Film Class Projects - 85 min. 1969-1980

I wrote my Master's thesis on the teaching of film as an art form. From 1969 to 1980 I was able to put these ideas into practice while teaching filmmaking in the Art Department at Sonoma State University in northern California. Some of my students , whose early efforts are represented in this collection, went on to successful careers in the field. Marcy Page became an Academy Award winning producer of animation for the CanadianFilm Board, and Steven Zaillian an acclaimed Academy Award winning writer, producer, and director in Hollywood, among others.

My teaching was based not only on cinematic history and theory, but was deeply grounded in the fundamentals of "gestalt" perception studies as originally taught by professor Hoyt L. Sherman of Ohio State University, which came to me via his student, the renowned painter and teacher Harold Gregor, and his students.

The animation which starts off this collection was produced entirely during classroom time using the most economical means. It was based on the "Dada" device known as the "exquisite corpse" applied with innovation to cartoon animation. During the decade of the 1970s I was generally impressed with the creative talent of my students and their love and enthusiasm for the cinematicarts. We had a lot of fun. And, they watched a lot of Brakhage films as well as classic French movies and of course the entire history of films in the good old USA and everything else.

Student Film Projects:
Hairy Things, 14 Student Animators
Going To Fat City, Michael Welles
Stove Bolts, Michael Welles
Untitled, Michael Welles
Balloon Man Meets Butterfly Lady, Marcy Page
Space Out or Scratch One, Pat Traimer
Beautiful Dreamer, Steven Zaillian
Blue Skies Over Topanga, Steven Zaillian
Calistoga Road, Steven Zaillian

Myron Ort Films:
Mother Hubba I, Xeno Kung (aka Myron Ort)
Mother Hubba II, Xeno Kung (aka Myron Ort)
Mountain Cat
Park Man