[Frameworks] new critical studies film course in car culture

[Tom Whiteside]

Harrod Blank's films about car art. Su Friedrich's "Rules of the Road." Some of the Jam Handy industrial films made for Chevrolet in the 1950's  have been called "Corporate Surrealism," the ones I know that best fit this description are "Hall of Wonders" and "You're Ahead, Mr. X."   Also the Jam Handy Chevrolet "endurance" test films - a pickup truck climbs Pikes Peak off-road in "Meeting the Challenge" (1949), and in "Daring the Darien" three red Corvairs cross the dense rain forest of the Darien Gap, again "off road" simply because there is no road. They cut their way through the jungle with machetes to prove the durability of the Corvair, absolutely ridiculous. There was a rather fascinating doc from the Middle East a few years back, "The Beetle."

And the O. Winston Link photograph from the back of the drive-in with plane on the screen and train passing by. The plane on screen was a trick, but as usual the train was the real deal, that was his specialty. The guy used to set up something like a quarter mile of flashes to get a shot.

                - Tom              Durham Cinematheque

From: frameworks-bounces at jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-bounces at jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Bryan Konefsky
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 2:57 PM
To: frameworks at jonasmekasfilms.com
Subject: [Frameworks] new critical studies film course in car culture


Hello Frameworkers - I am in the early moments of developing a critical studies course that looks at different ways the automobile has been imagined in cinema.  To this end I'd love to hear from ya'll with titles of films that you think might be useful to explore/expand this idea and readings that might also dovetail themes that might be explored.

Do know that my pal Antoni Pinent recently turned me on to a great text titled Car Fetish.

OK, let's hear what ya got!
best,
--
Bryan Konefsky
director, Experiments in Cinema
el presidente, Basement Films
lecturer, Dept of Cinematic Arts UNM
visiting lecturer, UCSC
board of advisors, Ann Arbor Film Festival
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