(Source: Very Nice, Very Nice by Arthur Lipsett)
I've just started an Experimental Filmmaking class at Objectifs, which is perfectly timed with my new role on YouTube. We spent a good portion of last night's class watching experimental films, starting chronologically from the 1920s in France (not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night).
- Ballet Mécanique (1924, 16 min)
- Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, 13 min)
- A Chairy Tale (1957, 10 min)
- A Movie (1958, 12 min)
- Free Radicals (1958, 4 min)
- Very Nice, Very Nice (1961, 7 min)
- Mothlight (1963, 4 min)
- La Jetée (1962, 28 min)
- Lost Book Found (1996, 37 min)
- As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000, 3 min)
- Act da Fool (2010, 4 min)
- Curb Dancer (2011, 2 min) Harmony Korine
One of the films, Very Nice, Very Nice, by Arthur Lipsett started out as a hobby. In 1961, he pieced together various sound clips and then friends encouraged him to overlay images.
It's a thought-provoking 7 minute piece -- but, I was most surprised by how similar the issues & concerns from the 1960s mirror today.
People are still afraid of change... of technology... of the future...of the government.
People are still nostalgic of the past with a belief that it was "better then"
People are becoming more isolated and materialistic
It'd be interesting to take the same audio and overlay photos from 2013 (maybe a new side project for me).
