Casting Call for "The Black Cat" (Tales of Terror), 1961

Monday, June 28, 2010

The lesser known connection: Godard and The Cat...


The first image in “Film Socialism,” Jean-Luc Godard's latest, is of two red-headed parrots, side by side on a tree limb. The parrots are among a handful of animals that appear in the movie, including a pair of hilariously talkative cats (whose meows are, in turn, parroted by a young woman watching them on a laptop), as well as a llama and a donkey. 

Surrounding these animals is a menagerie of talking, quoting, babbling human beings, speaking in French, German, Russian, English and Arabic, among other tongues.

______________________________________________


"Genesis of a Camera: Jean-Pierre Beauviala and Jean-Luc Godard




Camera Obscura Vol. 5, No. 13/14 (Spring-Summer 1985): 163-193.
We are reprinting this discussion between Jean-Pierre Beauviala and
Jean-Luc Godard because it represents one of the most unusual exchanges on the relationship between aesthetics and technology that we have seen. It is highly unlikely that an interview witht his kind of emotional tenor would ever find its way into a journal like AMERICAN
CINEMATOGRAPHER, for example, even though it is concerned throughout with the development of a new 35mm camera and its potential uses. Jeane-Pierre Beauviala is responsible for a series of inventions that resulted in the Aaton 16mm camera, nicknamed “the cat” because of the way it is designed to balance on the shoulder (hence the references to the camera as an animal); the perfection of super-16 (made to be blown up to 35mm without image distortion); and the PALUCHE, which is referred to frequently in the discussion below. The PALUCHE is a small video camera that is held in the hand like a microphone or a flashlight. Because of its size and mobility, the PALUCHE becomes an extension of the hand rather than the eye.
In Grenoble, where Aaton is located, Beauviala worked with Godard for
several years on the development of specialized video and film
equipment, while Godard was living just across the French border in
Rolle, Switzerland. They intended to create a new 35mm camera that would
have the technical simplicity and flexibility of super-8, so that a
non-specialist, a director like Godard, could use it for spontaneous,
brief shots that could be intercut with 35mm work done by professional
cinematographers. A camera called the Aaton 35-8 was subsequently
marketed, but not exactly in the form originally envisioned by either of
them. Just how the technology would develop-according to whose
needs-took on an increasingly personal dimension as time went on,
culminating in a major dispute between filmmaker and inventor. At the
meeting chronicled below, Godard and Beauviala voice their complaints in
language that mixes metaphors about art, love and technology. It quickly
becomes evident that their friendship is being contested as much as the
merits of one camera design over another."

Courtesy of  Cinema=Godard=Cinema

Erin's New Tattoo

Erin, the darling soul behind Calivintage, is a vintage muse of the highest order. The cool girl in the class. The las everyone wants to hang out with. And one stylish chic...



All that aside, she has the COOLEST tattoo yet! Ink stamps aren't my thing, purely for the ominously permanent nature of them. And the ikky blood and stuff. Yuk. Here now though, is the second of only two tattoos I would ever consider imprinting on my squeemish self:


"Cattitude!"

Cute :)

Ladyhawke, and her cats
























Sunday, June 27, 2010

Triumph of a Heart



I'm a HUGE Spike Jonze fan, for obvious reasons. Bjork's pretty keen on him too. 

Spike + Bjork +Cat? Awesome!!!

Red Tango



I simply adore Red Tango characters!!! More specifically, the kitty characters. From wallpapers to handbags, they've got the lot. 












As a kid, Red Tango founder Cynthia Petrovic drew animals and made cartoons and flip books. As an adult she progressed from portraiture to animation, and joined the ranks of TV animators at Warner Brothers. After many years of honing her skills, Cynthia decided to create a line of products featuring her wacky, retro artwork. 


Couture le Chat


French Kitty Fashion Doll




Madame Alexander's French Kitty Doll.

Meow to you too Patsy.

Patsy Fox is a girl after my own heart. 






The Patsyfox Drawing Salon offers boutique Fashion Illustration classes. More importantly, Patsy is a cat fanatic, her kitty inspired sketches are the cat's whiskers!

Its Safe to Dance

Cat Squared


Saturday, June 26, 2010

Cat Convo



what good is a cat blog without one good YouTube based kitty clip.

Zakumi!


Zakumi, a life-size puppet whose name is a conflation of ZA (Zuid Afrika), the old Afrikaans abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", meaning 10 in several African languages, is the mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

LOST re-enacted by Cats in 1 minute.

Bats and Cats



splendid indeed... Natasha Kahn and Cats, two of my favouite things!!!



Oh yes, and then there's... The Cure. Perfect as Cats, is a tribute to Robert Smith (not always so wonderfully pretty) and his clan.



The Cats' Meow

a few vintage kitty themed favourites...


Vintage Cat's Eye Glasses


















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