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.