1 00:00:00,306 --> 00:00:03,893 It was 1967, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:03,929 --> 00:00:06,746 I was going to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 5 00:00:09,413 --> 00:00:11,666 Every year there, at the end of school year, 6 00:00:11,691 --> 00:00:15,086 there is an experimental painting and sculpture contest. 7 00:00:19,409 --> 00:00:22,950 This particular year, earlier in that year, 8 00:00:23,127 --> 00:00:28,854 I was in a room, it's a big studio in the school, 9 00:00:29,416 --> 00:00:31,853 where people had little compartments 10 00:00:31,930 --> 00:00:35,286 that they block off for themselves to paint 11 00:00:38,573 --> 00:00:42,127 I was painting a black painting 12 00:00:42,757 --> 00:00:46,507 with some garden, some green garden. 13 00:00:48,650 --> 00:00:54,109 The green plants were sort of coming out of black. 14 00:00:55,316 --> 00:01:00,683 Real you know, dark green coming out of black. 15 00:01:01,396 --> 00:01:03,771 I was looking at this painting, 16 00:01:05,653 --> 00:01:10,991 I heard a wind and saw the painting move a little bit. 17 00:01:12,133 --> 00:01:14,049 And that's what started the whole thing. 18 00:01:14,226 --> 00:01:18,355 I wanted to see a painting move and have sound to it. 19 00:01:21,244 --> 00:01:26,535 That lead to an animated project 20 00:01:26,792 --> 00:01:28,276 on a sculpted screen 21 00:01:29,110 --> 00:01:32,822 for this experimental painting sculpture contest. 22 00:01:33,679 --> 00:01:40,963 I built a sculptured screen about 6 ft x 8 ft. 23 00:01:41,374 --> 00:01:46,541 I animated a minute of animation 24 00:01:47,078 --> 00:01:49,578 to be projected upon that sculptured screen. 25 00:01:49,661 --> 00:01:53,809 I made this siren loop that went with it. 26 00:05:58,502 --> 00:06:01,418 I was married at the time to Peggy. 27 00:06:02,222 --> 00:06:07,198 Formerly Peggy Lenz, of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. 28 00:06:09,612 --> 00:06:13,359 Peggy was an art student at the academy as well. 29 00:06:14,493 --> 00:06:19,734 Peggy was a beautiful girl with a beautiful singing voice. 30 00:06:24,334 --> 00:06:25,689 Really good painter. 31 00:06:29,870 --> 00:06:34,037 Peggy went to her parents house for a visit. 32 00:06:34,932 --> 00:06:36,836 Her little niece was there, 33 00:06:37,763 --> 00:06:42,423 and I think in a darken room, in a little bed. 34 00:06:43,381 --> 00:06:45,114 And was having a nightmare, 35 00:06:45,687 --> 00:06:48,740 and repeating the alphabet over and over in this nightmare. 36 00:06:49,795 --> 00:06:52,774 So Peggy told me about this. 37 00:06:54,748 --> 00:06:58,914 It must have you know, triggered something 38 00:06:59,132 --> 00:07:04,216 and that what I went to work on is... 39 00:07:04,619 --> 00:07:09,037 the alphabet based on Peggy's niece's nightmare. 40 00:07:09,856 --> 00:07:11,383 Or my imaginings of it. 41 00:07:15,491 --> 00:07:16,763 A, B, C... 42 00:09:43,410 --> 00:09:47,563 Please remember you are dealing with a human form. 43 00:10:12,868 --> 00:10:16,535 Now I said my A, B, C's 44 00:10:16,826 --> 00:10:20,151 Tell me what you think of me. 45 00:11:02,628 --> 00:11:05,141 DuringThe Alphabet, I kinda got the bug. 46 00:11:08,456 --> 00:11:13,290 I don't know what would have happened, you know, after a while 47 00:11:13,349 --> 00:11:15,890 if I hadn't got a green lights. 48 00:11:17,660 --> 00:11:22,326 I got this fixation on it. 49 00:11:28,451 --> 00:11:30,701 I really wanted to make The Grandmother. 50 00:11:33,844 --> 00:11:37,261 I wrote this script... 51 00:11:39,051 --> 00:11:40,884 it was... 52 00:11:53,326 --> 00:11:56,480 It was very dense and short. 53 00:11:57,652 --> 00:12:01,451 And it had no form like a regular script. 54 00:12:01,868 --> 00:12:04,486 It might have been eight pages long. 55 00:12:07,118 --> 00:12:09,660 It had sentences only. 56 00:12:09,910 --> 00:12:16,083 It's broken down into lines of sentences as in shots or scenes. 57 00:12:21,003 --> 00:12:24,307 At that time, my friend Bushnell Keeler... 58 00:12:27,123 --> 00:12:28,777 And that's another whole story. 59 00:12:29,243 --> 00:12:34,326 Bushnell Keeler, completely changed my life. 60 00:12:34,785 --> 00:12:39,555 And helped me in very critical times in my life. 61 00:12:39,910 --> 00:12:42,337 And somewhere along in here, 62 00:12:43,660 --> 00:12:45,996 Bushnell and his wife Tootie 63 00:12:47,589 --> 00:12:50,418 told me about a new thing called: 64 00:12:50,443 --> 00:12:51,943 The American Film Institute. 65 00:12:52,688 --> 00:12:57,875 They were headquartered on H. Street in Washington, D.C. 66 00:12:58,658 --> 00:13:01,191 Bushnell and Tootie lived in Alexandria. 67 00:13:05,756 --> 00:13:09,836 There was an independent grant program established. 68 00:13:10,701 --> 00:13:14,009 And Bushnell said: "You should apply for a grant." 69 00:13:15,368 --> 00:13:16,913 And so I thought abou that. 70 00:13:17,910 --> 00:13:21,103 I looked into it 71 00:13:21,254 --> 00:13:24,637 and found you needed to submit previous work 72 00:13:25,326 --> 00:13:28,192 and a script for something that you wanted to do. 73 00:13:28,790 --> 00:13:33,184 I had those two things now so I applied. 74 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:39,140 And I waited. 75 00:13:39,951 --> 00:13:41,806 While I was waiting, 76 00:13:43,016 --> 00:13:47,243 there had been a group earlier that had applied. 77 00:13:47,493 --> 00:13:50,451 They give them four times a year. 78 00:13:51,785 --> 00:13:53,133 While I was waiting, 79 00:13:53,820 --> 00:13:57,535 the first group of winners were announced. 80 00:14:03,781 --> 00:14:05,281 I was begining to learn 81 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,126 established underground filmmakers 82 00:14:09,686 --> 00:14:14,618 and who had been working in film for a long time. 83 00:14:16,951 --> 00:14:19,645 It dawned on me that I was a fool. 84 00:14:25,826 --> 00:14:28,373 At that time figured... 85 00:14:30,742 --> 00:14:35,425 that there wasn't one chance I would get a grant. 86 00:14:36,285 --> 00:14:39,326 And I kept going to work you know printing. 87 00:14:45,265 --> 00:14:48,298 One day it was raining in Philadelphia, 88 00:14:49,652 --> 00:14:52,478 and I went out to go to work. 89 00:14:53,118 --> 00:14:57,777 I was on the front step, in the rain, and Peggy was in the doorway. 90 00:14:58,471 --> 00:15:02,098 I sort of half-heartedly said: "Call me if anything exciting happens." 91 00:15:02,650 --> 00:15:05,592 And she said: "Call me if anything exciting happens." 92 00:15:05,778 --> 00:15:08,326 As if something exicting gonna happen. 93 00:15:08,881 --> 00:15:13,176 So I drove out to Germantown, 94 00:15:14,209 --> 00:15:18,243 where I worked, and began printing with flash. 95 00:15:20,510 --> 00:15:21,635 That afternoon, 96 00:15:21,825 --> 00:15:26,208 I heard the phone ring, but the phone rang sometimes everyday. 97 00:15:28,171 --> 00:15:29,823 But I remember, the phone ringing. 98 00:15:32,881 --> 00:15:35,263 It was Peggy calling. 99 00:15:36,296 --> 00:15:37,974 But she only talk to Roger. 100 00:15:39,365 --> 00:15:41,990 And Roger came downstairs and said: 101 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:47,035 "You'll get a phone call in a couple of minutes." 102 00:15:48,283 --> 00:15:49,550 Like he knew something. 103 00:15:50,364 --> 00:15:54,842 And then, a couple of minutes later, the phone rang again. 104 00:15:55,850 --> 00:15:59,618 It was George Stevens Jr. and Tony Vellani. 105 00:16:08,979 --> 00:16:13,272 That phone call changed my life completely. 106 00:16:15,170 --> 00:16:17,763 I had a grant to make a film 107 00:50:05,097 --> 00:50:07,444 It was 1973. 108 00:50:09,443 --> 00:50:11,696 We had been shooting Eraserhead 109 00:50:12,706 --> 00:50:16,344 for about one year, 110 00:50:17,328 --> 00:50:21,909 and at that point, we ran out of money. 111 00:50:25,554 --> 00:50:27,309 It was a depressing time. 112 00:50:29,476 --> 00:50:35,117 And around that time Fred came down to the stables one afternoon. 113 00:50:36,051 --> 00:50:38,913 And said that he had been asked to shoot 114 00:50:39,673 --> 00:50:43,833 a test using two different black-and-white video stocks. 115 00:50:44,785 --> 00:50:47,926 for the AFI to determine which stock was the best, 116 00:50:47,951 --> 00:50:49,534 because they were gonna buy a bunch. 117 00:50:54,017 --> 00:51:00,886 When Fred told me that the AFI was buying video tapes, 118 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:04,457 it gave me a sadness. 119 00:51:05,325 --> 00:51:09,650 And I worried that they might have to change the name of the place. 120 00:51:14,149 --> 00:51:20,469 So, I looked at Fred and I got an idea and I said: 121 00:51:23,256 --> 00:51:26,269 "Fred, does it matter what you shoot?" 122 00:51:26,936 --> 00:51:29,019 And he said: "What are you talking about?" 123 00:51:29,076 --> 00:51:31,797 I said: "Could you shoot anything you want twice?" 124 00:51:31,822 --> 00:51:33,862 "Once with one stock, another with the other 125 00:51:34,406 --> 00:51:36,406 and go like that for the test?" 126 00:51:36,456 --> 00:51:38,534 He said: "I don't see why not." 127 00:51:39,226 --> 00:51:39,944 So I said: 128 00:51:39,969 --> 00:51:43,409 "Could I write and make something for tomorrow?" 129 00:51:43,943 --> 00:51:44,976 And he said okay. 130 00:52:06,934 --> 00:52:08,909 This isn't what I'm telling you. 131 00:52:12,034 --> 00:52:15,201 You weren't in the room when Jim said that. 132 00:52:15,928 --> 00:52:17,190 And I was. 133 00:52:18,436 --> 00:52:19,867 And he really did. 134 00:52:22,981 --> 00:52:24,010 He told me 135 00:52:26,018 --> 00:52:27,829 that everything was fine 136 00:52:29,086 --> 00:52:32,018 between Helen and him. 137 00:52:33,577 --> 00:52:36,119 And I knew, even if he didn't say it. 138 00:52:38,333 --> 00:52:39,378 That it was true. 139 00:52:41,827 --> 00:52:43,061 He knew that then. 140 00:52:45,570 --> 00:52:47,358 No one else did. 141 00:52:50,687 --> 00:52:52,106 You may be thought you did, 142 00:52:54,351 --> 00:52:55,783 but I knew you didn't. 143 00:52:57,799 --> 00:52:59,726 And it makes me furious when you tell me 144 00:52:59,752 --> 00:53:01,452 that I didn't know about Helen. 145 00:53:05,974 --> 00:53:07,486 She was my best friend. 146 00:53:10,423 --> 00:53:12,519 She even told me about that time 147 00:53:14,698 --> 00:53:16,239 she drank gin with you. 148 00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:20,186 So maybe now you believe me. 149 00:53:25,478 --> 00:53:26,574 After that, 150 00:53:28,494 --> 00:53:30,315 I got sick of the beach. 151 00:53:35,135 --> 00:53:37,717 Harry turned on all of the burners on the stove 152 00:53:37,742 --> 00:53:39,308 before we left the cabin. 153 00:53:41,745 --> 00:53:44,253 He said he wanted to set fire to the whole row. 154 00:53:48,225 --> 00:53:49,536 It made me sick. 155 00:53:54,820 --> 00:53:56,632 Everything was bad between us. 156 00:54:01,347 --> 00:54:03,216 And that was it for me. 157 00:54:11,515 --> 00:54:14,724 I never said one word to him on the way back. 158 00:54:17,790 --> 00:54:18,819 When he stopped, 159 00:54:20,055 --> 00:54:22,096 and we saw Joanne and Jim's, 160 00:54:23,630 --> 00:54:25,097 he bought some cigarettes 161 00:54:25,650 --> 00:54:28,178 and told Joanne that I was a flirt. 162 00:54:30,064 --> 00:54:31,685 A damn flirt. 163 00:54:34,383 --> 00:54:35,907 I never was a flirt. 164 00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:39,815 I was not flirting with Jim. 165 00:54:42,843 --> 00:54:44,744 I didn't flirt then. 166 00:54:45,970 --> 00:54:47,675 And I don't flirt now. 167 00:54:50,676 --> 00:54:53,453 And you started this that night Jim told me. 168 00:55:01,251 --> 00:55:03,175 You have never understood Jim. 169 00:55:06,589 --> 00:55:08,478 After the way you treated Helen, 170 00:55:11,467 --> 00:55:14,227 it isn't a wonder that he feels the way he does. 171 00:55:18,002 --> 00:55:19,105 And you know it. 172 00:55:22,511 --> 00:55:25,077 You know that even Paul isn't the same. 173 00:55:31,864 --> 00:55:33,678 You have never understood Jim. 174 00:55:37,002 --> 00:55:39,317 You had it all wrong, honey. 175 00:55:43,977 --> 00:55:45,002 You... 176 00:55:46,128 --> 00:55:47,165 and Joanne. 177 00:55:51,823 --> 00:55:54,641 Now, you know what Paul was really talking about. 178 00:56:24,822 --> 00:56:25,803 By the way... 179 00:56:30,834 --> 00:56:32,806 where were you when Paul got home 180 00:56:34,287 --> 00:56:35,675 at 3 in the morning? 181 00:57:15,460 --> 00:57:17,327 This isn't what I'm telling you. 182 00:57:20,490 --> 00:57:23,372 You weren't in the room when Jim said that. 183 00:57:24,421 --> 00:57:25,566 And, I was. 184 00:57:26,730 --> 00:57:27,926 And he really did. 185 00:57:29,741 --> 00:57:32,274 He told me that everything was fine 186 00:57:33,302 --> 00:57:35,976 between Helen and him. 187 00:57:39,032 --> 00:57:43,449 I knew that even if he didn't say it. 188 00:57:44,730 --> 00:57:45,865 That it was true. 189 00:57:48,048 --> 00:57:49,120 He knew it then. 190 00:57:51,048 --> 00:57:52,512 No one else did. 191 00:57:54,676 --> 00:57:56,182 You may be thought you did, 192 00:57:56,978 --> 00:57:58,450 but I knew you didn't. 193 00:58:00,134 --> 00:58:02,674 And it makes me furious when you tell me 194 00:58:02,700 --> 00:58:04,377 that I didn't know about Helen. 195 00:58:07,689 --> 00:58:09,451 She was my best friend. 196 00:58:14,106 --> 00:58:19,358 She even told me about that time, she drank gin with you. 197 00:58:21,316 --> 00:58:23,174 So now maybe you believe me. 198 00:58:27,735 --> 00:58:28,772 After that, 199 00:58:30,124 --> 00:58:31,718 I got sick of the beach. 200 00:58:34,770 --> 00:58:37,543 Harry turned on all of the burners on the stove 201 00:58:37,750 --> 00:58:39,036 before we left the cabin. 202 00:58:41,659 --> 00:58:44,372 He said he wanted to set fire to the whole row. 203 00:58:46,837 --> 00:58:48,145 It made me sick. 204 00:58:50,894 --> 00:58:52,727 Everything was bad between us. 205 00:58:54,724 --> 00:58:56,413 And that was it for me. 206 00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:01,861 I never said one word to him on the way back. 207 00:59:04,412 --> 00:59:05,717 When he stopped, 208 00:59:06,019 --> 00:59:07,999 and we saw Joanne and Jim's, 209 00:59:09,429 --> 00:59:10,629 he bought some cigarettes 210 00:59:10,663 --> 00:59:13,784 and told Joanne that I was a flirt. 211 00:59:15,482 --> 00:59:16,890 A damn flirt. 212 00:59:18,690 --> 00:59:20,204 I never was a flirt. 213 00:59:21,684 --> 00:59:23,727 I was not flirting with Jim. 214 00:59:25,683 --> 00:59:27,083 I didn't flirt then. 215 00:59:27,542 --> 00:59:29,236 And I don't flirt now. 216 00:59:30,298 --> 00:59:32,966 And you started this that night Jim told me. 217 00:59:37,473 --> 00:59:39,214 You have never understood Jim. 218 00:59:41,029 --> 00:59:42,943 After the way you treated Helen, 219 00:59:43,375 --> 00:59:46,009 it isn't a wonder that he feels the way he does. 220 00:59:47,680 --> 00:59:48,776 And you know it. 221 00:59:57,255 --> 01:00:01,769 You know that even Paul isn't the same. 222 01:00:07,361 --> 01:00:09,695 You have never understood Jim. 223 01:00:11,756 --> 01:00:13,756 You had it all wrong, honey. 224 01:00:15,764 --> 01:00:17,243 You and Joanne. 225 01:00:18,575 --> 01:00:21,578 Now, you know what Paul was really talking about. 226 01:00:30,368 --> 01:00:31,500 By the way... 227 01:00:34,472 --> 01:00:36,800 where were you that night when Paul got home 228 01:00:36,825 --> 01:00:38,345 at 3 in the morning? 229 01:01:10,778 --> 01:01:11,811 This was... 230 01:01:15,733 --> 01:01:21,327 in the late 90's, when cinema reached its 100th anniversary. 231 01:01:24,730 --> 01:01:27,569 And a Frenchman got the idea. 232 01:01:32,518 --> 01:01:36,227 He had the original camera or cameras. 233 01:01:37,285 --> 01:01:43,612 And he knew the formula for the original emulsion. 234 01:01:44,877 --> 01:01:47,844 The only difference was, he used... 235 01:01:48,752 --> 01:01:50,612 Acetate, it's Acetate, right? 236 01:01:51,479 --> 01:01:54,166 Rather than nitrate based stock. 237 01:01:55,232 --> 01:02:00,924 He mixed up this emulsion and put it on 35 mm film. 238 01:02:01,486 --> 01:02:04,990 But this film only has one sprocket holes per frame 239 01:02:06,153 --> 01:02:07,629 for the original camera. 240 01:02:08,292 --> 01:02:10,580 And the magazine of the camera... 241 01:02:10,605 --> 01:02:14,205 the whole camera is made of wood, metal and glass. 242 01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:15,287 A lot of wood. 243 01:02:16,132 --> 01:02:17,430 And it has a crank 244 01:02:18,301 --> 01:02:21,674 and it has a little magazine made of wood and metal. 245 01:02:23,823 --> 01:02:27,217 The magazine only holds 55 ft of film. 246 01:02:28,358 --> 01:02:31,844 So, they got this idea, they would get the camera to 247 01:02:32,204 --> 01:02:34,424 several directors around the world, 248 01:02:34,731 --> 01:02:37,045 and let them make a 55 mintue film. 249 01:02:37,960 --> 01:02:39,467 They put some restrictions on. 250 01:02:40,257 --> 01:02:43,123 The restrictions were, you got three takes. 251 01:02:44,236 --> 01:02:45,903 You had to use natural light. 252 01:02:46,579 --> 01:02:48,328 You couldn't shoot sync sound. 253 01:02:51,440 --> 01:02:53,395 And you couldn't stop the camera 254 01:02:53,493 --> 01:02:57,446 once you started crancking you couldn't stop. 255 01:02:59,063 --> 01:03:00,962 I think those were the restrictions. 256 01:03:03,845 --> 01:03:06,822 People from all over the world got a chance to 257 01:03:06,847 --> 01:03:09,949 to work with this original Lumière brothers camera. 258 01:03:11,010 --> 01:03:13,674 55 seconds! Did I say 55 minutes? 259 01:03:14,314 --> 01:03:18,100 I wish it was, but it was 55 seconds of film. 260 01:03:18,824 --> 01:03:21,099 Yeap, 55 seconds of film. 261 01:03:24,202 --> 01:03:27,329 Yeah, it came out to be about 55 seconds of film.