1. After World War I, the world was left in panic and unease. People wanted change and they revolted. This led to a new era that broke free of tradition and former norms, which allowed avant garde films to flourish. People wanted something different in their lives, and they were left open minded about that something being a very bizarre genre of filmmaking. Avant garde films were like a revolution in themselves for a civilization that was tired of the same old same old.

2. Abstract art began with Cubism. This was an artistic style that strove to express the basic elements that made up an object, rather than it's natural appearance and traits. Abstract art evolved into something that sought to capture a universal feeling rather than an individual perception. Despite it's connotation, abstract art is more about control than anything. To capture the essentials of an object and break it down, if you will, into an emotion that is truly asthetic...that's the main goal of abstract art.

3. Fischinger states that conventional films, like Hollywood blockbusters, lack artistic creativeness. Of course, being a film major, I'd have to disagree with him or my whole college career would mean nothing to me. However, I do see what he is trying to say. Much like Richter's definition of abstract art, Fischinger argues that avant garde films dig deeper. Where conventional films show the world as it is seen normally, experimental films strive to express the feelings and creative forces that are beyond the surface. He also states that true art is made by one individual, and that is the only way the creation can be pure. When working with a production team and crew, the wholy pure idea is broken down with each person who contributes until it is but a piece of it's original creative potential.

4. I was a little bit confused with this section of the reading, but I did gather what I hope is a basic understanding for what Sitney was trying to say. I think the main reason Sitney believes "Reflections on Black" anticipates a lyrical film is because of the "visions" that this blind man has. One aspect of a lyrical film is that the protagonist is understandably the one behind the camera, and although it sounds like the blind man is shown, a majority of the film is through his "eyes" or thoughts. Brakhage was slowly bridging the gap between imagination and reality. The film is an example of the protagonist's search for consciousness, and all these aspects make it a film that is teetering on the edge of a new type of avant garde filmmaking, lyrical.

5. Characteristics of a lyrical film include:
~ The person behind the camera is the protagonist of the film, and everything is seen from his point of view.
~ The viewer is made aware of the filmmaker's presence, and his/her reactions to what is being seen. This is often expressed with movement, either of the camera or in editing, to express that that protagonist is looking.
~ The protagonist is passive, there is no hero.
~ Like Abstract Expressionst painting, the space is flat. Depth and different perspectives are possible through superimposition, but are used sparingly.
~ The filmmaker uses the camera, not like a window, but in taking on this flatness, more like a painting on a palette, which he/she is a part of.

6. Brakhage was greatly influenced by his friend and fellow filmmaker, Marie Menken. He incorporated her habits of including herself in her films as filmmaker and protagonist, a characteristic of lyrical films. She would have her hand come into the frame from behind the camera, and he incorporated similar techinques to make himself a presence in his own creation.

The main difference that Sitney discusses between "Un Chien Andalou" and "Meshes of an Afternoon" also describes the difference between the "trance film" and ones that came before it. In "Meshes," the heroine's experience is mainly interior, whereas a more surrealist film (like "Chien") takes on a voyeuristic feel. "Meshes is all encompassingly self revealing, whereas "Chien" (as Sitney says) "imitates the irrationality of the unconscious." "Meshes" expresses the inner sexuality of the protagonists, whereas the voyeurism is "Chien" represents the pent up sexual desire of the main character.

Sitney says that "Choreography of the Camera" represents the change from narrative films to imagistic. It involves the "isolation of a gesture as a complete film form." The symbolic leap in the film illustrates how a simple single movement can connote more emotion. The film relies on its images to create an aesthetic viewing experience that can be harder to interpret, but can be more interesting than a narrative approach.

"Transition in Time" is a transition between the pychodrama and the trance film.

Sitney describes Deren's "Ritual in Transfigured Time" as an effort at synthesis. He describes it as a ritual in terms of the camera techniques, and I do agree with him that the repetition of slow motion, freeze frame, etc. have a ritualistic feel to them. However, he talks of the mythological elements as if the film is more about divine powers or spiritualism. I can't say I disagree because it is up to interpretation, but that is not what I took from this film. I felt it was more about identity than anything. The multiple copies of the one woman in the film make me feel that she is struggling with something inside of her. She has many different personalities interacting, and in this dream they are confronting eachother and exploring the same scene from different outlooks.

The "filmic dream" that Sitney referes to is the ultimate form of expression according to many filmmakers. When the filmmaker can be the creative force behind the lense AND act as the main character in the film, that is the most extreme self expression one can achieve.

Sitney sums up "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" to be a representation of man into different identities. Although all the characters are most expressive when they become most godlike, they still serve the one being, The Magus, and it is clear in the end that that is where their divinity comes from. In the end, it is all from the central power. On a grander scale, however, he says that the theme of the film is the "triumph of the imagination."

I really appreciated Sidney Peterson's "The Cage." It wasn't my favorite film of the day, but I like Peterson's style. By taking everyday images that might usually seem mundane and manipulating them in a way that makes them unrealistic, the filmmaker utilizes a unique way to express himself. As I watched, I found that I was more captivated with the images than trying to figure out what they meant, which is unusual for me when it comes to avant-garde films. However, when the film started to seem a little long I considered what Peterson might have been trying to communicate by creating this piece.

The main aspect of the film that caught me was the reoccuring eyeball. The eyeball appeared in almost every scene, and it was always carefully placed so that it looked out of place. The viewer's eye goes straight to it. Peterson manipulates the audience in this way, creating a squimish (and sometimes humorous) motif. I was trying to figure out what the eyeball could be symbolic of. I think it could be multiple things, one being a representation of voyeurism. How do we see the world in which we live? The man in the film takes out his eyeball, and it is seen throughout the rest of the film. Often the eyeball is on screen when the images cease to be conventional. Time moves backwards, there are rapid cuts and the narrative becomes unclear. I think Peterson is trying to encourage the viewers to look at life another way. The man takes the eyeball out his head and lets it wander the streets. These normal, everyday scenes become deranged, jumbled and much more interesting than they normally would be.