Materiality and Discourse

[little book that potentially could be published in POP's series on film] [this project deals with materiality and discourse as ideas (historical) rather than "cinemachines" and "algorithms"]

The first part deals with the mediality and materiality of cinema.

Elleström: Mediality and materiality (and substance) + Mediality or discourse (+ articulation)

Camera

Environments > introducing "environments" rather than "periods" > introducing "markers" of environment (but not yet the discourse surrounding them - see chapter 5)

[] how images migrate between discourses - especially mainstream and avantgarde - and how they are [informed/motivated] by both material and discursive factors.

Chapter 4 describes the "cinema pur" discourse which is closely linked to the origin of the cinema avantgarde. This tendency describes how "cinema" could become an art form through the distinction from other art forms (especially literature and theater) as well as "mere realism". This resembles the broader formalist-realist distinction in general film theory, but here it is especially interesting to see how this "purity of cinema" is achieved and through which means.

As we shall see, the "pure cinema" tradition gradually splits into other tendencies. First of all, a "pure material" trend, where each environment seeks it's own ontology to distinguish it from the other materials (e.g. "optics", "film", "video" and "digital"). This proposes different ontological question than "pure cinema" (remember "Direct Theory") that are closer related to the material practice (Schier's digital articulator, early video experiments, Paul Sharits in film, and so on). [Furthermore, these can be described as "scopes" that visualize a material "essence"]

These "spill" into mainstream film as (a) set decorations (e.g. Whitney's film in "Westworld" on screens + as "robot vision" (e.g. Robocop, Terminator) [again, closely related to "scope" too]), (b) as special effects depicting "new realities" (e.g. "Star Wars" or the "hyper-speed" film - a bit like the problem of "marmorering") and (c) as hypermedia, e.g. the use of Scanimate in "7up" commercials to signify "the latest".

The second division is phenomenological and "extended scope", relating to a broader "visuality" discussion (once again relating to "camera" and "anti-camera" movements). This tendency stems from a tradition of "the scope", which has been a problem since the first close-up. It heightens in the avant-garde, namely with the cinema of Stan Brakhage, and once again the images migrate (the relation between "Dog Star Man" and "Fantastic Voyage" is particularly fun - FV uses Brakhage's kind of optic to show endoscopy, and Brakhage uses endoscopy as optic element).

This furthermore spills into mainstream as "caustics" in film, e.g. "Bleu", "Marathon Man", "Blade Runner II", [some Besson film] and so on.

Third tendency is "meta-film as Verfremdung" tradition. Both as surreal effects (e.g. in "Duck Amuck" where Daffy walks between frames), political purpose (Godard), and lately also as "retro media" where material markers are used to signify history and/or nostalgia (e.g. in "Shaft" (2019)).

> There's a historical point now where earlier media technologies are used to signify "old school" or nostalgia [thus calling their materiality into question (or accentuating materiality)], whereas contemporary media is seen as immediacy and "flawless"

[TV grafik og "effektfuld" visuel dybde]

What is the motivation behind film historical change?

Is there a morphology of phases (like Spengler, Goethe and Hegel) in every media? What are the aims of innovation? What is the relationship between mainstream and avantgarde?

   1. Part I: Theory
       1. Mediality and materiality
       2. The development of camera
       3. The environments [rather than "periods"]
   2. Part 2: Traditions / Approaches / Histories
       1. Pure cinema
       2. Pure material
       3. Phenomenology and "scope"
       4. Meta-film and hypermedia
   3. Part 3: Towards a film archaeology

From "exp film and pop.odt" Experimental filmmakers and video artists have always led the lives of suppression.

Avantgarde experiments have been integrated in mainstream films to make sense of them, e.g. Whitney's films as display in "Westworld". Others participated in popular culture, either as special effects (Larry Cuba and Adam Beckett in "Star Wars"), commercials (Walter Wright), music video (who?) and so on.

Some famous mainstream filmmakers have made avant-garde, e.g. George Lucas, Jim Henson ("Time"), mv.

The ownership of machines was open to artistic use, either using the equipment after hours (such as John Whitney, Lilian Schwartz, Stan Van Der Beek) where artistic research was an essential part of new (especially digital) technology (AT&T, IBM) + borrowing equipment to other tasks (Brakhage's 16mm) or making artistic explorations in commissioned works (Brakhage's "Art of Seeing...", Lye's G.P.O., McLaren's commercial works, Fischinger's commercial work...)