Hey John, Your question jogged my memory about a film I quite liked when I first saw it, decades ago, as part of a traveling show called "German Experimental Film: From the Beginnings to 1970". Can't remember if the series screened at Chicago Filmmakers or the Film Center at the Art Institute of Chicago. Although I still have the series booklet (published by Goethe Institut Munich in 1981) I can't find the film listing from that particular night but I expect this one added needed levity to an predominantly austere and serious program.
Lutz Mommartz. Selbstschüsse (Self Shots). 1967. And the Internet delivers: https://archive.org/details/Mommartz_Selbstschusse_1967 I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about Michael Snow's La Région Centrale; seeing Self Shots again through that filter is quite amusing. Thanks for prompting me to seek it out and I hope it's an example of what you were looking for. Eric On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 10:28 AM John Powers <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Frameworks, > > > > Thanks to everyone for their suggestions for this admittedly vague > request. Alan, I assume that you’re referring to BLUE TAPE, which I haven’t > been able to see, but will jump at the chance next time it presents itself. > Carl, I also thought of A&B IN ONTARIO, but had forgotten about SWAMP – > thanks for reminding me. Marilyn, I must confess that BLUE MOSES never > crossed my mind, but I’ll look at it again; MADE MANIFEST is one of the few > Brakhage films I haven’t seen, so I’ll have to prioritize it the next time > I’m renting some prints. Scott, can’t wait to see your film, and thanks to > Albert for the Dan Graham suggestions, which certainly fit. > > > > Dave, yes, I think the term “participatory” is the weakness here, which is > too general and potentially all-encompassing to have much explanatory > force. Of course, we can all think of hundreds of films in which the > handheld camera provides evidence of the filmmaker’s subjectivity and seems > to represent a first-person physical response to the events depicted – not > representing a state but enacting it, on some level. I suppose that in my > inquiry, I was thinking of two slightly different things. One might be > called a “shared camera” or “dialogic camera” (although I’m not sure I like > the literary connotations of the latter term) (the Brakhage, Schneemann > examples), where the handheld camera is traded between partners. Another > might be a kind of “public camera” or “social camera” or something like > that (Scott’s film, maybe the Joe Gibbons films where he shoplifts books), > where a social performance or interaction is orchestrated such that the > camera’s involvement becomes integral to or even a prerequisite for its > realization. What was I thinking with CHRISTMAS ON EARTH? Maybe a “mimetic > camera” (I think Ara Osterweil writes about this in Flesh Cinema) where the > camera’s movements imitate the onscreen actions or movements of its > participants. > > > > All very fuzzy, of course, and not totally developed, but I suppose that > my request for examples was in part about trying to iron out or understand > some of these differences, so thanks to everyone for giving me things to > consider! > > > > Best, > John > > On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 05:45:45 PM CDT, Dave Tetzlaff < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > It might help if you could be more specific about any difference between > your concept of “participation” and the tradition of “first-person camera” > or “subjective camera”. Such a technique implies some agent, represented by > the camera that does in some sense "participate in the actions depicted, > rather than simply observe.” The way you describe your examples though > seems to imply we understgand the camera AS a camers, foregrounding the > physical act of filming as an element of the pro-filmic event. But the > distiction isn’t necessarily that clear. In Fuses, there’s the implication > that we’re seeing the perspective of Kitsch the Cat, and the camerawork in > the CU reel of Christmas on Earth isn’t obviously intended to be read as > “participatory camera” vs. just, say, “psychedelia” in the text itself - ( > you have to know extra-textual stuff about Barbara Rubin and the production > of the film. Perhaps you could clarify by listing some familair films that > would be OUTSIDE the realm you seek. For example, what about Anticipation > of the Night? Or what about less experimental examples of cinema verite, > where the camera-operator is a participant (e.g. Sherman’s March)? > > Either way, Pennebaker’s largely (understandably?) overlooked “One P.M.” > might fit... > > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >
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