Readin Response 2 (First Half)

Sitney, “The Lyrical Film”

1. While Brakhage’s Reflections on Black is a trance film, why does Sitney argue that it anticipates the lyrical film?

In Reflections he started to bridge the gap between fantasy and actuality and the visual use of imagination.

2. What are the key characteristics of the lyrical film (the first example of which was Anticipation of the Night).

The juxtaposition of interior and exterior stimulants and the camera being the POV of the protagonist.

3. Which filmmaker was highly influential on Brakhage’s move to lyrical film in terms of film style, and why?

Joseph Cornell seemed to be an influence through situation and positioning. Marie Menken’s films influenced him and her and her husband’s treatment and aiding him when he went to New York influenced this move.


4. What does Sitney mean by "hard" and "soft" montage? What examples of each does he give from Anticipation of the Night? {Tricky question; read the entire passage very carefully.]

I have gone back and kept reading the paragraphs on pages 162 and 163 but still do not understand “soft” montage.

5. What are the characteristics of vision according to Brakhage’s revival of the Romantic dialectics of sight and imagination? [I’m not asking here about film style, I’m asking about Brakhage’s views about vision.]

It is difficult for me to understand what part of the reading you are referring to and want explained when the language seems to be different from the book. No words to key me off to what specific section you are referring to and thus want my understanding of. I believe that this is refereeing to 165-167 but am not sure, and don’t understand the reading well enough to extrapolate the meaning and am confused with the language.