Film

Paul Beattie with 16mm camera and his hand with ‘Z’, image from Paul’s film titled ‘V’, 1963-64

In 1959, Paul was introduced by his friend Elias Romero to the medium of creating lightshows using immiscible liquids on overhead projectors. He soon participated in several multi-media performances, adding his own acetate drawings to the visual effects and performing on the overhead projector.

His friends Warner Jepson and Bill Spencer accompanied these performances with improvisational music. Some of these ‘happenings’ involved dancing by Simone Morris [later Forte], Robert Morris, and other dancers from Ann Halprin’s studio. This experience inspired Paul to further explore the visual mediums of photography and film.

Paul at lightshow, Ann Halprin’s dance studio, San Francisco, circa 1959-60.

George and Louise Herms, Semina gallery, Larkspur, CA (Image from Paul’s 16mm film titled “A Thimble of Goodbye”), 1960-61

At this time Paul also acquired a 16 mm Paillard Bolex movie camera and was soon pursuing filmmaking, an interest that lasted into the 1980s. He was influenced by many of the silent movies as well as such celebrated mid-century films as Black Orpheus and Rashomon.

One of his earliest black-and-white filming experiences was participating as the camera man for ruth weiss’ poem-film “The Brink” in 1959-60. His film, “A Thimble of Goodbye”, based on an Idell Romero (Aya Tarlow) poem, was premiered in 1961 at the innovative Batman Gallery in San Francisco.

Paul directed, produced, wrote scripts and drew storyboards for his films. He also experimented with ink/pigments on paper and created a series of paintings based on images from some of his early black-and-white films.

‘Hand #3’ (painting of image from Paul’s 16mm film titled “V”), printers ink on paper mounted on masonite, 1965, 17 x 22 inches

Compilation of films by Paul Beattie, 1960-65

Most of his films were shot in locations that included San Francisco, Larkspur, and the redwood forests of his home in Healdsburg. The artists Wallace Berman, George Herms, and Arthur Richer (and their family members) were featured in several of his early films. Scores for these films were composed and performed by musicians Bill Spencer and Dave Brown.

“I became interested in improvisational jazz, classical music, and in filmmaking. This latter saw fruition in a dozen black-and-white films which were distributed by the New York Film-makers’ Cooperative, screening throughout the US and Europe. In 1964 I was one of 3 judges for the Canyon Film Festival in California.”

Paul Beattie

Two of Paul’s early black-and-white films were shown at the Centre Pompidou Museum in Paris in 2016 as part of the exhibition ‘Beat Generation: New York San Francisco Paris’, representing the innovative filmmaking of that era.

‘Hand with Z’, collaged hand print by Paul Beattie, 1963-64, displayed in Beat Generation: New York San Francisco Paris, Centre Pompidou Museum, Paris, France

Paul’s film equipment, 1960s

Influenced by his decades-long study of astronomy and physics, and excited by new technological filming innovations, he acquired an 8mm film camera in the late 1970s. He made several color films, one called ‘Supernova’, which illustrates the concept of a billion years, and another titled ‘The Drawing’ which demonstrates how he depicted his understanding of the cosmos in his artwork. From his early experimental, avant-garde films of the 1960s to his later, more scripted movies of the 1980s, Paul enjoyed the filmmaking process.