In last Friday’s Film3 Studio we focused on experimental film. Robin showed us some work by Hilary Harris which really captured my attention. While some film feels like science Hilary Harris’ abstract work come across a pure art. I was particularly impressed by his film Highway made in 1958. Watching it I was reminded of being in the back seat of the car as child and looking out the window to see the city lights. The shots are pieced together perfectly with the tempo of the jazz/rock & roll music and I think that is what makes this video such an experience. The five long minutes create this sense of repetition, repeating the same shots over which I think is clever as that’s often how it feels on the road. Interestingly, after a little research I discovered to capture these moving shots Hilary Harris drilled a hole in the bottom of his car to create a mount for his camera.
His 1951 creation Longhorns was truly something I hadn’t seen before. I saw it as a cinematic dance with no human actors, just a pair of long horns with there mesmerizing movement. It had that hypnotic and memorising feel that seems to be common in his work.I discovered that he was a sculptor and I think this film must have been a middle ground between the two mediums of sculpting and filmmaking. Besides that, do I know what this film means? No. Do I need to know? No.
Another mesmerising work of Harris is The Nine Variations On A Dance Theme released in 1967. At first I just thought it was a bit weird. It gave me that same hypnotic feeling, making me calm but somewhat eyrie at the same time. It took me a moment to realise that it was the same dance movement every time. I started to see its beauty as I watched the same movement 9 times but every time I saw something new. Every variation seemed to feel more intimate and more intense as the variations in Harris’ camera techniques become more elaborate and complex. Adding to this is the slight change in soundtrack for each occasion. Even though it changes the sound and vision seemed to merge into one one smooth series of movements.
After enjoying these films so much I decided to watch a lengthier and more recent work by Hilary Harris titled Organism (1975). It depicts Harris’ epic vision of New York City shot over 15 years (1959-74) in which time he pioneered time-lapse film making techniques. Using this he achieved this unique experimental view of New York City. The film juxtaposes scientific commentary on anatomy with the time-lapse video of the city. For instance the voiceover describes digestion while shots of New Yorks dumps comes on-screen. similarly, when the commentary talks of the process by which cells communicate it shows New Yorks JFK airport. I was mesmerised by this film. I believe it was making a critique on the invasion of technology in the world.
When Hilary Harris was asked why he makes films at all? He responded “To give a richer vision of surrounding reality. My aim is to lift people out of their preconceptions.” Through his films he searched for understanding of the complex world.
By looking closely at Harris’ work I have learnt that film does not need to follow a formula. It dosen’t need a story arc or characters to be a great film. Its more important to have purpose and make the audience feel something.
Over and Out,
Luke
