From: Chuck Kleinhans (email suppressed)
Date: Mon Sep 08 2008 - 22:00:02 PDT
On Sep 8, 2008, at 4:57 PM, JEFFREY PAULL wrote:
> James:
>
> " Does anyone here think Obama knows who Joyce Wieland is? "
>
> that's not as important as the fact that WE know who both are, and
> putting those two seemingly unrelated names together could lead us to
> consider otherwise hidden dissonances or consonance because of the
> surprise juxtiposition of those two.
>
> Hey, anybody: think it would be possible to make an experimental
> film using Obama and Weiland together in some way?
>
>
> JP
>
Weiland made two quite directly "political" films that are
immediately suggestive--though they are "documentaries" so perhaps
our "rules" don't allow us to discuss them here.
Solidarity (1973, 11 min., color, sound 16mm) records people walking
to a rally supporting striking workers with a single take (as I
remember) and the camera pointed down and forward, thus mostly
showing people's legs and feet walking while you hear their voices
and the p.a. system at the center of the rally. It would be pretty
easy to do an homage to this at any Obama rally (assuming they let
you bring a camera to it).
Peirre Vallières (1972m, 30 min, color, sound 16mm) consists of an
xcu of the Quebecois leader giving a political speech for Quebec
independence with his lower lip, teeth and tongue, upper lip and part
of his mustache shown. Again, one take or close to it. This could
probably be done with some post work on a video of an Obama speech--
though obviously he tends to move around and we usually get different
camera positions and angles which are cross cut. I saw an Obama
commercial a day or so ago which had footage of him speaking, but it
was not in sych with his voice on the audio track--obviously the
audio was fresh and new and responding to recent events while the
footage of Obama was stock from another event. I'm sure most viewers
didn't catch it, and it wouldn't both them anyway since the audio was
primary in the piece and the various images and text supplementary.
I think you could do an interesting variant on Rat Life and Diet in
North America (1968, 14 min. color, sound, 16mm) and the current
campaign situation, but that's another story.
And I have some ideas about The Far Shore, but that is a dramatic
narrative.....not kosher here.
CHUCK KLEINHANS
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