“You and I are going to be filming the actors. The two of us, see, are going to be filming the actors – continuously – and you will be filming me and the actors. I'm going to be filming the actors and Terry is going to be in charge of filming the whole thing. You see?”Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1968)
Feb
1
Filmmaking
Don Fellows – testing as “Freddy” – and Patricia Ree Gilbert – testing as “Alice” –, the director (William Greaves), and a camera assistant holding up a light meter. Everyone is eyeing everyone and it's not clear who is playing what part. DPs: Stevan Larner & Terence Macartney-Filgate.
A film about filmmaking, or Hollywood, to celebrate the opening of Edison's Black Maria in 1893.
– William Greaves – Director
During a screentest for a documentary in a documentary in a film, director William Greaves attempts to cast the leads for his upcoming piece Over the Cliff, while a documentary crew records their progress.
documentary
Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner [The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner] (Werner Herzog, 1974)
Jan
25
Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics
Live footage of Steiner preparing for his flight. DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein.
Winter sports in celebration of the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics.
– Walter Steiner
In a film that is as much about Herzog as it is about Steiner, we follow the soft-spoken woodcarver in preparation of his definitive ski flight in Planica, Yugoslavia.
“Art and science encounter each other when they seek exactitude.”Escrime [Fencing] (Étienne-Jules Marey, 1890)
Jan
4
revolvers
Footage of Marey at work. Note the mobility of his invention. (via).
A revolver to commemorate Samuel Colt's sale of 1 000 revolvers to butcher Captain Samuel Walker in 1847.
– Étienne-Jules Marey
However, where there is bloodshed, there can be art. Scientist Étienne-Jules Marey studied movement, and further adapted an existing revolver-style camera gun invented by astronomer Jules Janssen in 1874. The revolution in Marey's invention was not in the least in its mobility. Unlike Muybridge, whose locomotion experiments required a huge, cumbersome setup, Marey could strap on his “gun”, and shoot moving footage while following his target around. His chronophotograph Escrime can be considered Marey's first successfully captured moving footage.
“In this film, by showing certain basic aspects of a city, a way of life is put on trial… the last gasps of a society so lost in its escapism that it sickens you and makes you sympathetic to a revolutionary solution.”À propos de Nice – point de vue documenté [À propos de Nice] (Boris Kaufman + Jean Vigo, 1930)
Jan
1
New Year's Day
Exuberant prostitutes, Jean Vigo (5th from the left), and some who appear to be men in drag, dance on a landing with confetti all around them. In the moving footage they can be seen high-kicking with increased vulgarity, the camera posed below them. DP: Boris Kaufman.
Confetti for New Year's Day.
– Jean Vigo in his manifesto Vers un cinéma social
Cali: de película (Luis Ospina, 1973)
Dec
26
Feria de Cali
A child hands a man in indigenous garb a small liquor bottle during the cabalgata, the parade of horseback riders. The man's horse is painted to resemble a zebra. DP: Carlos Mayolo.
A parade for Feria de Cali, Columbia.
“Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again”Black Sabbath – Live in Paris (Jacques Bourton, 1970)
Dec
6
Metal & Beer Fest
Tony Iommi.
A heavy soundtrack for the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver.
– Black Sabbath, Iron Man (1970)
Despite its title, Live in Paris was filmed in Théâtre 140 in Brussels by Yorkshire Television and is Sabbath's first recorded live concert.
Sioux Ghost Dance (William K.L. Dickson + William Heise 1894)
Dec
1
Hornbill Festival
A Sioux troupe – these particular people were part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show – perform a Ghost Dance in #ThomasEdison's Black Maria studio in New Jersey. DP: William Heise.
Indigenous dance for Hornbill Festival, Nagaland.
Salesman (Albert + David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, 1969)
Mar
29
breakfast
Bible salesmen enjoying breakfast at a soulless motel. DP: Albert Maysles.
Watched on Good Friday.
Weegee’s Coney Island [Coney Island] (Arthur “Weegee” Fellig, 1954)
Feb
10
Good Humor
Two chubby ladies on Coney Island's beach eating chocolate-coated ice cream bars on a stick, I guess Good Humor bars. The women both wear black shapeless bathing suits. One of them has a pink towel over her shoulders and her hair in rollers. The framing shows only part of the couple, but tells you all you need to know. DP: Weegee.