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.

Vertov, Gave us life in the raw.

As I stated in my blog about Nanook, I love documentaries and Nanook was great, however I feel Vertov captured a different type of humanity on film, a very emotional and raw look at people. Nanook showed how he lived, Man with the Movie Camera showed more of why we live. The emotions of the people were clear. The things we go thru were shown, marriage-divorce, birth-death, work-play, etc. And he did it with all different film techniques to accentuate things. The stop frames on a face emphasised the emotion the person was feeling. The slow or fast motions of live. It was by far the best film we saw so far. My only complaint was that he could of cut off about 10 min. it ran a bit long. Otherwise, awesome.

Best Week Yet!

Ok, so i'm a big fan of documentaries and thoroughly enjoyed Nanook. I did a little Internet search on the crew he had and such. Nanook was amazing, to think that Flaherty spend 1+ years & his previous visits with the Nanook family shows that he was an adventurer, explorer before a film maker. I love learning about other cultures and how people live first hand the way Flaherty took us there. Flaherty was originally exploring the area for the rail road co. to search for iron ore and they felt if he got film of the territory and the Eskimos it could help defray the cost of the expedition. He did have a crew with him and they had living quarters at the post (where the trading took place) and a film room. He was also able to print out some stills for the Eskimos to see. At one point he talks about the Eskimos amazement of the still pics, it was a shot of them catching an walrus, he said they got so excited looking at the picture as if they were in that same time again. Flaherty did meet and film some other families but Nanook was like the leader of the area and he ended up focusing his efforts on him. What a wonderful film, you have to give Flaherty credit for pulling off such an adventurous project. Working with a crew & film, following around a family in 130 degree below zero temperatures and ending up with the final Nanook film, its just amazing. Really enjoyed this one.