Stan Brakhage - I...Dreaming (1988)

[Roboberto]

Brakhage didn't make video; he made film. He made only silent films; never used a soundtrack.

[AnitaWoronov]

and what about music?

who's playing?

[reesc]

would some1 mind telling me whether this is 8, 16 or 35mm please.

is there any way of determining from watching?

[jacks17]

Neonknights, this is merely foregrounding the process called film.

[prolsit]

oh man...

[branwyn2]

I met Stan years ago. Didn't like his work much then...he tried to convince us that his

eyesight was physiologically different than most people and that he saw things the way he filmed them.

[PretentiousProducts]

I feel sorry for those who will dismiss the films of Brakhage out of simple conventional habit. He has much to offer to the mind that is willing to exercise his or her emotional intelligence and imagination. If all one person is able or willing to see is a "crappy film with no music and messy splotches"...well, it's statements like those that are ringing the death toll to artistic American cinema(vs big-box theater entertainment).

[superhappylucky]

More like Stan "Dreckhage" with the emphasis on "dreck"! What an irritating, obnoxious and arrogant piece of youknowhat!!! Just the sort of idiot savante material pretentious film snobs cling on to so they can fling "Stan Dreckhage" around at boring cocktail parties. Oh yeah, and thank god Stan is no longer here - now we don't have to suffer anymore of his infantile meanderings on film.

[yonskii]

you are the pretentious one.

[misteromeara]

i love brakhage. he's influenced my short films (some posted on youtube) probably as much or more than any other "real" directors. i'd rather watch 3 min of stan b. than almost anything that comes out of hollywood

[bockerjuniuhs]

"real" directors?

What do you mean? This comment reaks of lameness. To try and classify Brakhage with the vocabulary of the traditional studio production system is dumb. The word director is completely inadequate to describe what it was that Brakhage did. Your ascribing some sort of validity to more conventional filmmakers is offensive.

[misteromeara]

look friend, don't get condescending when someone makes a positive comment. what i was trying to say is that many people only think of filmmaking as what comes out of hollywood - beginning, middle, end, plot resolution - and brakhage dispensed with that. you don't want to agree with me, that's fine, i have no problem. but don't assume a superior and all-knowing tone with me - do you posess some inner knowledge the rest of us don't have to base your statements upon?

[jblacktree]

He scratched the emulsion frame by frame. Hard work if you've ever tried it ...at 24 per second,,,

[BeaGagli]

\

Brakhage is a poet who writes with moving pictures.

Poetic "I Dreaming" sings the dances of bodies..

.

[Burbysliwk]

This may seem trivial, but Stan never made video, this is a film.

In fact, if I remember correctly Stan refused to be videoed.

[strangeframe]

You are right that this is film, but Stan did experiment with video too - rawer and more direct than his film work.

[cosmos34]

I am speechless.

I've never seen anything like this -- and that's a good thing!

[yellowwasp09]

brakhage inspired liquid television and aeon flux on mtv

[guestinformant9]

I would love for a museum to feature a Brakhage retrospective. Imagine a gallery filled with flat screen TVs hanging on the walls- each one looping a different film. Has such a thing ever been done before? Am I crazy or is this a great idea? Of course the cost of acquiring that many flat screens & DVD players will probably be through the roof, but at least a place like MOMA could find a way to finance it, don't you think?

[cosmos34]

That is an amazing idea.

[7plus77]

such things have been done, even films on a gigantice scale... for example the fantastic Bill Viola show in London a few years ago. Called the Tristant project. An entire building (beautiful old grammar school) filled with screens of various sizes from huge to tiny and each with a different film on it. The whole place was of course filled with the strangest sounds, sounds of fire, water, storms etc

[guestinformant9]

Sounds fantastic. I wasn't familiar with Bill Viola before, so thanks for introducing me to him- I've looked him up online and found some terrific stuff!

While what I'd envisioned for a Brakhage retrospective was a much more conventional gallery show, the potential for creating a full environment raises some awesome possibilities. I wonder what Stan himself would think of the prospect...

[kangadoodoo]

not a film

[neonknights]

Then what is a film? Stories played by actors? It's called the theatre. Stories told from a narrative point of view? It's called literature. THIS is a film.

[conneisseur3]

one of the few brakhage films that have sound for once!

[otacon451]

thanks

[honymooon]

great film maker

[Endimione17]

It's a rare para-narrative film by Brakhage...

The lines projected by the shadows on the floor are absolutely genius

by

endimione

[britteach]

pretty daring. thanks for posting