First, write a brief response to the Ann Buchanan screen test. How is it similar to / different from the Fluxus films screened in class?
Similar to other fluxus films, there is the simplicity of Ann just sitting there not moving. I can’t imagine sitting that still for that long. Then I see her crying and I wonder, is she crying out of pain? Or is she crying because logically she knows that she has to wet her eyes somehow or else she will blink? When she is that still, my mind wanders onto her facial features, lips, eyes, eyebrows, etc. By her subtle facial expressions I feel I can almost understand what she is thinking. As we spoke of in class, it’s like looking at a picture. But far more information if you look at her slight changes of the face. We can see her crying, swallowing after a tear drops her head slightly rock forward, the creases of her lips turn up/down trying to keep the same pose.
I hadn’t thought about a crying doll as mentioned by JJ Murphy, but since mentioned I can certainly see the comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhYfCWd5XQ0 (I would advise muting the recently added music track).
You might find this blog post by JJ Murphy (my advisor back in Madison) interesting and/or helpful
http://www.jjmurphyfilm.com/blog/?p=82
J. Hoberman, Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Underground
1. What were some of the venues associated with the early underground film movement in New York City?
Fashion Industries Auditorium, the Charles, Thalia, the New Yorker, Bleeker Street Cinema, some of the less popular venues around the slum neighborhood soon to be known as the East Village, and Vanderbeek’s own American Underground Cinema (floating venue) sometimes shown in Living Theater.
What were some of the unique characteristics of the Charles Theater and its programming?
An eclectic program, very wide range of films. Opening to other venues of art, local artists, jazz concerts, silent films, panel discussions, and additional screenings of cultish films. Basically, they tried to have something for everyone. Also, Charles began holding monthly open screenings, and to get in you either had to pay or bring a film. Being at the screenings was like a party or social gathering with uninhibited patrons, most outsiders were impressed.
2. Which filmmakers did Jonas Mekas associate with the “Baudelairean Cinema”?
Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith), Queen of Sheba meets the Atom Man (Ron Rice), Blonde Cobra (Ken Jacobs), and Little Stabs of Happiness (Ken Jacobs).
Jack Smith in Ken Jacob’s Little Stabs at Happiness.
Why did Mekas use that term, and what were the distinguishing characteristics of the films?
Mekas described these films as “the real revolution in cinema today.” He felt these films were comparable to the striking movement/experience of Charles Baudelaire. These films tread on the very edge of perversity; the artists are without inhibitions, sexual or any other kind.
3. Why did underground films run into legal trouble in New York City in 1964?
At the Gramercy Arts, police regularly harassed the filmmakers and patrons b/c the films exhibited were not submitted to the NY State Board of Regents for licensing, therefore making it illegal to charge admission for their exhibition.
Later, NY City was cleaning up for the upcoming 1964 World’s Fair. Many village coffeehouses and off-Broadway theaters were closed, and several filmmakers arrested for exhibition of obscene films.
What film encountered legal problems in Los Angeles almost on the same day as Mekas’s second arrest in New York City?
Mike Getz was found guilty for exhibiting the “obscene film” Scorpio Rising at the Cinema Theater.
4. What were some of the defining characteristics of Andy Warhol’s collaboration with Ronald Tavel?
Warhol purchased the rights to A Clockwork Orange, and Tavel “adapted” the novel, and it turn made the film Vinyl.
What were some of the unique characteristics of Vinyl?
It was shot in real time with a single camera setup; the performers read from cue cards, Warhol stuck Edie Sedgwick in the film at the last minute.
How does Edie Sedgewick end up "stealing" the scene in Vinyl? (You may choose to add your own observations of the film based on our screening.)
She arrived after shooting was underway. She just sat there smoking a cigarette, but her eyes stole attention from the others onscreen. Personally, I noticed that though pretty to look at, the reason she “stole” part of the scene is bc while sitting there, she continued to knock props off the trunk and look like she wasn’t sure why she was there or she looked uncomfortable, not knowing what her part was in being there.
5. In what ways did the underground film begin to "crossover" into the mainstream in 1965-1966?
The films went through a drug phase, of Psychedelic (LSD) festivals and drug crazed Factory superstars until Warhol’s The Chelsea Girls in 1966.
What films and venues were associated with the crossover?
By the fall of 1967, The Chelsea Girls had been shown in numerous large cities such as San Francisco, Buffalo, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, etc. even invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Its first opening was at the Film-makers Cinematheque, then the Regency, and onto Getz’s Underground Cinema 12.
How were the films received by the mainstream New York press?
NY Times Mike Bosley Crowther wrote a negative review of Warhol saying, “it is time for permissive adults to stop winking at their too-precious pranks.”
6. Why was Mike Getz an important figure in the crossover of the underground?
Getz’s Underground Cinema 12 played in twenty-two cities, being responsible for introducing underground movies to the American heartland, providing the platform for the midnight-movie explosion of the 1970s.
7. How do Hoberman and Rosenbaum characterize Warhol’s post-1967 films?
After The Chelsea Girls, Warhol and Morrissey were quick to produce four nudity filled features.
They characterize his post 1967 films as a career proven to be a catalytic figure in the history of on-screen sexuality. Until he was shot by Valerie Solanis in 1968 (she sounded deranged).
Robert Pike, “Pros and Cons of Theatrical Bookings”
[in folder: notes_from_the_creative_film_society_pros_and_cons_of_theatrical_booking]
8. What were some of the advantages and disadvantages to the move from non-theatrical to theatrical bookings for experimental films?
Advantages: money (make a profit), show a nude female, prestige, and filmmakers could find financial support.
Disadvantages: wear and tear on prints, sloppy handling of the prints,
9. What issues developed concerning non-exclusive and exclusive representation by distributors?
Non-exclusive would give the filmmaker the best coverage of showing his film in many areas, with each venue having their own loyal customers.
With exclusive representation they are able to demand the highest possible rates for the films. Theatrical released films are more reliable on play dates and professional, they are there to earn revenue.
10. What problems did the Creative Film Society run into with devious theater owners?
False advertising by the Rivoli Theater, advertising the films of Uptown Theater but actually playing “beaver” films. Also, Esquire Theatre chopped up a couple of the prints through sloppy handling and was slow to pay for everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment