15/67 TV

Our last screening was kind of a blur. Watching so many short films, a few of them blended together, or were forgotten almost completely until a review of the syllabus. The two pieces that stuck out the most in my memory were Kren's 15/67 TV and the News series.

I liked the simplicity of repetition that 15/67 was composed of. Learning that the five or however many scenes were cut apart and puzzle-pieced back together from our readings was not so much enlightening -- you could definitely find shots repeated and some of the cuts were jumpy and noticeable -- but just interesting. I put '15/67 TV kurt kren' into a Google search and the first result was "Lord of the Frames: Kurt Kren." This random website really tied together the readings about Kren's cut and remake methods with his reputation.

I also remember reading that Kren added the TV to the end of the title because, to him, it reminded him of watching TV. I didn't get this feeling at all, really. I felt more like I was in the pub, near the dock, watching the girls pass time rather than sitting on my couch at home, watching it all from my own world. However, once we watched the TV news series at the end, which was simply a bunch of short shots of a man reading the news while smoking a cigar, I felt like I was watching TV and could, in a way, relate to Kren. It almost seemed like the casual manner of the newscaster, smoking his cigar, reading news from the paper, should have been more connectable but, because it was in the setting of a newsroom, I immediately related it to television.

Kren's films, though clearly not driven by narrative, are very intricate in their details. His technical work makes them more watchable and enjoyable, for me at least.