James Benning and the use of the still

Going to the Saturday night James Benning Screening, “RR,” it was interesting to
contemplate a different kind of “independent” film then what is discussed in
class. James Benning is a film artist that explores pieces of space through
still single shots. “RR” consisted of 43 different stills where the viewer
watched trains from different geographic regions move through the frame. The
shot remained the same, or in other words didn’t use any cuts but just captured a moment through one single shot on a tripod, until the train passed and was out of site and then the film would switch to a new still of a different train. This film not only made me contemplate environment and space but also the definition versus the feeling of an independent. Technically Benning’s film is obviously independent. He received limited funding, obviously not from a large Hollywood production company, and did all the shooting himself, driving around to different states and locations in the United States and composing a shot from one angle, leaving the camera there to document a moment. There is only one shot that tells each story and no cuts which challenges the viewer to say the least.
While this film is technically independent it probably wouldn’t cater to a
large majority of people who consider themselves independent film buffs. Since
there are no cuts, the story and documentation all takes place in one shot witch
can be very trying for the viewer and can make it hard to focus. Thinking more about independent cinema, it’s quite interesting to me because it seems that there is a certain niche associated with many people who watch independent films, say found at Sundance. There are definitely many films that feel independent and cater to an audience that desires an “underground” type of film. Yet at the same time Jame’s Benning’s work would probably cater to a different type of niche.
While obviously what’s considered American Independent cinema differs from a film such as Benning’s which is more of a documentary art film than the narrative films we’ve been discussing, I still think it’s interesting to compare art films to cinema watched in class because there are certain elements that are similar. The idea of many independent films as we’ve discussed in class is to convey real life in a film and looking at Bennings work we can better understand the more realistic approach to film making.
I feel that there is no better example than Jim Jarmush’s Stranger than Paradise. Benning’s approach to film making is to let a stationary camera role to capture a real live moment. Jarmush uses a similar technique in attempt to make the film feel like a “real,” non fictional “moment.” Early in the film we notice that he uses few cuts and just lets many of the scenes play out whether the camera is documenting Willie and his cousin watching football on TV, eating TV dinners or sleeping. These scenes feel real because Jarmush doesn’t use many, or any cuts at times unlike a majority of films but lets the scene splay out and relies on the actors to tell the story. In real life there aren’t “cuts” so Jarmush’s style feels more like we are watching a real life.
As seen in Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino also uses long shots (although he obviously also uses many stylized cuts). While Tarantino uses style, he also has moments that feel more real as we watch actors for extended periods of time having conversations. In most films cuts are used constantly, barraging the audience so when we see a still moment we feel a greater sense of real, just like a Benning film. We are watching a moment of interaction that isn’t broken into pieces.