The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
THE RISE AND FALL OF BURNING MAN is a work in progress by Bill Knowland and Carson Duper. Using rarely screened 16mm film and concentrating on the “glory years,” we follow Burning Man from its roots in the art underground through its evolution into a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
This experimental-documentary presents a “super weekend” at Burning Man, combining footage from many years to create a single unified experience.
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
More than a “best of” compilation, the film charts the whole history of the event - a Burning Man not seen since attendance grew into the tens of thousands.
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
We show how a handful of anarchist daredevils created a celebration of total freedom...
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
No rules. No boundaries. “Survival is optional.” There is danger, and an overwhelming sense of rising chaos just barely under control.
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
This is a microcosm of our society, a balancing act between personal freedom and the rule of law - chaos versus order.
Carson Duper
The Rise and Fall of Burning Man
Bill Knowland: Co Producer,
Director of Photography
Producers Bill Knowland (right)
and
Carson Duper at the 1994
Burning Man festival.
Photo by George Post © 1994
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Set in 1912, this surreal experimental-narrative is told with stunning visual effects and no dialogue. THE IDEA is a visual fable that tells the story of a luminous egg with magical properties that is exploited by those that come into contact
with it.
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
THE IDEA is one of the best short films I have ever seen. It is an amazing 20-minute work with very high production values. In the film a chain of events begins when a woman (Lorene Yarnell) gives birth to an egg. Everyone wants the egg, believing that it holds the answer to each individual’s needs in life.
John Douglas
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Knowland’s film works on a metaphorical level, exploring the mysteries of creativity, motivation, emotion, desire and fulfillment. He maintains deeply personal and compelling reasons for directing. “I tend to visualize things in such detail that I can’t explain it, I have to put it on film.”
Linda Leeb, Film Tape World
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
The movie’s special effects include a house of cards that took 14 painstaking hours to create, and a five-foot-high egg made of plaster and fiberglass. “I don’t mind sharing my ideas with others. One idea can spark other people to have ideas. The death of one can stimulate new ideas,” Knowland said.
Anne Burke-Contra Costa Times
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
I wanted to get back to that origin. I wanted to be near the birth of film—film as an idea. Now film is transcending into something else.
Bill Knowland
THE IDEA was presented with a live musical performance by the Club Foot Orchestra at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Awards: CINE Golden Eagle
Best Experimental Film at the
BACA Film & Video Festival
and a Silver Apple at the
National Educational Film Festival
The Idea
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Other exhibitions include:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Millenium, the Oakland Museum,
Odense Film Festival in Denmark
Bill Knowland and John Scarpa work on lumia sequences for THE IDEA.
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Filmmaker Bill Knowland works
in a style that he calls “experimental-documentary.” Beyond acting as mere observer, he uses his full creative technique in interaction with his subject.
By interpreting his subject, the work of artists from other media, Knowland creates a vibrant presentational form.
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
MASKS OF ILLUSION presents the handcrafted masks of Bay Area sculptor Horace Washington. Knowland describes an abstract chain of images shown as “a trip through the catacombs of the artist’s mind.” From this boldly stated perspective, we see Aztec, East Indian, Afro-Haitian, and European cultures melded in dozens of stylized masks.
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Masks of clay, cast cement, bronze and porcelain twist, zoom, spin and streak across the screen. Yet the many cinematic and optical effects used comprise more than typical avant-garde mysteriousness. The images are arrayed in a logical universe that conveys Knowland’s theories
on creativity.
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
“There’s a destructive side to the artistic act,” Knowland explains. “New ideas and works are constantly built upon the disintegration of your past processes.” In one scene, a mask melts before our eyes and the molten droplets become tiny masks. In a “big bang” effect, a clay mask explodes and then implodes into the sculptor's hand.
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
New age composer Ray Lynch performed the original score for this film.
MASKS OF ILLUSION is an impressive interaction of unique creative visions. As a work of art and as a documentary, it succeeds on its own terms.
Carson Duper
Masks of Illusion
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Exhibitions:
Bucks County Film Festival
Kinetic Image Film Festival
National Educational Film Festival
New York Filmmakers' Exposition
Whitney Museum of American Art
Freeform
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
FREEFORM is one of the most visually striking and imaginative color dance films you’ll ever see!
Greg Tozian, The Tampa Tribune
Bill Knowland produced, edited and shot this award-winning experimental-documentary film that visually explores four genres of dance. The sound track is by new age musician Iasos.
Freeform
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Time exposure and step printing provide a motion study of Balinese and belly dance from the Magana Baptiste Dance Ctr.
Modern dance by Dansfrancisco is enhanced by the multi-image slide projections of
Paul Ackerman.
Freeform
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Barbara Peterson’s Dance Coalition is seen from overhead through time exposure as an accelerating, spinning, colorful mass of spirals.
Freeform
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Devi Baptiste performs her yoga dance in conjunction with special effects generated mandala images. Jo Ann & James Gillerman worked with Bill Knowland to create a video synthesis loop, which interacted with the dancer’s movement to represent her aura.
Freeform
Bill Knowland: Producer, Director,
Director of Photography, Editor
Awarded CINE Golden Eagle
Exhibitions:
Chicago Film Festival
Film/Dance Festival
NYC Experimental Film Festival
San Francisco Intl. Film Festival
