Passages from Finnegan's Wake (1965-67) by Mary Ellen Bute

Harvard Film Archive Program Notes: "Mary Ellen Bute, a true poet of cinema, created a joyously Joycean, fascinating, and imaginative film, a mixture of the aural—for Joyce’s words are not only spoken but seen in subtitles—and the visual. A delight to critics, Joyceans, and lovers of film, Passages from Finnegans Wake suggested a new orientation for students of Joyce as well as for cineastes. Time magazine wrote that “its dream sequences . . . featuring reverse footage, collages and montages . . . frequently are as challenging and witty as Joyce’s prose.”

Review by Leonard Maltin: Finnegan's Wake (1965) 97 m ***1/2 D: Mary Ellen Bute. Stars: Page Johnson, Martin J Kelly, Jane Reilly, Peter Haskell. James Joyce's classic story of Irish tavern-keeper who dreams of attending his own wake is brought to the screen with great energy and control. New York Times Review: "Finnegan's Wake was the first attempt to cinematize the works of Irish author James Joyce. Based more on a stage adaptation by Mary Manning than the Joyce novel itself, the film concentrates on Dublin pubkeeper Finnegan (Martin J. Kelly), who while in the throes of inebriation has a vision of his own death. As the bemused Finnegan lies in his coffin, his friends gather for his wake. The "corpse" tries to cut through the keening and platitudes by probing the innermost thoughts of those closest to him. The surprising aspect of Finnegan's Wake is that so much of its difficult text works on screen--a tribute to the loving care of scripter/director/editor Mary Ellen Bute, who while preparing this film spent her waking hours picking the brains and burrowing through the resource materials of the James Joyce Society." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Passages is a trove of superimpositions, flashbacks, varied angles, slow motion, intercutting, rapid motion, stop action, negative images, documentary footage, and finally sub-titles ... It brings in television, the H-bomb, the twist, interplanetary rockets. Bute believed that Joyce would have accepted the modern elements in a film based on his 1939 novel, and she even quoted a line from Finnegans Wake that mentions television." Lillian Schiff, "The Education of Mary Ellen Bute" in Film Library Quarterly 17:2 (1984). Rpt., abr. in Women and Animation: A Compendium. Ed. Jayne Pilling. London: British Film Institute, 1992.

References: http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Bute_Finnegans.htm
Download Finnegans Wake (1966) by Mary Ellen Bute here:

Mary_Ellen_Bute_-_Finne...EMAGROTESQUE.part01.rar	98 MB
Mary_Ellen_Bute_-_Finne...EMAGROTESQUE.part02.rar	98 MB
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Mary_Ellen_Bute_-_Finne...EMAGROTESQUE.part09.rar	98 MB
Mary_Ellen_Bute_-_Finne...EMAGROTESQUE.part10.rar	34 MB

The Face (1967) Herbert Kosower (Feat. Engravings by Piero Fornasetti)

In the 1960's to 1970's, Herb Kosower was a professor of animation and film graphics in the USC film program. A young George Lucas and John Milius were among his students.

The Story Of The Southern Cross (1969) by Thelma Dufton, Concept Films of Australia.

The Story Of The Southern Cross (1969)by Thelma Dufton. Rare animation from Concept Films of Australia.

Izgonen ot raya A.K.A. - Banished From Eden (1967) by Todor Dinov

Banished From Eden by Todor Dinov. Rare animation from Bulgaria.
Todor Dinov (Bulgarian: Тодор Динов) (July 24, 1919 — June 17, 2004) is informally known as the Father of Bulgarian Animation. During his lifetime he wrote and directed more than 40 short animated films and several live-action feature films, and was also a popular illustrator, painter, graphic artist and caricaturist.

Dinov was born to a Bulgarian family in Dedeagach in Western Thrace (today Alexandroupoli, Greece) and finished school in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow under the tutelage of distinguished Soviet animators such as Ivan Ivanov-Vano. Dinov created his own first animated film, Yunak Marko (English: Marko the Hero), in 1955. Perhaps his best-known animated film in the West is the five-minute short Margaritka (English: The Daisy), produced in 1965. The film features a square-shaped little man trying to cut down a daisy and failing, then becoming more and more enraged as he tries increasingly brutal methods against the flower; in the end, the daisy only responds to the love of a child. Oddly, Margaritka won a prize for best children's film even though it was meant for adults.

He founded the first animation studio in Bulgaria, setting the highest quality professional standards for producing animation in his country. Later, he created the Animation Department (now a separate major) and taught animation classes at the Theatre and Film Arts Institute. Dinov was also a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

In 1999, Dinov was awarded the highest-rank Bulgarian medal — the Stara Planina order (First Degree). In 2003 he received the Crystal Pyramide Award of the Bulgarian Filmmaker Union for lifetime achievement to the art of Bulgarian animation.

He died in Sofia at the age of 85.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todor_Dinov

TEMPT ONE (A.K.A.- Tony Quan) - Graffiti Artist Creates Pieces With His Eyes

In 2003, Southern California-based graffiti artist, Tony Quan (A.K.A.- TEMPT ONE) was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) , leaving him unable to speak and virtually every muscle in his body paralyzed except for his eyes. Due to the severity of his condition, Quan now needs a respirator to breathe. His mind, still as sharp as ever, is now trapped by a body that has succumb to the disease.

That's when Zach Lieberman of the Graffiti Research Lab and developers from Free Art and Technology, OpenFrameworks and the Ebeling Group were inspired to create low-cost, open-source hardware and software for eye-tracking named, the EyeWriter. It's a gadget that costs about as much as an iPod shuffle and lets the paralyzed graffiti artist continue making art using only his eyes.

Eye-tracking technology, in which computers and small cameras harness eye movements for writing, highlighting Web site text and other tasks, has led to digital tools for users with disabilities. However, as Lieberman mentioned in an NPR interview, those devices usually have hefty price tags.

"Commercial eye-trackers, to get a device is $10,000-$15,000," he says. The EyeWriter is estimated to cost about $50. He and his hacker colleagues have a do-it-yourself kit for building an EyeWriter that starts with a pair of sunglasses. For Lieberman’s prototype, he bought a pair from a vendor at Venice Beach.

"Then we assembled a kind of wire frame that holds a Web cam, a small camera that we've mounted close to the eye," he explains. "We've written software that tracks the eye, and then we calibrate with [Quan's] eye movements and the computer screen."

Quan can draw lines and color within them, though graffiti-writing with the EyeWriter is nowhere near as fast as shaking up a can of spray paint and drawing by hand.

"But he can plot points. And from plotting points, create letters. And from creating letters, create words. And then color the words, shade the words, extrude them in 3-D, add different features," Lieberman says.

You can check out TEMPT's art here:

http://temptone.com/index2.html

References:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124980282&sc=fb&cc=fp

http://www.giographix.com/blog/als-stricken-graffiti-artist-tags-again-with-eyewriter/

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

TEMPT + EYEWRITER August 12, 2009 from james powderly on Vimeo.

The Legend of Jason Becker - Documentaries, Performances, and Television News Clips

Inspirational documentary about guitar prodigy Jason Becker. Near the end there is a segment at Kennedy High School where Jason performs Yngwie Malmsteen's Black Star with his band at a talent show. The performance is nothing short of spectacular.

Also included is a collection of performances and TV news clips.

Jason Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American neo-classical metal guitarist and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Mike Varney-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988. Cacophony broke up in 1989 and Becker began doing solo work, having released his first album Perpetual Burn in 1988. He later joined David Lee Roth's band and recorded one album with him. However, Becker's success was hampered by his then-diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and was given three to five years to live. In 1996, Becker eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Despite his disability, he continues composing by using a computer.

At the age of 20, he joined David Lee Roth's band, replacing Steve Vai, who went on to join Whitesnake. While recording the A Little Ain't Enough album in 1989, and preparing for the subsequent tour, Becker began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" on his left leg. He was soon diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and given three to five years to live. He could barely finish the recording, using low-gauge (thin) guitar strings and other techniques, which would make it easier to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, which was released in 1991, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; former Lizzy Borden guitarist Joe Holmes took Becker's place on tour.

Due to his illness, he eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Although his ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually even to speak, he still remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continues composing. In the back of the Perspective CD case, Becker states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. In 2003, Jason posted on his website that he was feeling better and had gained some weight, while the folder for his 2008 album Collection also mentions an upcoming book.

In 1996 Becker released an album entitled Perspective, an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of Bob Dylan's song "Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely crippled his abilities. By using guitar and later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer physically play even a keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer helped him with a music-composing computer program which could read the movements of his head and eyes enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of his entire body.

Several years later Becker released Raspberry Jams (1999) and Blackberry Jams (2003), the first contained various unreleased demo-tracks and the latter contained demo-tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published into other albums.

Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. Respectively entitled Warmth in the Wilderness I and Warmth in the Wilderness II, they feature guitarists such as Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances.

On November 4, 2008, Shrapnel Records released a new Jason Becker album entitled Collection. The album includes three new songs in addition to some older recordings (some never before released) and features Marty Friedman, Greg Howe, Joe Satriani, Michael Lee Firkins, Steve Vai, and Steve Hunter.
In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Jason to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. The design is based on the Peavey with colored number fret inlays. Features include a genuine aldermaple neck with steel 2-way truss rod, maple 16" radius fingerboard, 24 jumbo thin frets with colored number fret marker inlays, black Floyd Rose Pro Style floating Tremolo with Floyd Rose Tremolo stop, Sperzel red satin tuners, 14 degree tilt-back headstock with black Paradise logo and matching tremolo and electronics plates. The pickups are DiMarzio pickups; a P.A.F. body, Pro-Custom in the neck colored yellow and red, a DP116 HS-2 in the neck colored green, and a Tone Zone-Custom in the bridge colored pink and blue. These colored pickups compliment the colored inlays and seem to give the guitar a rainbow effect. There is also a red 5-way switch and purple 1-11 volume knob.

Information on Jason's latest projects and about ordering his CD's can be found on his website.
References: http://jasonbeckerguitar.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Becker

Santa Sangre (1989) by Alejandro Jodorowsky

Santa Sangre is a 1989 Mexican-Italian surrealist cult film directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and written by Claudio Argento, Roberto Leoni and Jodorowsky. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.



































To download the original motion picture soundtrack click here
You can watch the trailer and film in segments below or follow these links to download the 2-Disc Special Edition:
Disc 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Disc 2: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_sangre

























This is a deleted scene from SANTA SANGRE with Alexandro Jodorowsky with director commentary over top.