the untitled still film

running time: 02;30

2003

untitled still film #10 & #27

running time: 01;30

2007

The photographic series of Untitled Film Stills #3-83 created by Cindy Sherman in 1977 through 1980 critique women’s social roles through the presentation of cinematic stills. Sherman’s process of creation and her participation in the stills photographs can be analyzed with Roland Barthes interpretive theory of the “third meaning,” which he developed with the analysis of Eisenstein film stills.
Barthes organizes the interpretation of film stills into three levels of meaning: the informational Level, the symbolic level, and his third meaning. The informational level is the message addressed in the image. The symbolic level is composed of the different kinds of symbolism that can be deducted from the information composed in the image. These compose what Barthes designates as the “obvious meaning” that we find in film stills. Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills portray the submissive non-confrontational gaze of a variety of women; this is the obvious meaning in her stills. She builds the series from a range of settings and costumes always with women possessing a whimsical gaze, reinforcing her social critique of women’s position in society.
The third meaning, constructed from Barthes’ final level of film still analysis, operates independently from the obvious meaning, as what he calls the “obtuse meaning” (the third and the obtuse meaning function interchangeably). He derives the term, obtuse meaning from the definition of obtuse, that it is extending beyond the “pure” upright stance of the right angle, within the context of film still interpretation as being outside of the set of symbols. Barthes explains the obtuse meaning through Eisenstein film stills, referencing unintended signs within the frames, for instance: Barthes notices the actor’s face powder in a still. He describes the recognition of unintended meanings as the immediate context of the image, typically this is the identification of the disguise. The makeup of the actors is immediately realized but does not directly affect the messages intended in the frame. The obtuse meaning is the awareness of the incidental, specifically the gestural and performative nature within the still.
Sherman did not actually acquire film stills or shoot a film from which to draw stills. The “stills” are parodies of cinematic representations of women that reflect the social position and roles of women. The absurdity of her gestures the exaggerated expressions and costuming play off of the incidental to create an interpretation of the immediate that builds an irony for the obvious meaning. The obtuse meaning of Sherman’s photographs is composed from the realization that she is the character portrayed in every photograph. The awareness of her performance within each of the photographs provides a significance of her identity tied to the characters and the imaginary film she has created through “stills” representing the social prescription for women.
The Untitled Still Film is a parody of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills #3-83 from 1977-1980. In the video I build upon the obtuse meaning deducted from Sherman’s photographs by reenacting her performance and then holding the pose for 30 seconds. The immediate of the obtuse meaning moves beyond the gestural pose to the subtle breaths and occasional blinks that reference the nature of the performance instead of the “still” image created. By acting out stills I am able to create a means for the characters to confront the lens or the gaze of the camera and escape the boundaries of the frame Sherman constructed for them.
When seeking to understand how this video operates within film still interpretation I went back to Barthes’ definition of the film still as a fragment of the motion or situation that by isolation from action enables us to experience the obtuse meaning from the immediate context of the still. Sherman’s stills are proposed as image fragments of the (imaginary) films. However they also operate as a metaphor for fragmentation of women’s identities. My filmic recreation provides the passage of time that breaks the image’s existence as a fragment and therefore undoes the metaphoric fragmentation of women in Sherman’s stills. Although without providing context I maintain the issues addressed by Sherman and rather provide the context of confrontation and escape from the implied gender role represented in each still