Essential Brakhage: Selected Writings on Filmmaking

by Stan Brakhage, Bruce R. McPherson

In the course of making nearly 400 films over the past 50 years, Stan Brakhage became synonymous with independent American filmmaking, particularly its avant-garde component. This major collection of writings draws primarily upon two long out-of-print books--Metaphors on Vision and Brakhage Scrapbook. Brakhage examines filmmaking in relation to social and professional contexts, the nature of influence and collaboration, the aesthetics of personal experience, and the conditions under which various films were made. Brakhage discusses his predecessors and contemporaries, relates film to dance and poetry, and in A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book provides a manual for the novice filmmaker. Lectures, interviews, essays, and manifestos document Brakhage's personal vision and public persona.

Genres: Film, Art, Essays, Nonfiction, American

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

About the author

James Stanley Brakhage, better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film.

Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large and diverse body of work, exploring a variety of formats, approaches and techniques that included handheld camerawork, painting directly onto celluloid, fast cutting, in-camera editing, scratching on film, collage film and the use of multiple exposures. Interested in mythology and inspired by music, poetry, and visual phenomena, Brakhage sought to reveal the universal in the particular, exploring themes of birth, mortality, sexuality and innocence.

Brakhage's films are often noted for their expressiveness and lyricism.

Reviews

[Zac Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brakhage sits among a very special clique of artists who completely reinvigorate my love for cinema whenever I feel my enjoyment taking a lull. The majority of these essays also confirmed my suspicions Stan the Man was completely out of his mind gonzo.

[BT · Rating 1 out of 5]

Either he raped his wife and locked her in closets because she didn’t understand his art, or it’s fiction for the sake of being tRaNsGrEsSiVe. Either way, not my bag

[Drew Gebhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sick! So important

[eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended for filn & philosophy fans, alike.

[afoty boy · Rating 1 out of 5]

i loved In Defence of the Amateur; something that resonated with me. all his other essays showcase an incredible lack of self awareness (enough of the puns etasetera) and are more akin to lunatic ravings than an academic text. as other commenters have suggested a more lucid approach by brakhage wouldve been better probably. some core ideas are very compelling such as film being a necessity created through the desire of externalising physiological processes similarly to, he claims, how music arose as a way to express ones heartbeat. the notes accompanying some of his films at near the end of the collection are also quite fascinating. inconsistent collection but sorta worthwhile for brakhage fans 2.5/10

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.twotreatises.net/173