FILM DIRECTOR

Stan Brakhage

1933 - 2003

Photo of Stan Brakhage

Icon of person Stan Brakhage

James Stanley Brakhage ( BRAK-ij; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American experimental filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large and diverse body of work, exploring a variety of formats, approaches and techniques that included handheld camerawork, painting directly onto celluloid, fast cutting, in-camera editing, scratching on film, collage film and the use of multiple exposures. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Stan Brakhage has received more than 525,368 page views. His biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). Stan Brakhage is the 1,212th most popular film director (down from 1,127th in 2019), the 8,002nd most popular biography from United States (down from 7,436th in 2019) and the 301st most popular American Film Director.

Memorability Metrics

  • 530k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 46.22

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 20

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.79

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.28

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, Stan Brakhage ranks 1,212 out of 2,041. Before him are Busby Berkeley, George Fitzmaurice, David Hand, Duncan Jones, Edmond Keosayan, and George Abbott. After him are Walter Murch, Feng Xiaogang, José Padilha, Adam McKay, Arne Sucksdorff, and Tom McCarthy.

Most Popular Film Directors in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1933, Stan Brakhage ranks 409. Before him are Hiroki Kosai, Sven-Olov Sjödelius, Abdon Pamich, Jean Carnahan, Tony Jay, and Judah Folkman. After him are Viktor Kapitonov, Per Wästberg, Murray Halberg, Brigitte Reimann, Tim Conway, and Conway Twitty. Among people deceased in 2003, Stan Brakhage ranks 268. Before him are Joseph Saidu Momoh, Warren Zevon, Melitta Brunner, Wolfgang Peters, Sydney Lassick, and Bruno Heim. After him are Abdul Qadir al-Badri, Edwin Starr, Armand Borel, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Daijiro Kato, and Daphne Oram.

Others Born in 1933

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Others Deceased in 2003

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Stan Brakhage ranks 8,002 out of 20,380. Before him are Barry McGuire (1935), Charles Moore (1929), Michael Anthony (1954), D. J. Fontana (1931), Guy Madison (1922), and Eric Szmanda (1975). After him are Jeanette Nolan (1911), Neal Schon (1954), Ralph Meeker (1920), Jenna Ortega (2002), Fred Saberhagen (1930), and Paddy Chayefsky (1923).

Others born in United States

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In United States

Among film directors born in United States, Stan Brakhage ranks 301. Before him are Steve Kloves (1960), Julius J. Epstein (1909), Jack Conway (1887), Busby Berkeley (1895), David Hand (1900), and George Abbott (1887). After him are Walter Murch (1943), Adam McKay (1968), Tom McCarthy (1966), Lee Unkrich (1967), Laura Poitras (1964), and David Koepp (1963).

American born Film Directors

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Filmography

Mothlight
Director
Seemingly at random, the wings and other bits of moths and insects move rapidly across the screen. Most are brown or sepia; up close, we can see patterns within wings, similar to the veins in a leaf. Sometimes the images look like paper cutouts, like Matisse. Green objects occasionally appear. Most wings are translucent. The technique makes them appear to be stuck directly to the film.
Dec 2nd 19635.7 / 10
Window Water Baby Moving
Director
On a winter's day, a woman stretches near a window then sits in a bathtub of water. She's happy. Her lover is nearby; there are close ups of her face, her pregnant belly, and his hands caressing her. She gives birth: we see the crowning of the baby's head, then the birth itself; we watch a pair of hands tie off and cut the umbilical cord. With the help of the attending hands, the mother expels the placenta. The infant, a baby girl, nurses. We return from time to time to the bath scene. By the end, dad's excited; mother and daughter rest. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
Aug 2nd 19596.9 / 10
Eye Myth
Director
After the title, a white screen gives way to a series of frames suggestive of abstract art, usually with one or two colors dominating and rapid change in the images. Two figures emerge from this jungle of color: the first, a shirtless man, appears twice, coming into focus, then disappearing behind the bursts and patterns of color, then reappearing; the second figure appears later, in the right foreground. This figure suggests someone older, someone of substance. The myth? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Aug 28th 19675.3 / 10