I wrote my Master's thesis on the teaching of film as an art form. From 1969 to 1980 I was able to put these ideas into practice while teaching filmmaking in the Art Department at Sonoma State University in northern California. Some of my students , whose

Film Class Projects
85 min. 1969 to 1980
I wrote my Master's thesis on the teaching of film as an art form. From 1969 to 1980 I was able to put these ideas into practice while teaching filmmaking in the Art Department at Sonoma State University in northern California. Some of my students , whose early efforts are represented in this collection, went on to successful careers in the field. Marcy Page became an Academy Award winning producer of animation for the Canadian Film Board, and Steven Zaillian an acclaimed Academy Award winning writer, producer, and director in Hollywood, among others.

My teaching was based not only on cinematic history and theory, but was deeply grounded in the fundamentals of "gestalt" perception studies as originally taught by professor Hoyt L. Sherman of Ohio State University, which came to me via his student, the renowned painter and teacher Harold Gregor, and his students.

The animation which starts off this collection was produced entirely during classroom time using the most economical means. It was based on the "Dada" device known as the "exquisite corpse" applied with innovation to cartoon animation. During the decade of the 1970s I was generally impressed with the creative talent of my students and their love and enthusiasm for the cinematic arts. We had a lot of fun. And, they watched a lot of Brakhage films as well as classic French movies and of course the entire history of films in the good old USA and everything else.

Film Titles:
- Hairy Things, 14 Student Animators
- Going To Fat City, Michael Welles
- Stove Bolts, Michael Welles
- Untitled, Michael Welles
- Balloon Man Meets Butterfly Lady, Marcy Page
- Space Out or Scratch One, Pat Traimer
- Beautiful Dreamer, Steven Zaillian
- Blue Skies Over Topanga, Steven Zaillian
- Calistoga Road, Steven Zaillian
- Mother Hubba I, Xeno Kung (aka Myron Ort)
- Mother Hubba II, Xeno Kung (aka Myron Ort)
- Mountain Cat, Myron Ort
- Park Man, Myron Ort