Pip Chodorov's comments on film speed (of motion, that is, not ISO ratings) are very insightful. Of course, someone like Frampton will experiment with new vocabularies for slow or fast motion (among other elements) but Hollywood tends to come up with its own vocabulary--though that can be shifted and adapted from what other filmmakers do. Strangely, both fast and slow motion can signify "the past." The latter seems to evoke "the past" as memory--personal recollections in a character's mindscreen. The former seems linked more to a specific notion of the past of *film* history (erroneously assuming that all silent films were meant to be projected at 24 fps)--eg., the opening of TOM JONES. Fast-motion can suggest a disorientation in time, a nature gone out of control-- see both Rene Claire's ENTRE'ACT and KOYAANISQATSI. Slow-motion can suggest fantasy--a desire to impede or disable the progress of time. See the use of slo-mo and repetition at the end of Enrico's AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE but also films in which the hero futiley tries to stop a murder or accident from happening. Rule of thumb: Fast motion for comedy; slow-motion for tragedy? Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN) ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]