Live report at the Emily Carr Institute, March 21, 2007.
More info about the lecture at the Emily Carr website and about Douglas himself at Wikipedia.
Hmm, he’s more mild manner-sounding than I imagined. And this lecture started right on time and he gets into it right away. Also, he’s giving a special crit to the Master’s students afterwards, whose department sponsored this event.
There are even women with children here. People from the Wood Co-op and other Granville Island businesses. 175 person house is near full.
11:35
First up, Journey into Fear (2001).
Began with research in 1970s. Background into the structure of the WTO. “I’m not big for reflection theory” but rather how the economic world can affect the world of art, specifically Vancouver. Based on book by Eric Attler, 1942. Remade in 1975 (here in Vancouver?).
11:40
Supposed to be follow-up film for Welles to C.Kane (this 1943 version of Journey… I imagine). Oil crisis in 70s context. Ooo, Sam Waterson clip from ’75 film, it must be.
11:43
Douglas: remake of a remake of a film based on a book, is what I wanted to make. Technique of dubbing, i.e. kung fu style, Mystery Science Theatre (my interpretation).
Scene from ’75 with different voice over. Seems automatically more political to me. Hehe, also funny. About platypuses. Seems ad-libbed.
11:45
Sort of disjuncted fade editing between scenes: me. Stan: dialogue with new sequences of dialogue but same scene over and over. Theme: original threat of death from ’75 film.
Stan sounds like a very average guy. Talks somewhat fast, but clearly and full of information. Getting a lot across. Shows how other cultures dub films: Turkey dubbers go as long as they can live to do voice over for a film. Douglas finds them the most effective.
11:47
Segments in different languages. Same segments (not the Waterson one, some other one?). Clean cuts to other dubbing and languages. Ha, he’s just playing the DVD and switcing the audio track. Funny delay between title appearing to indicate switch has been made and the actual voice-over changing. This must also be the 2001 version?
11:49
Suspiria (2003)
First shown in Kassel, Germany. Well known as home of Brother’s Grimm. Hercules octagon building significant structure at highest point of town, functions like church tower, God’s eye upon you at all times. Plan of castle obtained for Douglas’ computer 3D model of the space. Looks very Wolfenstein (my opinion). Then cut with live action characters matching 3D spaces. Merge two wth green screen. Technical colour signal mixing, highly saturated, translucent figures.
11:54
Protestors see where camera’s are aimed, spray paint slogans for Germann refuges. Incorporated in filming. Social context. List of macabre characters in castle narrative. Well organized presentation, like a website with drill-down navigation and sections.
11:58
Das Capital reference in opening. Complicated to explain, easy to watch: Douglas. Very sort of security camera views of castle interiors. Straightfoward, didactic, succinct and very Douglas-like in narration.
12:05
Kuleshov effect in editing for reaction. I’m recalling film studies, when juxtoposing unrelated shots, people always make a connection. Sequencing produces different interpretations, Douglas. All this re-editing, narative fragments, read different than what you have seen before. Like player piano and speed differences.
Klatsassin (2006)
Hard cuts as engine that drives the work: Douglas. The edit between two shots is the space of fantasy where we can agree or disagree. What does this negative space tell you? Reminds me also of Understanding Comics about interstitial space.
Chilcotin wars, late 19th C. Little known BC history. Gold Rush passed through. Barkerville epicentre of route to Yukon. Trapper whose stash is taken threatens death of natives. War breaks out. Search for Klatsassin (chief). Taken in by tabaco offering but tried instead (escapes enroute?).
Other reference: Rashômon (1950) by Kurosawa about a ronin. What is real and what is unreal? Oh ya, that’s with the three tales told from three perspectives out of self interest. Douglas: End result? No truth?
Goes through portraits of characters. Great portraits of gold rush-era guys.
End Lecture. Brief question period.
12:22
Kate asks how he arrived at his current work. Douglas: I did sculpture at Emily Carr. Then I started taking photos of my sculptures and got more into that than the sculptures. Then short films with a couple frames, then more frames, then sound and music added, then after graduation worked in film industry.
Leave a Reply