Monday, January 25, 2010
The Lead Shoes |riˈspäns|
When we began watching Sidney Peterson today I really liked his play on forward and reverse motion and simple camera tricks in The Cage. It seemed very coherent as a whole. As we continued to watch I picked up on some elements that be to be arbitrary or over used. This may just be me projecting other stereotypes about avant-garde film in the present state upon this film, but to me the repeated shots of the nude woman seemed a bit gratuitous. Not that I mind seeing a naked woman run across the screen 5 times in a row in slow motion, but it made me think more about the shots relevance. When we moved onto The Lead Shoes i found myself taking every shot with a grain of salt. It seemed that I could really tell that this film, as opposed to The Cage was though up by students as well as Sidney. It made me thing a lot about the stigmas of American Avant-garde films being just recreations of the European films of the 40's and 50's. The Lead Shoes seemed to fall into this category for me. The most obvious example was the ending. A man ripping apart what looks like a loaf of french bread sitting outside on a sidewalk at a small table. It seemed like a shot out of a french avant-garde film. I'm no 1940's california historian but the mise-en-scene and stylistic choice seems out of place to me.
Avant garde readings - |ˈaˌvänt| |ˈgärd|
1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?
Psychodramas of the 40's through the 50's dealt with issues of sexual identity, dreams, dance, and ritual practices.
2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?
Sitney describes this type of form as "isolating a single gesture as a complete film form. The idea is based of the poetic form of Imagism, and specifically it's dealings with movement.
3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film?
Ritual in Transfigured Time is a transition between a psychodrama and a trance film. Sitney says this is the beginning of the architectonic or mythopoeic form.
4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
Clearly Sitney's interpretation is much more in-depth and researched than and film students first viewing of the film, but I did catch onto some of the concepts that he covered. I found the multiple views of the same action very interesting. Most would understand its a study in time by the title but the reversed/slowed/repeated actions really drive that into a viewers understanding of the film. I did not make the connection to cubism or what Sitney calls "cubism in time", but as an art student as well as a film major the idea really intrigues me.
Sitney, “The Magus”
5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
I believe I have an older version of the book and cannot find the paragraph that starts this that phase. Sorry.
6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?
'All energy contain comes through the Magus.'
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?
Amos Vogel believed in juxapossitioning different forms styles and ideas. When putting together a program there would be elements of avant-garde, documentary,scientific and even education films to clash against each other's different natures.
8. What kinds of venues rented Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks?
Macdonald explains the the viewing of a film like Anger's Fireworks would be ridiculous to even consider in a convention movie house of its time (1947). Cinema 16 was a place where films like this could play without the censorship of New York City laws. Many other art houses followed suite within the next decade which allowed these films to be played under the radar of censorship.
9. What impact did Cinema 16 have on New York City film culture?
As mentioned earlier Cinema 16 inspired many other venues to battle censorship and play films that wouldn't be able to see the light of day in conventional movie theaters. Not only was Cinema 16 an exhibition venue, but it also distributed these film for home viewing before any other companies would produce these films. These two factors contributed to the growing avant-garde film community is NYC throughout the next 2 decades.
Hans Richter, “A History of the Avant-garde”
10. What conditions in Europe made the avant-garde film movement possible after World War I?
Richter describes the period fate the first World War as a climates of "social, political and cultural unrest." Inflation allowed new ideas to filter into popular culture and many artistic movement because to shape cinematography more extensively than any other period of film history even in comparison to the present.
11. If the goal of Impressionist art is “Nature Interpreted by Temperament,” what are the goals of abstract art?
The goal of abstract art is to find a way through a medium to express an over all feeling rather than the small scope of a individual's point of view. it was the idea getting rid of the uncontrolled and arbitrary stylistic choices.
Psychodramas of the 40's through the 50's dealt with issues of sexual identity, dreams, dance, and ritual practices.
2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?
Sitney describes this type of form as "isolating a single gesture as a complete film form. The idea is based of the poetic form of Imagism, and specifically it's dealings with movement.
3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film?
Ritual in Transfigured Time is a transition between a psychodrama and a trance film. Sitney says this is the beginning of the architectonic or mythopoeic form.
4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
Clearly Sitney's interpretation is much more in-depth and researched than and film students first viewing of the film, but I did catch onto some of the concepts that he covered. I found the multiple views of the same action very interesting. Most would understand its a study in time by the title but the reversed/slowed/repeated actions really drive that into a viewers understanding of the film. I did not make the connection to cubism or what Sitney calls "cubism in time", but as an art student as well as a film major the idea really intrigues me.
Sitney, “The Magus”
5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
I believe I have an older version of the book and cannot find the paragraph that starts this that phase. Sorry.
6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?
'All energy contain comes through the Magus.'
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?
Amos Vogel believed in juxapossitioning different forms styles and ideas. When putting together a program there would be elements of avant-garde, documentary,scientific and even education films to clash against each other's different natures.
8. What kinds of venues rented Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks?
Macdonald explains the the viewing of a film like Anger's Fireworks would be ridiculous to even consider in a convention movie house of its time (1947). Cinema 16 was a place where films like this could play without the censorship of New York City laws. Many other art houses followed suite within the next decade which allowed these films to be played under the radar of censorship.
9. What impact did Cinema 16 have on New York City film culture?
As mentioned earlier Cinema 16 inspired many other venues to battle censorship and play films that wouldn't be able to see the light of day in conventional movie theaters. Not only was Cinema 16 an exhibition venue, but it also distributed these film for home viewing before any other companies would produce these films. These two factors contributed to the growing avant-garde film community is NYC throughout the next 2 decades.
Hans Richter, “A History of the Avant-garde”
10. What conditions in Europe made the avant-garde film movement possible after World War I?
Richter describes the period fate the first World War as a climates of "social, political and cultural unrest." Inflation allowed new ideas to filter into popular culture and many artistic movement because to shape cinematography more extensively than any other period of film history even in comparison to the present.
11. If the goal of Impressionist art is “Nature Interpreted by Temperament,” what are the goals of abstract art?
The goal of abstract art is to find a way through a medium to express an over all feeling rather than the small scope of a individual's point of view. it was the idea getting rid of the uncontrolled and arbitrary stylistic choices.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome - Response |riˈspäns|
Kenneth Anger has always puzzled me to some extent. I really do enjoy his shorter films like Fireworks, but longer ones like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome always seem to leave me confused even upon multiple viewings. Now I don't think thats really a negative thing to say, but sometimes I wish I could make more of it. With Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome I tend to get lost in the colors and the layers of this very thick visual film, and as for and kind of progression whether it be vertical or horizontal without sitting down and thinking about it, I see none. So with this film i did just that. I began to this this may be the point. The layers are so extensive at some point its hard to even make out what action is on what plane. I enjoyed trying to separate out the different shots and found it very interesting when it became impossible to do so. As the film progresses the pace of the editing becomes faster and the colors become more intense. After three viewings I'm still not sure if I could tell you exactly where the climax or peek of the film is but the feeling of a build up is very present. With further research into the film Anger says his inspiration was a costume party in which each individual was to dress up as their 'madness' within. I remember thinking to myself during this viewing that it looked like an Hindu ritual ceremony on a very tight budget.
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