Chelsea Girls - |ˈ ch elsē| |gərl|

After the reading the Underground article I was really excited to see Chelsea Girls. I was interested how the DVD version would show the multiple projections and experimental sound design. I was a bit upset to find there was no interplay between the multiple dialogues but after watching a few sections I found it to be effective. The long interviews seemed like a ongoing conversation that i would come in and out of. The second screen served as a kinds of commercial. I never found myself bored with what i was watching and hearing. If i became detached from the interview, I would find myself interested in the visuals on the other side of the screen. The camera work in the screen without sound seemed to be more extreme and visually stimulating than the side with sync sound. I also seemed to compare these interviews to the screen tests. Although there was a lot of camera movement and the subjects were encouraged to talk and engage with the camera, the outcome was somewhat similar. The subjects became awkward and didn't know what to do in front of the camera. On of the subjects even became enraged and lashed out at a woman who seemed to be stealing his lime light. This may have been do to the drugs he shot up earlier in the scene, but i think its interesting that he reacted to extreme. By the end he didn't even know what to say, he wanted to be the focus but once he was alone again, he was at a loss for words, and continued to talk about how he got violent with her almost just to waste time. I found the first interview more visually interesting. I honestly don't even remember what the second screen was showing because i was so engaged with the interview. The man had hard red and blue lights on either side of his face that became very abstracted with the snap zooms and handheld camera movement. This shot would have been interesting enough to stand on its own, unlike the last interview. I think I would find similar trends though the whole film visually and would like to watch the film as a whole.

The Underground - |ˌəndərˈground|

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?

The Living Theater was a popular experimental film venue in which cinema 16 programed many of their films. The Thalia, The New Yorker, and Bleecker Street Cinema were other East side theaters that offered experimental viewings. The charles was a 700 seat theater which played an array of shows including musicals as well as Hollywood features. The lobby served as an art gallery of local artists as well as concert hall for jazz musicians.

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 used this term to describe the work of Ron Rice, Jack Smith, and Ken Jacobs. This experimental filmmakers made sexual explicit almost absurdist experimental films often using eachother as actors often using improvisation. MEkas called the “Baudelairean Cinema” "A world of flowers of evil, of illuminations, of torn and tortured flesh, a poetry which is at once beautiful and terrible, good and evil, delicate and dirty" in the Village Voice.

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?

All films had to registered under the City of New York and follow a code of ethics. Many of these underground film wouldn't pass this code, therefore Mekas never attempted to get any kinda of legal license because he didn't believe in the principals of this legal system. Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising ran into similar problem all the way across the coast in Los Angeles.

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?

Vinyl was an adaptation the A Clockwork Orange written by Tavel. He only wanted to show the bear essentials of the plot. The film was shot with a single camera set up much like any other aery 1960's Warhol film. Edie Sedgewich wasn't even written into the film, and even showed up after shooting had already begun. Travel says "the camera just went berserk looking at those eyes… The film became like one of those vehicles for a famous star." Technically Edie stole the movie by just being there.

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?

In 1965 Warhol shot My Hustler, a feature length film that featured multiple locations, 70 minutes of dialogue, a camera pan, and a cut. In mid Jan of 66's MY hustler started to catch on outside of the underground world. The Cinematheque was the first venue to show this film in a large venue in february or 66. Not only were larger cround going to see underground films, but almost every magazine in the country was taking note of underground films. Othere theaters associated with this crossover were the Bridge, and the Gate.

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

Getz packaged underground film blocks and sent them to cities around the country with his uncles traveling theater. The films reach Cleveland, Dallas, New Orleans, San Diego, and San Francisco just to name a few. "[Getz] was responsible for introducing underground movies to the American heartland."

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

They described them as "nudeity-filled feature". Warhol was cashing in on the success of TheHustler and Chelsea Girls. The films I, a Man, Bike Boy, and Nude Restaraurant and The Loves of Ondine were produced in the summer of 1967. They describes them as "technically improved but spiritually coarsened."

Late Postage -|diˈstrək sh ən| of |ətˈlantis|

Mary Jordan, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis

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)?

In the film he seemed to be mesmerized by her or the memory of her in relationship to his childhood. Montez being a B rate actress fit in with the Post-modernist idea of blurring the lines between high and low art. He seemed to try and pull exaggerated almost campy performances out of the artists in his own films as well. Many of Smiths films seemed to loosely resemble Cobra Woman is costume/mise-en-scene, as if a child was trying to recreate the film with the available resources they could get a hold of. In Smith's case this was often literally garbage.

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?]

As I said before he made 'trash art' using scraps of materials to create elaborate costumes and debris to make cucaloruses to further abstract his films visually. He also used old out of date film stock to cut cost as well as give the film a gritty feeling especially in Flaming Creatures.

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?

There was a falling out between the two. John saw Mekas as a scavenger attempting to steel the fame/glory/travel from him, when in fact he was furthering Smiths's career and securing him a spot in american film history. Smith created the Lobster metaphor, comparing Mekas to a bottom feeder of the sea.

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)?

This sections on my copy of the DVD seems to be skipping a lot. From what I could understand Normal Love is about a sort of alternate reality, void of the struggle and problems of 'real life'. The city is the 60's was poor and torn with the War in Vietnam, and this film seemed to ignore the social climate completely and deliberately. The magic in the film was the escapist feeling it projected, which in some way kinda of went along with what was happening in the world, being that everyone wanted to escape the horrors. Normal Love was also described as a documentary of artist and how they live their live, which is exactly what Warhol attempts to do around the same time in New York City.

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)?

Jack smith believed that once his art was packaged and sold i became devalued and all original intend becomes lost. His solution to this was very completely finish a work of art. If he become part of the 'package' then the artist/piece relationship can never be severed. This is how he came about editing and playing live music and rearranging his films as they were playing for live audiences. The art became about the process for making a piece as opposed to a commercial packaged commodity.

Mario Banana 1 - |ˈôkwərd|

I haven't felt that uncomfortable in a movie theater since my first advances on a girl in 7th grade during The Wedding Planner starring Jennifer Lopez.

Kiss Response - |kis|

The film that I round myself engaging in or in turn somewhat disengaging in was Warhol's Kiss. As I had mentioned in class I found myself disengaging with the actual mouths and act of kissing. This may be be due to the point someone else brought up about the viewer not seeing the initial point of contact or maybe my own homophobic feelings (not that it bothered my all that much either way). Since we come in the middle of an action and there is now arch or build up I found it easy to forget exactly what I was looking at. I started to characterize each person in the film. The man eating the girls face as aggressive/playful. The Woman in the awkward asian man scene as submissive/shy. The man opening his eyes the entire time in the first homosexual kiss as unsure/curious. Although some of these could be in part of me seeing things that weren't really there I also found other trends forming. I began to label general traits throughout the whole series of kisses as well.The more passive individuals as mention earlier who were often opening their eyes tended to be on the bottom of the kiss, where as the more aggressive tended to be male and took up most of the frame. The positions and framing seemed to be very specific for each couple as well. The more intense kisses were famed very tight and the more awkward or timid seemed to be a long shot length. This stylistic choice really exaggerated each shot differently.

(It is much easier to write these right away hope you my timely manner for this response evens outs my late Jack Smith response Sorry again)

Warhol - |ˈfilmˌmākər|

Callie Angell, “Andy Warhol, Filmmaker”


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?

Angell firstly describes his early work as minimalistic as most would after watching Sleep or Empire. Each are just extended still shots off a man sleeping and the empire state building. Sleep on runs 5 hours and 21 minutes compared to empires 8 hour intended length.

9. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?

Angell described Screen Tests as a "cumulative mode of serial production.” The tests were urscripted shots of the numerous celebrities and artists of the time who were testing to act in Warhol's films. These test became a individual and unique body of work that he continuously recycled for future films.

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?

Angell described this films in some detail. Selection of the camera set up and lighting seemed to be important since most films were shot with one stationary set up. The concept was the skeleton of the film but the performance/improvisation/ chance occurrences were what really shaped these early sound films. Warhol enlisted Ronald Tavel as a screen writer for this period of his filmmaking . His first film was called Hariot which was about a cross dressing man masturbating with a banana, accompanied by spoken word poetry.

Artype - |ˈärtsē|

George Maciunas and Paul Sharits seemed to be my favorite Fluxus filmmakers. Their films were more visual and rhythmic. Although films like Yoko Ono's had a subtle sense of rhythm due to the grain of the film with the super slow motion images, I became more engaged with the films that manipulated this exaggeration of the acknowledgement of the the frame rate. George Maciunas's Artype was really interesting to me. He even plays with this idea of frame rate with the title playing each letter of the title in one frame. Without knowing the name of the film before hand if would be easy to miss what the title even was. Althought the film is pretty simple there is a clear sense of rhythm and a build up or climax. The pulsing circle dances around the middle of the frame, switched from white on black to black on white and then seems to explode in miniature circle fractals. Even though the frame before more cluttered with the multiple circle and squares, the pulse and rhythm continues with the fast and slow motion of the shaped flying by the frame. This film also seems to be about positive and negative shape and the relationships they hold. To me this doesn't really seem like a Fluxus film that anyone could make.

Three 3 : |əˈpäkəˌlips| |ˌpikəˈresk|

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?

As Sitney puts it “the combination of picture and sound at the conclusion of the next episode exemplifies the latter.” The End combines many seemingly unrelated shots and we as the viewer are forced to make the connection thought juxtaposition and the realization that the minor details describe the whole picture. Brahkage uses this same idea in many of his films as well. Breasts represent mountains and then a urn related shot of actual mountains takes on a double meaning. In Dog Star Man We never see the man climbing the mountain directly but throughout context and juxtaposition as well as composite modes we understand that it is happening.



3. What are some similarities and differences between the apocalyptic visions of Christopher Maclaine and Bruce Conner?

Both filmmakers explored the idea of an apocalyptic message in the form of experimental film. Conner was an artist and sculptor before he became involved with film. His films were very much an extenuation from his collage work. He used found footage to create his filmic structures as opposed to Maclaine.

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?

Sitney describes these films as having elements of the ironic, absurd, anarchistic, and infantile. Each film follows the "adventures" of a questionable main character, (The flower Theif ; a wild man and The Great Blondino; a tight rope walker). Both films seems to have a beginning and end but the middle could be extended inevitably. Both films embrace "the rejection of social aspects of film."


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."]

For every movement there is an equal and opposite anti-movement. These film developed in a way to combat the high art, elitist avant-garde stereotype that was become more popular. Dada art developed to poke fun at the art world and create absurdist art in a time these artists believed was becoming insane. Fluxfilms were similar in the way they used humor to satire their counter parts.

6. What does Jenkins mean by the democratization of production in the
Fluxfilms?

Fluxfilms were criticizing and parodying a mode of film production that was extremely personal and often starred the filmmaker himself/herself. The film combated the physical form as well as this means of production. If a art film was personal and anti- art film must be democratic. This 'anti-art' idea was shared by a number of people and create by them as a group.

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?

Jenkins the first screening of Zen for Film was the birth of Fluxfilm. Sesequent films were then able to get around production cost, lights, sets,editing, sound. The aesthetic of the film was constantly evolving. Although to most people this film was 'nothing', the dust, scratches, and other imperfections became the only details one could comprehend while watching the film. Because this film accentuates only these micro details, its is literally never the same film upon multiple viewings.

Dog Star Man Response - |dôg| |stär| |man|

I have seen a lot of Brakhage in my career here at UNCW and I have to say I really love anything he does. I have never been to sure why or really questioned it but when I started thinking about this response I felt that I needed to think a little harder about my reasons. I have never seen Dog Star Man in it's entirety but after watching the prelude I will make sure I do as soon as possible. I know a lot of people in the class seem like Brakhage in small doses but I want to experience his longer work in full. I found myself traveling through the layers and shapes and transitions from hand painted animation to live action film, with all the imperfections beautifully on display for all to see. I was not lost in a bad way. In a longer film (even thought we only watched the prelude) you get a feeling for the flow of the images on screen in a much more complete manner. I really like the transitions from shot to shot. Many were smooth and even matched graphically. I noticed a lot of circles or semicircles cut off from the frame. I also began to notice the abrupt changes such as the section where the emulsion has almost violently been scratched away the film. I think Brakhage put this film together in such a way to let you get lost and then abruptly pull back or stop the eye from being confused or overwhelmed. I think I would be able to more effectively explain why I like Brakhage a little more now. .. I think..

number 2 - |ˈnəmbər|

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?

Sitney called Rflections on Black a move toward "the cinema of triumphant imagination." This film focuses on a physicality of a blind mans vision represented visually on film. Sidney claims this was a a transitionally period for Brakhages work in some part due to him moving to New York.


2. What are the key characteristics of the lyrical film (the first example of which was Anticipation of the Night).

In a lyrical film we assume that the view of the camera is the point of view of the protagonist instead of actually seeing him/her on screen. We the viewer experience what they see and the camera movement is made to represent actual human sight. Lyrical film also reject the idea of being a window into illusion (juxtaposition, plot set up, on screen dialogue, etc.)



3. Which filmmaker was highly influential on Brakhage’s move to lyrical film in terms of film style, and why?

Joeseph Cornell was a surrealist collagist who gave Brakhage many new opportunities to shoot subjects that could be represented in this lyrical kind of way. He was very supportive of Brakhage's work.



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.]

A soft montage usually deals with colors and movements. its a more impressionistic approach to a montage. A hard montage would be more representational of reality.

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.]

Film creates a system of 'viewing' images that make it easy for audiences to comprehend. In no way is this system truly reminiscent of human sight. Brakhage calls the camera eye a liar.



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?

This film explores Romanticism is several ways. for example Nature consciousness,sexuality and vision obviously. Dog star Man is influenced by Blake's four realms of existence.


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?

Peterson actually has a separate camera man hired for the filming of The Cage. This allowed a more focused cinematophers touch to the film which had not been seen in more Avant-Qarde film up to this point.

9. For Sitney, what are the key similarities and differences between Entr'acte and The Cage?

Both film manipulated image through camera tricks and stop motion filmmaking, yet the cage is more of a free form art film, as opposed to the agenda and message or Entr'acte. It is more of a Dada film, using paper cutouts and the stop motion technique is more prevalent.

10. How does Peterson synthesize the seemingly incongruent suggestions of his Workshop 20 students into The Lead Shoes?

Peterson takes control of the film after all is said and done. I think he more so used the suggestion with a grain of salt to stay within the perameters of his own new of the film as a whole.

11. Compare your response to The Lead Shoes with the descriptions by Sitney and Parker Tyler.

Sitney's description is more contextual and covers the film as a whole. I picked out certain points of the film and described them in depth to represent my feeling for the film as a whole. I think my response may be a bit more negative in some ways.