Gray Gardens

Having seen the more recent film with Drew Barrymore a few months ago I have to give credit to both the old and new filmmakers. I think Gray Gardens is one of the truest of documentaries. I feel The Maysles did an awesome job of showing us the lives of 2 women, besides the fact of them being extragravent, they were just people and that's what he showed. They did not focus on the filthy home or the zany acts of Edie and her mom. That would of only sensationalized a true documentary, my favorite types of films. I just love seeing the inside of people, how they live, think and feel. This raw footage of real life was a pleasure to watch and the recent Gray Gardens with Barrymore did an great job in keeping with the Maysles style of documentary film.

The Whitney's, very patient men

It's hard to believe how long it took the Whitney's to complete 1 dot, let alone the millions they used in their first computerized films. I can see how they had IT backgrounds and not film originally, It takes a special brain to figure out the complicated process to make a computer do the types of things they did and to see past the functional side to the possibilities of using the computer creatively is pure genius. During class I could not remember the name of the game/craft I had as a kid that reminded me of their films it was the Spirograph! I'm going to order one on e-bay for my kids for Christmas, soooo cool. Art at that time was also similar, remember the nails with the yarn pictures? Anyway, I can really appreciate the work they did and how quickly it advanced, the scene in 2001 Space Odyssey was really impressive for 1968.

Bruce Conner's Breakaway gotta see it!

Bruce Conner was a genius in his time. The movies we saw in class were interesting in that he was a recycler who turned various throw aways from panty hose to film scraps into art. I think he used alot of irony to point out the way society was living. The readings made me want to see more of his stuff and I did. I have to say Breakawy featuring Toni Basil was my favorite it is just awesome. I love the editing, lighting-sometimes strobe, the outfits and sometimes lack of. It was so fresh and creative. A quote from the readings sums up Mr. Conner best "to create art For better and sometimes worse, scores of other filmmakers in both the avant-garde and the commercial mainstream have been influenced by Mr. Conner’s shocking juxtapositions and propulsive, rhythmically sophisticated montage. MTV should have paid him royalties." If more of this type of work was features on MTV I might start watching again.

Patterson & Bailey

The Cage, Patterson being from the West Coast and having a background with Hollywood work used The Cage successfully I feel to let those who might not be exposed to the work going on on the East Coast see what was happening in film. He did a great job incorporating all the works of the other artists in his film to make a film that summed up so many different ideas and techniques of the artists already doing Avant Gard. The one thing I remember most from The Cage is the eye falling and the view from the eye, it was clever and unexpected.
I really enjoyed Baily's work, I'm a nature lover and enjoy documentaries and felt the film had a documentary feeling, telling the story of how people were making tracks into the wilderness with the train. He was ahead of the industry in pointing out social awareness as to what humans were doing to invade nature. He did a great job with the blue tint in making the ocean more beautiful than it already is and the quick cut to the contrast of the deep red of the fish blood. Castor St. reminded me of the mechanical films we saw previously, showing the flow of the machines and the cuts in the music, hearing the Grateful Dead Good Lovin' was a surprise, it's the first time we've heard contemporary music in our films, I guess as the years progress we are in the 1960's we will notice things such as the music used becoming more familiar to us.

Stan & Ken

Reflections of Black was interesting, I liked how it could be interpreted differently by everyone. It had a different feel from the other films we saw, the darkness of it both in sight and theme. The subtle shots that give you a glimpse of the world, as a blind man might see it through hearing. The scratching of the eyes was an unusual technique that might seem basic now but appeared dramatic for its time.
The other films we saw although beautiful and painsteaking to make were too much for me to watch, just too fast, they almost made me dizzy. If you took an individul frame or a grouping for a photo display I think they would be beautiful like stained glass, but to watch even for more than a few minutes was too much.
I liked Kenneth Anger's Fireworks, its funny he made it while his parents were away. I've had 2 experiences when I've come home and my boys were playing with the video tape, making movies for U-Tube (not like Anger's!) just dancing hip hop, the one is so funny because you hear the door open and me not knowing the tape is running start bitching "I can hear the music from outside, wasting my batteries on this bullshit!" Its pretty funny, anyway.....for 17 years old you have to give him credit, although the penis firework scene is a little corny, the sailors going after him, the opening & ending scenes, he had a real talent early on for how to cut the scenes, and his use of light is amazing especially in Waterworks, the water, the reflections, the music and how he paced it and used slow and zoom, a pleasure to watch.

Maya Deren, interesting...

I found the Maya Deren films interesting, I especially liked the Meshes of the Afternoon, I think you can see how having a father as a psychologist might make you more inclined to have an interest in the mind and how it works and it shows in her films. She quotes in our reading "...the sub-conscious of an individual will develop, interpret and elaborate an apparently simple and casual incident into a critical emotional experience....". I much more enjoy films that make you think, not films that make you think "what were they thinking" when they made this film, such as Un Chein Andalou. For not having a script and doing the film on a whim the film gave us alot to think about. The actual filming was also very interesting, it is one of the first films to show what the protagonist is seeing or thinking and I'm sure the original audiences were entranced in the film.
As far as the reading for the week I personally don't see the connection to Un Chien Andalou. I think Meshes had so much more to offer. Andalou seemed to me as a mismatch of different ideas as Bunuel states "Nothing in the film symbolizes Anything" which contradicts our previous reading that claims Bunuel and Dali had messages or puns for the audience.
The last 3 weeks have been great films, the documentaries, propaganda and last weeks Deren films are getting better and better each week!

Propaganda

I have to say the filming of Triumph of the Will was very artistic and Leni R was a master in her day. The shots were amazing, the angles she shot from, the cuts to the crowd, the way she had Hitler descend from the heavens, it's no wonder Hitler was happy with the film. She definitely captured the feeling he was looking for, if we were not educated in to what was really going on at the time I could see how the people would have a good, patriotoic feeling after watching it. It did its job in making the country seem like a power house ready to conquer the world.
On the other had Why we fight! although it did get its message across also, its filming did not compare to Triumph. The editing of the shots used were not as good, it just didnt have the high quality look that Triumph did, its no wonder Triumph won awards for the film.
As far as propaganda films go, its amazing what you can do with film, how you can influence people and entire countries by what you choose to show and what you choose to leave out.
I think there is an invisible line between documentary and propaganda because everyone has different views. I like to watch documentaries and always assumed the info is true. It is true but as to the person or group who puts the films out point of view as to whats true. I'm going to have a much more objective view of documentaries due to this class. Just because it on History or Discovery Channel does not make it fact.