Ellen on the Rope is an energetically expressive study of performer Ellen Fisher working out on the rope in her Lodge Hall rehearsal space, itself a handsome room of classical proportions and lighting. Sousa’s film studies Fisher’s strenuous activity from a series of vantage points, creating a strobing rhythm by crossing the camera’s shutter speed with the rate of the rope traversing its frame. Unlike other athletic film studies, usually focused on body properties or close-ups of muscular exertion, Ellen on the Rope directs our attention more towards physics, tracing the dynamics and energy of Ellen’s patterns through space with a camera that progresses from tripod stillness to sympathetic motion. A simple exercise, this film offers a fine example of two artists working out together on rope and celluloid.” B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Reader, 1979
Release Date | January 1, 1978 | |
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Status | Released | |
Original Title | Ellen on the Rope | |
Runtime | 6min | |
Budget | — | |
Revenue | — | |
Language | — | |
Original Language | English | |
Production Countries | United States of America | |
Production Companies |