Bruce Conner

Bruce Connor used a unique style of taking footage that had been previously shot by someone else, and painstakingly editing it together with unrelated footage in order to create a comparison or even story between the two. This is a technique that probably takes hours and hours of hard work and concentration, and that I would never be able to do ever! The first of these films we watched was titled A Movie. Now between the title, and the opening of this film, it wasn't hard to figure out that Conner was playing with and altering what you expected to happen. For example, it started off with a countdown that went down from ten. When it got to three or so, it cut to a shot of a shirtless woman taking off her stockings. After a couple seconds of that, it finished the countdown, only to show the words, "The End". The film itself had many different images with a few common factors, but that were unrelated for the most part. I noticed a theme of crashing or destruction in many of the clips, and the small similarities like that helped connect the clips to give a meaning.

The second film we watched was rightfully titled Cosmic Ray. It used a Ray Charles song as the background music, and went very well with the stylistically edited footage. The film was a great example of what Conner was trying to accomplish with his filmmaking style, and also another great example of how important music can be to a film. The last film we watched was called Report, and used clips from newsreel that was shot around the JFK assassination. Reporters voices over the radio were heard in the background of this footage, and the footage was often repeated for effect. For example, the shot where JFK was driving by in his car was played several times over to emphasize what was going on. There were also many ironic plays on the audio/video combination. For example, there is a part where an announcer is talking about how beautiful the weather is, and suddenly it cuts to an atom bomb exploding. This proved to be a very interesting commentary on the JFK assassination as well as an impressively put together film.

Bruce Baillie

The first film we watched by Bruce Baillie was To Parcifal. This film started out with very calm images that almost looked like they were tinted blue. We saw images of the ocean and shots that were taken from a boat. Then, suddenly, there was a flash of unsettling red. It was a very quick cut, but it was enough to throw off any presumptions you were able to muster up until that point. Then it continued with calm blue seas until the camera cut again to dozens of fish being gutted by fishermen on the boat. It was this first impression that really made me appreciate To Parcifal. It was surprising to see how easily it was for Baillie to make me feel unsettled, almost disturbed, with such a short flash of red. It also held a powerful message that could be deciphered if looked at closely. After the scene on the boat, the film went on to show a calm forest which was interrupted by a train in the same way the calm sea was interrupted by the dead fish. Almost as if to show how something so peaceful and beautiful can be destroyed by man. Very effective filmmaking.

The second film we watched was Castro Street, which was another very well made film. It had many moving images of trains overlapped on top of one another. This use of double exposure was very impressive, because effectively double exposing film is no easy task. Baillie did a wonderful job of making several different images flow smoothly with each other. The way he emphasized the mechanics of the train reminded me of Ballet Mechanique, which also emphasized mechanical parts. Another part of Castro Street that stuck out in my mind was the use of the color red. He inter-spliced certain shots with shots of a smokestack tinted red. The red tint went against the natural blue color scheme the rest of the film followed, and therefore made for a very powerful image. Overall, it was a very well filmed and edited piece.

Stan Brakhage

I found the videos of Stan Brakhage to be very interesting, both in regards to the concept and the material. I've always been interested in watching the result of tampering with film itself, so naturally a style devoted entirely to that is something I would enjoy. The first one we watched was Mothlight, where Brakhage took wings from moths and put them on top of actual strips of film. He then ran the film through another camera, and photographed the result, creating an animation from the design. I don't even know how to describe how awesome that is! This is such a simple, yet incredible concept that I enjoyed watching. It's definitely something that I would be interested in trying myself, maybe as an homage to Brakhage.

The second film we watched by Stan was The Garden of Earthly Delights. The Garden of Earthly Delights had the same concept that photographed things on top of film, but went much more in depth. This animation had many more things like leaves, flower petals, branches, etc., which alone made the finished product nothing short of incredible. While this style may go unnoticed, I feel like that it has great potential, especially if used correctly.

ANGER!

We started off class watching films by Kennith Anger, the first of which being Fireworks(1948). Fireworks had a style that reminded me of Maya Deren, but its message seemed to be a lot more straightforward. From the very first scene, one could make the assumption that it would be a commentary on homosexuality. The entire film was filled with very strong images and symbolism. For example, the images of the Navy sailors were strong representations of the main character's homosexual feelings. I feel like the incorporation of such symbols made Anger's message a lot more powerful than if he had just conveyed them in a straightforward story.

The second film we watch by Kennith Anger was ironically titled Eaux D'Artifice, or Waterworks. While the title would make it seem as though it were a sequel to Anger's first film, Eaux D'Artifice was a completely separate film from Fireworks. This film was absolutely incredible in my opinion. The music went along perfectly with the movement, and the eerily natural blue tint to the film made many images stand out in my mind. All that being said, the subject matter in the film was extremely simple. It's funny actually how interesting Anger was able to make a woman running through a garden and past fountains. It just goes to show that music can, in some cases, be the most important aspect of a film.

Maya Deren

Okay, so this blog post may be several weeks late at this point, but I feel obligated to dedicate a post to the works of Maya Deren. I feel as though Maya was one of the most talented filmmakers we've seen so far this semester. Her first film, Meshes of the Afternoon was spectacular, and I feel like it's something I would be able to watch several times over. She combined her unique style with some very interesting camera shots. For example, one of the shots that sticks out in my head is when the woman was walking up the stairs. By tilting the camera side to side and having the actress fall off to the side, it gave the effect that the whole house was rocking side to side. Other unique aspects like the hooded figure with the mirror for a face and the key turning into a knife were nothing short of incredible.

Another one of Maya's films, At Land was also very unique. It started off with a woman walking around on a beach. She started to climb a cliff on the beach, and when she reached the top, she was suddenly on a dinner table surrounded by people dining. Maya used this several times throughout the film. For example, as the woman crawled across the table, it cut to her crawling through the grass. I saw these as comparisons that were meant to show the similarities between the wilderness and society. Maya used very effective means to make this comparison clear.

However, one of the most surprising things about Maya Deren to me was the fact that she didn't have any training in the art of film before making her first movie, Meshes of the Afternoon. While her husband at the time helped in many aspects of the movie, I feel like the fact that Maya went on to make several other films of her own displays her natural ability to make art, which is something that cannot be overlooked.