Wednesday 11 September 2013

Assembling memories

From the year 2000 until its completion in 2001 I devoted some very enjoyable time to writing my Bachelor's thesis dissertation "The filmic space"

The first chapters dealt with the evolution of film techniques. The second part evolved as an analysis of major film movements, their cultural and socio-political context and how these elements played a fundamental role in "the creation of filmic space" as the main academic contribution of my thesis.

Most of the thesis' sources of information were conformed by books, cinema journals and magazines, as well as the movies themselves and a few audio interviews, and to a lesser degree, information on the internet; rare at the time.

During the writing period which mainly took place in Guadalajara, México, finding documentation was a valuable and exciting experience because I had to explore places I had never been to before, such  as CAAV "Centro de Arte Audiovisual" (Centre for Audiovisual Arts)  An old house in the city centre. The moment you stepped into its luminous hallway you found yourself surrounded by huge framed posters of Peter Greenaway's movies and other film titans, so all in all, not a bad welcoming.
This place was an important revelation and soon after my first visit, I enrolled in several short courses and diplomas that nurtured my avidness for researching more on the seventh art.
CAAV also had a somewhat small library replete with extraordinary books that made up for the lack of actual space.
Down in the basement and with an independent entrance that had access to the street, there was/is a small theatre "videosala", where I first watched a whole lot of rare, auteur and independent movies; my first David Lynch's and other treasures by Stanley Kubrick, John Cassavettes, Wim Wenders, Ernst Lubitsch, The French New Wave, and countless more, including cult cinema not apt for the quizzical.

The excitement of these memories was recently stirred by a lucky finding on the internet. It is a masterclass by Film Director, Alfred Hitchcock who explains in a witty, easy manner of speech what editing means.

The time I've dedicated to the study of film analysis is an ongoing interest. I simply enjoy it but I could undoubtedly have done with Mr Hitchcock's  mentorship back in my uni days!

The material below has been found at Open Culture's website and if you also love film analysis, then you will enjoy!


http://www.openculture.com/2013/04/alfred_hitchcocks_seven-minute_editing_master_class.html