Editing Serene Velocity (section)

==Production==
[[File:Ernie Gehr 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Director [[Ernie Gehr]] in 2017]]
In early 1970 Gehr was at SUNY Binghamton while [[Larry Gottheim]] was beginning to form a film department.<ref name="MacDonald 2005, p. 374">MacDonald 2005, p. 374.</ref><ref name="MacDonald 2015, p. 40">MacDonald 2015, p. 40.</ref><ref>[https://www.splittoothmedia.com/ernie-gehr-serene-velocity-1970/ Avant Horror: Ernie Gehr’s ‘Serene Velocity’ (1970) - Split Tooth Media]</ref> Gottheim was impressed with Gehr's earlier short films ''Morning'' and ''Wait'', and the two became acquainted when Gottheim replaced a damaged print of one of Gehr's works.<ref name="MacDonald 2015, p. 40"/> With the encouragement of Gottheim and [[Ken Jacobs]], Gehr taught two courses there during the summer session.<ref name="MacDonald 2005, p. 374"/><ref>MacDonald 2015, p. 235.</ref> He had been interested in making a film that explored "the intervals between frames–activating the screen plane from frame to frame more dynamically".<ref name="MacDonald 2005, p. 374"/> One day during the session, Gehr was on his way to the film department's editing rooms in a basement and thought of the hallway as an ideal place to film. A long, plain area appealed to him as a good space to "maximize the tension between representation and abstraction".<ref>MacDonald 2005, pp. 374–375.</ref>

Gehr began shooting test footage in the basement hallway. He tested mid-range and extreme focal lengths in "bars" of 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 frames. He decided to use bars of 4 frames, projected at 16 [[frames per second]]. This would have been roughly equivalent to 6 frames at 24 frames per second, but Gehr chose a lower frame rate so that each frame would remain on screen longer, accentuating the optical effects.<ref name="mekas-film-culture"/> He was surprised by the physical effect of watching the footage and felt nauseated afterward.<ref>MacDonald 2005, p. 375.</ref>

The footage for ''Serene Velocity'' was shot over the course of one night. Gehr began filming once it was dark outside, planning to take a break for several hours and finish filming during sunrise.<ref>MacDonald 2005, pp. 375–377.</ref> He started by alternating between focal lengths of 50&nbsp;mm and 55&nbsp;mm. After roughly {{convert|60|ft|m}} of film, he moved each of the lengths apart by 5&nbsp;mm, to 45&nbsp;mm and 60&nbsp;mm, then 40&nbsp;mm and 65&nbsp;mm, and so on.<ref name="mekas-film-culture"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Ellen |year=1976 |section=1970-1972 |title=A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema |publisher=[[American Federation of Arts]] |page=147 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica00amer_0/page/146/mode/2up}}</ref> He marked off lengths in intervals of 5&nbsp;mm on a piece of tape and gradually moved the lengths farther apart throughout filming. He manually recorded each frame, and without the use of a [[cable release]] his fingers became swollen from holding the [[shutter button]]. The process took longer than he had expected; he took only one break to use a restroom and held his head under water to keep awake.<ref>MacDonald 2005, p. 377.</ref>