Montage II: Ephemeral Blue

00:00 Introduction by Gordon Nelson, Digital Archivist, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum
03:11 Montage II: Ephemeral Blue

Montage II: Ephemeral Blue (US ca. 1960)
Director: Wayne D. Sourbeer
Cinematographer: Wayne D. Sourbeer
Writer: Charles Plymell
Music: David Levinson
Voice: Richard Grove
Sound: James Kramer
Cast: Dee La Velle, Brad Hammond, La Vona Spencer, Dorothy Sourbeer
Production company: Montage Productions

Production date: ca. 1960
Release date: 1972
Length (in feet): 390 ft. (16mm)
Length (in reels): 1
Sound: 6 track Maurer multiple VA track
Color: replication of original Kodachrome
Running time: 10 min., 50 sec.

Generous support for the video introduction provided by Art Bridges.

Preserved with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation’s Avant-Garde Masters Grant program funded by The Film Foundation
Preserved at The Cinema Lab
Digitized by Eastman Film Preservation Services
This film has been made accessible to the public in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: NEH CARES. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this video, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Wayne Sourbeer deftly combines visual forms, the original poetry of Kansas-born poet Charles Plymell and an original music score by David Levinson, who was at the time, associate conductor of the Wichita Symphony. Montage II: Ephemeral Blue is the quintessential example of what continental film critics have called “non-verbal communication.” Sourbeer’s images are the foundation for Plymell’s verbal abstractions and Levinson’s brilliant musical score.