Cine-Machine as Method: Preface

This is a translation of my master thesis.

Note to the reader

Writing about films presents communicative challenges, especially when the analytical points relate to the way figures move or fully synthetic direct film sequences. I have tried to gather snapshots of the sequences analyzed to illustrate the analytical pointers, but otherwise I will refer to the "Other Resource" section at the back, with links to the four primary works, so the reader can experience them for him-/herself.

When the images in the text are from these films (John Whitney's Arabesque (1975), Len Lye's A Color Box (1935) and Rainbow Dance (1936), and Stephen Beck's Illuminated Music 2 & 3 (1972-3)) I haven't stated the title explicitly, hoping it will be obvious from the context. In pictures from other film examples, the title is listed in the caption and I will refer to the "Work List" for further information.

The images that come from other sources (and which are not my own work), I have listed the source in "Image References" at the end.

Finally, I have also listed some interactive resources including my own web-based simulations of certain film machines, and small videos demonstrating particular aspects. These are compiled under "Other Resources", and I refer to those with brackets (e.g., "{A}") in the body text. I hope the reader will take the time to examine these as well, as they can often be given to understand the very technical explanations.