Re: Black dots
 
Thanks, Gene Stavis, for your answer on the black dots in the corner of the
screen for reel changes.  That's not what my student meant, I think; and it is
something I knew about--though you did explain more than I knew.
 
My student was asking about the end of certain films when a black dot grows from
the center of the screen, rather than a cut or fade or dissolve to black--as a
way to end the movie.  I have just a dim memory of this myself and have yet to
check for it in order to give a better description.  But maybe someone out there
knows what I mean and can describe/explain it better.  And give the name for the
effect.
 
Anyone also interested in my question about the non-diegetic "chora"
(image/sound womb) of film and theater?  Or is that question also unclear?
(Sorry for misspelling your name, Don Larsson.)  To clarify, I'm questioning
whether a non-diegetic sound track and uncanny imagery (cf. Zizek on Hitchcock)
is actually outside the diegesis, or rather at its communal core--especially if
the allure of the diegetic world is thus increased?  (This might be done either
to draw us towards an unconscious horror, as with Artaud/Hitchcock, or to repel
us with more conscious incongruity, as with Brecht/Godard.)
 
Does such a comparison of theater and film seem valid to the members of this
list?
 
Mark Pizzato
 
----
To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L
in the message.  Problems?  Contact [log in to unmask]