Meshes of the Afternoon, an Avant-garde film by Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid succeeded in creating an experimental piece that was very advanced for the time. After a couple viewings the hazy plot line and unclear meaning reveals itself through creating oddities in a generally ordinary world of a housewife in a dream-like state. This was achieved by bringing in a cloaked figure that seems to be unreachable and various other objects of symbolism to represent the transition from average, everyday life to an emotional and uncommon occurrence. The dream that Derens character experiences seems to bring up deeper issues in her life. Suicide, loneliness and many other below the surface problems are exposed in this dream. Camera tilts move in the direction that the woman is going almost as if she is connected to the camera. This causes the viewer to completely lose a perspective of space and time, almost making the entire thing seem a little otherworldly. Subject and object shots were crucial in conveying symbolism. Cuts from Deren looking at the key to her point of view and then thickening subject to object while she is looking at herself in another state. This 1940’s film proved that experimental film can be just as confusing decades ago as it is today. In such a short piece Deren and Hammid successfully tell a story in a dramatic and confusing way, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea but nevertheless gets the point across. Like many I was not a fan at first but as I grew deeper in understanding it seemed to get easier to watch and becomes a learning experience every time I view it.
In Maya Deren's Meshes Of The Afternoon, the creator of the film portrays a woman who seems to be awake at the time but she is actually dreaming. The woman see's a figure and follows it down the road. She does this several times, which is how I know that she is dreaming. She follows the figure into a house where she see's several important items such as a knife, a key, and a mirror. Another way that I knew the woman was dreaming was because of the key that she was holding in her hand turned into a knife. While holding the knife, the woman attempts to kill her sleeping body. Before she is able to go through with it, she is awaken by a man. The man then repeats the situation by walking into the house and finding the woman dead with cuts all over her body as well as a shattered mirror lounged all around the woman. If you didn't notice at the beginning of the film, the camera never shows a single face. The first five minutes of the film were shot at a low angle looking up, so all we were able to see was the lower levels of the body. By doing this, Deren seemed to portray everything by making it seem like something else was going on. The key seemed to be just a key and the knife to be just a knife. Until the end, we see that this wasn't the case. Even the figure was portrayed as something else when, all in all, it was just the man.
Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren has always been known for being experimental, and confusing. Watching it the first time, I felt like a lot of it went over my head, and the use of symbolism was just too much for me. I understand that this whole film is supposed to give off this dream-life sequence, which it was successful. Dreams are open to many interpretation just like this film is. While watching I built up the idea that there is no real truth in this story-line, at least not until the end. The continuous looping and her meeting up with herself and the mirror faced/hooded figure kind off through me off at some points but it was beautifully done. The aspect of the film that always steals my attention is used the most predominantly in the beginning of the film; the use of shadows. The use of darkness has its place in the film as whole. There would be shots where a large portion of the screen would be dark. By using the shadows and dark edges there is this erie feeling of something bad hanging in the air, and that feeling continues to grow as the time goes on. The jump cuts used in the scene of the woman in staircase gives off a very sadistic feel, and these cuts are also used to transition between the key and the knife multiple times in the film. By using this process the cuts give the viewer the same feeling of their heart skipping a beat, a rush of anxiousness and fear. In the end when she is found dead, that is when I first felt there was a truth, or a reality in the film. That was the moment where I felt that things started to some-what make sense.
In Maya Deren's, Meshes of the Afternoon, we are first introduced to the shadow of a female character, running, to or from someone. I liked how we follow the shadow, and feet of the main character, but we are still left with a feeling of mystery, before seeing the face of the character later on. As the plot thickens, it becomes clear that the woman is dreaming, as she begins reliving the same scenario again and again. Like most dreams we find out that the issues the woman is experiencing, are deeper than just what we see, as her husband takes the place of a killer. During these dream scenes, the shots and cuts were perfect, as the camera followed all the action, almost rotating 360 degrees just to keep up. The cuts made it very creepy, giving a sense of horror, while also leading to clear transitions. One of my favorite aspects was the music, because although the film was silent, it really set the tone and made it clear what was going on. I think the film was well made; with good shots, smart cuts, and a pretty clear plot line, and it really made me think about life and relationships, as the woman was clearly facing some sort of personal dilemma throughout the dream.
Hallie Tarpley: Meshes of the Afternoon explored hints of post modernism, experimental storytelling. The tone of film was darker and less commercially entertaining than it’s media partners like Wizard of Oz or Gone with the Wind, and I found the first viewing to be unclear and terrifying. Dropping keys and holding knives by the wrong end are two of my least favorite activities to partake in or watch. However, the second viewing was revealed some enlightening truths. When looking at the mise en scene, the most striking factors are very normal. The main character looks like a very well put together housewife and her home is simple and well furnished. It has the appearance of a normal story. However, through the jumping edits, obscure angles, and clones of the protagonist, you see that it is this normal life is exactly what leads this woman to absolute insanity. Within her psyche, her husband the grim reaper are parallel characters. They both carry flowers and do not seek to harm her, but end up suffocating her. The key to this home and her squeaky clean Donna Reid life flips between being a key and a knife. Essentially, this short film touches on her unravelling psyche as her heart and mind slowly die from the pressure and boredom of being trapped in her house all day. Overall, I found Meshes of the Afternoon to be relevant, chilling, and captivating.
An Avant-garde film from 1943, Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid immerses us deep within the mind of our main character. We start with seeing a flower being placed on a serene path. The beauty and stillness of this shot sets up the chaotic fervor of the rest of the film. A figure off in the distance, a locked door, the pace ramps up as keys turn to knives and knives to keys. There is a gramophone playing the music to set that ominous tone, and a phone ringing like an alarm off in the distance. The mirrored faced figure, which our main character is chasing, moving throughout the house gives you an eerie and unsettling feeling. Every time the figure looks back it lets your imagination run, imagining that you can see your own reflection in its face. All of these symbols recurring over and over again, melding and molding themselves into each other, one becoming the other and back again. At the crescendo of the film, when our main character is looking upon “herselves” and the tension so heavy it could be cut with the knife that one of her is holding, we feel the dread and trepidation that she is emoting in her face. The scene is resolved when she is awoken by a man with a flower, and as our main character looks around she sees all those symbols (the knife, key, phone, etc.) that we saw throughout our story. In the end we understand that the journey we went on was a look at how our minds use the world around us as their props for the movies that are our dreams.
Meshes of the Afternoon is an experimental film that is difficult to put into words. Bizarre could be one; a woman dozes off one afternoon and finds recurring images crossing her mind, such as a phone that's off the hook, a knife, a flower, a key... What does it all means? Well, that's up to debate. Even as a whole, this is very difficult to describe as anything other than an avant-garde art film. You see things that sort of make sense, but for the most part, this utilizes dream logic; you see images, they're unexplained, and it's up to you to figure out what it all mean. The dream logic makes me think a lot of Inception. Almost as if it This fourteen minute film is surreal as can be and completely open to interpretation. It's the kind of film that you study, and you can have a completely view on it each time you watch it. What I got from it was that this is a woman, possibly under anesthesia or something of the like, with personal demons, considering suicide. There is a lot about this that works on a subconscious level to be very affecting. For example, the music is unnerving and constant; there's a lot of eerie shadow work. I'm pretty certain that this is about death, but I won't be writing up any thesis about this. This experimental film can be hard to follow and confusing but It's worth the fourteen minutes because you will never see anything quite like it.
Meshes of the Afternoon is a film that I find to be a little hard to follow. The woman that we follow throughout the film seems to be an observing herself almost like an audience member. The way she fixates on certain objects in the film is interesting in that all of the objects seem to be connected in some way. The objects themselves make for clever mise-en-scene. Each object like the key or the flower convey curiosity which is essential because there is no dialog in the film. The music on the other hand did not help the film in my opinion. It seemed forced and too distracting while I was taking in the visual detail of the different scenes. Overall Meshes of the Afternoon is an interesting experiment in film making on a visual level. I just wish the music would complement the story in a better way.
This is the second time I have watched Meshes of the Afternoon for a class and it makes just as little sense as it did the first time. Watching it this time, I focused more on the aesthetics rather than trying to figure out what is happening. It is visually very pleasing and I think the music enhances the eerie tone of the film. I think this short film's goal is to confuse and disorient its audience. It gives people a lot of opportunities to interpret different meanings. I do not think there is a clear message. I think this film's purpose is to make you feel not think. I enjoyed this experimental film, however I do not think I will willingly watch it a third time.
I understood the concept once near the end of the film. I did find it confusing in the beginning which lost my attention. Some of the quick scenes "her running" (from the side angle looking at her feet) was played over again repetition of the same scene. The music help set the tone but I felt it drag on which I found annoying. Some shots were good but not all. At times the angles just a couple were or seemed off which made my view of the scene disoriented. The knife being the key and vice versa was really clever. I wouldn't watch it again.
Kristin Anderson:
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon, an Avant-garde film by Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid succeeded in creating an experimental piece that was very advanced for the time. After a couple viewings the hazy plot line and unclear meaning reveals itself through creating oddities in a generally ordinary world of a housewife in a dream-like state. This was achieved by bringing in a cloaked figure that seems to be unreachable and various other objects of symbolism to represent the transition from average, everyday life to an emotional and uncommon occurrence. The dream that Derens character experiences seems to bring up deeper issues in her life. Suicide, loneliness and many other below the surface problems are exposed in this dream. Camera tilts move in the direction that the woman is going almost as if she is connected to the camera. This causes the viewer to completely lose a perspective of space and time, almost making the entire thing seem a little otherworldly. Subject and object shots were crucial in conveying symbolism. Cuts from Deren looking at the key to her point of view and then thickening subject to object while she is looking at herself in another state. This 1940’s film proved that experimental film can be just as confusing decades ago as it is today. In such a short piece Deren and Hammid successfully tell a story in a dramatic and confusing way, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea but nevertheless gets the point across. Like many I was not a fan at first but as I grew deeper in understanding it seemed to get easier to watch and becomes a learning experience every time I view it.
Shawn Terry:
ReplyDeleteIn Maya Deren's Meshes Of The Afternoon, the creator of the film portrays a woman who seems to be awake at the time but she is actually dreaming. The woman see's a figure and follows it down the road. She does this several times, which is how I know that she is dreaming. She follows the figure into a house where she see's several important items such as a knife, a key, and a mirror. Another way that I knew the woman was dreaming was because of the key that she was holding in her hand turned into a knife. While holding the knife, the woman attempts to kill her sleeping body. Before she is able to go through with it, she is awaken by a man. The man then repeats the situation by walking into the house and finding the woman dead with cuts all over her body as well as a shattered mirror lounged all around the woman. If you didn't notice at the beginning of the film, the camera never shows a single face. The first five minutes of the film were shot at a low angle looking up, so all we were able to see was the lower levels of the body. By doing this, Deren seemed to portray everything by making it seem like something else was going on. The key seemed to be just a key and the knife to be just a knife. Until the end, we see that this wasn't the case. Even the figure was portrayed as something else when, all in all, it was just the man.
Bailey Wildman:
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren has always been known for being experimental, and confusing. Watching it the first time, I felt like a lot of it went over my head, and the use of symbolism was just too much for me. I understand that this whole film is supposed to give off this dream-life sequence, which it was successful. Dreams are open to many interpretation just like this film is. While watching I built up the idea that there is no real truth in this story-line, at least not until the end. The continuous looping and her meeting up with herself and the mirror faced/hooded figure kind off through me off at some points but it was beautifully done. The aspect of the film that always steals my attention is used the most predominantly in the beginning of the film; the use of shadows. The use of darkness has its place in the film as whole. There would be shots where a large portion of the screen would be dark. By using the shadows and dark edges there is this erie feeling of something bad hanging in the air, and that feeling continues to grow as the time goes on. The jump cuts used in the scene of the woman in staircase gives off a very sadistic feel, and these cuts are also used to transition between the key and the knife multiple times in the film. By using this process the cuts give the viewer the same feeling of their heart skipping a beat, a rush of anxiousness and fear. In the end when she is found dead, that is when I first felt there was a truth, or a reality in the film. That was the moment where I felt that things started to some-what make sense.
Rob Thompson:
ReplyDeleteIn Maya Deren's, Meshes of the Afternoon, we are first introduced to the shadow of a female character, running, to or from someone. I liked how we follow the shadow, and feet of the main character, but we are still left with a feeling of mystery, before seeing the face of the character later on. As the plot thickens, it becomes clear that the woman is dreaming, as she begins reliving the same scenario again and again. Like most dreams we find out that the issues the woman is experiencing, are deeper than just what we see, as her husband takes the place of a killer. During these dream scenes, the shots and cuts were perfect, as the camera followed all the action, almost rotating 360 degrees just to keep up. The cuts made it very creepy, giving a sense of horror, while also leading to clear transitions. One of my favorite aspects was the music, because although the film was silent, it really set the tone and made it clear what was going on. I think the film was well made; with good shots, smart cuts, and a pretty clear plot line, and it really made me think about life and relationships, as the woman was clearly facing some sort of personal dilemma throughout the dream.
Hallie Tarpley:
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon explored hints of post modernism, experimental storytelling. The tone of film was darker and less commercially entertaining than it’s media partners like Wizard of Oz or Gone with the Wind, and I found the first viewing to be unclear and terrifying. Dropping keys and holding knives by the wrong end are two of my least favorite activities to partake in or watch. However, the second viewing was revealed some enlightening truths. When looking at the mise en scene, the most striking factors are very normal. The main character looks like a very well put together housewife and her home is simple and well furnished. It has the appearance of a normal story. However, through the jumping edits, obscure angles, and clones of the protagonist, you see that it is this normal life is exactly what leads this woman to absolute insanity. Within her psyche, her husband the grim reaper are parallel characters. They both carry flowers and do not seek to harm her, but end up suffocating her. The key to this home and her squeaky clean Donna Reid life flips between being a key and a knife. Essentially, this short film touches on her unravelling psyche as her heart and mind slowly die from the pressure and boredom of being trapped in her house all day. Overall, I found Meshes of the Afternoon to be relevant, chilling, and captivating.
An Avant-garde film from 1943, Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid immerses us deep within the mind of our main character. We start with seeing a flower being placed on a serene path. The beauty and stillness of this shot sets up the chaotic fervor of the rest of the film. A figure off in the distance, a locked door, the pace ramps up as keys turn to knives and knives to keys. There is a gramophone playing the music to set that ominous tone, and a phone ringing like an alarm off in the distance. The mirrored faced figure, which our main character is chasing, moving throughout the house gives you an eerie and unsettling feeling. Every time the figure looks back it lets your imagination run, imagining that you can see your own reflection in its face. All of these symbols recurring over and over again, melding and molding themselves into each other, one becoming the other and back again. At the crescendo of the film, when our main character is looking upon “herselves” and the tension so heavy it could be cut with the knife that one of her is holding, we feel the dread and trepidation that she is emoting in her face. The scene is resolved when she is awoken by a man with a flower, and as our main character looks around she sees all those symbols (the knife, key, phone, etc.) that we saw throughout our story. In the end we understand that the journey we went on was a look at how our minds use the world around us as their props for the movies that are our dreams.
ReplyDeleteKevin Butler:
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon is an experimental film that is difficult to put into words. Bizarre could be one; a woman dozes off one afternoon and finds recurring images crossing her mind, such as a phone that's off the hook, a knife, a flower, a key... What does it all means? Well, that's up to debate. Even as a whole, this is very difficult to describe as anything other than an avant-garde art film. You see things that sort of make sense, but for the most part, this utilizes dream logic; you see images, they're unexplained, and it's up to you to figure out what it all mean. The dream logic makes me think a lot of Inception. Almost as if it This fourteen minute film is surreal as can be and completely open to interpretation. It's the kind of film that you study, and you can have a completely view on it each time you watch it. What I got from it was that this is a woman, possibly under anesthesia or something of the like, with personal demons, considering suicide. There is a lot about this that works on a subconscious level to be very affecting. For example, the music is unnerving and constant; there's a lot of eerie shadow work. I'm pretty certain that this is about death, but I won't be writing up any thesis about this. This experimental film can be hard to follow and confusing but It's worth the fourteen minutes because you will never see anything quite like it.
Lucas Marsh:
ReplyDeleteMeshes of the Afternoon is a film that I find to be a little hard to follow. The woman that we follow throughout the film seems to be an observing herself almost like an audience member. The way she fixates on certain objects in the film is interesting in that all of the objects seem to be connected in some way. The objects themselves make for clever mise-en-scene. Each object like the key or the flower convey curiosity which is essential because there is no dialog in the film. The music on the other hand did not help the film in my opinion. It seemed forced and too distracting while I was taking in the visual detail of the different scenes. Overall Meshes of the Afternoon is an interesting experiment in film making on a visual level. I just wish the music would complement the story in a better way.
Meghan Mulkeen:
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time I have watched Meshes of the Afternoon for a class and it makes just as little sense as it did the first time. Watching it this time, I focused more on the aesthetics rather than trying to figure out what is happening. It is visually very pleasing and I think the music enhances the eerie tone of the film. I think this short film's goal is to confuse and disorient its audience. It gives people a lot of opportunities to interpret different meanings. I do not think there is a clear message. I think this film's purpose is to make you feel not think. I enjoyed this experimental film, however I do not think I will willingly watch it a third time.
I understood the concept once near the end of the film. I did find it confusing in the beginning which lost my attention. Some of the quick scenes "her running" (from the side angle looking at her feet) was played over again repetition of the same scene. The music help set the tone but I felt it drag on which I found annoying. Some shots were good but not all. At times the angles just a couple were or seemed off which made my view of the scene disoriented. The knife being the key and vice versa was really clever. I wouldn't watch it again.
ReplyDelete