Module 1

 Artist Bio:

I am a screenwriter and filmmaker with an interest in creating work that inspires people. While I gravitate more toward narrative films, I’m also drawn to documentaries that showcase the human condition. Films that encourage the audience to reflect on choices of the past and present can be very impactful for the future, regardless if it's at a global, national, community, or individual level. I’m also partial to a good underdog story, so I often find myself writing about characters who are marginalized by gender, age, race, or the myriad of things in life that can hinder a person’s progress, whether that hindrance imposed by society or by the self. Ultimately, I hope to create films that affect the audience in positive ways, making them laugh, cry, and most importantly, think.




Tarantella Reflection:

After a little research, I discovered that Mary Bute was initially trained as a painter. Upon graduation, she decided that painting posed too many limits on what she was trying to create, namely art that was more expressive with color, light, and movement. As a result, she began to study theater at Yale School of Drama. It seems that her film Tarantella is a blending of these two passions, in that the lines, squiggles, and geometric shapes are like actors performing on a stage. They have cues, marks, and choreography, and even though no dialogue is spoken, emotion is conveyed through the use of music. The combination of visual and aural make this seem like a kinetic abstract painting.




Yodeling Lesson Reflection:

In poetry a metaphor, when one thing is said to be another, used throughout a whole poem is called an extended metaphor. I see this film as an extended metaphor for life. Her fully-clothed body struggles to cycle up the hill, trying to be careless and free by not holding on the handlebars. But due to possible fatigue (burn out), the intensity and duration of the hill (long hours of work), the unexpected truck behind her (life’s curveballs), an almost spill (giving up), she decides to grab those handlebars and recommit to the goal. Once at the top, she is truly free of constraints-- literally clothes and steepness, figuratively self-doubt and negativity. This film’s content, specifically its connotation, evokes the feeling of perseverance and satisfaction at having achieved a goal. The music supports the emotional up and down of the ride, sounding a bit more rigid and rhythmic going up the hill and more flowing and melodic while coasting down the hill.



Fucked Like a Star Reflection:

I just love how they use macro lenses in much of this film. Like a poem encourages the reader to look at everyday objects or events in a new light through the visual imagery of carefully-selected words, this film wants the audience to see women’s work in a new way by using extreme closeups. Furthermore, superimpositions, split screens, and time lapse photography create the effect of “busyness” in the women’s (or ants’) lives. The appearance of superimposed ants becomes clear when we hear Toni Morrison’s words comparing soldier ants to women. It reminds me of the adage, “A woman’s work is never done.” The images, the music, and Morrison’s words from Tar Baby all blend together beautifully to create a visual, moving poem.



“amateur vs. professional” - maya deren Reflection

The Deren reading was the most inspirational thing I’ve read in a while. As someone relatively new to filmmaking, it is easy to be intimidated by “professionals,” but Deren flips that belief system on its ear. It’s refreshing to be reminded of all the freedoms that an amateur filmmaker has, and that freedom must certainly be part of the allure for experimental filmmakers. There seems to be ultimate freedom in this genre because it relies so much on artistic freedom and an intense desire to “capture the poetry and beauty of places and events.” Her words also remind me of the saying, “Find a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”



“what is experimental film” - Fred Camper Reflection

Camper’s definition of experimental film seems to align with Deren’s explanation of an amateur filmmaker. Since the experimental genre is free from the limitations of many narrative films (a traditional cinematic plot, not to mention the expenses such as crew, talent, producers, etc., the filmmaker is free to explore the medium in new and exciting ways without necessarily being accountable to anyone (since the filmmaker often wears many, if not all the hats). Understanding that the whole point of experimental film is to use “abstracting devices,” so that it is purposely ambiguous and open to multiple interpretations is very freeing for both the filmmaker and the audience.