And the situation suits him fine. That's because Conner is cinema's great master of ''found footage'' - an artist who shapes fresh works from snippets of forgotten pieces of film spliced together in evocative new ways.His films have been screened in museums, universities, and theaters ever since he completed his first one in 1958. All told, he has released less than two hours of work, but those painstakingly created reels have earned him a reputation as one of the most brilliant and influential of all movie poets.