Lone Star Film Fest movie previews: Aviatrix and Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman

by John P. Meyer

Tag-teaming it again here with content pard Steve-O (of West and Clear) to cover films showing out at the Lone Star Film Festival in Cowtown:

I've just had a look at two films, a short by Toddy Burton called Aviatrix and a feature-length documentary about the life of a noted architectural photographer (and tastemaker) called Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman

Aviatrix plays as part of Shorts Package 3 on Saturday night (Nov. 14) at 10 p.m. It's about a young woman coming to terms with her brain tumor by engaging in flights of comic art fantasy, drawing (and then imagining the exploits of) a super heroine engaged in an epic battle against her personified cancer. *BIFF!* - *POW!* - *BARF!* (She's undergoing chemo.)

Coming to her eventual rescue is an extremely unlikely hero, who takes on his own persona in her alternate graphic art universe; they make their eventual getaway on his equally-unlikely steed.

Visual Acoustics, by filmmaker Eric Bricker, spends 83 minutes chronicling the life and career of photographer Julius Shulman, who is 98 years old at the time of this writing. Those enamored of modernist architecture and/or fine photographic technique will find their 83 minutes well-spent; for some others, the experience may prove daunting, attention-span wise.

In the trans-WWII era, Shulman - already handy with a camera and prone to long rambling journeys around the Los Angeles environs - discovered that he could actually make money documenting buildings - particularly the modernist structures then first appearing on the hillsides above the city. Because he proved to have an eye for detail and a flair for the dramatic, he became a sought-after photographer, and found himself in the regular employ of such prestigious architects as Richard Neutra, Charles Eames and Pierre Koenig.

Shulman's work eventually caught the eye of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose landmark domiciles and public buildings he faithfully (and dramatically) captured on film. Said FLW of Shulman's photographic technique: "Your work is superior to amateurs and far better than most professionals." What a prince!

The narrative is delivered in part by Shulman himself, who still appears exuberant (though he walks with the aid of a cane - or an assistant) as he visits some of the famous houses he's photographed. We also get a sampling of his iconic images, including arguably the most famous one: "Case Study House #22," which depicts the Stahl House from outside on its precipitous hillside lot at night, with the warm light of its interior contrasted by the exterior darkness and the distant lights of the city. (He exposed the frame at f/32 for 30 seconds, resulting in a depth of field that kept both the foreground and background in critical focus.) Dustin Hoffman narrates.

The documentary's bittersweet denouement finds Julius packing up 50 years worth of print and negative archives and seeing them hauled away in a truck, destined for installation at the Getty. From their new home, they will inform and inspire a new generation of design and visual arts enthusiasts. But - still - from Julius' standpoint, they're gone.