Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters.
Grant Brighter: This project examines an underdeveloped area of inquiry pertaining to the American avant-garde during the 1940s: the dynamic between the avant-garde and the commercial film industry as it relates to the mechanics of the human mind. Through formal analysis, I argue that Maya Deren’s Ritual in Transfigured Time exploits expectations instilled by commercial cinema to create anomalies in the audience’s perception of filmic time and space. This argument is derived from the schema theories of psychologists such as Frederic Bartlett, as well as Béla Balázs’s writings on“visual culture,” André Bazin’s notion of an evolving cinematic language, and Deren’s own writings on manipulating reality through the formal properties of film.
Close formal analysis of Ritual in Transfigured Time reveals the relationship between commercial cinema and individual perception. Through moments that seem to distort the spatial and temporal fabric of the film, Ritual suggests a viewer’s reliance on Hollywood-inspired schemata, in which motion indices are used to construct a cohesive fictional world from juxtaposed shots. For example, a sequence in the film cuts from a shot depicting a colonnade to a shot depicting an ocean shore.Due to the rightward movement of a woman in both shots, the viewer interprets this edit as one narrative moment despite the change in location (and the woman in the frame). Ritual highlights the ability of early American avant-garde cinema to reveal the social and psychological forces that influence how a film is understood, while also demonstrating how an individual’s perceptual reality is a subjective phenomenon produced by past experiences and cultural milieu.
FM: What research and/or methodologies do you incorporate in your article?
GB: I started with a close formal analysis of Maya Deren’s Ritual in Transfigured Time, and then studied both film theory texts and psychological research that had the potential to comment on the phenomena occurring in Ritual. I could then begin to draw connections between film theory and psychology to explain how Deren’s film was functioning.
FM: Describe the original context for/when writing this article while an undergraduate student.
GB: I wrote this article as part of a writing-intensive class required for my Cinema and Photography major. The class was called“Fiction Film Theory.” The foundational material for the project was drawn from pairings of films and readings assembled by my mentor, Professor Holtmeier, the instructor in charge of teaching this class. In producing this paper, I had to follow structured deadlines, undergo a peer review session, and produce a revision after my professor gave me some input.
FM: How has your department and/or institution supported your work in film and media?
GB: Ithaca College and its department of Cinema and Photography have been immensely supportive of my work in film and media. First off, they provided me with a full-ride communications scholarship, thus allowing me to focus more on my academics and extracurricular activities. The school has also provided me with a great number of resources, including professional-grade film equipment, extensive libraries, and, of course,insightful faculty members to help build my understanding of film. In addition,the school has funded trips to conferences where I have presented my work and received feedback on it. Furthermore, a film I directed was screened through a film festival supported by Ithaca College, and I have been given the opportunity to present on my film theory research at the 2017 TEDxIthacaCollege conference. Ithaca College has also allowed me to get involved in several media-related service organizations. One such organization is Megaphone Media Productions. Through Megaphone,I lead teams of students in the creation of pro bono media projects for nonprofits and government organizations. I also teach retirement community residents in the greater Ithaca area about communications technology through a group called Media Club. Finally, Ithaca College has paid me to perform scientific research investigating the psychological processing of films. In many ways, I have received incredible support and opportunities from Ithaca College.
FM: How has your faculty mentor fostered your advancement as a film scholar?
GB: My faculty mentor, Professor Holtmeier, has been a huge part of my advancement as a film scholar. He has taught many of my film classes, and has therefore been crucial to the development of my understanding of film theory and history. He also brought together texts and films that commented on one another through the “Fiction Film Theory” class I took with him. The intertextual relationships that I drew from the pieces that Professor Holtmeier juxtaposed became the inspiration for my research paper being published in Film Matters. Professor Holtmeier has also helped me further develop and revise this research. No matter how polished my work becomes, he always finds ways to continue to refine it or grow it in new directions. He has encouraged me to engage in opportunities for academic growth, such as applying for conferences and publication, and has helped me prepare for such opportunities. Professor Holtmeier has always been willing to go out of his way to answer questions I may have or help me work on applications and writings.
FM: How has the Film Matters editorial and publication process impacted the development/evolution of your article?
GB: The process of publishing my article in Film Matters has definitely influenced the development of my work. My decision to seek publication caused my mentor to recommend expanding my paper into a historical dimension to help discover and establish the importance of my argument within the larger context of film history. Also, the feedback I received from the review process helped me formulate ways in which I could deliver my argument in a clearer and more compelling manner.
FM: What audience do you hope to reach with your Film Matters article and/or what impact do you hope it has on the field of film studies?
GB: I hope that my article will be read by film scholars at all levels of academia, from novices such as myself to tenured professors. I also hope that my paper falls into the hands of a few psychology scientists. It is my most sincere wish that this paper will inspire greater communication between the arts, humanities, and sciences. I believe that we can employ science to inform our understanding of how films operate. I also believe that film can teach us a great deal about the functions of the mind, and therefore can be used as a tool to advance scientific knowledge. I also maintain that film deserves to be the site of scientific inquiry in and of itself, and my hope is that my paper will promote this position.
FM: What are your future plans?
GB: I am not yet sure what I will be doing once I graduate.I am currently considering working on a Master’s and/or PhD within the realm of neuroscience/cognitive studies, but I am also considering heading to medical school to become a neurologist. In the meantime, I plan on continuing to research the human mind, film theory, and watch plenty of movies!
Author Biography
Grant Brighter is an undergraduate student at Ithaca College. He is a double major in Cinema and Photography and Psychology and a double minor in Neuroscience and Chemistry. As insinuated by his academic pursuits, his interests lie at the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, film theory and film production.
