FINAL SCREENING--the first Colorado edition!

discovery comes from doing

Kevin sorts it out on the floor
JT scratches away frame by frame.





Abby working with her 8mm home movies



Lindsay isolating a laugh track moment

hard at work...

This week is an all-workshop week, and here are Jo-jo, Abbey and Sarah at the Steenbecks, contemplating which shots they really need for their final films... and Matthew, Abbey, and Kevin in the projection room...

a little Thanksgiving fun!

Watch the hilarious "USO JUSTO" here!

In case you didn't get your fill of culture jamming...

Today we were pretty excited by the beautiful fake New York Times edition produced and distributed for free by international pranksters The Yes Men a few days ago. And here's what the New York Times had to say about it.

Anyway I couldn't have said it better myself, so in the interest of free time for free people I will just post a link below to our 'kindred spirit' bloggers at SIX-BY-ONE who often dip into the same MEDIA honeypot--they have a few culture-jamming embedded videos worth watching over there so check 'em out, and thanks guys!
http://mothership6x1.blogspot.com/2008/10/week-10-in-case-you-didnt-get-your-fill.html

ps. the icing on the cake

The Ecstasy of Influence

Here's the article The Ecstasy of Influence: a plagiarism by Jonathan Lethem that was published in Harpers magazine last year, which starts with this quote by English poet John Donne (1600's) from Meditation XVll
All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...

happy election day!

Reagan Speaks for Himself (1981), by Doug Kahn

haiku editing!

Well we are busy working with found footage now, sharpening our scalpels and making precision cuts in bursts of three--in homage to Eisenstein, japanese haiku and the general round magic of the number 3 ... I like to call them simple machines myself., which can later be assembled into larger more complex machines otherwise known as, um, films... here's a few examples.
Lets start with Kevin:

Rose Hobart and Zidane?

This week we studied the amazing amusing films of American artist Joseph Cornell, locating them at the intersection of his deep involvement with collage and his love for the cinema. "ROSE HOBART" (1936)is his infamous 16mm film-collage portrait of the actress Rose Hobart made from the 1931 jungle drama "East of Borneo" in which theartist esssentially excises from the film all that is not the object of his devotion. Perhaps in a similar tradition (albeit with a decidely dissimilar economy) the new video-portrait "ZIDANE" by artists Douglas Gordon and Philip Parreno opened today at New York City's Anthology Film Archives...

city as collage

just a little glimmer of the chaos: a tourist posing for her friends becomes part of the street collage this weekend in chelsea,nyc...and on a similar tip, Banksy is at it again

Laser surgery, or film destruction?

Group project where each person got a few seconds/feet of a found film about lasers and had their crazy way with it, incorporating various handmade techniques* in working directly on the footage-- then we spliced it back together in order more or less, like this:
*scratching, spray painting, chemicals, magazine transfers, rub-on letters, hole-punching, and even photograms!! (also see posts under 'March' for similar examples...)

THE DOCTOR'S DREAM

The Doctor's Dream (1978) 16mm, black and white, sound, 23 min

BY Ken Jacobs

THE DOCTOR'S DREAM, not the title of the found film as originally made for television... the editing device was to count the number of shots and start the film off with numerically middle shot and then, after that, the shot that had preceded it, and the shot that had followed it, and keep fanning further and further out until you saw the first shot of the film followed by the last shot, which was of the painting the movie is based on... It's called 'The Doctor;' it's in the Tate Gallery in London... and it has an interesting subliminal image appropriate to my discovery, via this reconstruction, of the real story of the film. A powerful sexual event was hidden within its banality. Maybe without intention, but it's what was gripping in the movie, if ever the movie was gripping. And now in the painting, seen from a little distance, the doctor contemplates the sleeping girl with, you don't have to agree with me, his curled fist doubling as a penis entering his mouth (I'm sad to find myself so constrained in my speech)... Maybe this is the traditional method of smuggling forbidden information, hot stuff, through customs from unadmitting mind to unadmitting mind. --K. J.

The Kuleshov Experiment

as illustrated by Alfred Hitchcock

Collage 1

Our first excursions into the world of collage included our magazine transfer film made in class from bits and pieces of the NYTimes and various film magazines, posted below.
Then we made a newspaper cut-up from instructions by William Burroughs of the front page of the NYTimes in the hopes of yielding a new answer to the bail-out problem --we got some strange poetry but nothing the feds would find too useful I'm afraid...
...meanwhile LOOK up at this lovely slide image by Bradley Eros, in the spirit of our recent discussion about collage techniques regarding Stan Brakhage's classic film MOTHLIGHT .
OK, 2 film experiments with magazine transfers below, the one on the right has the compound interest of hair in the gate ;)

Found Footage and the Turkey Film Industry

In response to our discussion on found footage...

Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves the World) [a.k.a. Turkish Star Wars]

From the Wikipedia entry...

Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves the World) is a Turkish-made cult film commonly known as Turkish Star Wars because of its notorious bootlegging of Star Wars clips worked into the film.

Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam was released in 1982 in the midst of massive political upheaval. As a result, American-made films weren't easily acquired and were often remade with a Turkish cast and setting. The four most notable films to be so bootlegged are Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, The Exorcist and E.T., all of which have Turkish variations.

I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I think the first twenty minutes may have an interesting relievance to the topic of collage, montage, and found footage...

Paint by hand

, So after watching some inspirational films:
Fear of Blushing by Jenn Reeves,
Chartres Series by Stan Brakhage, and
What the Water Said by David Gatten,
we projected our own hand painted films .


Here's Sarah's colorful world:



and JayTee's cthonic BLUE HEAT (which looks blue on the filmstrip but doesn't look blue at all when projected--or you might hold a blue gel over your eyes to watch it?):



while Matthew discusses his process (& i love red) :



For more colorful information and resources check out the excellent Center for Visual Music's Online Library

LIVE!!!

Following up on Scratch my Emulsion : this Tuesday we were treated to an in-class film performance by Brian (seen at left) --OK so he did scratch his name in upside-down, *erp*, but he quickly redeemed himself by doing some risky live augmentation to his loop, using a razor blade to carve into the moving strip which also resulted in some interesting new optical sounds-- creating the experience right before our eyes , and ears! In the clip below we see the room installation and film detail:




BTW, speaking of direct sound, here's an interesting example of optical soundtrack made by the image, in this cameraless film TBTX by filmmaker Roger Beebe , and his explanation here...

Stay tuned for new posts about paint and color---one place to look for inspiration is the great "RECIPES FOR DISASTER: a handmade film cookbooklet" an independently published collective project brainchild of and edited by the late filmmaker Helen Hill, rip.

early abstractions

im pretty sure this guy was on drugs while he was working/envisioning this piece. overall i liked most parts of this film. the soundtrack got a little old but i thought the visuals were enough to keep me attentive. it seemed as though he was just experimenting with different techniques in abstract film making and seeing what the potentials/limits of this form may be. i liked abstractions the most and as for the other two films neither of them really were that interesting however i did like the sound in Aberations.

SCRATCH MY EMULSION

This week we are watching everyone's scratch animations,
for one example check out KC 's peace out signature:


I'll post more examples soon...

...meanwhile we were talking in class about Anthony McCall's 1973 Line Describing a Cone which has recieved alot of renewed interest lately, and can be counted as a major influence in 21st century film intallations--for an extremely imperfect example see here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vr_lYSTfIo

"Early Abstractions" Pt. 1 (1946-57)

I watched this scratch film and thought it was really incredible. I got it from a previous blogger. Is the work really during the 1940s through to the 50s? It's spectacular. In the beginning it looked like someone was using chopsticks to form a square. Then slowly it moved into an amazing picture that looked as thought it was being filmed. Around the four minute mark he uses a number of geometric styles with bright colors and it looks really amazing. The filmmaker really did an incredible job. 

EARLY ABSTRACTIONS BY HARRY SMITH+soundtrack

Ah, yes, Meet the Beatles, that's almost 50 years ago! A controversial choice among many indeed and one which some purport to be a certain sort of 'folk music',...but for soundtrack variants, of which there were several, see these versions on youtube with score by Teji Ito (of 'Meshes' soundtrack fame)

EArly Abstractions part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wYJ51nSXRQ
EArly Abstractionspart two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRJAoJVp8cU
EArly Abstractionspart three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrZxw1Jb9vA

for more information on Harry Smith:
The HARRY SMITH ARCHIVES
WIKIPEDIA ENTRY
SENSES OF CINEMA ARTICLE

In The Wake of the Beatles 9/9/08

The first film we screened today in class was In the Wake by A. Curtis. This film consisted of found footage with animated text scratched into the emulsion of the film. Because this is a scratch film, it leaned on the short side, but for the tone and feel of the piece it was ideal. The words appeared as if they were scratched and then written over with some sort of marker or paint. It is unclear what specifically he used to achieve this effect. The words, originally written by James Joyce, supplimented the images upon which they were scratched. As far as scratch films go, this was not my favorite... it was somewhat like the hiaku of scratchfilmland; short, poingnant free, and over almost as soon as it starts.

Next we screened a series of films by Harry Smith. These consisted of animated geometric design and collage, depending on the film. Because all of the films have a Beatles song as it's soundtrack, all of them had the same feel for me. It seems as if he used a variety of techniques, from handpainting to live action shapes moving, to computer assisted image generation. Very entertaining, but little higher meaning or substance. Im sure all of these were very time consuming to complete.

After Thought

I, personally, have nothing to say about these films...

Of all the three I enjoyed Early Abstractions the most. I thought that Smith's formal outlay of shapes and colors strung together beautifully, although at times I felt that he was still trying to figure out the material. I was more entranced with the painted films, than with the shapes and colors; aesthetically is appealed to me more. It was unfortunate that a soundtrack was just slapped on there for no apparent reason, other than to keep an onlooker from falling asleep.

I could not grasp In the Wake at all. Everything was fairly fleeting, especially the words that would appear for either side of the frame or from no where. James Joyce's words seemed to hit the film with less integrity that if it were on paper. His language may be fleeting, but the film is too dependent on just copying the style.

In The Wake..., Early Abstractions, Abrasions

Of the three I was most drawn to the animated nature of Early Abstractions the most, although, myself not being a massive fan of insects, especially those from across any ponds, I was kind of more put into a trance watching a kaleidoscope or standing in the middle of a lightshow than oulled into any deeper thinking. This was fine--the colors, man, the colors! And I was jazzed by the dancing on the moon sequence, but all in all they seemed more like excercises in color and shape than an attempt at anything with depth, although, still, that may have been the pop music. I did enjoy it, though.

Abrasions, again, was cool, though it very much embodies the title and I really don't like the anticipation of when the next bulleted sounds and white smodge would appear. It's like watching a horror movie for the second time--you know it's coming, and for some reason that just makes it worse.

I am not so sure what I feel about In The Wake....I was equally torn between a funeral wake, and imagining myself water skiing. The words were very well formatted. They hardly jumped around at all. By the use of the peaceful words of James Joyce, I'm think this is intended, but the effect was to lull me a bit into sleepiness. I guess I just wish he'd done something more.

In the Wake of early Absractions with Abrasions

The sound of the boys from liverpool infects my head at the moment, but even though the soundtrack of Early Abstractions could have been....better...the images were amazing.  Moving through different works by Harry Smith we can see an advance in style and complication; from paint and ink, to very interesting collage, including images of which I remember; tarot cards and Buddhist symbols and a very cool skeleton.  Can you say mind altering substances?  And I can't forget to mention the excitement of S&M in Abrasions--who knows what's going on behind that black screen and flickering noise...In the Wake seems to fall a little short in deviance, but I was never one for poetry.

Wake, Abstractions & Abrasions

I found Curtis' In The Wake to be somewhat calming. Images such as sunbathing ladies, men and women chatting and laughing with one another gives an easy-going feel. I found these images distracting in that I hardly paid attention to the text and was mroe captivated by the found footage. The "voice" I heard that was narating was feminine; something about this film gives off a feminine feeling. The shots of nature and the poetry combined to form this sense of fragility and seems delicate.
Early Abstractions is a delightful experience for the eyes. However I thought the pop music took away from that experience. I believe that the soundtrack worked at certain points, however for the most part the music severely took away from the wonderful images. What is the significance of using traditional pop love songs? "Til There Was You," "Take a Chance With Me" and so on.. Very similar to Anger's Scorpio Rising and Rabbit's Moon, where old pop tunes make up the soundtrack. Toward the end of Early Abstractions, some strange themes are presented: snakes, eyeballs, skeletons and then a baby doll- to the song "Til There Was You." Bizarre.
The soundtrack to Abrasions creates tension and discomfort. Altogether, picture with image produces a sci-fi type of feel for me. There is something non-human about this film, sort of like "creating the monster" type of feeling, as if we are looking in on a scientist, whether that be Joel or perhaps Joel is the "monster."

Visions on substance

"Early Abstractions" seems to be a cinematic representation of an LSD trip. Upon reading a little history on Harry Smith it seems his artistic path began upon meeting San Francisco bohemians and smoking pot at a Woody Guthrie concert. It seems appropriate that in his early work there is a looming feeling of drug induced visions. The use of layering is prominent throughout the different styles of abstraction. HIs films incorporate surrealist images as well as basic collage of colors. It is a beautiful piece. I find it interesting that he seems to play with the word "end." He uses it often to end an image while the soundtrack continues which I suppose suggests the soundtrack was added in later. It fit well, but as was said in class, it distracts a little bit too much from the images.

Early Abstractions, Abrasions, and In The Wake

i am enjoying the simplicity and flow of abrasions, and in the wake very much in contrast to harry smith's piece. i think a simple idea can have better luck at being cohesively enjoyable. lots of the early abstract animation films just seem like a showcase of techniques that the artist has learned. in this way they remind me of student work. when i watch an abstract animation such as early abstractions, i just slip into the mode of looking for technique and figuring out, how things were done, and how i could incorporate the better ideas into my own work. the work and my mind become very concerned with surface, and some of what makes many films so powerful is lost. the sound track just furthered my pull to surface only. it seemed as a hook to draw in others that would not usually care to sit through the film. like explosions and sex might do in a hollywood movie.

"o brave new world" RECYCLED IMAGES AT UC BOULDER!!

WEEK ONE: THAUMATROPES &PHENAKISTASCOPES

(pictured at left is Anne's magical dragon phenakistoscope)



Greetings from Boulder Colorado, it's a brand new semester and this is the very first post!
All the filmmakers are getting down and dirty with their investigation and construction of various pre-cinematic devices . Stay tuned for lots more film projects and posts from this talented crew.

Here's a start:
Matthew 's color-blending thaumotrope:


Sam's thinking about bears:


& Kevin's thinking about psychedelic birds, but in phenakistoscope format (apologies for my poor shooting here--I'll do better next time):



oh! for more inspiration (and better phenakistoscope movies) see this page by Kevin T Allen
http://www.phonoscopy.com/recycled.html

3 IMAGE EDITiNG=film surgery!

Well we are busy working with found footage now, sharpening our scalpels and cutting together short pieces in bursts of three--in homage to Eisenstein, japanese haiku and the general round magic of the number 3 ... I like to call them simple machines myself., which can later be assembled into larger more complex machines otherwise known as, um, films..

Here is Rose's work, she has 2 three-image edits in a row.

CLASS DESTRUCTION!

Group project where everyone got a few seconds/feet of a found film called Millions of Bubbles and had their way with it, then we spliced together the sections as you can see here.

COLLAGE COLLAGE COLLAGE!!

oh my. its been a few weeks since any postings, but we have been busy as bees learning about the history of collage in music art and film, and trying out a variety of collage techniques on filmstrips as you can see here.

Anne's MANGA SQUARES :


and JEDs' VISUAL MUSIC #1:



stay tuned for next week's first contact with found footage...

HAND PAINTING, and other surprises...

Today we watched lots of hand painted films on 16mm--one by Jenn Reeves, one by Stan Brakhage, and ones of our very own, each one looped on the projector so we could really watch the rhythms. Watercolors ruled the day, Jon had some fancy toothbrush tricks up his sleeve, Josh experimented with handscratched optical sound, and Theo thickened the plot with goache, see here:


One place to look for inspiration is the great "RECIPES FOR DISASTER: a handmade cookbooklet" independently published collective project edited by filmmaker Helen Hill.

Plus a big inspiration for this class blog is the sixbyone blog out of Wilmington North Carolina, props to NC, thanks guys! We did the magazine transfer project too, yes in the last fifteen minutes of class we made a little collective film from scratch, so fun!!
Check it out:

Scratch My Emulsion

WE watched everyone's scratch films today. Almost everyone has the credits for their film now! They were all really beautiful, amazingly different.

Oh and this is the link to the Visual Music website http://homepage.eircom.net/~musima/visualmusic/visualmusic.htm

Look at Shanna's handmade film credits:

RECYCLED IMAGES /2008!

Welcome to our class blog, for the New School Media Studies and Film course called RECYCLED IMAGES AND NON CAMERA FILMMAKING. This blog is a brand new venture for this course, but hopefully we will be able to upload our various class experiments on pre-cinematic devices, direct animations, hand-painted films, and found footage collage films.

So far we have been really inspired by:

ERnie Gehr's Panorama's of the Moving Image installation at MOMA
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=5626

Zoe Beloff's Philosophical Toy World website
http://www.turbulence.org/Works/illusions/index.html

and a webpage by Kevin T Allen of a Recycled Images Phenakistoscope workshop
http://www.phonoscopy.com/recycled.html


Ok everybody, are you ready for a really BIG thaumotrope?