Sharton Lockhart

Sharon Lockhart's film was difficult to watch. Her work was introduced as "durational," reminiscent of Michael Snow or Nathaniel Dorskey's work, of the ethnographic genre. The film we were shown today (I did not catch the name!!) was filmed while Lockhart was in Japan. There was one setting that comprised the entire aesthetic: a gymnasium with a stage. The progression of the film was defined by the movements of the Japanese students' movement, mimicking that of children marching, playing gym games, or sometimes just organized, rhythmic movement.

The most striking element about Lockhart's work was her composition. This is where Dorskey's influence was quite obvious. Her slow, thoughtful consideration of the subject matter demanded the same intellectual processing as Dorskey's slow examination of "variations." Though Lockhart's background remained constant, her characters and movement provided a means of measuring progress over time. The movement was slow, very poetic. Her shots and transformations over time were purposeful and very structured. Michael Snow's theory of control and accessibility drove the artistic decisions behind the movement. Her shots were simple and controlled, providing a means to put all of the audience on the same level.

Two mediums she used to accomplish this were rhythmic structures and dance movement. Though the film subjects were reflecting common activities that take place in gymnasiums, the movement was very artistic and intentional. The driving rhythm structured the movement, creating a very contained, disciplined motion that demanded a vague sense of plot, yet transcended cultural boundaries through music and created an engaging, and in many ways, interactive experience.

I enjoyed the static nature of the background contrasted with the foreground movements. This technique eliminated any distractions, and developed a very focused attention to the movement progression of the subjects. At some points, even the foreground subjects were static, and arranged in a unique manner, creating a pleasing composition.

Lockhart called referred to her practices as durational. I agree, but would go even further to describe her work and include the technical control of all elements. Although her film that was screened in class was very tiring and sometimes difficult to focus all the controlled elements into a processed scope of interest, it opened a very fascinating window into technical mastery.

Hamilton

Yesterday's viewing of Matthew Porterfield's Hamilton was a provocative experience for me. As I watched the majority of the film, I was engaged by the obscurity of the character relationships, dysfunctional situations, and melancholy disposition of all personalities. I don't think there was one instance of laughter in the entire film! Nothing seemed to tie together until one particular scene: the church scene. Throughout the film, I watched Joe, one of the characters, ignore his mother, depend on vices, and fight responsibility, unable to see how these traits contributed to the plot development...but they were in fact THE driving force of the unfolding plot. Although the majority of the relationships did not require more specification, one relationship did need defining: between Joe and his girlfriend. It was not until the scene where Joe's previously introduced girlfriend gets up with the crying baby to comfort it did I realize what Joe was running from, or perhaps fighting. He was a young father, uncomfortable with where he got himself in life. His girlfriend was probably not the girl for him and he is probably not emotionally mature enough to handle the burdens of fatherhood. Particular scenes supporting these assumptions include Joe's constant smoking instead of taking on responsibility such as putting away the groceries, his roaming to the bar to drink and smoke, his late night video game distractions, and his apathy towards his baby crying, invoking his mother's silent disapproval.

Joe's relationship with his mother is quite fascinating. His mother seems to express disappointment in Joe's situation, but also disappointment in herself for being essentially a failure at being a mother. She doesn't even attempt to speak to him. All communication is accomplished through looks of disapproval, awkwardness, and sadness at the current state of affairs. Their relationship represents the teen angst phenomenon that has gone too far. Joe has made mistakes that teenagers often fall victim to, such as smoking or teen pregnancy, but his mother has alienated him too much beyond repair, at least in the segment we witness.

An observation brought up at the end of class regarding the different age groups being representing really fascinated me. The entire spectrum of life was represented from babies, small children, teenagers, young mothers, older mothers, and finally, grandmothers. This indicated that perhaps Joe's struggles with manhood may have been a driving force in the film, but a comprehensive examination of all stages and roles of life was also an important plot structure.

The last scene of Joe and the younger boy riding bikes was a conflicting yet perfect ending for the film. Was Joe being presenting as still being a boy, riding his bike with young boys, or was he being representing as a parent? A parent whom would soon be teaching his own boy how to ride a bike? Maybe the scene was implying that despite Joe's struggles, he would be able to overcome his personal conflict and be a successful parent. On the other hand, the scene could have been magnifying his will to stay young and manifesting his immaturity that comes with being a young adult, still desperately clinging to the last threads of youth. Personally, I think that dichotomy was the intention of the filmmaker.

One final thought I would like to discuss is the film's aesthetic. I loved it. To me, the film's life quality was what brought the film's impact home for me. To this moment, I'm not sure of the date of the film or what time period was being depicted. For me, it resonated as the early 1990's, the same time period where I was growing up as a young child. The primitive nintendo system, the clothes, and the aesthetic of the cars, buildings, and technology all brought me back to a small house in the Rosholt, WI countryside, swinging on our family's swingset in the backyard in neon stretch pants as my dad returned home from work in his giant brown Oldsmobile. There was a breaking point were I was completely enveloped by this medium, and the swingset scene accomplished it. Beautiful work.

gender, sexuality, and video

Jennifer Montgomery's presentation today was really interesting. Her 2nd piece of work (I don't recall the names of any of these pieces at this point...) delved into very provocative subject matter that was simultaneously striking and disturbing. The work chronicled coming of age and female sexuality, as well as the issue of control. Not only did it deal with sexuality in a general term but seemed to focus on unconventional sexual fantasies and explorations that are often kept quiet within the boundaries of acceptable conversation. Society is more accepting of the discussion of male sexuality, whether it's because of porn notoriety, male's supposedly "dominant" role in culture, or simply because girls most be feminine and submissive. Regardless, Montgomery tackled uncomfortable topics, and depicted upsetting situations very graphically.

I strongly believe that this is something that needed to be tackled. I applaud Montgomery in her unwavering commitment to revealing the incredible awkwardness of female adolescent sexuality. It's been hiding below the surface for way too long. I grew up in a very conservative, Christian home where I was pressured into signing a purity contract on my 13th birthday. Sexuality was for marriage ONLY. Imagine how guilt-ridden I was throughout my teenage years as I grappled with coming of age, being attracted to males, and struggling to determine whether or not I had similar feelings for the female gender?! Even as I am now an adult, making an adult decisions, and decidely straight in my affections, I am still dumbfounded at how incredibly embarrassing and clumsy it is coming to those conclusions, especially behind closed doors so to not disturb conventional expectations to which I must adhere.

Whether or not she was chronicling her own sexual exploration was left debatable, but I feel that she earnestly created a piece to which self-accepting girls can relate. Primal inhibitions are very real and need to be addressed--not hidden underneath a blanket of correctness.



Otherwise, I didn't find her other two works all that particularily interesting. I couldn't really formulate an entire opinion regarding the first piece as it was cut off, but I really didn't find the last work very fascinating. The interviews were so boring to me. I don't know these people that she's interviewing and I don't really care to watch an hour's worth of footage watching them talk about their personal lives and maybe a couple minutes about film. It would be like if I went out and recorded conversations with some of my good friends from the music scene across the country and then making a bunch of people watch it. If you're outside our little scene, you will probably not enjoy it as we'll be talking about unfamiliar people and events that only people in our particular group would understand. Therefore, I thought the last film was very exclusive and above my range of interest.

Project update

Tonight, I go into the video lab at sundown and work on capturing my final project for film 222. As I gathered footage over the past couple weeks, the project took an unexpected direction. I think that's a good thing. When I was staying in Brooklyn, we took the subway everywhere. To enter a subway station, you must walk down dank, dark stairs to a lonely, underground interchange. Across the subway rails, there was another world of people going different ways, but where separated by a massive chasm of rails. This scenario reminded me of one of the themes of my video project: disconnect. So I decided that I would like illusions of a subway interspersed with the storyline. Even the sounds of the subway were lonely, haunting nightmares. I still need much of the actual storyline footage, but it will come together very rapidly I'm sure. For additional sound elements, I plan on checking out an SP Lav this week. I need to record sighing, coughing, and typing sounds.

Though the traveling footage concept didn't reap a whole new story in itself like I may have hoped, it produced an enhancing element for my original idea that I couldn't have brainstormed sitting around in Milwaukee. I love traveling for that reason: inspiration hides in unknown, far away places.