[Frameworks] My Trip To PFA and Canyon Cinema

[Doug Chaffin("Douglas Graves")]

A final word about Scott Bartlett. After seeing these incredible works by him - "Moon 1969", "Metanomen", "Lovemaking", "Stand Up and Be Counted", and "1970",  I became even more excited to see his other great-sounding movies "Serpent", "Medina", "Greenfield", and "Sound of One". While I'm a committed lover of photo-chemical motion picture celluloid, Scott strikes me as a cinematic artist who used electronic-videographics and other moving image media with a fantastic style and formal purpose. Most importantly, he always used them as different textures on his palette for filmmaking(Scott's own words in his very entertaining "Making OffOn"), in other words they all combined with his photo-chemical movie images and effects to be put finally on 16mm film. To my knowledge, he never advocated replacing motion picture film with anything else(even if he ever did, I still will always love the work he did on 16mm!). 

I know that i can see his other movies on the old vhs tapes that are available through our inter-library loan system(The Films of Scott Bartlett" Vol.1-3) but from what I've seen so far on those, his enjoyable short piece "Heavy Metal" and "Making OffOn", the quality of course is not very good. So I'm going to wait until I can rent out the 16mm prints and screen them here. It's great how even though his technological innovations in works such as Moon and "OffOn" are the most famous, he also did many beautiful stylish movies using just camerawork, editing, sound, and traditional film optical effects - along with "1970", there's also "Medina", "Greenfield", "Sound of One", and "Metanomen". To me this demonstrates his wonderful range as a cinematic artist and his versatile skills as a craftsman.         

Continuing on with my cinematic journey at PFA on Tues, Oct 2 :
"To Parsifal" Bruce Baillie
Absolutely breath-taking images that Bruce shot on 16mm Ektachrome. The print they screened was perfect! It was completely clean with thickly saturated colors.
 Literally some of the most gorgeous daylight movie images I have ever seen.
Bruce's camera operating and editing is seductively smooth and sensuously vibrant. He uses Richard Wagner's Parsifal music and it is soaring, exquisitely scored to his images. The visual content he selected - romantic, lovely, naturalistic. This has to be seen to be believed!
Starts on the water, gorgeous pink-orange sunrise as the camera bobs and sails over the bay waters. Precise steady compositions and camera movements. More of the deck of the sailing boat is revealed
 as we cruise through the bay peacefully, quietly. All illuminated by the unbelievably lovely light. A light born and expressive of coastal mornings, mediterranean climates, and maritime sailing. 
After this lush, calming opening we cut to the forest. A majestic train coming down the tracks. Golden afternoon sunlight glistening, illuminating everything and reflecting back off it, shimmering in the wind. Remarkably beautiful Extreme Close Ups - flowers, insects, bushes, leaves fluttering in the wind and sparkling in the rich sunlight. Sudden cutaways to a beautiful woman's torso in the woods intercut with the natural surroundings. A man's arm suddenly appears from behind her and holds her. Their faces out of frame but their bodies shows us
 clearly that they are kissing passionately. Wagner's music soars. One of my favorite cinematic experiences and a special achievement in Bruce's body of work. Along with the 1st reel of "Quick Billy" I feel that it is some of the most beautiful work accomplished in the history of cinema! Bruce is clearly one of a kind!
"Mr. Hayashi" Bruce Baillie
Another great print, near pristine. Very striking black and white cinematography. Muted tones, not a lot of contrast but still a gorgeous mid-tone somewhere between black and white. Short, elegant,
 peaceful. The distinguished, handsome face of the elderly Japanese gardener in close up. Walking through a foggy field in San Francisco as his voice over explains that since moving here he has been struggling to find work and make a living. Formal composed long shots of him slowly making his way through the deep fog. A title card listing his price and his contact information. A beautiful example of art put in the service of helping another human being.           Doug Graves
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