Deren and Brakhage

Wow. What a compilation of experimental shorts. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that these films were done in the late 50s. They truly were extremely advanced for their time and I can only imagine what the film-goers thought of them when they first came out.

Deren gave an intriguing point in her essay that films can, at times, be considered "animated paintings"; that there is a similarity between the screen and the canvas. She also states that there is an artistic way how film can exploit the idea of time as well as create illusions through 3 Dimensional compositions. Her works, Ritual in Transfigured Time, fortify this idea very well. In Ritual in Transfigured Time, the basic elements of time and dimension are significantly shifted through Deren's unorthodox use of filmmaking techniques.

Time is altered in several moments throughout the film. In the beginning when Deren is knitting, time is slowed down in a hypnotic state. During the ballroom scene, many of the segments are repeated twice, highlighting their importance while retaining the film's dream-like atmosphere. Additionally, there is a constant use of freeze-frame, jarring the expectations of the audience.

Dimension is also portrayed in an usual way particularly in the end when the character is falling down with a negative color technique placed to have her completely white. This visual stands out profoundly as it artistically displays something that usually wouldn't be shown in that way. This use of basic film elements composed in a very non-traditional way fortifies its odd presentation. More importantly, its artistic use of these aspects shows what Deren meant regarding "animated painting".

Brakhage discusses the camera as an eye; a lens into our world. With this in mind, Window Water Baby Moving, through its brutally realistic depiction of a childbirth can be seen understandable as Brakhage wants us to feel as if we were really there, rather than merely watching a woman giving birth. This ultimately makes sense because when one thinks of a birth scene in a Hollywood scene it is extremely disconnecting on an emotional standpoint.

Of Last Year at Marienbad

The French New Wave genre bothers me. I appreciate the groundbreaking techniques they've done for the world for cinema but alas, these techniques just feel forced. Breathless, for example, feels like it's just using jump cuts for the sake of using them. While Last Year at Marienbad, on the surface, is a frustrating film within this genre, I mean ultimately it's an hour and a half back and forth conversation of "Hey I know you" "No you don't", there are several key artistic elements that give the narrative open for interpretation. Ultimately, giving the impression that Last Year at Marienbad is better than the sum of its parts.

Many consider the artistic cinematic style of the film to be too perplexing. While this is true it almost always gives the impression of a dream-like state. According to the reading this week, the film's protagonist "X" is perceived as an outsider and "a rebel against [...] ritual conversations". This explains the chaotic editing in the beginning when all the characters are

conversing together. The camera constantly moves back and forth between conversations, ending and starting them abruptly, so the audience doesn't connect with these characters the same way the protagonist doesn't connect with them.

The constant surreality of the film gives this idea that possibly, the narrative is all merely a dream or all just a figment of "X"'s imagination. One can perceive this idea through the idiosyncratic dialogue and surreal imagery. Many of the dialogue in the film seems unnatural, emotionally disconnecting; something everyday people wouldn't say in basic conversations. There's even a moment where a poem is spoken in the background on loop by the narrator and later by characters in the film. This abundance of idiosyncratic dialogue gives the premise of what is going on isn't exactly real and possibly just a dream.

Another surreal aspect is the imagery and use of shadows. There is one noteworthy shot where all the people have dramatic shadows while the trees have no shadows at all. Other aspects involve playing with the conventions of editing, featuring jump cuts between the bar and "A's" bright room flashing back and forth and more noteworthy, when "X" thinks he may have raped "A", there's a scene where the camera quickly zooms in on "A" arms extended. The zoom flashes over and over again in a perplexingly jarred fashion. Even the film's score is so oddly out of place at times, using extremely haunting and dramatic chords for mere establishing shots, that it seems like the background music for a nightmare.

This surreal and dream-like atmosphere gives the idea that perhaps the events of the film never really happen at all. Whether it's all a dream or all just a delusion of the film's unreliable protagonist.