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Four students explore filmmaking
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f here are many elements which
make up the American film industry,
from the political nepotism of Hollywood
to the experimental, expressionistic
forms of the independent filmmaker.
Unfortunately, the latter ultimately
suffers from lack of a prevalent medium;
commercialism has diluted the art into a
maelstrom of fiscal policy,
over-budgeted productions and relative
artistic incompetence. Yet, there are still
the unblemished die-hards who retain
the belief that films can be an artistic
method of communication on an
interpersonal level.
On the University campus, a small
cross-section of students has
committed itself to a year long program
in the film studies area of the Speech
Department, exploring the techniques of
16mm filmmaking. Under the
directorship of Professor Don
Frederickson, students are required to
create one film per term, with the
freedom to develop documentary,
experimental or drama productions in
black and white or color film. The result
has been a stirring collection of
individual works representing a wide
range of artistic diversity.
On June 9, at 7 p m. an hour and a
half selection of these works will be
presented at the Bijou Theatre (at the
corner of Ferry Street and 13th Avenue)
in Eugene. Admission is $1, and
] proceeds go to the film studies area for
equipment.
The following students are four of the
l filmmakers participating in the Bijou
E showing.
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V ay Rosenblatt, a graduate student
in counseling, recently finished
shooting the footage of his spring term
film Doubt. The film is a visual
manifestation of "Angst,” which
according to Rosenblatt is "an
existential anxiety that we all share as a
part of the human condition.”
Doubt is about a person searching for
meaning in their life, identifying and
confronting "a loneness" within
themself. The title implies the "notion of
unsureness.”
"For me,” says Rosenblatt, “it was an
emotional experience, a detailed
meaning for my way of finding myself."
He spent 21 hours filming in a motel
room, using a variety of experimental
techniques to create a gripping
portrayal of one walking the jagged
edge of an almost catatonic state
Another film he completed is titled
The Session. In this film, Rosenblatt
deploys mimes in a therapy encounter
group, "depicting the aspects of
psychotherapy and non-verbal
communication.” Rosenblatt identifies
The Session with a goal in his life, "to
train — through film — beginning
therapists for human encounter
sessions.”
The film was shown to a counseling
program, furthering a fantasy that his
films can be used for the benefit of other
people: "My main goal is to help people
from things I produce,” Rosenblatt says
fTnother filmmaker, film studies
student Judith Schoap, creates a
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student Judith Schoap, creates a
penetrating sensual relationship
between a man and his motorcycle in
her winter term film, Chris Cycle.
“I wanted to do a portrait piece and
I’ve been concentrating on members of
my family,” Schoap says. "This is not
my response of a true personal portrait,
but sensual imagery that I chose about
that person.”
In constructing her film, Schoap
developed an elaborate premeditated
grid system — a process which allowed
her to organize the camera from still to
gradual moving shots and back again,
interrelating man and motorcycle
through a complex visual pattern.
The mergence of a soundtrack
accentuates the portrait, completing a
rhythmic exploration of sound, light,
movement and superimposed imagery.
“The soundtrack gives the motorcycle
a character," she says. “The voice of a
motorcycle.”
1 n his film Lonny, Lon Thompson
draws on personal memories in an
attempt to rediscover himself. Calling it
a “psycho-dramatic trance,” Thompson
explores the realization of his past and
its relation to the present.
“I did extensive research in trying to
lock on the earliest memories of what
made me me.”
Lonny opens with a short super-eight
clip of Thompson’s actual past. The film
starts slowly, then gains momentum in
depicting the fears in children which
result later in certain mental
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experiences. Using a blend of
cut-aways, still frames and
superimpositions, he is able to produce
an abstract phantasmagoric image of
the "archetype Self."
Currently, he is continuing work on
Lonny and pondering the possibilities of
an experimental documentary on "the
use of the media as a form of
resistance."
“I just hope I don't ever get caught in
commercial trash,” concludes
Thompson.
Raymond Chu presents a
metaphysical interplay between a male
composer and a female dancer in his
first film, Spark.
“The spark is one of emotion," says
Chu. "It is given to different
interpretations, but for me it is quite
personal ”
Sitting at a piano uninspired, the
composer is reminded by a photograph
of the woman he loves, who is a dancer.
The film slips back and forth between
the graceful improvisations of the
dancer and the attempts by the
composer to compose. Utilizing soft,
natural light, and filmed in slow motion,
Spark manifests Chu's inclination to
re-create “beautiful images on screen."
"I look for the aesthetics," says Chu.
"But the entire process of filming is very
interesting, for there is always the
uncertainty that whatever you film may
never come out ”
Story by James Jiler
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
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