Reading Response 7: Due TUESDAY November 23

Please note due date, not due before class this week but by Tuesday of next week (to compensate for the late posting).

1. First, as requested earlier, post your response to Peggy Awhesh's Martina's Playhouse.

I really enjoyed "Martina's Playhouse", it definitely had a home movie feel to it, this gave it that Punk vibe. Where they grabbed super 8mm cameras and most with little or no training and made films quickly and cheaply. It also reminded me Fluxus in the way that anyone can make a film or art and of Warhol how he set up the camera and let whatever happened just unfold in front of it.

Keller and Ward, "Matthew Barney and the Paradox of the Neo-Avant-Garde Blockbuster"

2. 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?

Since the late 60's,performance art has developed out of and in relation to sculptural practices- principally minimalism-leading to the destabilization of sculpture as an object both (physical and discursive). this dissolution of sculpture has been enormously productive of and for performance, so while Barney's claim to his films generative effects relies rhetorically on the instability of sculpture as a category, to claim performance-and film- as sculptural, and to see them as " a family of objects", as Barney doe, might be curiously retrograde. Also, The props that Barney crafted for his "films" are sold as sculptures to collectors or Museums such as the Guggenheim.


3. 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?

Minimalist sculpture is minimalist in a similar way of Warhol or Fluxus. They all believe in the process being more important than the actual art itself, but in different ways. Sculpture is more about the emphasis on physicality and endurance and what it takes to actually accomplish a finished piece, which in turn makes the art making process more important than the art. Warhol and Fluxus filmmakers were about setting up the camera and letting things unfold naturally in front of it.

4. 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 role of the body in the works of Acconci and Burden were part of the art itself. They sought to push there bodies to limit while making art. Such as getting shot in the arm in "Shoot" and sitting on the ladder for 6 hours in an attempt
to save themselves from electrocution like seen in "220". Their works were mediated performances that emphasized duration and endurance over commodificaton.

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?

They call their works "Blockbuster" in relation to the gallery art world because of the
high production cost and the elaborate, eye popping sets and props used in the making of these films. Also the protagonist of these films goes through many struggles and pains in their films to end up victorious in the end like seen in the Cremaster films. This is similar to the blockbuster films of Hollywood.


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?

The term "mode of film practice" refers to the cluster of historically bound institutions,
practices and concepts that form a context within which cinematic media are used.
The authors note that a mode of film practice is not limited tot he aims and methods of production, but extends to distribution, venues of exhibition and viewing strategies that characterize each mode and distinguish one from another. Art cinema and Hollywood films are two famous examples of non-experimental modes of film practice. The contrast between the two modes extends to the aims behind behind the aesthetic and circumstances under which they can be seen and understood.

7. What are some of the key differences between the experimental and gallery art worlds in terms of production and distribution?
As far a production goes for Experimental the projects are more personal, independent, amatuer, or artisanal. Film historian Ed Small calls experimental filmmakking "radically acallaborative" meaning the filmmaker not the director, writer or cinematographer controls every aspect of the films production. Beginning with the initial idea all the way through post, basically the filmmaker is in control.In Avant-Garde cinema, film is the center of the artistic practice.Artists' film production has become increasingly collaborative since it emerged as a recognizable category of film art in the 1960's. Some work even approaches the the scale of mainstream filmmaking,such as Matthew Barney's, Cremaster series.
In artists' cinema, film is one medium among many, they are often part of a body of related works in a variety of media. Like sculptural objects, photographs, drawings, woven pieces and musical recordings just to name a few.
In regards to distribution Experimental uses some commercial practices of distribution, like rentals, which don't bring in much money for the filmmakers. Art gallery films are more aimed at being sold rather than rented, which can lead to the economic success of these artists.

Reading Response 6: Due Nov. 3 @ 5 p.m.

Michael Zryd, "The Academy of the Avant-Garde : A Relationship of Dependence and Resistance"

1. What changes in the American avant-garde are associated with the rise of structural film and the creation of Anthology Film Archives in 1970? How does these changes affect:

a. The participants (filmmakers, critics) in the avant-garde community?

The artists' authenticity clashes with the pretentiousness of critics and academics. In this respect, the complaint against academization is directed less against the fact that avant-garde films are taught in universities that an the language of that instruction, especially the rise of theory and it's specialized terminology in the 70's and 80's, which many artists saw as an intimidating barrier to institutional recognition. There was a struggle between those who wee embraced by universities and those who were not.

b. Canon formation (which films are considered “important,” and taught in classes).

Seen as a force of old guard filmmakers and those favored by academic institutions at the expense of young, developing artists many of which were emerging from art schools.


c. Distribution and exhibition practices.

Distribution and exhibition was on a move from the theater to the classroom. the dominant percentage of rentals switched from nan-academic to academic sites.

2. Briefly explain the debate between autonomy and engagement within the avant-garde. How does this debate play out in the 1980s?

The autonomy or self governing of avant-garde became one that bred discontent due to the fact that only certain films were highly regarded and programmed at academic institutions leaving the filmmakers that were not programmed upset with the institutions.

3. What are the negative aesthetic connotations of the “academic avant-garde film”? What is the major critique from new filmmakers who emerged in the 1980s?

The negative aesthetic connotations were that the academic avant-garde filmmakers were making films that were becoming repetitive or copy catting form and structure instead or being creative and coming up some with something new and fresh of their own devices.

4. What are the five legacies of the academicization of the avant-garde?

1) The maintenance (to the point of dependence) of distribution co-ops, as the classroom became the dominant site of exhibition.

2)Regionalization, as centers of avant-garde film activity expanded beyond New York to multiple regional sites.

3) Publication mechanisms for the writing, and dissemination of the history, criticism, and theory of avant-garde.

4) Employment for filmmakers as faculty or technical personnel.

5) Development of 2nd and 3rd generation students becoming critics, teacher, programmers, and archivists.

Marc Masters, “The Offenders: No Wave Cinema”

5. Name at least three similarities between the punk music scene and the punk/no-wave filmmaking scene, in terms of technology, style, and community.

1) The musicians and the filmmakers both exhibited their works at the same places like CBGB's.

2) They would both switch up roles or jobs in their art making processes.

3) Both would learn their tools of their particular trade as as they go.

6. What were the exhibition venues for punk/no-wave films such as those by Beth B. and Scott B., and how did the venues affect film content and style?

The exhibition venues for the punk/no wave films were clubs like CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, the audience members consisted of punkers who were usually drinking. They could be loud and belligerent and if they were interested in the film the filmmakers knew they were doing something right.

7. What are some similarities and differences between the American avant-garde we have studied so far and the Punk or No Wave filmmaking in the late 1970s? Address the following areas:

a. Aesthetic similarities and differences (which filmmakers do the cite as influences, which filmmakers do they reject?)

They were trying to blur the line between reality and performance (sometimes by using non- professional actors) like a throwback to Warhol's films as well as using low grade fimstock like Jack Smith.

b. Technological similarities and differences

They both went for quick production of their art. The No-Wavers used Super 8 so they could shoot quickly and screen instantly.

c. Economic similarities and differences

They both went for cheap means of production for instance using the Super 8 camera.

d. Social similarities and differences

They both came from the same social scene one that was anti conformist with a feeling of angst.


Janet Cutler, “Su Friedrich, Breaking the Rules”

8. In what ways does Friedrich “break the rules” in terms of mixing filmmaking practices? How have different critics approached her different films? What kinds of avant-garde sub-genres has she explored?

She shot her versions of the psychodrama/ trance film, structural film and her diary film. She also did narrative and documentary films. She broke the rules by employing methodology from various genres and styles of avant- garde films and made them her own in her own unique way.

9. What are some of the distinguishing characteristics of “Sink or Swim”?

In "Sink or Swim" Friedrich employs music for the first time (the Shubert song and the ABC ditty) also 26 scenes which parallel the letters of the alphabet in reverse order, some have wound and some are silent, and some include autobiographical voice-over.The film was a chronicle of her life and her feelings towards her father.

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.

Reading Response 2: Due Sept. 29 @ 5 p.m.

1. Post a brief response to one of the following Brakhage films: The Wold Shadow, Window Water Baby Moving, Dog Star Man Part 2, Dog Star Man Part 3.
The Wold Shadow by Stan Brakhage took my by surprise. I liked it more the second viewing and felt I got more of what Brakhage was going for as well. I think you need several viewings sometimes to let yourself go and be in the moment.Although there was no movement in the images of the forest except the various lighting, shadows, colors and textures are what I think make everything come together in the film. The screen seemed to come alive rhythmically, almost dance, a sequence of images the forest and the paintings somehow had an aural quality to them. Even though the image changed from the video(photo?) of the forest to the paintings they seemed to seamlessly blend together. It made me look at the forest in a new and fresh way, maybe with the "untutored eye" like Brakhage wanted.

Sitney, “Apocalypses and Picaresques”

2. Why does Sitney argue that synecdoche plays a major role in Christopher Maclaine’s, The End and how does the film anticipate later achievements by Brakhage and the mythopoeic form? (Implicit in this question: what is synecdoche? It is a figure of speech, but what kind?)
Sitney says, "Synecdoche plays a major role in McClaine's film, as does the elipsis. the combination of picture and sound at the conclusion of the next episode exemplifies the latter." I think a synecdoche means a part of a whole or a sub set of something.McClaine's,The End has a tragic hero protagonist like the mythopaethic form that Brakhage is associated with.

3. What are some similarities and differences between the apocalyptic visions of Christopher Maclaine and Bruce Conner?
They both have a vision of doom but Sitney says that unlike Maclaine, "Conner is not naive in his vision of doom."Both use montage style with non linear non narrative structure."Both film-makers extended the technical discoveries of their early woks in films that were less ambitious an prophetic but no less exquisite."


Bruce Jenkins, “Fluxfilms in Three False Starts.”

4. 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."]
I feel like the article is saying that Anger,Bailie and Brakhage felt as thought these films weren't as serious or credible as theirs. They thought their works had purpose and meaning as compared to the Fluxfilms where most of seemingly simple ,light hearted, or humoristic could be a a long take of a tree.

5. What does Jenkins mean by the democratization of production in the Fluxfilms?
I think he is saying that these Fluxfilms with the long takes of simple everyday actions, expressions ,etc... can be made by anyone.

6. Critic Jonas Mekas divided avant-garde filmmaking into the "slow" and the "quick"; which filmmakers were associated with "slow" and which filmmakers were associated with "quick"? Which Fluxus films were "slow" and "quick" (name one of each)? The filmakers who fit in the "slow" category were Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, George Brecht and Nan June Pak. Some "slow" films are Zen For Film and Entrance-Exit. "Quick" were George Maciunas, Wolf Vostal, and Eric Anderson.Some "quick" films are Sun in Your Head and Opus 74 version 2.

7. How is the Fluxus approach to the cinema different from both Godard and Brakhage? Jenkins says, the Fluxfilms approach, "which maintained an immaculate conception of the cinema that was at once chldllike and cunning" while Brakhage who redirected the medium inward toward the personal, private realms of intimate experience and the visions of the camera I/eye and Goddard who opened up the narrative feature film to varied content spearheaded new cinemas.

8. 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?
I think Jenkins is saying that anything goes, as seen by this 7 minute film of a white screen. Anything you want to make art can be art. The perception is left up to the viewer. It's kind of funny, it seems like Paik is poking fun at avant-garde films, but the film actually makes sense. The warmly lit screen for 7 minutes can and did put me in a zen like place, thus the title.

Reading Response 1: Due Sept. 22 @ 5 p.m.

If you haven't already, write a brief response to either Fireworks or Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome on your blog. Then respond to the following questions.

Sitney, “Ritual and Nature”

1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?
Some characteristics of the American Psychodrama in the 1940's are dreams, dance, ritual and sex. The images on screen alongside the sound(s)(if there is any) makes you feel as if you are in a trance or dreamlike state.This is why they are called "trance" films, and they are more about the visual experience rather than the narrative. Another characteristic is the use super-impositions and slow and fast motions through camera movements . Sitney says'"Trance films tend to resist specific interpretation." The protagansist (many times the filmmaker) is a passive one who deals with internal struggles.This was seen in the Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome and Meshes of the Afternoon.

2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?
Sitney says, " Maya Deren introduced the possiblity of isolating a single gesture as a complete film form." This is called "imagist" structure, these films can be as simple as a man banging his fist on a glass tabletop as seen in the film by Boultenhouse.


3. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
I feel like our experiences with Ritual in Transfigured Time were pretty similar but I feel like he got much more out of it than I did. I had a hard time deriving meaning from the film, although I feel like the repitition of images , the slow motion and freeze frames really gave me a sense of time being slowed down and exaggerated.


Sitney, “The Magus”

4. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
I think it is saying, Deren and Anger want to be one with the camera. because the camera that is the receptive mind that interacts with our minds.Sitney says, that the main object or subject is shown on screen then the other objects that pertain to it appear as well. Making the viewer place the two together.

5. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome? How does his reading of the film compare / contrast with your own experience of the film?
The ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome according to Sitney ,is that Magus becomes a redeemed man. Which I really didn't get, I felt like there was something shady going on with Magus at the beginning but then I kind of lost touch of any meaning to the story towards the middle through to the end. The repetition, all of the characters and colors made it hard for me to find any resolution in the film, but were beautiful and entrancing none the less.


Sitney, “The Lyrical Film”

6. What are the key characteristics of the lyrical film (the first example of which was Anticipation of the Night).
Sitney says,"There is no longer a hero in lyrical film" and "the lyrical film postulates the film-maker behind the camera as the first- person protagonist."Lots of color and movement.

7. 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.]
Sitney brings up the fact that Brakhage accurately chooses the verb "to become". He speaks of the opening collsion of day and night shots, and how major scenes blend into one another in rhetoric of becoming. I had a hard time fully grasping this one.

8. 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.]
Sitney says,"His sense of vision presumes that we have been taught to be unconscious of most of what we see. For him seeing includes what the open eyes view, including essential movements and dilation's involved in that primary mode of seeing, as well as the shifts of focus, what the minds eye sees in visual memory and in dreams( he calls them "brain movies"), and the perpetual play of shapes and colors on the closed eyelid and occasionally the eye surface("closed-eye vision"). The imagination includes the simultaneous functioning of all of these modes."

Sitney, “Major Mythopoeia”

9. 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.”
Because, Sitney argues,"With his flying camera and fast cutting, and by covering the surface of celluloid with paint and scratches, Brakhage drove the cinematic image into the space of Abstract Expressionism and relegated the conventional depth of focus to a function of the artistic will, as if to say "the deep axis will appear only when I find it necessary."

10. What archetypes are significant motifs in Dog Star Man, and which writers in what movement are associated with these four states of existence?
1)Innocence:Babies
2)Experience:growing up/sexual frustrations
3)Damned:Domination of Nature
4) Liberated:Eden

Writers like Witman, Blake, and Pound all linked with the Romanticism Movement are associated with these four states of existance. Sitney writes, "Brakhage like Blake, describes the sources of renewal as an innocence of the senses and erotic union..."