[Frameworks] Avant-garde film, F*c*book, and the nature of attention

[Monica Angrand]

Hi Jonathan,
I just saw your email addressed to me(and anyone else who is  
frustrated with this discussion thread). It's been a few days, and  
sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie; but I feel compelled to  
reply especially since I was addressed.
Filmmaking is not just about the "nuts and bolts," either. For the  
record, it was not my intention to exclude you or anyone else in my  
comment.
I do not agree that this discussion is healthy for the list, as it  
didn't go anywhere. It didn't progressed to any further discussions  
philosophical pertaining to media, culture, or experimental film. It  
was turning into a town hall meeting consisting of nothing more than  
opinions about "how" to communicate on the list. I like what you said  
about relating independent and experimental filmmaking to all forms of  
media, circulating ideas, discussing the effects of our choices  
politically and socially, etc. That is inspiring and fuels growth, and  
if that discussion had taken place, then the five or more people that  
left the list would still be here.
Whether you are a scholar, a filmmaker, programmer, curator, or any  
other of the professions you listed; the thing that connects us is our  
passion for film -expressed in different ways, but the love is there.
That connectedness is what makes this list special for me, and none  
can exist independently of the other.
So will I stick with the list? Yes. Will I delete posts? Who knows.
Moving forward
 From conception to projection!
Monica

On Jun 15, 2011, at 6:19 AM, Jonathan Walley wrote:

> Dear Monica (and anyone else who is frustrated with this discussion
> thread),
>
> I hope you'll stick with this list. I'm glad that you've learned a lot
> already, in the short time you've been a Frameworker. I've been on the
> list almost since its inception, and have learned a lot too. But
> please realize that Frameworks is not just about the "nuts and bolts"
> of filmmaking. Certainly that is an important facet of the list, and
> though I am a scholar rather than a maker, I've appreciated all the
> discussions of craft, technique, technology, and so forth - my own
> work has greatly benefited from such exchanges.
>
> But Frameworks is equally about the ideas, concerns, history, theory,
> challenges, vexations, etc., of experimental film culture, which
> involves much more than the practicalities of filmmaking, or film
> aesthetics. As Pip points out, this list has over 1000 members
> internationally, including film and video makers, scholars and
> critics, curators, gallerists, film programmers, students and
> teachers, aficionados, and so on. The membership is a microcosm of the
> experimental film world, and the great variety of discussion topics on
> this list constitute a kind of "pulse" of that world. This particular
> discussion raises all sort of important ideas and questions: about the
> relationship of independent, experimental filmmaking to other forms of
> media; about the political and social ramifications of the choices we
> make about communication, media, and the circulation of ideas and
> works; about changing patterns in audiences for this kind of
> filmmaking, etc. I would suggest that these are just as important to
> someone who makes films as information about cameras, editing
> software, and film processing.
>
> And, as others have pointed out, you can always use that "delete" key.
> But before you do, I hope you'll consider that this type of
> discussion, though it irritates you, might be important to you.
> Indeed, the very fact that it troubles you might be telling you
> something.
>
> Best wishes,
> Jonathan
>
> Jonathan Walley
> Assistant Professor of Cinema
> Denison University
> walleyj at denison.edu
>
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