Richter
1. Following the war Europe remained in a state of economic, social, political and cultural unrest. Since many had revolted against the current regime there was a collection of open mindedness that brought about readjustment to new standards. Inflation was also a factor as many lived their lives full speed up until the end of '29.
Along with these new ideas came an opposition against the conventional film routines. The technical aspect had made great strides but film still fell behind the times artistically. Filmmakers found that the "soul of the camera" could be brought out if the film did not focus exclusively on the actor, the novel and the play. This lead to exploration of the nature of lenses, and artistic possibilities of the emulsion, variations in speed and rhythm as well what was and was not possible mechanically; described as the "spirit of the machine."
The artistic climate in Europe also contributed to the rise of cinema in Europe. Modern art was becoming a bigger influence on other modes of expression and since film was a younger art with no artistic tradition it was only a matter of time before film became "infected" with these ideas as well. This influence came from two sides; Abstract Art and Cubism.
Lastly, during these times there were huge advances in mechanical and energetic-al technique and gradually people became aware that these machines did not just bring products and comfort but brought about a different appeal to life. In a way this brings hope to a generation that is looking forward, as every generation does.

2. According to Richter, the goal of abstract art is to was to "overcome pure individualistic emotional expression and to find instead the way for the expression of universal feeling." The term "Abstract Art" itself became elimination of the uncontrolled, creation of norms, and control of the whole.

Fischinger

3. Fischinger believes that "there is nothing of an absolute artistic creative sense" in conventional cinematography because most films are just "photographed realism, photographed surface realism in motion." He believes that this is solely a copy of nature and requires little or no creative force. Fischinger also believes that it is impossible for a single artist to create pure work of film-art because of the amount of players involved in its creation. With the amount of staff involved how could ones specific-artistic view show through? It can't because staff influence would slowly kill the artists original intent.

Sitney

4. Sitney believes that Reflections on Black was an anticipation of lyrical film because he "attacked" the surface of the film with materials that reflect back on the conditions of filmmaking. He goes on to say that Brakhage begins to "formulate an equation between the process of making film and the search for consciousness."

7. Sitney describes hard and soft montage as being used in the film Anticipation of the Night. I think he means that soft-montage is being used when the colors preview the forthcoming image. So hard-montage would be the use of hard contrasting images that flow from one two another (i.e. night and day.)

9. Bruce Baillies films, like Brakhages, tend to deal with the argument between consciousness and nature. Brailles films, however, contain dialogue that lies outside of the film itself. Both aimed in their later work to push towards impersonal or unqualified consciousness.

Question due 1/20/09

1. According to Sitney, the main differences between the films deal in the motivation of each of the images. In Meshes of the Afternoon the heroin encounters objects that are capable of revealing truths of the mystery of ones self, Un Chien Andalou "depends on the mad on the power of the film to evoke a mad voyeurism and to imitate the very discontinuity , the horror, and irrationality of the unconscious." While Derens film explicitly simulates a dream experience by showing a situation, having the heroin fall asleep, and then exploring the dream itself; Un Chien Andalou is dreamlike because of the realness and ferocity of its images, ie. the eyeball slicing scene.
Differences also lie in the presentation of the violence. Andalou presents us with a broken, unstable, violent world with no reference to a "more conventional actuality" while Meshes offers and extended view of the mind with ambivalence between stable actuality and unconscious violence.
The two films also differ in terms of their use of metaphors. While Andalou is full of them Meshes repeats each symbolic object so that it's purpose (both figuratively and literally) becomes obvious by the end of the film.
Space is also used differently as Andalou uses deep space along all four lateral directions while Meshes only uses depth in the subjective shots.

2. One characteristic of the american psychodrama of the 1940s is it's dealings with a visionary experience. It's protagonist are somnambulists who "wander through a potent environment towards a climactic scene of self realization." The protagonist also has to remain detached from what he is confronted with thus there can be no character interaction in these films. "The protagonist passes invisibly among people, dramatic landscapes to a climactic confrontation with ones self and ones past.

3. In describing Choreography for Camera uses the term "imagist" to describe isolating a single gesture as a complete film form. Imagism in poetry refers to the use of imagery and clear, precise, and sharp language. In film it refers to the use of clear and precise shots where lateral or foreign material is introduced around a central action without completely disrupting it's continuity or unity.

4. Sitney states the Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and the "architectonic" film. This would refer to use of architecture or musical/poetic structure in a film.

5. The way Sitney describes Ritual in Transfigured Time is pretty much the same way I would have described it, albeit a more verbose description. I did not, however, give much thought to the intricacies of the crowd scene and how much direction that would have taken on Derens part. I do not recall catching the connection between the widow entering the water and then becoming dressed as the mans bride, though I would probably need to see it again. I feel my biggest problem with the film was when the man was changing from a statue to a person because I felt it was over stylized to the point of being campy; though that could be more of a technical issue more than anything.


6. What Sitney is saying in the paragraph is that there is a set model for how subjective films worked in that time period. When the camera is showing a specific scene, it's actually showing a scene inside the filmmakers (and coincidently the films subjects) mind. By showing pictures and other objects they simply further this model by showing things that the filmmaker would have thought of.


GoBama!

"The Cage" reaction

The story seemed to center around the angular-faced young mans eye. Obviously he was an artist who was seeing many things through his eyes (the naked woman, city scenes, etc.) but I was lost when a new man appeared when the eye was free. I think that the eye was originally the well dressed mans eye and when it got lose the man was attempting to return it to its rightful place. I have no idea as to the significance of the African-American man that appears about a third of the way through, nor do I understand why the woman and the scientist wanted the eye so bad. The images of the man walking through the city with the cage on his head were comical and the use of backwards walking was an interesting touch. My favorite part was watching the bystanders reactions as the actors were making their way through the town. My mind is a little fuzzy on the rest of the details as I was starving at that point of the class.