Re: [microsound] the lost spirit of filmmaking

[Tim Kugel <guitardo@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nice commencement speech, and it seems on point to me. a comment:

"But the danger of censorship in America is less from business or the
religious right or the self righteous left, than to self-censorship by
artists themselves, who simply give up."

In my youth, at 18 in 1972, I thought that having more and more people
would be involved in the creation of "art and artifact," and that this
was inevitable and good.  I did not think so much of the differnce
between the two.  After all, the old structures were breaking down.
Computers would assist man in organizing his work and take jobs.
Population pressures and environmental degradation would result in less
breeding etc.  We didn't need so many workers to feed, clothe, and house
us all.  Sustainablity would produce more leisure time. All of this
idealism.

The "engine that drives America," the Adam Smith ideal, "market
capitalism," "laissez faire mercatilism," etc. etc. took the extra art
and made it nearly all into artifact.  Unions and unique musical
communities dried up, and were routinely busted or splintered and driven
apart.

I think we live now in a similar age as the late 60's and early 70's.
The peace/ anti-globalism marchers are just a small part of it. The
grotesque unfairness of our laws and practices, and the hypocrisy of our
leaders have led us here. But now, at last I see again the idealism. The
internet is a bit like FM radio - a new voice has been heard.  It is
fast being coopted and it is being used by many ugly forces, but
hopefully the result will be different, more sanguine and confident this
time.  Objectification and calculations that produce a public which is
addicted to consumption and painfully divided may yeild soon to another
paradigm shift.  What will the new world look like? George Bush's "with
us of against us," black/white division??

If you see an mainstream article/news piece about a film today, most
likely it is writeen and produced ultimately by those who have a
financial association with the film!! No wonder the Blockbuster chain
sucks so bad.

"Warner Brothers was bought by Seven Arts, Seven Arts was bought by
Kinney Services, which consisted of a chain of mortuaries and liveries,
and the whole mess now is owned by America Online/Time/Warner along with
HBO, Warner Books, Turner networks and CNN. Viacom owns Paramount, CBS,
Showtime Cable and the Blockbuster chain of video stores."

The notion that a movie needs to be 120 pages and 2 hours, or that a
musical work is best a 2-5 minutes is dying. These are controls used so
that art can be artifact, a formula that works in the retail world.
Again the internet, like McLuhan's Gutenberg press, is wrecking havoc in
the old world.

The advent of internet film festivals and online groups such as ours is
just killing the business. We are killing the customers for the old
"shtick" as well. Like book sales, inflated by mass insider pre-buying,
movie box offfice means nothing.

What I like to see today is art which is ragged, torn apart, even (gasp)
unpolished, full of political riposte and truth seeking. There is
nothing to be afraid of. The future is so totally here. Phoney rich
men's wars won't stop it or even slow it. It is the end of an age of
ignorance.

Kim Cascone wrote:

> keywords: Hollywood, lawyers, MBA's, American films, banality, etc
> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16569
>
> -

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