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Teaching Materials Early Film

Film and Video Art


Film and Video Art

Early Film

Hitchcock and Montage

Vertigo

Maya Deren

John Cassavetes

The Art of Video



Storyboarding

Paul Ramsay - Seminar Wednesday 9th Dec. 2009
11.00-13.00 - Fitzroy Building: FZB room 212
• The definition of 'Technology' I use is a very broad one and, following on from the work of Ong and Bolter, can include writing, printing etc. as well as the usual 'white goods' we associate with technology. Film, video and the computer are also, of course, all forms of representational technology.

• Revisiting the development of any technology often reveals a set of cultural attitudes and mores different to our own.

• In this seminar we shall be viewing and discussing excerpts from the DVDs listed below, particularly with the intention of tracing the similarities and differences between the times there were originated within and today. We shall also consider their influence on the arts (film, video, computer etc.) and how the may be used as inspiration for future artforms.
   

The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon (2005) - presented by Dan Cruickshank

'Footage discovered and restored by the British Film Institute. Between 1900-1913, filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon roamed the country filming the everyday lives of people at work and play. Discovered some seventy years later, the film boasts a world exclusive: the first ever film footage of Manchester United.' (Amazon.co.uk description)


Sagar Mitchell (1866-1952) and James Kenyon (1850-1925)

http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mk/
http://www.victorian-cinema.net/mitchellkenyon.htm

http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/mitchellkenyon.html (book review)
     
Méliès the Magician (2004) - documentary by Jacques Mény (also includes many of Méliès' short films)

'Georges Méliès' innovations led to some of the earliest examples of fantasy filmmaking in the history of cinema. His creative time lapses, early experiments and use of the cinematic technique gave birth to ways of storytelling still commonly used today. This collection of shorts and experiments ranges from avant-garde to science fiction to documentary and greatly influenced the art of cinema both as a narrative form and a dreamy forum for magical imagery.' (Amazon.co.uk description)


Georges Méliès Film Pioneer (1861-1938)

http://www.victorian-cinema.net/melies.htm

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/melies.html
     

Silent Britain (2006) - presented by Matthew Sweet

'Matthew Sweet presents and narrates this documentary profiling in detail the British film industry from 1859 to 1929. Features archive film footage, interviews with historians and survivors from the period.' (Amazon.co.uk description)

The intention of this documentary is to make the case for the importance of British film pioneers in relation to the development of the film industry. However, for the purposes of this seminar I am much more interested in looking at and discussing the actual material presented outside of ideas of nationality - Paul R.

http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_155.html

Some pioneers mentioned:
William Friese-Greene
R. W. Paul

see also:
Alice Guy-Blache
Fabulous But Forgotten: Early British Female Film Pioneers

Some video works to consider in relation to this seminar:

'Tap Piece' (1971) by David Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h_5rSrZgL0
http://www.davidhallart.com/id2.html

'Brontosaurus' (1995) by Sam Taylor-Wood - http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=26716&searchid=11214&tabview=text
http://audiolabo.free.fr/revue1999/content/taylorwood3.htm

'Still Life' (2001) by Sam Taylor-Wood -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIzXWGcb3u0


'Deadpan' (1997) by Steve McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeaTWZTqC2Q


Also:

Dissertation: Man Ray as a key artist in video art education (Coelho)

Early Film Pioneers (overview)
 
 Fine Art at the
 University of Plymouth		 -to be followed by Mike Lawson Smith screening and seminar: 'Sans Soleil' - Thursday 17th December 11.00-13.00 - RL208