They believed that the actual performance or making of the art was actually the whole reason and pleasure of art. Like when the point was raised that they should be filming Jack Smith while making his films, that was the real art.

2. Look up “Fluxus” and any of the Fluxus artists in the index of Visionary Film. Why are they not there? Are the Fluxfilms compatible with Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde?

I believe the reason that "Fluxus" and the artists associated with the movement aren't in the text because Sitney believes that Avant-Garde is a true and pure art form and that these films can be done by anyone implying they are not real artists.


Mary Jordan, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis


3. 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)?

Some of the reasons suggested for Smith's obsession with Maria Montez is that she was a Dominican woman who came here to America by herself and made it big as Universals Studio's glamor girl. She was a goddess to Smith and he used to watch her as an unhappy child. When asked if he got restless in the hospital bed dying of AIDS , he said no "he just thinks about Maria Montez reclining, and that no one could recline like Maria Montez".In Cobra Woman, Montez's beauty and screen presence mixed with the gorgeous vivid colors make her the Hollywood Technicolor leading lady of the 1940's.

4. 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 art community in NY during the sixties was about being nonconformist, kind of an "anti" feeling. Smith was a poor man who didn't seem to care about money and the problems that come with it. He survived off of a block of cheese and crackers every day. He viewed art as something that shouldn't be collected or sold. He said, "people who partook in the buying and selling of art were missing the point of art entirely. Jack would use things he found in the garbage or on the side of the road in his art, he would see beauty in things that others may no have.

5. 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)?

Warhol really admired Jack's works and said, the only artist he would imitate is Jack Smith. John Waters said, Jack did it all first and in a small time frame with little money, and others basically stole his ideas and went on to be rich and famous, just as Waters did.

6. What is meant by the slogan, “no more masterpieces” and how did Smith resist commodification (or the production of art products)?

Smith believed that art should not be a commodity and that it should neither be collected or sold. He very adamantly thought that people who were doing so were actually missing the entire point of art.

Callie Angell, “Andy Warhol, Filmmaker”
[This can be found in the Kreul Articles folder from your flash drive]

7. 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?
In the beginning of Warhol's career he was known for silent minimalist films that were very long static shots. One was a movie named Sleep, which was a 5 hour and 21 minute shot of a man sleeping. Another was called Empire, this film was an 8 hour shot of the Empire State Building. These films were rarely shown and and widely considered "unwatchable", nevertheless achieved instant fame for their extraordinary length and unprecedented lack of action.


8. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
The Screen Tests were a sort of guest book for the Factory from 1964-1966 and "included artists, filmmakers, writers, and critics, gallery owners, actors, dancers, socialites, pop music stars, poets and , of course, Factory regulars and Superstars" These would be filmed with the subjects instructed to be as still as possible in order to create the illusion of a still photo in the moving medium of film. I think that's a pretty cool idea. Many of these went on to be included in films like, the 50 most beautiful women or the 50 most beautiful boys. Also, these screen tests would sometimes be later used to do his paintings.

9. 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?
The first period of sound based films in Warhol's filmmaking career were more performance based, more improvisational. He would do odd things like purposefully not let the actors learn their lines so that it would give the performance a less calculated feel. One of Warhol's key collaborators was Ronald Tavel who was an integral writer for his films during this period. Some of the films from this period were Vinyl, Kitchen, Drunk,Paul Swan, Camp and My Hustler. Most of these films were performance based films of everyday activities like in Drunk, where the film is two reels of filmmaker Emile de Antonio drinking a bottle of scotch and passing out.