Maya Deren's shorts were definitely films that rejected narrative devices and emphasized a visual impact on the audience. I noticed in all of Deren's shorts a spirit of choreography, not only in how characters react to each other, but also in how the films were shot. There is excessive use of repetition, which is key in choreography and in music. It is as though Deren is creating a musical form in her film than just experimenting with film.
Brakhage, with his shorts, went beyond just filming. I've never seen an example of drawing directly onto film celluloid. It does look a bit weird, yet it is a very interesting concept of finding another way to explore art through film. Brakhage's filming of childbirth wasn't as disturbing as I thought it would be. The graphic visual of the birth was not pretty, but it was fascinating to see Brakhage take something so personal and allow the audience to become personal with it. After the film, the class would not let go of discussing it. Brakhage's intent, I believe, was to make the film of birth personal for us, not just for him.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love when film is painted or scratched physically. It has a raw and unique feel to it.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed how Deren's films all did have a sense of choreography about them. In class i think we talked about how she loved dancing and that really played out in all of her films.
There is a sense of dance with the people, the camera work, and the editing. It's like a smooth beautiful movement.
In terms of Brakhage's "Window Water Morning Baby" or whatever order the title went in, I certainly feel like it became a personal experience for the audience. However, I felt quite intrusive. I felt voyeuristic and inappropriate watching the film.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that you saw a connection with music and Derens films even though they are silent films. Just kinda cool, nice observation.
ReplyDeleteKrezer hit the nail on the head in my opinion. Deren said it all when she said that it is something no man should witness, its just that personal. But maybe thats just me being a squeemish baby, who knows.
I think your observations are really interesting, and I'd have liked to see you go further with them. I'd also be interested to see people getting past the personal with Brakhage, and into the impersonality of images, lighting effects, shapes, textures, etc, he's going for with the human body--or maybe even discussing his work also as a kind of choreography.
ReplyDelete