Smith and Bush the Icons

These are my favorite films we watched in this Image Meditation class. The films I’m talking about are John Smith’s, “Worst Case Scenario” and Paul Bush’s, “Episodes from the Life of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, these films related directly to what we are doing in class. Smith’s film was inspiring, because he incorporated random people within his work that were not participating in his film, he added some humor and even had a small sound track. One scene of the film I liked a lot was when he was shooting the kid in a long shot at the candy store and he was looking in the window in black and white, then it jumps to the kid’s point of view and we see it goes into color what he is looking at. This reminded me of Hitchcock’s, Rear Window.
The film was voyeur in a way, but the people knew that he was looking at them, because they looked into the camera. I tried doing that for some of my treks, but that didn’t work out to well. People here don’t like random people taking picture of them. The film that I really admired was Bush’s film. There was so much technique and time dedicated within his work. It was a remake of the original, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He created this image of more than one person sharing a continues rhythmic body. I felt he was reflecting of the story of the split personality between the characters the difficulties of this film I know was very high to have to do this over and over. -Randal Jackson-

In Depth Films

In the film, “Close Quarters” by Jim Jennings, This felt like more of a photographer’s film. This film was black and white with incredible shadows and silhouettes. I really like the shot of the cat’s silhouette, the cat seems not to move as if it doesn’t even notice the camera, but like it is a living shadow of it’s self. All the shots in the film are tight and up close on the object’s hence the title Close Quarters, where we see Jim’s apartment in very close in depth shots. He films these lines in the light and connects them to other lines as if there graphic matches. Thoughts that come up in the piece are things I wonder about in the frame, for example when the cat is staring at the bird. I wonder if the cat is going to jump and try to get this bird, but you realize that this is a reflection of the film maker. This is his world and he is inviting you to look into to it very closely. In the film, “Circling the Image” by James Benning we get this view of a documenter filmmaker from a third person view. James is always being filmed in his natural state or filming his own film. I’ve never seen a documentary within a documentary. He is filming 1 great lakes of the world. He goes into one very detailed in the film that he sort of begins to ramble about for to long. That just shows that he really knows and loves what he is doing. These were the films that stuck out to me. -Randal Jackson-

Deren and Pirece

When watching Maya Deren’s, “Meshes of the Afternoon” for the second time. I grasp they meaning of the film more. I see that this was all a dream sequence, but I further understood it. The hard angles that she used during the scene when she is going up the stairs showing her jumble around were incredible. I used similar angles in my film last semester in 221. Her edits were not as sporadic as some of the other artist that e watched, but they were good none the less. I didn’t realize that this was an experimental film until now. The rhythm of the film seems narrative. She takes a non linear approach to the film, but it flows. It flows in a way that you understand it. I look at her piece now not to understand it, but to view her techniques, because I feel that it is the most important part of the film. If you try to figure it out you won’t see the edits, the rhythm, and the framing she uses in them. Another film we viewed was Leighton Pierce, “You can drive the Big Rigs” a film shot from the outside of a diner then into the inside then back outside. Watching this film reminded me of the beginning scene in, “Back to The Future” when Marty McFly gets to the professors home and the camera shoots all these different angles of the room. In Pierce’s film we get this going with the day rhythm, where there are a lot of older people in the diner eating and talking in it. There are these in your face shots that he takes when the people are talking. One guy actually directly addresses the camera by looking dead into it. When this part came up I felt like I was making him mad by starting. He shoots everything around the room moderately close. The film seems to be a home coming film where the film maker comes back to check out his old home.-Randal Jackson-

Comments on Piece Touchee and Close Quarters

by Julianne Arnstein

I found Piece Touchee funny and disturbing and sometimes dizzying. With the jerky movement, it is hard to keep watching all the time. But the effects of slowing down (in a sense) and focusing on this couple makes the viewer’s mind go crazy trying to figure out what their history is. I was constantly thinking murder, abuse, or sex. The wife seemed like she was either being murdered slowly, abused, or beginning sex. Of course none of these are true. Sometimes Arnold just becomes obsessed with a particular image he likes, like the woman’s rotating arm. I think Arnold is accentuating every single movement, telling the viewer that each movement is completely important. The viewer feels like all the work has been done for them: studying every movement is unnecessary because it is already the point of the film. But the viewer still tries to look into it further, as if Arnold has missed something. I felt like the work had been done for me but there was still more to look at. I studied facial expressions and eye direction to find a little extra; it becomes very disappointing because I have to keep reminding myself that none of this is real. Arnold forces us to form narrative and then turn around on ourselves and say, “Ha ha, there isn’t really a narrative, you knew that, and you still looked for one.”

I really liked Close Quarters because the camera shots were so detailed. I could see every hair on the cat and every line on the woman’s foot. This is another film obsessed with detail. Jim Jennings likes to focus on the little things that he thinks no one stops to notice. He appreciated graphic matches: the use of lines is extensive. The quick-paced flow of images erases the discomfort of switching between horizontal and vertical lines. Some lines look cartoonish and others appear on living beings. This mesh of images smoothes transitions between shots. And the images would all be beautiful in their own frame on the wall of a gallery.

Contrasting Meshes of the Afternoon and You Can Drive the Big Rigs

by Julianne Arnstein

I have seen Meshes of the Afternoon three times now, and it seems like a very easy film to make sense of. Maya Deren has clear symbolism between the key and knife and dreaming and being awake. Her film is of surrealist style, trying to tap into the unconscious mind, especially in dreams; she almost creates a narrative. Her film is also experimental in its camera movement and characters. The cameras sway with the movement of the character up the stairs and angles jaggedly upward to see into the bedroom. The characters repeat themselves in continued actions, such as chasing the cloaked figure and picking up the key, and with their bodies, such as the three Maya Derens. Deren also creates a comfortable set with a slight breeze and a homely villa, but she distorts it by adding sharp knives, keys, and mirrors, and by tipping herself (or the camera) upside down and sideways in seemingly dangerous angles.

You Can Drive the Big Rigs has a completely different feel. It is definitely an experimental film based on images and sounds and not on any type of narrative or subconscious narrative. The only continued characteristics are the sound of the beating fan, the clack of the turning clock, and the clinking of a man’s coffee cup. Leighton Pierce focuses on the images of the sticky-feeling diner with its older patrons who seem tired of life. Pierce photographs the diner as it is and presents it with no comment or change. He pieces together sound to create situations that do not exist. The viewer is not trying to figure out a point to the piece; the viewer simply watches and chuckles at the random customers caught on tape.

Deren and Pierce have created very different films, but have also managed to photograph places and situations in a very different light from the normal Hollywood style.

Worst Case Scenario

by Julianne Arnstein

I really liked this film because it was the first still image compilation I had seen where the movement was very slow. I liked the luxurious pace so I thought I would analyze this film. There are elements of conflicting motion or images put together. There is a place where it seems as though a train and a car have hit each other, there is a loud crash, and people turn and react. Then the car is removed from the frame, then the train, and we realize that these are just layered images. Our minds try to piece together a story with what we see and hear. But the people looking in one direction are pieced together in a string to make it look like they are seeing something. The car and the train were in that place at different times and our mind just puts them together because the images fit so well: they are from the same camera position and focus. The crashing sound could be from any moment in time or synthesized or not even be a car crash. But because John Smith has placed these all at the same time and in a string of events, it seems like a car and a train have crashed together. This same Kuleshov effect is achieved when there are repeated images of a deliveryman running into his car door. People seemingly turn and look while the man is continually being slammed into his opening and closing door. But some minor movements of the door and the man have been edited together to create this situation. I liked the fact that everything moved very slowly. The long pauses of images of people looking or walking around create a leisurely effect. The action speeds up sometimes but I enjoy the peaceful pauses. I think Smith is trying to say that these are normal people, but there is no reason why we should not stop to enjoy what we see. Instead of witnessing life at its regular pace, we see every detail and can enjoy it more.

monday 19 november

The goal of experimental film and perhaps all film is perceive the world in new and unexpected ways. Both Piece Touchee and Close Quarters take an intimate part of the world, both familiar and comfortable, and exult them creating new beauty and terror and awe. Martin Arnold’s Piece Touchee takes a very short clip of found footage from The Blackboard Jungle and by manipulating the movement between frames creates an elaborate dance out of a middle-aged man walking through the door, greeting his wife. The dance, however, is not an erotic one, more erratic and terrifying. The simple act of kissing his wife on the cheek becomes violently beautiful as he jerks back and forth over her head and visibly spins over her. However, the actual content is irrelevant in the face of the formal beauty that Arnold creates by manipulating this piece of found footage.

Jim Jennings similarly seeks out and evokes a deeper beauty from the quotidian not through carefully manipulated frame progression but through meditations on the composition of his apartment. Nothing appears in this film that isn’t easily recognizable and used daily. Likewise, nothing is seen outside of the world that isn’t seen through the drawn blinds. With in these parameters, Jennings uses the extreme, natural lighting, creative angles and graphic matches to turn his flat into a text for the extraordinary mundane. His solving of these limitations create brilliance: by cutting between the silhouette of a bird flying past and the cocked head of his cat he creates a subtle interaction that was most likely not there; by considering the lateral lines of his blinds as a refrain through out the film, he creates a moment of awe by rack focusing the normal shot of the blinds to see a crystal clear world through the confines of a tiny hole in one of the shades.

wednesday 14 november

Bridges Go Round, a study of the effects a soundtrack has on a film’s images, presented the same footage of a bridge in the same way altering only the soundtrack. The first presentation employed jazz improvisations that, though a 50’s film, took the mood to a 1940s noir film, as the saxaphone floated into and tangled with the wires of the bridge. The second employed early electronica. The clicks and beeps were synced with edits and various moving images that took the film into the realm of a sci-fi atmosphere or an episode of The Twilight Zone. The film itself is a montage of bridge images with color tinting. Shirley Clark, the filmmaker, took viewers through, over, across and under various bridges of New York city, in a swift but not manic journey. Water- and cityscapes were superimposed behind the bridges.

Likewise Leighton Pierce took some mundane footage of truck stop restaurants and paired it with an exquisite soundtrack that lifted the images from pedestrian to powerful. A ceiling fan is just a ceiling fan until paired with the dramatic swooshes that later accompany it. The visual style puts no interpretation on the images, they simply are. An old man stirring a cup of coffee is very unassuming until we hear the anxious clink clink clink.

Both of these films seem to draw on the Kuleshov effect in which one shot is meaningless until paired with another element (be it another shot or in this case a sound).

Experimental Film/Video of Special Interest to 116 Students

Available for check-out at the East Wing of the UWM Library/Multimedia Desk:

Alaya, Nathanial Dorsky 1976-87 / VHS
All My Life, Bruce Baillie 1966 / VHS
Ballet Mecanique, Fernand Leger 1929 / VHS
Bridges-Go-Round, Shirley Clarke 1958 / VHS
Castro Street, Bruce Baillie 1966 / VHS
Daybreak Express, D.A. Pennebaker 1958 / VHS
Deconstruction Sight, Dominic Angerame 1990 / VHS
Emak Bakia, Man Ray 1926 / VHS
Entr’acte, Rene Clair 1924 / VHS
Glimpse of the Garden, Marie Menken 1957 / VHS
Man With A Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov 1929 / VHS
Meshes of the Afternoon, Maya Deren 1943 / VHS
Mothlight, Stan Brakhage 1963 / VHS
Nocuturne, Phillip Solomon 1980 / VHS
Passage A L’Acte, Martin Arnold 1993 / VHS
Report, Bruce Conner 1963-67 / VHS
Riddle of Lumen, Stan Brakhage 1972 / VHS
Valentin de las Sierras, Bruce Baillie 1968 / VHS
Window Water Baby Moving, Stan Brakhage 1959 / VHS

List of Experimental Films/Videos Screened

Experimental Film and Video Screened in
Moving Image Meditations, Nov. 12-19th 2007

Aspect, Emily Richardson 2003
Bridges-Go-Round, Shirley Clarke 1958, (music by Teo Macero, Louis + Bebe Barron)
Castro Street, Bruce Baillie 1966
Circling the Image (on the work of James Benning), Reinhard Wulf 2004
Close Quarters, Jim Jennings 2004
Incidents from the life of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Paul Bush 2000
Man, Road, River, Marcellus 2003
Meshes of the Afternoon, Maya Deren 1943
Piece Touchee, Martin Arnold 1989
Porter Springs 3, Henry Hill 1994
Sea Change, Joe King and Rosie Pedlow 2005
Valentin de las Sierras, Bruce Baillie 1968
Wurst Case Scenario, John Smith 2005
You Can Drive Big Rigs, Leighton Pierce 1988

Response for Wednesday Nov. 14th

Today in class we watch Maya Deren's fame Meshes of the Afternoon. A film I have seen about 5 times, but seems like a million. The first couple of viewings to me were really significant because I was trying to figure out what it was about, but the more that I watch it the more I try not to figure out what it is or what its trying to say but I appreciate it for what I think it is. Maya Deren really did something extremely different then anyone else in that specific time frame that she made this film. It is amazing to think that coming off a second world war that this film was made.
One of the things I never knew until it was mentioned in class was the talk of the soundtrack and how it came about. How Daren originally had the film silent and then the sound was added ten years later by her new husband. So the whole time I watched the film and pretended there was no sound and it felt so empty to me. To me I realized that may have been one of my favorite parts. The haunting moans and strings in the background were so drone and thematic that I couldn't picture the film without it. I think that Teiji Oto's music made the piece in my mind. That could also be because I never originally saw the piece without Oto's music. Regardless Meshes of the Afternoon is to me one of the main blueprints for surrealist film. It led the way for films like The Science of Sleep, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Without filmmakers like Daren these films wouldn't have existed.

-Chris Elkendier

Monday 12 November:

John Smith’s Wurst Case Scenario employed two techniques not often associated with expertimental filmmaking: patience and a droll wit. Using only stills, Smith recreated a beautiful and vibrant world of black and white. Displaying an image dense with power-lines, trolley tracks, roadways and crosswalks leading the eye in every direction, a human figure waiting for the train or to cross the street stands calmly among the utilitarian art of the urbane he will swap out the photo for another that suggests a single frame animation. The human subject checks his or her watch, drags on a cigarette, hails a taxi, or kisses a girl, this is the only change with in a frame. The composition of each shot is so beautiful that even a single variation can seem overwhelming and rushed in the glacial beauty of the piece. Many of the shorter pieces we watched, such as Porter Springs 3 by Harry Hills, felt as though they were longer, stretched out beyond their logical threshold of interest. At 18 minutes, Smith commanded time to compress and expand as he wanted, not only manipulating the images but crafting a rich audio mix that alternated between the street and apartment, between sync and rhythmic.

Smith also used audience expectations of cinematic conventions to create humor with in the piece. By trapping pedestrians in the crosswalk, he would switch the signs from walk to don’t, sound a trolley bell, and swap the photo to one where the trolley is passing directly through the crosswalk. The next image is of the same pedestrians continuing their journey across the street. In a normal film that doesn’t make extensive use of CGI, editing such as this would imply to the viewer that those pedestrians had been hit by the trolley. This image sequence is startling. By drawing our attention to these conventions and manipulating them for his own purposes, Smith highlights the viewer’s gullibility and belief in the narrative cinema, reminding us that the images are only images as those apparently hit by the trolley are unharmed.

Response for Wednesday Nov. 14th

One of the other films viewed on Wednesday was an unconventional film of the 60s/70s; Shirley Clarke's short film "Bridges-Go-Round." To me, what made this film unique and original in it's own right was a few different elements...most notably the rythm, continuity, and lyrical editing. In the beginning of the piece, we see a city (presumably San Francisco) from many different shots. The array of colors and manipulations that are presented are very effective. The bridges and skyscrapers are seen at first in a motion as if one was looking out of the passenger seat of a passing vehicle. Then as the film continues on, we see these giant bridges and skyscrapers travel from side to side like the traffic itself. There is a rythm involved, the lines of each subject crosses through and the colors fade and expand in contrast. The use of jazz music in the first portion really gives us a documentary-like view of the city and the images move is similar style and pattern. The mood and flow are articulated with each note and continuous movement of every image adds a bit of lyrical tone. Following the same motion and image effect, the second portion inhibits more freedom in its movement. Although both portions are essentially the same shots manipulated in different styles, the freedom of movement appears more evident in the second portion. This is mostly due to the bubbly music found behind each shift. This adds a bit of a roller-coaster feeling to the piece that was missing in portion one and as we continue on the ride come to the end of the bridge and the ride is over. Two interesting styles displayed from very different perspectives. Works quite well.

Response for Monday Nov. 12th

As for the films shown in class on Monday, the one I found most interesting was John Smith's 2004 British film "Worst Case Scenario." In this film, the use of both observation and humor serve the direction quite well. With the focus on individual characters as they go about their business on a busy weekday, obvious parallels are drawn to Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Rear Window." What I mean is that we, "the viewer", are observing other people, almost in a spy-like nature. We see an older man reading a newspaper, the woman walking her dogs, an afternoon romance between a young couple. These are all things that we are focused on at one point during the film from an above location and without the subjects own acknowledgement. Rather than remaining passive, we have become investigative viewers like Jimmy Stewart's character (minus the binoculars and broken leg). As for the humor, that is represented in the pristine editing. The traffic intersection is the first example that comes to mind. Here you have the subjects of pedestrians anxiously awaiting to cross as well as the subjects of impatient drivers nervously awaiting a green light. We hear horns blasting and car engines reving and at once the cars and pedestrians clash as each goes it's own way. At one point we see people walking and then a sudden cut to a car passing over them; giving us the impression that the car turned on red and made a hit-and-run. However as the fast edits continue we see the pedestrians and cars blend into one another panning through each image, representing a hurried chaotic motion. This was very interesting to see the balance of both subjects interacting in a heavy traffic jam...giving us the irony of testy mood swings following after-work hours. Again, with quick focused edits both humor and observation were exemplified and personified the film quite well. Fun little film.

Response for Wednesday Nov. 14th

All of the films viewed in class this past week have an ostensibly unique quality about them. I particularly enjoyed Maya Deren's 1947 short "Meshes of the Afternoon". Not only was this film ahead of it's time (as far as psychological independent thrillers go), but it was well-crafted in a variety of different forms. For one I noticed that the use of sound to this picture complemented the flow of images, moods, and settings perfectly. With such dark eerie themes of murder and mysterious shadowy figures, the film reflected a sense of conflict and possibly an internal battle or struggle within the psyche of our main character. Along with these disturbing themes, you have a grim-like haunting musical score which only characterizes and illustrates this effect even further. It almost seemed like there was a bit of Asian cultural influence in the sound, like a harp or flute that we would hear in films like Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" or "Seven Samuraii." In addition this aspect, there was a very deep toned organ sound when the suspense built up, sounding both ironically corny and quite chilling at the same time (Similar to that in the 1964 comedy "A Shot in the Dark"). The dark moods were also fluctuated by dark scenes and subject matter. Take for instance the use of black and white. Honestly, whether it was capable or not with this piece, would the film have the same lasting effect if presented in color? My guess is probably not. The fact that this film was shot in this manner makes it much easier and simplistic for the actors as well. As we follow the camera up the staircase, around the garden, through the window, the consistency of light and shadows undoubtedly outweighs and overpowers any specific individual performance (I'm sure Orson Welles would be proud). This again is credited to the masterful use of sound and cinematography that we followed from beginning to end. Very smooth flow, great attention to detail...excellent film.

Response for Wednesday Nov. 14th

A lot of good films on Wednesday. I especially enjoyed Maya Deren's "meshes of the afternoon" it was the second time I saw the film and I really developed a higher appreciation for the film the second time around. The first time I saw this film I didn't notice the sutler details like the way the compositions match from shot to shot, It makes the transitions very smooth and organic. I am not exactly sure what happened in the narrative, but I interpreted it as a suicide I'm not sure if that's what the filmmakers were going for but for some reason that's how i saw it maybe because of the shots of the women chasing after death. also all the different versions of the women sitting at the table gave me the impression of some kind of internal struggle she was having with herself (e.g. depression, schizophrenia), but there were so many different things going on I'm sure the film could be interpreted many different ways. The film really had some powerful symbolism like the way they portrayed death with a mirror face or the key which kept reappearring and the reflection of the knive. the ending of the film was surprising I expected the ending to involve the knife in some kind of way and was surprised when they showed the women covered in pieces of broken mirror bleeding. I also liked the Shirley Clarke piece "bridges go around" the cinematography in film was amazing. I loved the scene where she layered the different shots of buildings filmed from the top panning to the bottom, when layered it really felt like you were watching buildings grow as plants do. the film had amazing patterns in it as well when it first started i noticed alot of x's and intersecting lines in the structures and then the film goes on to layer shots into more intersecting lines. the colors used in the film were incredible I wonder if she used any type of filters or effects. the scenes with pinkish, orangish sky was very surreal. this film gave me a lot of ideas about how I could shoot my third trek. after seeing it I really want to experiment with layering shots. the only film I didn't really like was the Leighton Pierce piece entitled "you can drive the big rigs" I found this film extremely boring It seemed to go on forever and I think the filmmaker could have made his point in a lot less time, Although i was intrigued by some of the sound clips but about half way through the movie my A.D.D. kicked in and I don't really remember much of the ending of that film.

-Gary Ahmed

Response for Monday Nov. 11th

I really enjoyed some of the videos we watched in class. I wasn't sure how I felt about Man, Road, River. After watching it though, I was really intrigued. I couldn't figure out at what point it came into focus. It was so gradual that it ended up pulling me in at the end. One of the pieces that I really enjoyed was Worst Case Scenario. I liked how Smith used still frames and had some tailored in a comedic fashion. I have tried to replicate some of the things that he has done in his piece and realized that they are not just cut from frame to frame like they Jekyll video we watched. In Worst Case Scenario when the bike is moving back and forth it appears to be two frames alternating but there was something about it that made me know that it was more than that. It was too smooth of a transition so I realized that smith was using a morph in between his frames. So one picture would morph into the other, but it was done so closely that it appears as only two frames. So its not a frame from video and its not "just" a still picture alternating. I really enjoyed it. He really did some neat things with breaking up the frame with the cross walk and the horizontal and vertical lines of buildings. The viewpoints were also great, they were really voyeuristic. There were many shot from above so it made the viewer feel like they were in smiths shoes, watching these people. Then at the end when they look and they finally see him its almost as if he has been caught. Or I should say "we" have been caught.

-Chris Elkendier

Response for Monday Nov. 12th

I enjoyed all the films shown in class on Monday especially the John Smith Film "worst case scenario" the way he made all of the still images come alive by breaking down peoples actions into two or three different shots was amazing. Now that I think about the film, I wonder if he used a still camera to capture images or if he used a video camera and selected which frames he wanted to turn into stills. If he did use a still camera it must have been very difficult to take pictures rapidly enough to capture peoples motions in multiple shots. either way it made for an interesting film. when the film first started by slowly showing still images I didnt expect the pace to become as quik as it eventually did. The soundtrack of the film really made it seem like watching a video with sync sound, except for a few sound fx which were kinda cartoonish, but for the most part they did a great job capturing the sounds of the city. I was very surprised to see an experimental film with a comedic element. It was great the way the filmmakers used dead air to build up tension in between movement. I thought the arial perspective was very different for a film with people as the subject. It really gives you a sense of omnipresence seeing everyone from above. I especially liked the scene with the motor bike waiting at the stop light. when the driver starts revving his engine impatiently the other people waiting copy his movement until the green light breaks the cycle. I like the way the filmmakers ended the piece with shots of the people in the film making a direct address, recognizing the camera and the fact that they are being filmed, plus the shot of the camera in the window.
-Gary Ahmed