Readings & Films (week 5)

Untamed: Readings

We are primarily focused on multiscreen work this week.  This begs the question:  why use a multiscreen approach?  What purposes does this technique serve (other than to make things look fancy)?  

There are three broad concepts we can explore by way of answering this question, and which we will discuss in class.  The following three essays (the second of which is a video essay), each point in a different direction.  You'll notice that Tohline's "Supercut of Supercuts" runs just over 2 hours long.  If that feels overwhelming, make certain to watch the first 20 minutes.  Also notice the very nifty "Table of Contents" he incorporates beginning around 4.5  minutes, which both employs a terrific multiscreen and invites you to scrub through the project to study the different concepts/histories/examples most of interest.  

1) Multi-screen employed comparatively, and thus as intertextual thinking.  Catherine Grant, "Deja Viewing?: Videographic Experiments in Intertextual Film Studies Links to an external site." in Mediascape (winter 2013).

2) Multi-screen employed in supercuts, and thus as data-oriented thinking.  Max Tohline, Supercut of Supercuts: Aesthetics, Histories, Databases Links to an external site. in Open Screens (2021).  

3) Multi-screen employed in remixes, and thus as meta-historical thinking.  Katherine Groo, Cut, Paste, Glitch, and Stutter: Remixing Film History Links to an external site. in Frames Cinema Journal (2012)

Untamed: Films

There are four feature films available for study and for the purpose of your multiscreen exercise this week.  Rather than assign two or three as required and a fourth optional, it makes sense to say: "choose any two" to watch and to work with in your project!  The four films all stream below and also have been uploaded to the google drive.  All four films are English-language.  One is produced in the UK and the other three from the US. 

Girlfight (2000, Karyn Kusama Links to an external site., US);  Pariah (2011, Dee Rees Links to an external site., US); Lady Bird (2018, Greta Gerwig Links to an external site., US); Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold Links to an external site., 2009, UK).

(A reminder that we looked at Catherine Grantès video essay on Fish Tank for Day One of our course, but didnèt discuss.  You might want to look back at her shot analysis of key sequences in Arnoldès film now)