"All the Forms Today are Merely Parades and Arrangements" : The Relationship Between the Music and Film of Le Ballet Mécanique and their Influence on Time

Summary

ABSTRACT"ALL THE FORMS TODAY ARE MERELY PARADES AND ARRANGEMENTS"THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND FILM OF LE BALLET MÉCANIQUE AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON TIMEByEmily Michelle BaumgartThis paper offers a structural and cognitive exploration of Léger, Murphy and Antheil's Le Ballet Mécanique of 1924. Though much recent literature has addressed the iconic and groundbreaking film by concentrating on the audio or visual elements separately, this paper addresses both as a unit; specifically, it... Show moreABSTRACT"ALL THE FORMS TODAY ARE MERELY PARADES AND ARRANGEMENTS"THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND FILM OF LE BALLET MÉCANIQUE AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON TIMEByEmily Michelle BaumgartThis paper offers a structural and cognitive exploration of Léger, Murphy and Antheil's Le Ballet Mécanique of 1924. Though much recent literature has addressed the iconic and groundbreaking film by concentrating on the audio or visual elements separately, this paper addresses both as a unit; specifically, it explores the form and structure, or lack thereof, inherent in the abstract nature of the film. While some analyses have claimed there is a clear sense of organization within either film or music (Lawder, 1975; Oja, 2000), this paper takes the opposite approach by theorizing that there is no coherent form to be found in either. Instead, there is a focus on the use of irregular repetition found in both the visual and aural media: looping in the visual element and ostinato in the aural. Furthermore, this study places an emphasis on the effect these unusual techniques will have on an audience. Drawing on the cognitive literature regarding perception and attention, this paper investigates the role that non-narrative video plays in time perception and disorientation. It uses principles of Gestalt psychology and previous timing experiments to accomplish these aims, postulating that the lack of structure, repetitive nature, and disunity between visual and aural elements will lead to a distorted sense of time. Show less