This film was produced and originally screened at a fundraiser for Syrian relief on March 16, 2013. I wanted show the contrast between the “normal” children’s lives, filled with wonder and play, against the true life story of a child suffering from the atrocities in Syria. I hope that putting these two images together will allow those unfamiliar with the pain resulting from war to connect with the child’s story (narrated by my little sister) and maybe even motivate someone to do something to help alleviate the suffering.
If you are unable to help in someway, then at the very least sharing this short film might touch someone who can.
An interesting notion in film is the merging of the senses. Many filmmakers attempt to create auditory and haptical experiences through the visual medium, as evidenced by my previous post on abstract film. For this post, we will be exploring more early abstract films that attempted to invoke the senses through their forms.
This piece tells it like it is very early on. Synchronomy No. 4, “Visual Music.” That subtitle gives insight to the film movement that inspired this piece as a whole. Like Rhythmus 21, this piece attempts to capture rhythm and melody with enticing visuals. Although it is timed to “Toccata and Fugue in D” it has it’s own way of representing the music visually, so that one can have an idea of the melody while watching this with the sound off. Truly, an intriguing experience.
This film only further emphasize’s abstract film’s obsession with geometry. A bar in the middle splits the screen in which various arrangements of rectangles appear to the tone of the music. This minimalistic approach is quite effective in representing the tones of the music which are also minimalistic. The rectangles vary in size based on the pitch and when the music picks up, two bars split the screen instead of one. Due to the pitch specific size, and the timing of the rectangles appearance exactly to the tone of the music, one can totally reconstruct the soundtrack in their head after watching this a couple times. Try it out, it really works.
This film by Len Lye is mind-blowing. On screen, we basically see what appears to be a microorganism grow and come to life and, in a way, attempt to consume its maker. At least that’s what I gathered from it. Very cool animation, I recommend watching this with the sound off as well and filling in the sound effects with your head. While watching this, I almost felt like I was looking at a slide through a microscope, the movement and behavior of the shapes are very lifelike and organic. I’m not sure what point the makers were trying to get across with this, or if it really serves anything at all, but it is certainly a very abstract film.
This is also a film by Len Lye. In this piece, he colors directly onto the film itself, offering another interesting visual experience. This film is also timed to music, I think intentionally (the timing is too good to be true). I almost wanted to get up and dance while watching this as the colors and lines danced across the screen. Although, I was a bit thrown off by the ending. The “Cheaper Parcel Post” intertitles made it feel like a commercial. If you felt the same, just know it’s not. Although I’m not entirely sure why that was thrown in there… sabotage?
This film, although black and white, seems incredibly modern and contemporary. I can’t put my finger on what gives it this quality, but the way it’s put together is very ahead of its time. Once again, lines are used to manifest rhythm across the screen, and the drum beat used for this is incredibly entrancing. Len Lye seems to be a master of the abstract film form, and he does not fail to shine in Free Radicals.
Last, but definitely not least, Norman McLaren’s Pas De Deux. There are no words to truly describe this piece. He blends music, dance, and film into one remarkable piece of art. While dance and music are art form’s in their own right, McLaren uses the power of film to enhance their effectiveness. By creating a kind of “Ghost” in the frame, he really draws us into the motions of the dancer as her motions are repeated, lagged, or superimposed multiple times with a delay (kinda like when your computer froze back in the day and you would drag your window around and a trail would follow). Very beautiful storytelling unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
Rhythmus 21 is an early experiment in Abstract Film. Although not the first abstract film ever made (contrary to the director Hans Richter’s claim), it was a very bold and daring move for Avant-Garde film artists at the time. This piece, heavily influenced by Cubism, consists of rectangles of different shades and sizes growing and shrinking within the frame, an intriguing exploration of the ability to compose rhythm using just cinematic images. The growing and shrinking was simply achieved using different sized cut-outs of rectangles, but when set in motion the dynamism of the shapes gives them an organic feel.
Walter Ruttmann’s Lichtspiel Opus I predates Rhythmus 21, yet somehow feels far more advanced than Richter’s bold “first abstract film.” For starters, it has color (yay color!), and the free-flowing, curved shapes that comprise Opus I feel much more organic than the rigid polygons of Rhythmus 21. Even the cutting/motion is way smoother than the choppy job done in Richter’s work. Still, both these films follow in the same vain of Abstract Film, and are very creative in the way they bring life to figures and shapes.
An Optical Poem was released 17 years after Rhythmus 21, and it shows how a simple idea in art can grown and develop over time to become something great. This piece displays a mastery of the idea of Abstract film, and is composed entirely to the sound of Franz Liszt’s “2nd Hungarian Rhapsody” (thus making it a defining piece in conveying the intimate relationship between film and music… as if we didn’t know that already). Every motion happens to the beat of that classical piece of music, it’s so well timed that this short film could quite possibly be one of the earliest music videos (pre-MTV). It is also in color and the director uses shadows, casting them from the foremost shapes on the ones behind them to add to the illusion of depth.
Taking a step back for a moment, we have Symphonie Diagonale. I highly recommend viewing this piece with the sound off, as the “symphony” is within the composition of the objects entering the frame. The orchestra is the diagonal and curved lines growing, fading in and out, appearing and disappearing from view in time to a rhythm that only the mind can interpret on its own without the use of soundtrack. I believe that was the director’s original intent as this film was made without an original soundtrack. People have added sound to the film afterwards, but this only hurts the film’s true purpose.
Vormittagsspuk (Ghosts Before Breakfast) is certainly a very abstract film, but it follows more in the vein of Dada and Surrealism with its nonsensical narrative (or just plain lack of) and dream like attributes. Ideas of the unattainable repressed desires are present to me in the images of the “untieable bowtie” and the evasive bulls-eye. Lots of cool stop motion techniques are used (like in the “tea party” scene, I appreciated that the table set itself and the tea poured itself in the cups) and some interesting cuts and dissolves are implemented as well, contributing to the dream-like quality of the film (guys with disappearing beards anyone?). Overall, I think this was another one of Hans Richter’s attempts to be a pioneer in film, but this is still very similar to previous Avant-Garde works we’ve seen (Entr’acte, Le Retour A La Raison, etc.). Still, this film is very successful and entertaining, and fans of Surrealist film will be sure to enjoy it.
This film meshes live action with early abstract film, and does it very well. The colors during the live action orchestra will remind you of Opus I and An Optical Poem, and surely enough, the film eventually takes you to a similar abstract world, albeit much more masterfully done. Almost halfway through as the orchestra picks up it’s intensity, the live action washes out with red and the animation begins. Utilizing the technology of the time to its fullest, we now see scrolling backdrops and more variety in the moving objects. There’s dust whisping across the screen and ripples of water reflect light into our eyelids to the music. It is evident that abstract film moved very far very quickly by this film, which has done a wonderful job in blending the two worlds of live action and abstract animation into one.
One of the great things about film is the potential to reveal the complex inner workings of the human mind to the eyes of the viewer. No medium is more capable of sharing the inexcpliable, and filmmakers often tap into this unique potential of film to shed light on the intangible. Since its early days, Avant-Garde filmmakers have attempted to manifest ideas like dreams and emotions into the film experience, and the movement has been largely successful as these daring pieces of art are still alive and discussed frequently til this day, instilling wonder and amazement in us as we relive the dreams of filmmakers long gone.
Film really began exploring the dream sequence in the 1920’s, stemming from influential art movements of the time like Dada and Surrealism. One such film was Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog), a collaboration between artist Salvador Dali and filmmaker Louis Bunuel. Now available on Netflix, this film is clearly a timeless piece of art that seems to lack any rhyme or reason. This could be the touch of Dada’s “anti-art” art movement that threw away the dominating narrative style of film, a result of Dali and Bunuel’s agreement to not include anything in this film that has an explicable “reason” to it, other than what can be derived from psychoanalysis. With that notion in mind, it is clear that these artists were not concerned with conveying a “story” in the traditional sense, but rather the inner workings of their mind through images much like a dream, lending the film its Surrealist quality. It is rumored that the idea for Un Chien Andalou came to be when Bunuel shared a dream he had with Dali in which “the moon was sliced in half by a cloud like a razor blade cutting through an eye” (hence, the opening sequence), and Dali shared a dream of his in which “a hand was crawling with ants” (another image from the film). Their fascination with the way in which the mind represents repressed emotions and desires gave birth to this film, and many films like it to date.
While Un Chien Andalou is remembered often (maybe because the shock value of its images?), there were several films released before it that, in the same Surrealist spirit, attempted to manifest a dream-like sequence in film.
Erik Satie/René Clair: Entr’Acte (1924)
This film makes use of many of the techniques that were fascinating in the early days of the art form. Techniques like slow motion, stop motion, and creative cutting are used to enhance the Surreal, dream-like quality of Entr’acte. The connection between the Avant-Garde and the “cinema of attractions” (Gunning) is very apparent in this piece as well (at one point the camera is set on a roller-coaster and we are taken for a ride, something that would have thrilled early film viewers very much). The scene in which “toothpick” like objects and a flame are superimposed over a man’s scalp as it is being scratched is a good example of the haptical quality of cinema (pertaining to the touch). If you weren’t scratching your head at that scene… then I guess you have no soul.
La Coquille et Le Clergyman (1928)
This film defines Surrealism. The whole experience of this film is like watching a dream, and any attempt to make sense of it is futile. It starts off with a man working on… potions? At first it seems like he is being pursued by some officer type person… but then when ever he throws one of his potions on the floor they end up in a different position in space. Tell me that ain’t weird. Once we break out of this mode, a slow motion sequence with the officer moves us into a different mode, where the “Clergyman” is now pursuing the officer. A woman is introduced at one point, another image at hints at Freud’s idea of “repressed desires”. My personal favorite shot is of the clergyman’s hands superimposed over the woman’s neck. It does a good job of visualizing the unattainable repressed desires.
Le retour a la raison
This film is pure Dada. The irony of the title follows very well in its spirit (a movie with no reason called “return to reason”… funny.) I couldn’t help asking myself “why did I watch this” after watching it, but I noticed that the images still incited emotion with me. The sharp nails flashing before me made me feel anxious, and in a way this film was meaningful, even as an irony. The film ends with a woman flashing her breasts in an artsy lighting situation. To me that was a knock at Film’s use of the form of a woman, and throwing that in at the end of the film for no reason is kind of like saying “that’s all you were here to see… we know.”Another work by the same artist, Man Ray, is surreal to the next level.
This film builds up a lot of sexual tension from its onset, we see a man pick up a woman with and eventually we are taken to the woman’s room where she undresses. We see this through a geled lens, which distances the viewer from the out of focus image. The distance is manifested as the sexual tension is never realized, rather we are distracted by images of starfish as the woman lays there anticipating… nothing.
This film by Fernand Leger was meant to be a great film, displaying the grandeur of the time period of its creation. This non-narrative film tells the story of the wonder and amazement alive in the 20s. Many machines are shown to be in motion, and the film is cut in a way that is meant to mesmerize and almost hypnotize the viewer (for example, the use of a kaleidoscopic image attracts the eyes of the audience). Although this film is aged in our eyes, it was very much a “modern” film of its time, the portrayal of Charlie Chaplain as the stop motion “dancer” says it all.
Cinema emerged at a very peculiar time in human history. While the camera was invented in the late 1880s, it wasn’t until after World War I that the feature film became widely appreciated. The evolution of this medium, coupled with high political tensions around the globe saw the development of a wealth of films that focused on showcasing various cities and cultures to the world. Three films in particular, Manhatta (1921), Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) and Man with a Movie Camera (1929) are renowned for their approach to doing just that.
Manhatta…
Manhatta was a collaborative effort between painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand. Each shot is elaborately composed by these artists who were probably very experienced in representing still images. Their excellence in framing subjects (in this case, the city itself) shows, and the various, mostly still shots bring life to the city by focusing mainly on the hustle and bustle of the people and the machinery at work in Manhattan. Steam, ferry’s and crowded streets are displayed with intermittent titles of a Walt Whitman poem that also glorifies Manhattan throughout the piece. The coupling of these images with the poem help give the piece a narrative feel, although it lacks any real plot or flow, besides opening with the arrival of a ferry and closing with sunset.
Berlin makes use of a lot more motion and quicker cuts to paint a picture of the city of Berlin as opposed to Manhatta‘s use of still shots expressing the buildings and people of New York. Whether this is due to the evolution of cinema or stylistic preference of the directors of both films I am unsure, but in Berlin we see the camera placed on moving trains, different “crane” like shots of different heights. There is also a display of industry as the camera takes us through different factories showing machines at work. As the film progresses through the acts, we are brought closer to actual people, which also gives the film a narrative feel as the peoples lives come into view. We see many people at work and conversing, giving light to the “prosperity” of Berlin at the time. It’s funny that this film is called “Symphony of a Great City” as it is completely silent… yet the shots themselves compose a piece that resonates the directors love for Berlin.
I’m sure every film aficionado is familiar with this one. This film utilizes every film technique of its time, and even invents some new ones to really show off Soviet Russia’s jewels. The film claims to be an “experiment” in creating the worlds first “universal language” and seems to tell a story without the use of narrative, intertitles or actual “characters,” besides the camera/cameraman it/himself. The camera even comes to life at one point in this film through the use of stop motion! In fact, motion is a key word in this film. While the pacing starts out slow. pulling you into the setting of the film, eventually things speed up as the work/play day kicks into gear, bringing you into a dizzying yet captivating flow of shots and sequences. As with Berlin, there is a huge emphasis on the personal lives of people and industry in Soviet Russia (presumably to show off). The camera is portrayed as a tool that allows you to see what is going on in this place in time (in one shot, an eye is superimposed over the camera lens). At its core, this film is like the previous two, showcasing what seems to be the unlimited potential of man in these places with the advent of this tool at their disposal.
I made this song last year over Pantyraid’s Get the Money. It’s like the past me is giving advice to future me. Quite the funny feeling… here are the lyrics. Enjoy.
Rollercoaster – Aykay
Stressin’ out? Yeah I know Life ain’t nothing but a show People leave? Let ’em go. Keep it G and stay afloat. Never let nobody bring you down to their level, If you wanna stay on top, Better know just who to drop. Do your own thang, Make your own rules if you want to Nobody can make you change. Even if they call you strange, Crazy is the way to be and honestly I’m so insane… So insane but I’m never ever losing it! Got the game locked up in a tight grip… You can try and shake it from me But I’ma let you know that I’m slicker than I’m cunning Steady going for the gold even though I’m never running Try and catch me if you want me But I know it’s going to be nothing for me To just leave you all behind me Yeah I’m speeding while I’m climbing… Hoping I will never fall.
Sometime’s life’s just like a rollercoaster Fallin’ every time that you rise… Don’t worry raise your hands up till it’s over Let go for the rest of the ride… ride…
Let it go let it go You ain’t always gotta have a grip to hold Let it go let it go If you really wanna live just let it go
(Hey….
Can you hear me?
Where am I…)
Rise up Fall down That’s the way it goes around Spin your head and bring it back Cuz people need to hear this sound If you’re feeling low then you better play it slow… Better play it slow… Better play it slow… Can’t stop Won’t stop Always on my hustle Pretty unpredictable, my mind stays on that shuffle I be going digital while you are just a number And I’m sorry I’m so cynical… there ain’t no other That can do it like me, I’m sure that you’ve heard Ain’t nobody else around with my way with these words That’s how it’s gotta be, I’ma say it like it’s nothing And to everybody doubting, they can hate until I bump it Now the crowd’s on lock, The girls get down The vibe don’t stop, Feelings get around And you’re sure to catch it if you’re staying unprotected I can promise it’s a blessing so you better stay invested…
And I’ll pick up all the pieces from the places which you left it, Might be feeling broken but my hand is sure to mend it And I’m broken too… Lift my own weight so I can carry you My back stays strong… Burdens get heavy, still I carry on.
(Get the money) It’s all about that Love is blinding all I see is black And I tried to stay away but I couldn’t help it If I have to leave will you think I’m selfish? I don’t even know myself… Things that I do come from someone else sometimes. That’s how it seems… There’s a whole lot of mystery to this machine…
This week in my “Avant-garde” film theory class we were forced (bound by our hands and feet to a chair) to watch four short videos that are considered “Avant-garde” [groundbreaking in style, execution, technique… like an “advanced guard … beats the army to the battle. Catch my drift?].
While a mad scientist came around and attached these devices to our eyelids that held them open (ouch), a member from the media studies department at the University at Buffalo began screening Matthias Breuer’s “Reconstructing the Truth.”
Here it is. Sit through the whole thing. I dare you. :
No, there’s nothing wrong with your computer or internet connection. That’s how the video is meant to be seen: Chopped, screwed up and utterly annoying (like our memory!). Despite the fact that it may cause you to rip out your brain, there is actually a very mesmerizing quality about this video. It is interesting that it’s called “Reconstructing the truth.” I didn’t know this at the time of the screening yet I found myself trying to piece together what was going on from the absolute nonsense that this video seemed to convey. I attribute this to the elaborate composition of the images flashing before the viewer in this piece. Whilst nothing was maintained on screen for more than a handful of frames at a time, there was still a sense of continuity in the piece throughout these fragments of time. We see several familiar faces over and over again, and they seem to be moving from place to place in some sequential order. Everybody is dressed like they’re important, and brief stints of emotion are apparent… from stress, to intimidation, to seduction and malice. I’m sure there was some underlying story that can be taken from the mesh of images… probably having to do with crime (catch the dead body?). I’m really curious to know… but I would never sit through it a second time. Headache >_< Anywho, I don’t think it’s the story that is important, but rather the distorted version of reality that evolves from these mutations in time…
Since, after that video, our brains turned to mush, our professor felt it was okay to loosen the binds to our hands and feet, allowing us to view Tim Scaffidi’s “Dynamism of a Dog in a Wheelchair” with a little added comfort.
This one’s actually pretty damn cool:
This video, like the info says, pays homage to Giacomo Balla’s painting “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash.” (below)
Both the painting and the video explore the phenomenon of motion as it is seen through time, offering cool visual effects. As a period of time in which motion occurs is blended together into one instance, it is apparent in the video and in the painting that what was distinguishable figures can become an indistinguishable blob. Plus the wiener dog in a wheelchair is super cute.
After seeing the cute doggie, watching these videos against our will did not seem so bad… The next video, Gabriel Shalom’s “Wash Choose Peel Chop Rinse” had us groovin’ to the beat of… making vegetable stew?:
This video also dealt with the manipulation of time. The “Videomusician” Shalom spliced some simple shots of him, or an “actor” taking the steps necessary to prepare vegetable stew in a manner that creates a captivating sonic effect. Before you know it you’ll be bobbing your head to the sound of a leek hitting the bottom of the sink, or an onion being peeled… weird, I know. But oh the power of video editing…
The last video we were forced to watch before I fled was Sofia Dona’s “Twinning towns: Leipzig-Detroit”
As the sweet sound of the saxophone carries you away, allow yourself to marvel at the wealth of potential mankind has unlocked for itself. You are watching two different people, play two different saxophones, in two different places at two different times… at the same time! Doesn’t that boggle you? If it doesn’t, you must have forgotten that your great great great great great granddaddy probably could never even conceive of such a thing. Once that fact truly sets in… then you can appreciate this piece.
It was nice watching these videos and all, but as soon as the saxophones were put down… I managed to loosen my binds completely and make a run for it. The mad scientist shot twice, but he missed his mark… only grazing my left ear as I burst through the screening room door.
Just kidding, none of that action movie stuff ever happened. But I imagined it did, and it made life more interesting.
If you want to see more videos that deal with time mutations, check out my school’s page on the matter:
Close your eyes and you’ll see
Life is not a mystery
Growth in the darkness
Life comes to the light
In space the sun shines
The void is darker than the night
The answer to our plight
Is buried deep within
We forgot about the truth
Since we’re buried in our sins
But you can let it loose
Pay attention to the signs
The doors will open up
To the secrets in your mind
Cosmic spirits deeply connected
The will of the universe… manifested.
The Truth Within... 