Through dark and grainy film stock, moving human figures and fabric can scarcely be discerned. Eventually these forms suggest elements of brewing tea, as a kettle, teapot, tea packets, and motions of pouring water become clearer in the light. The date of production remains unknown.
Views of the beach and historic ships docked at Hyde Street Pier in Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. The steam ferryboat Eureka, the paddlewheel tug Eppleton Hall, and the lumber schooner C.A. Thayer are visible. On the beach sits a pregnant woman, likely Wendy from the film’s title, and the film ends with a view of
Filmed mainly from inside (and through a screen window), a man outside shovels snow in a suburban neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Occasionally, JoAnn Elam steps outside to film, and the man responds by playfully tossing snow towards her. This man appears to be the same friend as in ” DC ’82 Home ” (F.2011-01-0082), suggesting
Using a long pole with a cloth basket attached, JoAnn Elam’s husband, Joe Hendrix, gathers apples from the upper branches of a large tree, sometimes with a struggle. Along with the collected apples in a box, Elam’s camera explores other foliage of the garden, including bright sunflowers and other flowers.
Clown antics on the beach during a sunny day are interspersed (and sometimes overlaid) with nighttime fireworks celebrating the Fourth of July in 1976 during the United States Bicentennial. This film may have been shot in San Francisco. Peggy was the name of one of JoAnn Elam’s friends, though her connection to this film remains
Filmed during the Fourth of July, 1977, “Peggy – 7/4/77” depicts a group of friends gathered to barbecue and watch fireworks from a Chicago apartment rooftop. Through several series of rapid shots, the camera captures the sunlight view from the apartment, people eating and drinking, an L train driving by, the sunset, plants in the
Rhino Souffle” depicts the process of creating a souffle, from initial ingredient preparation to baking to final communal enjoyment, with a group of friends that includes JoAnn Elam, Chuck Kleinhans and Julia LeSage (founders of the cinema journal Jump Cut), and other unidentified participants. After the souffle goes into the oven, a sequence of calendar
“Peggy” begins by surveying the yard of an unidentified rural setting, with bushes, cars, and piles of rocks-most significantly, broken-open geodes-visible. The film then focuses on growing artichokes and a woman tending to them before preparing a plot of land for new plants. Her work complete, the woman walks toward the door of her home,
Christmas lights blink and move against the dark black background of night. This footage is identical to, and may be the original for, the second half of JoAnn Elam’s full film ” The Christmas Story ” (F.2011-01-0132). When used in the latter film, the footage is slightly resized.
Mail Men / YS O 2″ documents a visit to Yellow Springs, OH, where JoAnn Elam lived and attended Antioch College starting in fall 1966. The film begins with the residential building at 777 Xenia Avenue and travels to the intersection of Phillips Street and W. North College Street, both locations which may have had