Before Disney’s Fantasia (Joe Grant & Dick Huemer, 1940) introduced the idea of visual music to mass audiences, experimental filmmakers had been playing with the idea for decades. As early as 1909, Italian futurists were painting abstract forms onto film stock, attempting to translate the purity of classical compositions into moving image media.
Twin brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay are known for their entrancing, and sometimes unsettling, stop motion worlds. Their films bring us into hidden spaces, filled with discarded objects and compulsive desire. In addition to their unique puppet design and elegantly articulated movement, the Quays also invest great care in their cinematography. They are unafraid to… Read more »
Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky is known for his enigmatic films. Though his filmography is brief — in part due to political constraints in the former Soviet Union — he left an indelible mark on the art of cinema.
Wallace and Gromit are two of the most popular characters to come of out of British animation studio, Aardman Animations. Originally conceived by Nick Park as his graduation film for the National Film and Television School, cheese-loving Wallace and his clever hound Gromit have gone on to star in four shorts and one feature-length… Read more »
A brief moment. The way the actor moves his head. The beauty of a face. A flicker of an expression that seems to contain all the meaning in a scene. Photogénie as a cinematic concept originates with early French film theory. We often use it to try to capture the enigmatic qualities of a film star,… Read more »
Born April 29, 1917, this year would have been Maya Deren’s 100th birthday. In celebration of her contribution to experimental cinema, this video outlines some of the key principles informing Deren’s filmmaking. Deren wrote prolifically about her film practice, and the compilation of her writings — Essential Deren — has been one of my touchstones… Read more »