Saugus Series

1974 - 1974

Dir. Pat O'Neill, 16mm Color Sound 00:18:30

Page Contents

Description

Actually, seven short films, one-and-a-half to six minutes long, united by a common soundtrack. Each is an evolving "still life," made up of meticulously assembled but spatially contradictory elements. For example, in one part the sun can be seen, by its shadows, to be traveling in one direction in the upper half of the screen, and in the opposite in the lower half. Commentary on Part 5: P: Now you might say this is an interesting sort of design .... B: But after a while you'd grow tired of looking at it. It would lack interest. P: And so the artist must always temper his repetition of movements of forms with what might be called a certain amount of variety. B: Suppose I enlarged some of them, changed their direction, make some smaller, add dark values and lighter values .... P: Or perhaps a tree, sharply contrasting in value from the surrounding shapes. B: There is sharp contrast, at this point, between the fan and the surrounding objects in a Great Triangle someplace perhaps a mile or a mile and a half above the surface of the Earth. P: And here we see order; order which includes omission and alternation from nature. Award: Tom Berman Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1975
[Source: Filmmaker's Cooperative Online Catalogue]

Other Credits

Saw: Chris Casady; Key: Mort Subotnick; Blue Paint: 7-K Color Co; Mix: Don Worthen