“Transitions” is a film of inner life and speaks of time, reality, power. It depicts the disquieting sensations of being between – between falling asleep and being awake, between here and there, between being and non-being. These metaphysical themes are evoked by the central image of a woman in white over which layers of images and sound (voices) are superimposed.

Emshwiller was formerly a painter. Here his animated abstract paintings pass through evolving styles and techniques.

My primary concern when making “Trains of Thought” was the cinematic portrayal of isolated characters. The four individual sequences are essentially temporal portraits; the characters are seen in the context of their relationship to the passing of time. They neither interact with other characters nor do they encounter consequential narrative events. Rather than using a clearly defined narrative relationship to connect the four episodes, I have employed various formal and thematic devices to unify the separate sequences. The use of shared imagery, common formal techniques such as the variations on fixed camera perspectives and the complementary nature of the various rhythmic soundtracks, aid the viewer in unifying the four scenes presented in the film. My main objective is that the experience of viewing “Trains of Thought,” when juxtaposed with the viewer’s subjective experiences and feelings towards isolation and being alone, will succeed in eliciting an emotional response. (LM)

“Traces Stepped” intends to explore the affective relation between time and the moving-image through Bergson’s notion of “la dureé,” or duration.

“Traces” synthesizes two trains of cinematic thought – the imagist/poetic/abstract tradition and the conceptual/critical tradition – to create a formal yet lyrical work which traces the story of light coursing through the world. Inherent in the methodology of this film is a critique of media representations of life and light. Therefore “Traces” is a composite, a setting one beside another of different kinds of representation: abstract, documentary, narrative and poetic. This setting side-by-side allows the spectator both the pleasure of engaging in the movement and development of the film and at the same time a critical purchase from which to assess the quality and deep-seated intent (values) inherent in any of the individual representations. This movement from form to form is the overall shape of the film and the focus of its meaning. Slightly over an hour in length, “Traces” is a synthesis of so-called personal (lyrical) filmmaking, collage, feminist methodologies and “appropriation.” Depending who one speaks with, one of these forms seems to be the center of the film. A few people see beyond the limitations of their individual viewpoint or interest and divine the synthetic nature of the project. My major concern with the film was to build a dynamic structure which could not only accommodate a wide divergence of material and make it cohere, but which could, through editing strategies and the manipulation of quantity and quality of light, uncover the ideological structuring which is imposed upon our own personal worlds and the worlds foisted upon us through the social propaganda system, which includes T.V. commercials, educational films, documentary vision, and entertainment. Thus “Traces” is a dynamic, rushing movement through many different models of filmmaking which opens out into a heterogeneous simultaneous critique of personal and social vision. Note: Project at 24 fps. Project Reel Two through to the end of the Tail Academy Leader. There is a brief image at the end of the Tail Academy Leader of Reel Two which is an integral part of the film. Please do not be fooled by the false ending which is very near the end of the film.