Subtitles
""Subtitles" doesn't have a title, it has a subtitle, which is "Subtitles"."
"Subtitles" is a very formal permutational project I started in 1980. In some ways, it was 'structuralist', in other ways it was 'language-centered writing' related. One part of the idea was to take pre-existing movies that were plot-driven & to dissect them into categorized parts which would then be reassembled in a way that removed any plot coherence or drama - somewhat like taking sentences from a thrilling adventure story, organizing them into types (such as 'sentences in which the protagonist is gruff') & then grouping the sentences together by type instead of in their initial plot-driven linearity. As with 'language-centered writing', the witness of the product would then 'choose their own intellectual adventure story'.
Having always been in favor of inventing & using techniques that enhance the content of my 'work', "Subtitles"'s formal & analytical structure made it condusive to use as a testing ground for variations. As such, as of the time of writing this (August 1, 2014), there are at least 15 versions made over a period of 28 years.
"Subtitles ('16mm <- brains' version)" was published as part of a DVD collection in "Biennial 2008 - book 1 of 2" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, us@ - Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts - book design by the editors of Encylopaedia Destructica: Christopher Kardambikis & Jasdeep Khaira) & may still be available here: http://encyclopediadestructica.com/filter/OtherBooks#Pittsburgh-Biennial-2008-Catalog
In the interest of providing further elucidation of the permutations, this page has annotations & images in addition to the usual stark listing.
270. "Subtitles (closure version)"
- Organized from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, oldest-to-newest (almost) this presents a 3X3 grid of the 9 main versions of Subtitles that've been made in the last 28 yrs: (regular-8mm) [1981-82 - 019], (super-8mm) [1980-82 - 010], (16mm) [1980-82 - 025], (16mm analyzed) [1980-82/1984 - 037], (rough draft for 3/4") [1980-82/1984/1986 - 041], (overkill) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990 - 137], (June/July '92) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992 - 148], ('final') [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992/2002 - 226], & "What happens in the brain while witnessing "Subtitles (16mm version)" - as explained by a brain researcher who's screened the movie for 2 volunteers while their brains were fMRI-scanned" [2005/08 - 267]. All of these have been edited so that they have changes corresponding to those of (16mm) - following the edits made for the (8 simultaneous versions version) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992/2002 - 227]. ADDITIONALLY, this brings some footage to the forefront - both visuals & sound - to make some elements more comprehensible. The ('16mm <- brains') is sometimes added as an overlay, etc.. This "(closure version)" may very well be the last. It's certainly the most complicated to date! It's also a pinnacle of a certain type of formalism in my work that I'm a bit sick of by now - hence "closure" - time to move on.
- regular-8mm, super-8mm, 16mm, VHS, image data files & mini-dv -> computer -> DVD & mini-DV
- 11:58
- brain scanning done early 2005, brain research interview shot april 8, 2005
- edit finished february 27, 2008
269. "Subtitles (9 images version)"
- Organized from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, oldest-to-newest (almost) this presents a 3X3 grid of the 9 main versions of Subtitles that've been made in the last 28 yrs: (regular-8mm) [1981-82 - 019], (super-8mm) [1980-82 - 010], (16mm) [1980-82 - 025], (16mm analyzed) [1980-82/1984 - 037], (rough draft for 3/4") [1980-82/1984/1986 - 041], (overkill) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990 - 137], (June/July '92) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992 - 148], ('final') [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992/2002 - 226], & "What happens in the brain while witnessing "Subtitles (16mm version)" - as explained by a brain researcher who's screened the movie for 2 volunteers while their brains were fMRI-scanned" [2005/08 - 267]. All of these have been edited so that they have changes corresponding to those of (16mm) - following the edits made for the (8 simultaneous versions version) [1980-82/1984/1986/1990/1992/2002 - 227].
- regular-8mm, super-8mm, 16mm, VHS, image data files & mini-dv -> computer -> DVD & mini-DV
- 11:58
- brain scanning done early 2005, brain research interview shot april 8, 2005
- edit finished february 23, 2008
268. "What happens in the brain while witnessing "Subtitles (16mm version)" - as explained by a brain researcher who's screened the movie for 2 volunteers while their brains were fMRI-scanned"
- the 16mm version of Subtitles (in VHS transfer) was screened for 2 brain research volunteers while they were being fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanned. This was done w/ the assistance of brain researcher "Pig Pen" at a large institution that chose to remain un-named. This version of Subtitles is meant to be projected on the right simultaneously w/ the 16mm version on the left. This is edited from relevant excerpts from an interview w/ Pig Pen - mixed w/ brain research data images.
- mini-dv & image data files -> computer -> DVD & mini-DV
- 11:58
- brain scanning done early 2005, brain research interview shot april 8, 2005
- edit finished february 14, 2008
267. "Subtitles ('16mm <- brains' version)"
- the 16mm version of Subtitles (in VHS transfer) was screened for 2 brain research volunteers while they were being fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanned. This was done w/ the assistance of brain researcher "Pig Pen" at a large institution that chose to remain un-named. This version of Subtitles combines the 16mm version on the left w/ edited relevant excerpts from an interview w/ Pig Pen on the right - additionally mixed w/ brain research data images overlaid on both sides & on the combined sides.
- 16mm, image data files & mini-dv -> computer -> DVD & mini-DV
- 11:58
- 16mm film made 1980-1982, brain scanning done early 2005, brain research interview shot april 8, 2005
- edit finished february 13, 2008
"Subtitles ('16mm <- brains' version)": "Paranoid People"
"Subtitles ('16mm <- brains' version)": "His Dexter Daylight Uttterly Darkened"
228. "Subtitles (8 simultaneous versions version)"
- this is a combination of: 19b. "Subtitles (regular 8 version)" {version 2} + 10b. "Subtitles (super 8 version)" {version 2} + 25b. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 2} + 37b. "Subtitles (analysis projector transfer of 16mm to 1/2" VHS cassette version)" {version 2} + 41d. "Subtitles (digitally processed version)" {version 2} + 137b. "Subtitles (processing & miniaturization overkill version w/ inserts)" {version 2} + 148b. "Subtitles (june/july '92 version)" {version 2} + 226. "Subtitles (final? version)" (all but the "16mm version" were made especially for this & especially to be in sync w/ the 16mm & is intended to either have all those versions prsented once thru simultaneously as closely in sync as possible OR all those versions presented simultaneously as closely in sync as possible 8 TIMES IN A ROW w/ only 1 version's soundtrack on per each repetition - most obviously having the "regular 8 version"'s sound only on 1st, then the "super-8"'s sound on 2nd, etc..
- regular-8mm + super-8mm + 1/2" VHS cassette + unsplit regular-8 + 16mm -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 11:58 OR 8 X 11:58 = app. 1:36:00
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90/'92/'02
227. "Subtitles (final? version)"
- using new VHS footage shot in Pittsburgh in october, 02 (thanks to Ron Douglas for stills saga shooting) & excerpting from 10. "Subtitles (super 8 version)", 19. "Subtitles (regular 8 version)", 21. "Subtitles (unsplit regular 8 version)", 25.b. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 2}, 41.c. "Subtitles (digitally processed version)" [aka "Subtitles (rough draft for 3/4" version w/ f/x)"]; 137. "Subtitles (processing & miniaturization overkill version w/ inserts)" [working from the original raw footage], 124. "My Life Flashing Before You", & 61. "15 Hours of Video at 23 Times Its Original Speed" [following the spirit of 148. "Subtitles (june/july '92 version)"]
- regular-8mm + super-8mm + 1/2" VHS cassette + unsplit regular-8 + 16mm -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 11:58
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90/'92/'02
148. a. "Subtitles (june/july '92 version)" {version 1}
- regular 8, super 8, unsplit regular 8, 16mm, 1/2" VHS cassette, 8mm vaudeo -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 12:30
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90/'92
b. "Subtitles (june/july '92 version)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90/'92/november 3 & 4, '02
137. a. "Subtitles (processing & miniaturization overkill version w/ inserts)" {version 1}
- thanks to Larry Cherniak
- super 8, unsplit regular 8, 16mm, 1/2" VHS cassette, 8mm vaudeo -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 17:30
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90
b. "Subtitles (processing & miniaturization overkill version w/ inserts)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '80-'82/'84/'86/'90/october 30, '02
41. a. "Subtitles (rough draft for 3/4" version)"
- super 8, unsplit regular 8, & 16mm -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 37:00
- '80-'82/'84
-> 3/4" vaudeo
- 32:00
- '80-'82/'84
"Subtitles (3/4"" version)": "Doug Reshoot (digitally processed)"
c. "Subtitles (digitally processed version)"
- same as "a." w/ digital processing
- '80-'82/'84/'86
d. "Subtitles (digitally processed version)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '80-'82/'84/'86/october 30, '02
40. "Subtitles (wordy version)"
- super 8 & 16mm -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 17:00
- '80-'82/'84
37. a. "Subtitles (analysis projector transfer of 16mm to 1/2" VHS cassette version)" {version 1}
- 1/2" VHS cassette
- 1:00:00
- '80-'82/january '84
b. "Subtitles (analysis projector transfer of 16mm to 1/2" VHS cassette version)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '80-'82/january '84/october 29, '02
25. a. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 1}
[in the collection of the Enoch Pratt Free Library Audio-Visual Department]
- 16mm
- 9:55 (at 24FPS)
- '80-'82
b. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 2}
- 12:30
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Intertitles"
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Dyslexic Variations"
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Reading"
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Disssolves"
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Mike Film"
"Subtitles (16mm version)": "Doug Reshoot"
25. a. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 1}
- 16mm
- 9:55 (at 24FPS)
- '80-'82
"same as unsplit regular 8 version scept 4 superimposing of 1st 25' over all & havling of framing possibilities. hopefully t he SUBTITLES as in viewers' minds."
- from "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE FILMOGRAPHY as of april, yr 0 AntiKrononautic" [1982]
"A medley of 'B-Plot' materials and self-centered ideas edited with an undramatic emphasis of process. Frames within frames set loose within frames. Microchasms. What another film might look like if it lost its loop. What your mind might perceive if it if it became obsessed with a spiral of self-referential stopped time & moving information. This film has no title, only a subtitle, which is "Subtitles". This is 1 of at least 8 significantly different versions of this film. Ideally this film should be shown with an analysis projector at 1 frame per second, in which case it would be slightly less than 4 hours long"
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE synopsis in the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Audio Visual Department catalog
b. "Subtitles (16mm version)" {version 2}
- 12:00
The 16mm version of SUBTITLES, running app. 13 minutes. "Basically I know next to nothing about the technicalities of film....I think this film is very complex visually, but it was made with probably more simple technology than probably any film that I know of." Incorporating a remake of MIKE FILM, it exists in 3 prints, one of which has been lost or stolen from the public library.
tENT put MIKE FILM into the microfiche machine, reshot it in super-8, cut the 50 feet of film in half, and taped the two halves together at the sprocket holes every 18 inches. With the help of Richard, he sandwiched this film underneath a layer of unsplit regular-8 film & pulled the whole kit and caboodle through a little box fitted with two light bulbs, one constant and one switchable. The light coming through the already exposed film printed the blank film, so that it's as if the movie is going through the projector without going through the sprockets.
- excerpt from Pamela Purdy's unpublished article "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE"
"Subtitles," which is an excellently made, "typically" avant-garde film--image-heavy and repetitive-- is just long enough to make chair-bound viewers threaten revolt.
- excerpt from Peter Walsh's "Humor as a Subversive Act - Notes Propagandizing Baltimore Art" - published in "influence" magazine
"Multiple generations of self-referentiality. Experiments in exposing film without a camera, making a contact print from 16mm strips & reshooting it off the screen of a machine designed to help the sight impaired, reshooting a projection onto fan blades painted white, etc."
- from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE's program notes for the "Pavlovian Skinnerios at Eiszeit Kino" screening in Berlin, Germany: Mittwoch - 18. Mai '94
21. "Subtitles (unsplit regular 8 version)"
- unsplit regular 8
- 9:50
- '81-'82
21. "Subtitles (unsplit regular 8 version)"
- unsplit regular 8
- 9:50
- '81-'82
"this version & t he 16mm version shd be shown w/ a slo-speed projector (4fps or slower). 2 sections of it were made X cutting at durational midpoint 1st: paranoid people section of SUBTITLES (super 8 version) & 2nd: MIKE FILM section of SUBTITLES (super 8 version) - then taping t he 2 halves 2gether w/ t he sprocket sides touching, then passing result thru a small box w/ 2 different colored lite bulbs w/ unexposed regular 8 film forming top layer of sandwich of wch bottom layer was lite thusly xposing film.. unsplit regular 8 doubles framing possibilities."
- from "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE FILMOGRAPHY as of april, yr 0 AntiKrononautic" [1982]
19. a. "Subtitles (regular 8 version)" {version 1} [film version discarded] (includes "Seriousness is Death")
- regular 8 -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 27:00
- '81-'82
b. "Subtitles (regular 8 version)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '81-'82/october 29, '02
19. "Subtitles (regular 8 version)" [film version discarded] (includes "Seriousness is Death")
- regular 8 -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 27:00
- '81-'82
"this film & it's other 3 versions 'v no title: only a subtitle wch as: SUBTITLES.
SUBTITLES was originally meant 2 involve a remake of the 50' captioned version of WAR AND PEACE t ha t i saw in a foto shop & haven't found since - all of wch was 2 b cut apart 4 p c fencott's proposed microfiche magazine.
using a s-f film given me X my grandmother, all of t he regular 8 footage accidentally split X kodak labs or underexposed X me, & an s-f oriented "home movie" this film has an implied plot sequence."
- from "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE FILMOGRAPHY as of april, yr 0 AntiKrononautic" [1982]
[In this original FILMOGRAPHY, this film comes immediately after "a film marshall reese & i made..". Apparently, I decided later that this chorological placing is more correct.]
10. a. "Subtitles (super 8 version)" {version 1}
- soundtrack made in collaboration w/ Richard (Ellsberry), Patti Karl, Kirby Malone, Pam Purdy, Ed "Lizard" Rosen, Steve Stec, Laurie Stepp, David Yaffe, & Norman Yeh
- super 8 -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 52:20
- '80-'82
b. "Subtitles (super 8 version)" {version 2}
- edited to parallel the 18 sections of the 16mm version for multiply projecting 8 versions simultaneously
- 11:58
- '80-'82/october 29, '02
10. "Subtitles (super 8 version)"
- soundtrack made in collaboration w/ Richard (Ellsberry), Patti Karl, Kirby Malone, Pam Purdy, Ed "Lizard" Rosen, Steve Stec, Laurie Stepp, David Yaffe, & Norman Yeh
- super 8 -> 1/2" VHS cassette
- 52:20
- '80-'82
"a file version of most of t he SUBTITLES material using s-f films donated X sumu pretzler & footage produced w/ t he aid of library located machines such as: microfiche viewers & a visualtek machine (used 4 t he visually "impaired"). it's filing categories as: 1. paranoid people, 2. subtitle, 3. flying, 4. HIS DEXTER DAYLIGHT UTTERLY DARKENED X MIKE FILM ONE, 5. HIS DEXTER DAYLIGHT UTTERLY DARKENED X MIKE FILM TWO, 6. the end, 7. words, 8. terrified people, 9. dyslexic variations, 10. d struction, 11. MIKE FILM, 12. weapons, 13. lens at mirror, 14. remake of doug's film from foto, 15. viewing screens, 16. kirby's tv screen writing, 17. fighting, 18. leader scrap, 19. titles, 20. credits: a. mine b. theirs, 21. monsters/aliens/scary-animals, 22. dissolves, 23. microfiched captioned remake 1 + 2. most appropriately viewed (as response 2 a suggestion from Richard Kauffman) as a computer accessed video disc so t ha t it cd be spontaneously edited & assembled from each file section at each showing. when shown as film ideally shown on a blueprint screen wch fades as residual response 2 t he projection at each showing."
- from "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE FILMOGRAPHY as of april, yr 0 AntiKrononautic" [1982]
[In the original FILMOGRAPHY, this was listed after 'SILENT SPEED" & before
"______________________________________________________________________________________"]
SUBTITLES (super-8 version), begin in 1980, recently edited down from 55 to 47&1/2 minutes, "using s-f films donated X sumu pretzler & footage produced w/ t he aid of library located machines," e.g., microfiche viewers (to re-view) frames of MIKE FILM) and a visualtek machine (as in the "dyslexic variations" section, excerpted from "t he book").
This is a dismantle formula film with 20 categories--"dismantled and remantled." The six formula films are: "War of the Worlds," "D-Day on Mars," "Batmen of Africa," "Earth Versus the Spider," "The Phantom Planet," and "When Worlds Collide," all in their silent super-8 home movie versions.
"The closest I get to narrative is what I call 'implied plot sequence,'" i.e., he lumps together recurring elements in the formula for these potboilers, to wit, paranoid people, flying things, terrified people, destruction, weapons, viewing screens, fighting, titles, credits, unusual and/or not people, dissolves, etc., in non-narrative order, separated by white leader.
Of the microfiche episode, he says, "I just like this technically, if for no other reason. I've never seen film that looks like this, really," that's intensely self-referential (MIKE FILM devouring itself) and strictly extratextual ("How in hell does he get these effects?" asks the viewer). In another exercise in "ogjectivity," one of the visualtek sections turns the camera on itself, using a lens pointed as a mirror.
I suggest that everything in this picture has been cannibalized from something else. "Well, sort of," tENT says, "but then you could say that about any film. Even if you're just using exposures of light on film, you're cannibalizing the light."
It ends with a haphazard collection of captions fleetingly glimpsed, including "Kill her and the rubies are yours," "Look--the giant is getting small like us," "We've won!," "Killer lions!," "My instruments don't work," "I will teach him all there is to know," and "This is Captain Chapman." They all have editor marks.
"The thing that justified the original films was their plots, which were horrendously dull, and I've more or less removed the plots, so that they're even more horrendously dull if one tries to appreciate them as plot films. So therefore one has to approach them from a different angle in order to get some pleasure from them or just be completely bored. Or piece the plots together and possibly piece all six of the plots together into one hybrid film--the Batmen of Africa dying of bacteria after they go to the phantom planet, and then the worlds collide, leaving the giant spiders at home, maybe."
- excerpt from Pamela Purdy's unpublished article "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE"
[The "Paranoid People" section of this (the majority of the
1st reel) was donated to Owen O'Toole to use in a South American film project.
I don't know what happened to it after that.]
to the tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE movie-making "Press: Criticism, Interviews, Reviews" home-page
to the "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - Sprocket Scientist" home-page
to the "FLICKER" home-page for the alternative cinematic experience
to find out more about why the S.P.C.S.M.E.F. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Sea Monkeys by Experimental Filmmakers) is so important
for info on tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE's tape/CD publishing label: WIdémoUTH
to see an underdeveloped site re the N.A.A.M.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Multi-Colored Peoples)