Lead Shoes-Sidney Peterson

There were several interesting approaches to film making in both of Peterson's films The Cage and Lead Shoes. In Lead Shoes, the use of a distorted lens, shallow space and time manipulation created a disorienting and ungrounded effect. There are relatively little spacial clues, so as we see the woman in the room and with the diver on the beach dissolving to a girl playing hopscotch and back again there is no sense of where you are. Sidney seems quite fond of reversing time and playing with that effect, both The Cage and Lead Shoes are cyclic films rather than linear. The editing created tension even if you are not sure why. In the scene where the man sees the bread, the bone, dog, bone then the man devouring the blood soaked bread, they are straight cut with no intercutting. Knowing that these films are workshop projects there strength comes from the synthesis and intertwining of ideas. The thing that stood out the most for me in Lead Shoes was the soundtrack. In this film more that any other we have seen, sound played a part in providing narrative information. I gathered that Edward was the man in the diving suit, the words spoken, although not always clear, gave me the impression that this was some sort of tragic love story, and the old blues music just seemed to fit. I believe this influenced my interpretation of the images shown.The combination of the different sounds at times was quite eerie. As a surrealist film the mise en scene, cinematography and sound played with and against each other, altering your expectations and pushing you outside of your comfort zone, forcing you to take an alternate view of reality.

1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?

The films are dreamlike, introspective, and have fluid linear space. The filmmaker plays the protagonist, they acts in their own film, a form of self-realization and inward exploration. The quest for sexual identity is central in psychodramas.

2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?

Imagist structure isolates a single gesture as a complete film form, reflective of imagist poetry. It moves away from narrative film structure (not simple story telling), ex. Meshes, Un Chien Andalou, abstract and trance films that have narrative structure.

3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film? Architectonic, mythopoetic

4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?

Sitney understands the roles of the women such as invoker, guide and widow and their metamorphosis where as I did not. I did however notice the geometric patterns of movement and repetition. I observed, like Sitney, the correlation of movement and time, and the patterns of three.


Sitney, “The Magus”

5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.

Using the dream metaphor, the camera becomes subjective in relation to the objects in front of it. The camera is the eye but it is being subverted by the film maker, manipulating the objective nature of the camera itself. In a dream you are both an observer and creator.

6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?

The ritual of the characters becoming gods reflects the subjective nature of The Magus becoming self-aware. The multiplicity and conflicting nature of an individual’s perception of ideas are unified.


Scott MacDonald, “Cinema 16: Introduction”

7. What were some general tendencies in the programming at Cinema 16, and how were films arranged within individual programs?

The focus was variety, and exhibiting films that were educational and enjoyable. Abstract, documentary, avant-garde, educational and scientific. Films were arranged within programs to inspire artistic expressions or provoke thought.

8. What kinds of venues rented Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks?

Membership societies, universities, those free from censorship.

9. What impact did Cinema 16 have on New York City film culture?

It united artists, creating a since of community and inspired and encouraged artist to experiment and create. A model for independent cinema, now artist had a venue in which to show thier work


Hans Richter, “A History of the Avantgarde”

10. What conditions in Europe made the avant-garde film movement possible after World War I?

Political and economic unrest, opposition against conventional film, European art movement, cubism, abstract, expressionism.

11. If the goal of Impressionist art is “Nature Interpreted by Temperament,” what are the goals of abstract art?

Abstract art moves away from the norms and deconstructs objects to their form, taking it further than the cubist it represents only itself and the aesthetics of form.

Anger and Crowley

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome - Kenneth Anger

This colorful avant-garde film is a visual onslaught of various cultural gods, goddesses and pagan rituals. Being familiar with the work of Aleister Crowley, eastern religions,and Greek mythology I recognized the various deities and the mythology behind the ritual. I will not even attempt to interpret the meaning of this film, suffice it to say it alludes to a ceremony/ritual involving (and I am only guessing) Vishnu, Kali, Pan, Hecate, etc... and from Caligori's cabinet the Sonnambulist in some sort of dionysian ritual that Crowley has put together. The 60's counter culture fascination with occultism, sexuality and hallucinogenic drugs really shines through. On the topic of trance film moving towards mytheopoetic film, Angers film definitely makes a statement. In Maya Deren's, Ritual in Transfigured Time, mythical representations of the Greeks, ie. Fates, Muses, etc...are more toned down but I believe the idea is similar. Both have tendencies toward those more natural, pagan, witchcraft religions. Whether it be Voodoo or Crowley, the underlying idea is similar through ritual you can become like the gods, imbued with powers and understanding of change and nature. I believe these ideas like dreams, are difficult to make tangible and these films are attempting to express the artist perception of the nature of reality.