Reading Response 1 (First Half)

Sitney, “Ritual and Nature”

1. What are some characteristics of the American psychodrama in the 1940s?
The quest for sexual identity, the inclusion of the dreamer as well are characteristics of the American psychodrama. I did not find this in chapter 2 but chapter 1 when I could not find a clear set of characteristics in the reading. About this, I am still confused. I will talk to you outside of class, during your office hours, to get caught up.

2. What does Sitney mean by an “imagist” structure replacing narrative structure in Choreography for the Camera?

“Imagist” or “Imagism” is the replacing of narrative and thematic principals such as A causes B causes C causes D with a gesture such as in Choreography for Camera which uses the motion of the dancer. There is not a story about this dancer being told in a form of this happened to the dancer and because of that this was the result. It simply used the movements to match between locations tieing them together only through this object, the dancer, and his motions.

3. According to Sitney, Ritual in Transfigured Time represents a transition between the psychodrama and what kind of film?
“Traditional mythological elements” is what I see in the book and I remember that in the film, but is that the name for it? Like psychodrama, or is there even a name for it, like psychodrama?

4. Respond briefly to Sitney’s reading of Ritual in Transfigured Time (27-28); Is his interpretation compatible with your experience of the film?
It seemed to be what I thought of the film or makes sense with what I saw in the film except for two things. One is what Sitney calls “the widow”. I did not see her as this and also did not get the impression he is seeming to imply it meant. The other was simply the change of scarf from mourning black to bridal white. Not that I disagree with this assessment, but that I did not see this on my own until you pointed it out after the screening, and subsequently in the book.


Sitney, “The Magus”

5. Paraphrase the paragraph on p. 90 that begins “The filmic dream constituted…” in your own words.
To me this means that the shot represents both the scope and the view of the dreamer (film-maker) as well as the ability for that dreamer to play a part in his or her dream. As most dreams do. It also means that whatever the dreamer is receptive of (remembers or perceives) is all that is visible.

6. According to Sitney, what is the ultimate result at the end of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome?
It ends with the god being torn to pieces by Bacchantes.

I apologize for it being so late. I have been so drowsy due to the meds I am on (Vicodin, 2 muscle relaxers, Valium, and a anti-inflammatory) it has been difficult to concentrate on such a complex and dreamlike subject without mixing up what is Sitney's and what is my own dreams. In fact last Monday I kept nodding off and the dreams I would have intermingled with the films to have a very weird and semi psychedelic effect.