Unframing

A few filmmakers have tried to counter the givenness of the framing edges of the image either by incorporating them into the work or by making them disappear. The frame ceases to be a window, with the illusionistic implications of that. Instead, its dissolution leads to film becoming more akin to painting, where the frame is determined by the artist in response to the requirement of the picture. Although digital video technology allows for aspect ratios to be freely determined, the edges still function in the same way as a framing device that is different from the frames or edges of many, if not most, modern paintings, which may form a material continuity with the painting itself. In this essay I explore these ideas via an analysis of works by Cathy Rogers, who reconfigures the apparatus step by step, and the film performances of Bruce McClure, who uses metal plates to modify the aspect ratio of the film frame. Both can be seen as frame-dissolvers, in contrast to William Raban, who problematises the frame by emphasising it through mise en abyme, in his canonical work 2′ 45″ and, historically, Hans Richter, in whose film Rhythm 21, the framing edges are actively incorporated into the work.