Intervals

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Intervals

Early in December 1997 the Peter Greenaway Mailing List discussed 'Intervals', an early Peter Greenaway film. Contributors included a large number of VFI scholars - several from overseas. Participants discussed everything there is to discuss about 'Intervals': the mineral constituents of the film stock, its weight in osprey feathers, the number of times it has been viewed, the suitability of the adhesive used to bind strips of film together, the cause of the scratches which the film now bears, the economic viability of the Japanese company who made the television set on which one person viewed the film, and so on. The discussion concluded with comments on a private viewing of six versions of the film made by VFI scholars working in pairs. One was in colour, one didn't have a soundtrack, one contained only intervals, two were filled with shots of Venice but no water, and one was considerably better than the original.

Wishing to bring the conclusions reached during the discussion to the attention of a wider public, the VFI has decided to publish on its website the following extracts from the electronic debate.

1. The film is 360 seconds long not 420 seconds - that is, 6 not 7 minutes - as stated in the literature. This is important given the way the film is structured.

2. The film is composed of 3 identical sections: that is, the same imagery is repeated in the same sequence three times. If you imagine the film is in a loop then the ending will feed precisely into the beginning.

3. The imagery for each section is composed of 15 units. Units A-I are each marked by 14 beats of a metronome (2 beats per second), with 13 beats given over to imagery and 1 beat to a black interval. Unit J lasts twice as long as any other unit and contains no interval. Units K-O are structured in the same way as units A-I.

4. Each section is composed of film from one camera that has been moved between 22 locations in Venice. In passing, one VFI scholar noted there were similarities to a later Greenaway project, The Stairs. Each location was given a number from 1-22 and the following distribution was noted:

Unit A, contains imagery from locations 1 2 3 4 in that order
Unit B, 6 7 6 8 6 9 6 10 6 11 6 12 13
Unit C, 14 8 15
Unit D, 15 16 11
Unit E, 5
Unit F, 17 3 18 19
Unit G, 7 17 9
Unit H 18 20 8
Unit I, 8 21 9 21
Unit J, 9 22 - this is the unit that lasts twice as long as all the rest
Unit K 22
Unit L, 22
Unit M, 12
Unit N, 21
Unit O, 10

5. At the beginning of section two an Italian voice is heard. The introduction of a human voice is marked by the only white interval in the entire film. The voice proceeds to break the English alphabet down into 13 pairs of letters (a+b, c+d, etc.), distributing them between the units in the following manner

A - a b
B - c d
C - e f
D - g h
E - i j
F - k l
G - m n
H - o p
I - q r
J - s t u v - this is the unit that lasts twice as long as any other
K - w x
L - y z
M
N
O

6. At the beginning of section three the voice introduces pairs of words. However, since no one on the list speaks Italian, participants were unable to discuss its significance.

7. During unit M of Section three the voice says 'musica'. M is clearly for music. M is also for Man, Music and Mozart. Units M - O of section three then carry an excerpt from Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons', specifically, the winter movement. This is perhaps appropriate given that the film was shot over Christmas.

8. VFI scholar Andrew Wilson spoke at length on the above issue. He too noted that the last word spoken in 'Intervals' is 'musica'. This is echoed directly in 'H is for House' (PG: 'M is for?'; HG: 'Moosic'). In both films the word is followed by an extract from Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'. I have always assumed this to be an ironic explication, but perhaps there is another motive. Vivaldi was of course a native of Venice. This musical link between 'Intervals' and 'H is for House' is itself echoed by a musical link between 'H is for House' and 'Windows', both of which include extracts from Jean-Philippe Rameau's La Poule. As you know, these two films are discussed on the VFI's website.

9. Repetition and pairs of a variety of types (letters, people, posters) are emphasised throughout the film.

10. Lateral movement is important in the film. If a unit of the film shows something moving from right to left then following unit will show something moving from left to right.

11. It was noted that Greenaway himself has said about the film that it is a formal experiment in counting, reprises, repetition and building a sound track with a series of identical pictures.

12. VFI scholar Andrew was struck by the date of 'Intervals'. He noted that this is given in the literature as 1969, placing it with Greenaway's other short films of the 60s. However, the film itself states:

"cam 26 DEC 68
8 JAN 69
dubb 30 OCT 73"

If we assume that the film was not 'completed' until 1973, this later date places it in a somewhat different context, next to 'H is for House' and amongst the short films of the 70s.

13. In addition to M standing for Man, Music and Mozart, M is also the thirteenth letter of the alphabet.