TURNING TORSO DRAWDOWN

by Robert HUOT
1971 / b&w / silent / 1S / 10' 38




“…(a) serialist comparison-contrast of the variations in nine naked male and female torsos. The film is divided into three sections. During the first, the torsos slowly make complete clockwise turns (except for three instances when the torso of a young boy turns counter-clockwise), each of which lasts approximately twenty-five seconds. At the end of each turn, a two-second dissolve acts as a transition to the next turn. During the second section, Huot presents a six frame review (the film is run at 16FPS) of the torsos, this time standing still, in the same order. And, in the final section, Huot presents a second complete six-frame review, this time with six frames of blue leader regularly in the position of ‘4.’ The finished film creates both formal and thematic investigations. While the variations among the bodies are interesting, the relative similarity of some of the bodies forces us to ask ourselves, ‘Now, is this the same body I saw a minute ago, or is the lighting or texture or positioning fooling me?’ We become so aware of tiny variations in these elements that when we see the young boy’s body, obviously filmed differently and turning in a different direction, the change is startling. ‘Drawdown,’ incidentally, refers to a process Huot used when he worked as a paint chemist; the process involves spreading samples of paint on a flat surface so that one can make the most numerous comparisons of different samples within a particular space.”—Scott MacDonald, “The Films of Robert Huot: 1967 to 1972”, Quarterly Review of Film Studies, Summer 1980.

1 PRINT IN DISTRIBUTION


distribution format Digital file on server (NTSC)
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 29,976 fps
sound silent
rental fee 37,00 €