Scratch Film Junkies

I really enjoyed To The Beat. The film itself was especially strong towards the beginning and end. The combination of found footage with the "scratching", to me, was where the film felt most interesting. Particularly towards the end of the film when the older gentleman was boxed in, almost engulfed by the scratching, I felt this segment moved extremely well. The middle, however, did feel a bit lacking. Even if it was meant to be slower, both the color and sound felt insufficient. It just felt like it broke up the middle and end without really properly connecting them or providing a meaningful segway. The sound, of course, was a crucial component to this film (as the title suggests). I really felt a soundtrack like this was required to keep the film entertaining. While I know we were meant to concentrate on the visuals, it is impossible to ignore or subdue the audio track in anyway. It was clearly made in conjunction with the film and I believe that both serve each other equally here (which is not always the case with films, experimental or not). The pace of the visuals themselves, though, were excellent. I am assuming that the film were created before the sound and to keep the intensity of those visuals up for so long is very impressive. I really felt the effort that this team put into creating this strip of film. After getting my hands on a piece of film and begging to screw around with it, I do realize that this sector of experimental films (that is scratching, bleaching, hands on, etc.) is an art of its own and could be taken advantage of much more in the film world. The only instance I know of where something like this occurred (outside of experiential films) was in Citizen Kane for the "archival" footage. I really feel that filmmakers could take more advantage of playing around with their film strips in more "traditional" films. I know it takes more time and money (if you screw it up you either have to use it or reshoot the scene), but I think it adds a great deal of charm, personality, and auteurism. It is something I will certainly keep in mind in my future of film.

http://mothership6x1.blogspot.com/