The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 12, 1968 Page: 5 of 10
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voice in the wilderness
Drug influence inspires technique
By MICHAEL LES BENEDICT
Last Wednesday we went to see Scott Bartlett
show his work at jRice Memorial Center. Mr.
Bartlett's appearance was part of the Film Revo-
lution series co-sponsored by Lovett College and
the University of St. Thomas. Bartlett, one of the
leading young underground film makers, brought
virtually all the footage he ever shot for his
showing, about ninety minutes worth.
Bartlett is one of that new generation of film
makers who concentrate on film as a vehicle for
creating images rather than for telling stories,
as a psychedelic rather than a literary medium.
Most of his films depend totally on the individual
members of the audience for any significance.
When the audience concentrates on the images
projected on the screen, Bartlett feels, they will
begin to see new aspects of it, become aware of
new shapes, create their own images.
The film's value, therefore, is only in its ability
to evoke such sight reactions. To do this Bartlett
tries to create basic images bearing enough re-
semblance to familiar sights to begin a train of
associations in the audience's mind.
This type of film never achieves the desired
result for me. The problem seems to be one of
concentration.
Bartlett acknowledges that the inspiration for
iris technique comes from the heightened percep-
tion one experiences when under the influence of
hallucinatory drugs. Many of us, of course, know
what he means. Under the influence of a halluci-
nogen, such as marijuana, the most elemental
images are entrancing. One may be transfixed by
tire explosion of colors and shapes apparent in a
glass bead held before candle light. Shadows and
reflections highlight new and fascinating aspects
of familiar images.
The real effect of marijuana is that it height-
ens the ability to concentrate, enabling one better
to appreciate stimuli about him. Listening to a
record one can pick out sounds barely audible
under other conditions. This is due to an increased
power of concentration. Under what other condi-
tions have people the discipline to stare for an
hour or more at candle light?
Bartlett wants his films to be the candle to our
perceptions. The problem is that few people are
capable of attaining the necessary level of con-
centration without some external agent to help.
Bartlett's most successful film, I thought, was
one in which he did have a definite meaning to
transmit. The film, "A Trip to the Moon," chron-
icles an all-night discussion among a group of
heads.
Their conversation revolved around the impli-
cations of the new familiarity with psychedelic
phenomena. They generally agreed that these
experiences were creating a new awareness of
tire essential "oneness" of the universe, a con-
ception paralleling the Hindu conception of
Nirvana.
Bartlett added another dimension to the con-
versation with his camera work. The image of one
participant would melt into that of another. A
speaker's face would be shown full-front and
profile at the same time. Interspersed with shots
of the discussion were impressionistic clips of
rocket launchings, films of the earth taken from
satellite cameras, anything to impress the audi-
ence with the vastness of the cosmos and man's
harmonious place in it.
The film was a" tour de force in the way a
movie-maker can guide the imagination of his
audience in a certain direction by using psyche-
delic images in conjunction with meaningful dia-
logue and more orthodox camera work.
It demonstrated that there are real possibilities
in psychedelic techniques for the more orthodox
film maker. (Stanley Kubrick has already used
these techniques in "2001: Space Odyssey" but
they were not central to the film's purpose.)
J hope Bartlett's film gets a wide enough show-
ing to make an impression on the industry.
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the rice thresher, december 12. 1!M>S—page 5
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Bahler, Dennis. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 12, 1968, newspaper, December 12, 1968; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245043/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.