[Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Is the class a production or a criticism class? ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Is filmmaking technology available to students, for screening or production, or not? From: Bernard Roddy rodd...@yahoo.com To: frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 1:22 PM Subject: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation Is the class a production or a criticism class? ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Joan, all, I agree that there's not yet (and perhaps will never be) a single, comprehensive history, for all the reasons Scott says. I think those of us who teach and who may be following the current debates on MOOCs as pedagogical tools might propose to design one of these online courses. (How 'bout it? If McGraw-Hill won't have us, maybe Coursera or xEd will! The History of Avant-Garde Film. we could all make lots 'o' money!) Joan, I just finished teaching an Avant-Garde Film History course, which I offer fairly regularly at UNM. We spend a good few weeks at the beginning of the semester on the European avant-garde movements, and then move on to (mostly) American films, 1940s to the present. Because I haven't yet figured out a way to force my students to read, this semester I just typed out some excerpts from what I thought were the most useful articles on the particular film(s) or movements, and handed them out in class. For further reading (hope reigns eternal!) I also put some 100+ articles on e-reserves, which I can burn to a disc. I'd be happy to send those to you, or to anyone else who might be interested. I'll contact you offline, Joan. Nina Fonoroff Department of Cinematic Arts University of New Mexico -Original Message- From: scott sc...@financialcleansing.com To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Sent: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:50 pm Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation Hey Jonathan et al, I don't actually think there can be a single, comprehensive history--since avant-garde cinema can mean so many things, what exactly is avant-garde and what all does that history include? In any case, I think it's better to have students enter the field by way of the filmmakers than by a single overview. Scott Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 11:38 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Scott (et. al.), Your CRITICAL CINEMA books are extremely useful, in part because they are, indeed, reader friendly. I would say that about MOTION STUDIES, too. I hope it's clear that my point was that I don't think there is a single broad historical survey of avant-garde cinema, so that anyone who wishes to teach a survey course on the subject must cull together material from different sources, including most definitely your books. I've used several of your interviews and other writings in classes I've taught, as well as in my own research. Maybe it's wrongheaded of me to hope for a complete history - and as I suggested in my last post, anyone who attempted such a thing would probably be in for a lot of flack. I don't know that a historical survey ala Bordwell/Thompson's or David Cook's would ever find a publisher: no matter how broad such a study would be, it would still be too narrow and specialized to be appealing as a textbook to an academic publisher. And perhaps the very idea is anathema to the avant-garde spirit. Imagine the for dummies-style prose of a college textbook (MgGraw-Hill's The Big Book of Avant-Garde Cinema) applied to Brakhage, or Frampton, or Rainer - yikes. But I would still like to see, one of these days, a broad, synthetic, and straightforward account of the subject, as it might encourage more teaching of this kind of cinema at the college or even high school level. Best, Jonathan On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:10 PM, sc...@financialcleansing.com wrote: Jonathan, I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide anything like a complete history, but these volumes can provide a sense of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema. Scott Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally
[Frameworks] Textbook
Wheeler Dixon's The Exploding Eye was an attempt to convey the scope of avant garde filmmaking without depending upon or creating a pantheon syndrome. - Jud Yalkut ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Textbook
I agree, The Exploding Eye ! great resource! Owen On May 12, 2013, at 1:33 PM, Jud Yalkut jvidfilm2...@aol.com wrote: Wheeler Dixon's The Exploding Eye was an attempt to convey the scope of avant garde filmmaking without depending upon or creating a pantheon syndrome. - Jud Yalkut ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is the history we need, as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related Essential Cinema canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best, Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as the films themselves? The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me offlist. Many thanks, Joan -- Joan Hawkins Associate Professor Indiana University Dept of Communication and Culture 800 E. Third St Bloomington, IN 47405 office phone 812-855-1548 ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks -- Jonathan Walley Associate Professor Department of Cinema Denison University wall...@denison.edu ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
All: Very interested in this question and the responses. Just today I was asked to put together a special festival program on the history of American avant-garde cinema. This is for an audience that may have never seen a survey of this type, so it should be very basic and canonical even but with some challenging picks added to the mix to keep things interesting from a curatorial perspective. Simple starting point but challenging because there is a lot to try to reduce into one program. Looking forward to absorbing these various histories we're discussing and then building something. If anyone feels so inclined, please do chime in with a this program can't do without... Sincerely, Greg de Cuir, Jr Selector/Programmer, Alternative Film/Video Belgrade http://www.alternativefilmvideo.org/ From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2013 4:13 PM Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is the history we need, as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related Essential Cinema canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best, Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as the films themselves? The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me offlist. Many thanks, Joan -- Joan Hawkins Associate Professor Indiana University Dept of Communication and Culture 800 E. Third St Bloomington, IN 47405 office phone 812-855-1548 ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks -- Jonathan Walley Associate Professor Department of Cinema Denison University wall...@denison.edu ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Jonathan, I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide anything like a "complete" history, but these volumes can provide a sense of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema.Scott Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Dear Joan (and Frameworkers),I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is "the history we need," as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related "Essential Cinema" canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best,Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as the films themselves?The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me offlist. Many thanks, Joan-- Joan HawkinsAssociate ProfessorIndiana UniversityDept of Communication and Culture800 E. Third St Bloomington, IN 47405office phone 812-855-1548 ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks -- Jonathan WalleyAssociate ProfessorDepartment of CinemaDenison Universitywall...@denison.edu ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Scott (et. al.), Your CRITICAL CINEMA books are extremely useful, in part because they are, indeed, reader friendly. I would say that about MOTION STUDIES, too. I hope it's clear that my point was that I don't think there is a single broad historical survey of avant-garde cinema, so that anyone who wishes to teach a survey course on the subject must cull together material from different sources, including most definitely your books. I've used several of your interviews and other writings in classes I've taught, as well as in my own research. Maybe it's wrongheaded of me to hope for a complete history - and as I suggested in my last post, anyone who attempted such a thing would probably be in for a lot of flack. I don't know that a historical survey ala Bordwell/Thompson's or David Cook's would ever find a publisher: no matter how broad such a study would be, it would still be too narrow and specialized to be appealing as a textbook to an academic publisher. And perhaps the very idea is anathema to the avant-garde spirit. Imagine the for dummies-style prose of a college textbook (MgGraw-Hill's The Big Book of Avant-Garde Cinema) applied to Brakhage, or Frampton, or Rainer - yikes. But I would still like to see, one of these days, a broad, synthetic, and straightforward account of the subject, as it might encourage more teaching of this kind of cinema at the college or even high school level. Best, Jonathan On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:10 PM, sc...@financialcleansing.com wrote: *Jonathan,* *I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide anything like a complete history, but these volumes can provide a sense of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema.* * * *Scott* Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is the history we need, as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related Essential Cinema canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best, Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as the films themselves? The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
I would suggest Scott MacDonald's books Adventures of Perception University of California Press 2009 and Avant Garde Film/Motion Studies Cambridge Univ. press 1993 and P. Adams Sitneys Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943-2000 Third Edition, Oxford Univ. Press 2002. I have taught these books in seminars on the history of the avant garde cinema at Colgate University and they worked very well. John Knecht On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:38 PM, Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.eduwrote: Scott (et. al.), Your CRITICAL CINEMA books are extremely useful, in part because they are, indeed, reader friendly. I would say that about MOTION STUDIES, too. I hope it's clear that my point was that I don't think there is a single broad historical survey of avant-garde cinema, so that anyone who wishes to teach a survey course on the subject must cull together material from different sources, including most definitely your books. I've used several of your interviews and other writings in classes I've taught, as well as in my own research. Maybe it's wrongheaded of me to hope for a complete history - and as I suggested in my last post, anyone who attempted such a thing would probably be in for a lot of flack. I don't know that a historical survey ala Bordwell/Thompson's or David Cook's would ever find a publisher: no matter how broad such a study would be, it would still be too narrow and specialized to be appealing as a textbook to an academic publisher. And perhaps the very idea is anathema to the avant-garde spirit. Imagine the for dummies-style prose of a college textbook (MgGraw-Hill's The Big Book of Avant-Garde Cinema) applied to Brakhage, or Frampton, or Rainer - yikes. But I would still like to see, one of these days, a broad, synthetic, and straightforward account of the subject, as it might encourage more teaching of this kind of cinema at the college or even high school level. Best, Jonathan On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:10 PM, sc...@financialcleansing.com wrote: *Jonathan,* *I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide anything like a complete history, but these volumes can provide a sense of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema.* * * *Scott* Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is the history we need, as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related Essential Cinema canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best, Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays
Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Hey Jonathan et al, I don't actually think there can be a single, comprehensive history--since "avant-garde cinema" can mean so many things, what exactly is "avant-garde" and what all does that history include? In any case, I think it's better to have students enter the field by way of the filmmakers than by a single overview.Scott Original Message ---- Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 11:38 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Scott (et. al.),Your CRITICAL CINEMA books are extremely useful, in part because they are, indeed, reader friendly. I would say that about MOTION STUDIES, too. I hope it's clear that my point was that I don't think there is a single broad historical survey of avant-garde cinema, so that anyone who wishes to teach a survey course on the subject must cull together material from different sources, including most definitely your books. I've used several of your interviews and other writings in classes I've taught, as well as in my own research. Maybe it's wrongheaded of me to hope for a "complete" history - and as I suggested in my last post, anyone who attempted such a thing would probably be in for a lot of flack. I don't know that a historical survey ala Bordwell/Thompson's or David Cook's would ever find a publisher: no matter how broad such a study would be, it would still be too narrow and specialized to be appealing as a textbook to an academic publisher. And perhaps the very idea is anathema to the avant-garde spirit. Imagine the "for dummies"-style prose of a college textbook (MgGraw-Hill's "The Big Book of Avant-Garde Cinema") applied to Brakhage, or Frampton, or Rainer - yikes. But I would still like to see, one of these days, a broad, synthetic, and straightforward account of the subject, as it might encourage more teaching of this kind of cinema at the college or even high school level. Best,JonathanOn Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:10 PM, sc...@financialcleansing.com wrote: Jonathan, I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide anything like a "complete" history, but these volumes can provide a sense of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema. Scott ---- Original Message Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation From: Jonathan Walley wall...@denison.edu Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am To: Experimental Film Discussion List frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com Dear Joan (and Frameworkers),I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of Rees's work generally). Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. This is "the history we need," as they say; I've always wondered why there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the related "Essential Cinema" canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others on this list will chime in publicly. Best,Jonathan On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins jchaw...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to us
[Frameworks] textbook recommendation
Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as the films themselves? The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me offlist. Many thanks, Joan -- Joan Hawkins Associate Professor Indiana University Dept of Communication and Culture 800 E. Third St Bloomington, IN 47405 office phone 812-855-1548 ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
