Conceptualizing" The Original": Artifact, Intent, Experience, and Process in Avant-Garde Film ...

141 Pages·2014·0.96 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Conceptualizing "The Original": Artifact, Intent, Experience, and Process in Avant-Garde Film
Preservation
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80x3q0x0
Author
Marriott, David
Publication Date
2014

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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University of California
UNIVERSITY
 OF
 CALIFORNIA

Los
 Angeles

Conceptualizing
 “The
 Original”:

Artifact,
 Intent,
 Experience,
 and
 Process
 in
 Avant-­‐Garde
 Film
 Preservation

A
 thesis
 submitted
 in
 partial
 satisfaction

of
 the
 requirements
 for
 the
 degree
 of
 Master
 of
 Arts

in
 Moving
 Image
 Archive
 Studies

by

David
 Marriott

2014

ABSTRACT
 OF
 THE
 THESIS

Conceptualizing
 “The
 Original”:

Artifact,
 Intent,
 Experience,
 and
 Process
 in
 Avant-­‐Garde
 Film
 Preservation

By

David
 Marriott

Master
 of
 Arts
 in
 Moving
 Image
 Archive
 Studies

University
 of
 California,
 Los
 Angeles,
 2014

Professor
 Jonathan
 Furner,
 Chair

While
 the
 moving
 image
 archival
 field
 has
 devoted
 considerable
 attention
 to

theorizing
 preservation
 practice
 for
 traditional
 narrative
 cinema,
 comparatively

little
 emphasis
 has
 been
 placed
 on
 avant-­‐garde
 film.
 By
 specifically
 considering

hand-­‐manipulated
 avant-­‐garde
 film
 and
 expanded
 cinema,
 I
 argue
 for
 a
 malleable

archival
 theory
 which
 represents
 contemporary
 efforts
 to
 preserve
 and
 exhibit

these
 films
 in
 a
 manner
 philosophically,
 technically,
 and
 aesthetically
 appropriate
 to

the
 work.
 Underwriting
 this
 archival
 theory
 is
 a
 model
 based
 on
 four
 central

conceptions
 of
 “originality”
 which
 play
 a
 decisive
 role
 in
 the
 preservation
 of
 these

films,
 namely
 Spectrum
 of
 Influence,
 Temporality,
 Degree
 of
 Translation,
 and

Method.
 By
 illustrating
 these
 conceptions
 as
 two
 related
 model
 graphs,
 I
 am
 able
 to

ii
plot,
 along
 four
 axes,
 decision
 points
 which
 have
 informed
 a
 range
 of
 contemporary

preservations.
 In
 so
 doing,
 I
 conclude
 that
 the
 proposed
 archival
 theory
 successfully

represents
 avant-­‐garde
 film
 preservation
 practice,
 and
 has
 practical
 applications
 in

the
 field.

 iii
The
 thesis
 of
 David
 Marriott
 is
 approved.

Allyson
 Nadia
 Field

Erkki
 Huhtamo

Jonathan
 Furner,
 Committee
 Chair

University
 of
 California,
 Los
 Angeles

2014

 iv
TABLE
 OF
 CONTENTS

Introduction

 1

Chapter
 1:
 Medium-­‐Specific
 Artifacts
 and
 Filmmaker
 Intent

in
 the
 Photochemical
 Workflow

 48

Chapter
 2:
 Filmmaker
 Intent
 and
 the
 Ontology
 of
 Film
 in
 the

Digital
 Age

 69

Chapter
 3:
 Challenge
 and
 Potential
 in
 Preserving
 Expanded

Cinema

 96

Conclusion

  120

Bibliography

  126

  v
LIST
 OF
 GRAPHS

Model
 Graph
 A

Model
 Graph
 B

 vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I
 would
 like
 to
 thank
 the
 members
 my
 thesis
 committee:
 Jonathan
 Furner,
 Allyson

Nadia
 Field,
 and
 Erkki
 Huhtamo.
 Their
 guidance,
 insight,
 and
 generosity
 were

instrumental
 throughout
 the
 research
 and
 writing
 process.
 Thanks
 to
 all
 the

professionals
 in
 the
 field
 who
 took
 the
 time
 to
 speak
 with
 me
 about
 their
 practice,

and
 to
 the
 students
 and
 faculty
 in
 the
 Moving
 Image
 Archive
 Studies
 program,

particularly
 Snowden
 Becker.
 Finally,
 many
 thanks
 to
 my
 family
 and
 friends
 for
 their

support.

 vii
Introduction

As
 the
 moving
 image
 archival
 field
 continues
 to
 mature
 into
 an
 increasingly

professionalized
 practice,
 it
 has
 witnessed
 a
 concurrent
 growth
 in
 research

literature
 underscoring
 the
 practical
 challenges
 and
 theoretical
 complexities

inherent
 in
 21st
 century
 preservation
 and
 exhibition.
 The
 lion’s
 share
 of
 these

studies,
 however,
 localize
 their
 focus
 in
 traditional,
 largely
 standardized,
 industry

production
 practices.
 This,
 in
 turn,
 has
 resulted
 in
 a
 paucity
 of
 scholarship
 regarding

“alternative”
 forms
 of
 cinema,
 chiefly
 within
 the
 realm
 of
 avant-­‐garde
 film.
By
 specifically
 considering
 hand-­‐manipulated
 and
 ephemeral/performative
 avant-­‐
garde
 film,
 I
 argue
 for
 a
 malleable
 archival
 theory
 which
 represents
 the

contemporary
 efforts
 to
 preserve
 and
 exhibit
 these
 films
 in
 a
 manner

philosophically,
 technically,
 and
 aesthetically
 appropriate
 to
 the
 work.1

Underwriting
 much
 of
 my
 study
 is
 the
 extent
 to
 which
 these
 avant-­‐garde
 films
 can

be
 said
 to
 make
 heightened
 claims
 to
 a
 medium-­‐specific
 ontology,
 and
 the
 degree
 to

which
 this
 informs
 current
 preservation
 and
 exhibition
 practice.
 While
 a
 sizable

amount
 of
 debate
 in
 the
 field
 has
 been
 devoted
 to
 critically
 engaging
 the
 ontological

1There
 are
 multiple
 names
 for
 the
 avant-­‐garde
 film
 genre,
 each
 favored
 to
 varying

degrees
 depending
 on
 the
 decade
 and
 the
 region.
 Mike
 Zryd
 notes
 that
 since
 the

1980s
 in
 North
 America
 experimental
 film
 and
 avant-­‐garde
 film
 have
 both
 been

employed
 frequently
 and
 interchangeably.
 Zryd,
 “Experimental
 Film
 and
 the

Development
 of
 Film
 Study
 in
 America,”
 in
 Inventing
 Film
 Studies,
 eds.
 Lee
 Grieveson

and
 Haidee
 Wasson
 (Durham,
 N.C.:
 Duke
 University
 Press,
 2008),
 183–216.

I
 employ
 the
 term
 “ephemeral”
 here
 to
 denote
 film
 that
 is
 fluid,
 rather
 than
 fixed,
 in

nature
 (e.g.
 performative)
 as
 opposed
 to
 archivist
 Rick
 Prelinger’s
 use
 of
 the
 term,

which
 denotes
 “industrial,
 advertising,
 educational,
 amateur
 and
 government
 films.”

Lisa
 Rein,
 CC
 Talks
 with
 Rick
 Prelinger,
 Creative
 Commons,

http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7064
 (January
 2,
 2014).

1