Extremely Bright Lights and the Sound of Explosions
2002; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 54; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1934-6018
Autores Tópico(s)Video Analysis and Summarization
ResumoEXTREMELY BRIGHT LIGHTS AND THE SOUND OF EXPLOSIONS Directed by Simon Tan, 2000. Available on 16mm and DVD from www.berserker-rage.com. With text-only analysis-sans consideration of the director's ideology-a fading memory from film criticism's past, it is important to put a review in the context of the filmmaker's personal and professional history. However, not all reviewers have access to the filmmaker him or herself for an up-close-and-personal interview. So, where to begin? Berserker-rage.com. The current phase of the Information Age is surely one of convergence excess, where web pages support the marketing and distribution of film and video. Technology begets technology, but certainly not with the same intentions, and Tarr's work illustrates this. On Berserkerrage.com we learn of the filmmaker's choices of subject matter and aural/visual style. We also learn how individual film- and videomakers can eschew traditional methods of exhibition and distribution, which are controlled by an increasingly centralized entertainment industry. On Berserker-rage.com, Tarr introduces us to his distribution concept, and we begin to suspect that his work may be influenced by the interplay of technology and human beings. That helps in reviewing this four-minute interpretive short, which presents repeated footage of a WWF-style amateur wrestling match, underscored by a machine-manipulated voice-over. Upon first viewing, we are led to think that Extremely Bright Lights is a critique of But according to Tarr's web page, film is not about professional wrestling. And this review is not really about filmmaking. However, the concept is intriguing. According to Tarr, shareware filmmaking is a concept taken from computer programming where independent software developers that work outside the corporate structure distribute their creations free of charge, in hopes that people will pay for the software and allow the developer to keep making On Berserkerrage.com, Simon Tarr presents his distribution plan-... people may download and watch all of his [Tarr's] films for free, and decide afterwards to purchase a videotape through amazon.com for a mere $14.95. Half ofthat money goes to the filmmaker to finance more work. Visitors can also barter for a video, film, or visiting lecture. Cash is not the only item of value in this world, writes Tarr. digress. This review is not about filmmaking. And this film is not about professional On his website, Tarr writes, I believe that money should not be an obstacle to exposure to art. Shareware filmmaking is a distribution manifesto; technology is used to subvert capitalist interest in market share and box office receipts. There are three points of curiosity in this guerilla exhibition and distribution design. First, what if technology, like money, is an obstacle to the exposure to art? With technology becoming more and more a part of everyday life, a certain anxiety has emerged about art that is not pixilated, microchipped, and globally positioned-at least from the 1980s onward. Reaganism brought more than national isolationism and worship of postmodern weaponry. Technology brings us independent artists' voices, but it may subvert them if they are not in postmodern, pixilated formats. Second, amazon.com. Recovering even minimal production costs requires directors to form partnerships with corporate interests. The inevitable paradox of contemporary art is that creators attempt to critique or subvert postmodernity, but find themselves locked within its corporate escalation. Third, on the web site Tarr sometimes refers to his art as movies, not films. Movies, not experimental media. Why? This publicity-copy choice tells us about the filmmaker, and it intertextually informs us of his generation's weaning on popular culture. Tarr's use of the term movies-instead of cinema, for example-follows a similar cultural pattern as, let's say professional …
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