Legendary experimental filmmaker and music video pioneer Bruce Conner died in San Francisco yesterday at age 74, following a long illness. Conner's 1958 film A Movie combined found footage and a pop soundtrack, distilling the essence of of how it felt to be young and awake in post-beatnik America. (Because of its cultural significance, A Movie was added to the Library Of Congress' National Film Registry in 1991.) Other Conner landmarks include Report, a 1967 deconstruction of TV's coverage of the Kennedy assassination, and early music videos for the likes of Devo, David Byrne and Brian Eno. Conner was also instrumental in creating the light shows for San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom—all part of his career-long effort to use the detritus of American culture to create a kind of waking dream.