FAMU
A History of American Experimental Film
Spring 2007
Instructor: Henry Hills
Contact: henry@henryhills.com
Class times: Thursdays, 19:00-21:15 FAMU Auditorium, 1st floor
(+ special screenings at Ponrepo and Skolska 28)
Course description
Viewing the dominance of narrative in film and the
consequent hegemony of Hollywood as an historical anomaly owing to the
economics of film production (an issue from the pre-digital past, now that
filmmaking, like record collecting, has become essentially free), we will
explore fringe work as an alternative reality which contains seeds of a
positive future vision for moving-imagery, i.e., avant-garde film will be
viewed as a model of consciousness seeking expansion. Ideally this will be a
study of works in which form and content are perfectly merged, the focus being
on film as a thing itself, not films ŅaboutÓ something. We will view as many
films as possible, films that bounce off each other in different ways, and
certain key works may be viewed more than once. Availability on DVD is
redefining film history, and such access plays a major role in the structure of
this course.
Evaluation
Students must keep a journal of experimental films
they see, both in class and outside. This should include sufficient information
to convince me that you have seen the films, plus commentary indicating that
some of what you have seen has given you some thoughts. These are due (by
e-mail) for initial approval at
mid-term, and for final evaluation within a week after the last class. Attendance
at screenings is mandatory; make-ups are possible by arrangement.
Recommended texts:
ESSENTIAL BRAKHAGE
ESSENTIAL DEREN
AVANT GARDE READER (Anthology Film Archives)
FILM DIARIES
Jonas Mekas
VISIONARY FILM
P.Adams Sitney
EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND BEYOND Malcolm LeGrice
A CRITICAL CINEMA (Scott McDonald interviews 1-5)
Web resources
Edweard Muybridge: http://americanhistory.si.edu/muybridge/
Jules Etienne Marey: http://www.expo-marey.com/
Library of Congress Paperprint Collection: http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/ndlmps.html
Stan Brakhage: http://www.fredcamper.com/Film/BrakhageL.html
Kenneth Anger: http://www.phinnweb.org/links/cinema/underground/anger/
Harry Smith: http://www.harrysmitharchives.com/
Jack Smith: http://jacksmithandthedestructionofatlantis.com/
Andy Warhol: http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/filmchro.html
Jonas Mekas: http://jonasmekas.com
STREAMING VIDEO (Bruce Baillie, William Burroughs,
Cinema of Transgression, Rene ClairÕs EntrÕActe, Guy Debord,
Fluxus, Hollis
Frampton, Henry Hills, Isidore Isou, Mauricio Kagel,
Kurt Kren, George Kuchar, George Landow, Alfred Leslie, Yoko Ono, Ron
Rice, Carolee Schneemann, Jack
Smith, Viennese Actionism, etc.):
CLASS
1 February 8
William
Kennedy Laurie Dickson EARLIEST EDISON FILMS
Edwin S. Porter WHAT HAPPENED ON 23RD STREET
PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION AT NIGHT
DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND
Billy Bitzer WESTINGHOUSE WORKS
INTERIOR NEW YORK SUBWAY
IMPOSSIBLE CONVICTS
Fredrick Armitage DEMOLISHING THE STAR THEATRE
SEEING NEW YORK BY YACHT
DOWN THE HUDSON
Ken Jacobs NEW YORK STREET TROLLEYS (Nervous System demo)
Marie
Menken GO! GO! GO!
CLASS
2 February 15
Man Ray LE RETOUR A LA RAISON (1923)
EMAK BAKIA (1926)
(Fernand Lger &) Dudley Murphy BALLET MCANIQUE (1924)
J.S. Watson, Jr. & Melville Webber THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1927)
Ralph Steiner H2O (1929)
Jim Davis SEA RHYTHMS (1971)
Henry Hills MONEY (1984)
CLASS
3 February 22 Scott Stark in person with recent videos:
MORE THAN
MEETS THE EYE: REMAKING JANE FONDA
((extra program, Skolska 28 Gallery, Friday
February 23, 2007, 20:00
Scott Stark in person with 16mm films:
I'll Walk with God
(1994, color/sound, 8:00)
Chromesthetic
Response (1987, color/sound, 5:00)
The
Sound of His Face (1988, color/sound, 5:00)
Hotel
Cartograph (1983, color/sound, 11:00)
Air
(1986, color/silent, 9:00)
Back
in the Saddle Again (1997, black/white/sound, 8:00)
Angel
Beach (2001, color/silent, 18:00)
CLASS 4
March 1
Joseph Cornell ROSE HOBART (1938)
THE MIDNIGHT PARTY (1938)
Mary Ellen Bute DADA (1936)
ESCAPE (Synchromy # )(1938)
Slavko Vorkapitch THE FURIES +
Busby Berkeley BY A WATERFALL
LULLABY OF BROADWAY
Rudy Burckhardt HAITI (1938)
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (1940)
CLASS 5
March 8 (NOTE: class for tonight held in Room 217 in Documentary
Department!!)
Maya
Deren MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (1943,16mm
print)
Marie Menken
GLIMPSE OF THE GARDEN
ARABESQUE FOR KENNETH ANGER
EYE MUSIC IN RED MAJOR
Kenneth Anger
FIREWORKS (1947)
EAUX
D'ARTIFICE (1953)
INAUGURATION
OF THE PLEASURE DOME (1954)
CLASS
6 March 15 Stan Brakhage
CATÕS CRADLE
WINDOW WATER BABY MOVING
PRELUDE: DOG STAR MAN & part III
MOTHLIGHT
THOT FALLÕN
THE DANTE QUARTET
COMMINGLED
CONTAINERS
CLASS
7 March 29
Robert Breer
FORM PHASES IV (5)
RECREATION (2)
A MAN AND HIS DOG OUT FOR AIR (7)
JAMESTOWN BALOOS (5)
BLAZES (3)
69 (5)
Scott Bartlett OFF/ON
Woody Vesulka Experimental Videos
CLASS
8 April 5
William Burroughs TOWERS OPEN FIRE
Andy Warhol I, A MAN
CLASS
9 April 12, 20:00 (NOTE: this class takes place at Ponrepo!!)
MARTINA
KUDLACEK in person, screening In the Mirror of Maya Deren (35mm print courtesy of Navigator Film) (screened
in conjunction with a weekend long seminar on personal documentaries into which you are welcomed to
enroll)
((extra
program, Ponrepo, Friday April 13, 17:30
Notes on
Marie Menken (35mm
print courtesy of sixpackfilms)
**Czech
Republic premiere**
&
((extra
program, Ponrepo,
Wednesday,
April 18, 20:00
Paul Sharits S:TREAM:S:S:ECTION:S:ECTION:S:S:S:ECTIONED &
other works (preservation prints from Anthology Film Archives), presented by
archivist Andrew Lampert
CLASS
10 Apr 19 ANDRS SZIRTES in person
&
((extra
program, Skolska 28 Gallery, Friday April 20
ANDRS SZIRTES in person
CLASS
11 April 26
Bruce Conner REPORT
Craig Baldwin TRIBULATION 99
CLASS
12 May 3
Leslie Thornton PEGGY AND FRED IN HELL
Fred Worden HERE
Abby Child MAYHEM
Vincent Grenier TABULA RASA
Jennifer Reeves LIGHT„WORK„MOOD„DISORDER
Joe Gibbons BARBIES AUDITION
Lewis Klahr ALTAIR
Henry Hills PORTER
SPRINGS 4
ELECTRICITY
NAKED
CITY SERIES