definition of experimental film

What Is Experimental Film: The Essential Guide

What is an experimental film? It’s a question that deserves an answer. It may also be the phrase most likely used to describe films in the most pretentious and least helpful manner possible. But what does it actually mean?

Etymologically speaking, there’s nothing particularly experimental about “experimental film.” The word comes from the Latin word experimentum or “test,” and was initially used in chemistry in reference to scientific experiments.

However, it soon found its way into other scientific fields, as well as philosophy and mathematics. The concept of a “test” soon became associated with pushing boundaries, trying new things, and generally not taking the easy road.

This isn’t too far off from how we use it today. Experimental films are typically more concerned with form than content. They can eschew traditional narrative structure or display techniques that aren’t commonly seen in mainstream cinema.  

What Is experimental film

What is experimental film.

Experimental film, also known as avant-garde film or underground film, describes a category of films that are often made outside of the mainstream commercial filmmaking industry.

The primary characteristic of experimental films is to focus on the exploration of new cinematic techniques and visual expression.

Experimental films are often either manipulated photographic images, collage films, short films , or a combination of all three.

Some feature abstract film techniques, sound manipulation, rapid changes in image size and style, or alternate frame rates. Some rely on mechanical devices that use optical effects such as mirrors.

Experimental film is a realm where filmmakers break free from conventional storytelling, exploring new narrative techniques and visual styles.

It’s where the norm is defied and creativity knows no bounds.

In our deep jump into the world of experimental cinema, we’ll uncover the essence of what makes a film ‘experimental’ and why these films are vital to the evolution of the cinematic arts.

We’ll explore the pioneers of this genre and their groundbreaking works that continue to inspire filmmakers and audiences alike.

Join us as we unravel the captivating elements of experimental film that challenge our perceptions and push the boundaries of what film can be.

Definition Of Experimental Film

When we jump into the essence of experimental film, we encounter a realm that transcends traditional storytelling.

These films are often characterized by their non-linear narratives and avant-garde aesthetic.

The very nature of experimental film defies easy categorization.

But, it’s essential to pinpoint certain elements that are hallmarks of this innovative genre:

• A focus on the visual and auditory experience over conventional narrative structure,
• The use of abstract or symbolic content to convey themes and emotions,
• An emphasis on the filmmaker’s personal artistic vision.

Filmmakers in this space are liberated from the constraints of commercial filmmaking.

Their works are personal and can be seen as an extension of the artist’s thoughts and feelings.

One might argue that experimental film is akin to poetry in motion.

Like a poem, these films invite multiple interpretations and affect viewers on a deeply subjective level.

Groundbreaking experimental works like Meshes of the Afternoon challenge audiences to engage with the medium in a radically different way.

These films often require an active viewer – one who’s ready to piece together the story from a disjointed narrative or to find meaning in a seemingly unrelated sequence of images.

The landscape of experimental film is ever-changing and hard to pin down.

It’s a genre that’s constantly evolving as artists push the boundaries of what’s possible within the medium of film.

Breaking Free From Conventional Storytelling

In the vibrant world of experimental film, we find a refreshing liberation from traditional cinematic narratives.

Conventional plots, predictable character arcs, and the familiar three-act structure are eschewed in favor of a form that’s boundless and unconfined.

Filmmakers venturing into this domain aren’t just telling stories – they’re exploring the medium itself.

Every shot, cut, and sound in experimental cinema is an opportunity to innovate and communicate ideas and emotions beyond the scope of words.

Drawn to the possibilities of the canvas that is the screen, artists behind experimental films use their visual lexicon to create unique experiences.

Consider the powerful aesthetics in Meshes of the Afternoon , where the visual language speaks volumes, rendering dialogue almost unnecessary.

The hallmarks of experimental film often include –

• Non-linear narratives – Innovative use of camera techniques and editing,
• Emphasis on mood and tone over plot,
• Abstract imagery to evoke a range of interpretations.

As filmmakers, our goal isn’t to simply entertain but to evoke, provoke, and question.

We aim to challenge the viewer’s perception and provide a cinematic experience that resonates on a deeper, often more personal level.

By deliberately stepping away from mainstream storytelling, experimental film opens up new horizons for cinematic expression.

The intersection of film and viewer in this arena is a space ripe for exploration, where the act of viewing becomes a participatory experience.

In embracing the experimental, we provide a counterpoint to the familiar, a contrast that often highlights the potential and elasticity of the film medium.

Audiences who step into the world of experimental film become part of a conversation – a dialogue between creator and consumer where the rules are rewritten with every frame.

Exploring New Narrative Techniques

In the world of experimental film, narrative takes on a form as malleable as clay.

We encounter stories that twist time, space, and reality to create something wholly unique.

Through various means – fragmented storylines , dream sequences , or unreliable narrator s – these films push the boundaries of how a story can be told.

One noteworthy approach to narrative is the use of hyperlink cinema .

Flicks like Babel or Syriana create a tapestry of interwoven story threads, connecting characters and events across different narratives.

This style mimics the interconnected nature of our digital world and offers a rich ground for exploration.

Experimental filmmakers often employ visual symbolism to convey meaning, sidelining traditional dialogue-driven plot development.

Consider The Tree of Life ; its visual sequences speak volumes without a single line of dialogue.

The essence of experimental narrative is to ask fundamental questions about cinema itself.

What are the limits of film?

How can we transcend them?

Such questions lead to techniques including:

• Non-linear storytelling,
• The use of montage to suggest rather than narrate,
• Mixed media formats that combine film with animation, still photography, or digital effects.

In our quest to understand experimental cinema, we look to pieces like Enter the Void .

It’s a film that shatters conventional narrative structures, offering a sensory overload that defies easy description.

The narrative unfolds not as a straight line but as a spiral, looping and re-looping through a character’s life.

We examine how Dogville stretches the concept of a set to its limits.

The film unfolds on a nearly bare stage, challenging audiences to enrich the sparse visuals with their own imagination.

The journey into the heart of experimental narrative techniques is an ever-evolving adventure.

As we jump into more films, we unlock new ways to mold and understand the stories we tell.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZiqBTZMJ-b0

Pushing The Boundaries Of Visual Styles

We see experimental films as audacious art forms that dare to challenge and redefine the aesthetic norms of mainstream cinema.

They plunge into uncharted visual territories, often achieving a unique cinematic language that can be both perplexing and fascinating.

These artistic ventures frequently embrace a variety of unconventional visual styles.

We’ve observed a range of groundbreaking approaches in films like Enter the Void where neon-drenched visuals complement a narrative that defies linearity.

One significant trend within these films is the manipulation of color and light to create an emotional impact.

We consider The Fall a prime example, with its kaleidoscope of vibrant hues painting each frame to not just tell a story but evoke a visceral response.

Experimental filmmakers also experiment with:

• Aspect ratios – altering the viewer’s perspective,
• Camera techniques – embracing handheld or drone footage,
• Post-production effects – using CGI to generate new realities.

By pushing these boundaries, film becomes more than storytelling; it becomes an immersive experience.

Under the Skin utilizes minimal dialogue paired with stark, haunting imagery to invite us deeper into the alien perspective of its protagonist.

Textures and patterns play an essential role as well.

They can transform the mundane into the extraordinary, like the intricate shadow play in The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari, which still inspires filmmakers today.

Our exploration of experimental film reminds us that the medium is a canvas for innovation.

Each frame, with its meticulous composition and thoughtful design, can redefine what we consider possible in the art of filmmaking.

Pioneers Of Experimental Cinema

When we explore the origins of experimental film, it’s impossible to overlook the groundbreaking work of Maya Deren.

With her film Meshes of the Afternoon , she catapulted herself into the spotlight, setting a precedent for personal and avant-garde narrative structures in cinema.

She blazed a trail for filmmakers seeking to express complex subjects outside the confines of traditional storytelling.

Another luminary in the field was Luis Buñuel , whose collaboration with Salvador Dalí on Un Chien Andalou remains a quintessential work.

This film challenged viewers with its dreamlike sequences and stark, surreal imagery.

It demonstrated the power of cinema to tap into the subconscious, liberating film from the shackles of linear narratives.

Stan Brakhage, an icon of the American avant-garde scene, pushed the boundaries of what film could be.

His body of work, most notably Dog Star Man , exemplified the use of hand-held cameras and rapid editing.

Brakhage’s emphasis on visual perception as a personal, almost tactile experience redefined the role of the viewer.

The impact of these pioneers can be seen across various aspects of modern and classic cinema –

• Reinforcement of personal narrative,
• Exploration of dreamlike and surreal imagery,
• Challenge to traditional story structures.

Their contributions are not merely historical footnotes; they continue to influence filmmakers who strive to forge unique visual narratives.

These trailblazers showed us that experimentation isn’t just about breaking rules – it’s about creating a new language for storytelling that’s only bound by the limits of our imagination.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wcr98xQ39-k

Groundbreaking Works And Their Influence

We can’t talk about experimental film without acknowledging Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren.

This film set the stage for narrative flexibility in cinema.

With its circular story and symbolic imagery, it inspired filmmakers to jump into the subconscious of their audiences.

L’Âge d’Or , created by Luis Buñuel, disrupted the film industry with its bold critique of bourgeois society.

It used surrealism to unlock new forms of expression.

Buñuel’s work left a permanent mark on the film landscape by breaking down narratives steeped in reality and reimagining them through a dream-like lens.

Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man exemplified the power of editing to create meaning.

His splicing technique questioned the very essence of moving images.

Brakhage’s contribution lies in his ability to evoke raw emotions, encouraging filmmakers to explore the visceral potential of their medium.

These experimental films sparked movements which continue to influence today’s cinema:

• Meshes of the Afternoon paved the way for films that challenge linear storytelling,
• L’Âge d’Or served as a blueprint for satirical narratives in contemporary film,
• Dog Star Man remains a master class in editing, inspiring innovative ways to manipulate time and space on screen.

Their nonconformist methods were revolutionary.

They urged filmmakers to view the camera as an extension of the human eye.

Not just to capture reality but to create a tapestry of perception that defies it.

Each one of these works embodies experimentation beyond just form and narrative structure.

They embed complex themes and emotions into the visual language.

Our understanding of film as an art form is richer for their daring explorations.

Captivating Elements Of Experimental Film

Experimental film thrives on the fringe of conventional cinema, challenging viewers with its unique characteristics and aesthetics.

What Is Experimental Film – Wrap Up

We’ve delved into the essence of experimental film, uncovering its power to transcend traditional storytelling and engage us on a profound level.

These films challenge our perceptions, inviting us to experience cinema through a fresh, often avant-garde lens.

As we embrace the unconventional rhythms and narratives of experimental cinema, we’re reminded that film is not just entertainment but a dynamic art form capable of endless evolution.

Let’s continue to celebrate the bold creators who dare to express their visions without boundaries, forever changing how we perceive the art of filmmaking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the structure of experimental films.

Experimental films often feature a nonlinear structure that manipulates time, crafts fragmented storylines, and fosters unique connections with the audience.

How Do Visual Effects Enhance Experimental Cinema?

In experimental cinema, visual effects and editing techniques are used more for expressive purposes rather than simply for aesthetic appeal.

What Role Does Sound Play In Experimental Films?

Soundtracks in experimental films aim to defy conventional expectations and help create immersive and often unexpected auditory experiences.

Are Experimental Films Limited To Specific Genres?

No, experimental films are not confined to specific genres.

They often explore a wide range of philosophical and psychological issues.

How Do Experimental Films Utilize The Camera?

Experimental films push the boundaries of traditional camera usage, redefining it as a creative tool rather than a passive recording device.

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By Amelia Ames

April 17, 2017

After MoMA's Bruce Conner retrospective this past summer and the Whitney's celebrated "Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art" survey, experimental film finally seems to be back on the New York art world's agenda. But for a long time, film was the thorn of art history after that thing called "Hollywood" came along, which threatened the avant-garde film's separation from mainstream cinema.

Experimental or avant-garde film can be traced all the way back to canonical artists like Marcel Duchamp and Many Ray , but what happens post-Hollywood? Here's a quick guide to postwar experimental film in the United States, ranging from Expanded Cinema of the '60s to the origins of underground queer cinema with artists like Jack Smith. We've got the critics and the crucial texts you need to read (each essay has been linked) and the artists you need to know.

Expanded Cinema of the '60s

Critic to Know: GENE YOUNGBLOOD Seminal Text to Know: Expanded Cinema (1970)

Gene Youngblood was a crucial theorist of media arts and alternative cinema during the 1960s and '70s. He was the first to consider video an art form, folding computer and media art into the genre. His seminal book Expanded Cinema was the first to define one of the most heterogeneous movements in film history. As you can probably guess from term, “expanded cinema” refers to cinema that expands beyond the bounds of traditional uses of celluloid film, to inhabit a wide range of other materials and forms including video, television, light shows, computer art, multimedia installation and performance, kinetic sculpture, theater, and even holography. Mixing psychedelic consciousness and Marxist theory, Youngblood explains “when we say expanded cinema we actually mean an expanded consciousness.” So if you’re still confused after seeing Stan Vanderbeek’s immersive psychedelic Movie Drome (1965) at the Whitney’s Dreamlands exhibition this year, take a look at the first chapter of Youngblood’s Expanded Cinema (the entire book is available on the PDF link above).

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Stan Vanderbeek, Carolee Schneemann , Malcom Le Grice, Mark Leckey

Found Footage Film

Critic to Know: CRAIG BALDWIN Seminal Text to Know: From Junk to Funk to Punk to Link : A survey of found-footage film in San Francisco Bay Area

Any narrative of postwar experimental film has to begin in California. Reacting against the expansion of Hollywood, experimental film was, in essence, a form of cinema that radically opposed the aesthetics and politics of mainstream media. The rise of psychedelic light shows, beatnik films, and alternative outdoor venues like Canyon Cinema (a filmmakers cooperative started by Bruce Baillie that exhibited independent, non-commercial film) all lead the Bay area to become an epicenter of avant-garde film in the second half of the century. Experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin’s essay “From Junk to Funk to Punk to Link” is a must-read for anyone interested in a short genealogy of found footage film, seen in likes of Bruce Conner and Gunvor Nelson's work. A pioneer of found-footage himself, Baldwin remains in San Francisco to this day where he continues to program content for Artist’s Television Access, which broadcasts art films on Public-access television. For more on experimental film in the Bay Area click here to see the Berkeley Art Museum’s catalogue, “Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-2000.”

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Bruce Conner , Craig Baldwin, Robert & Gunvor Nelson, Chick Strand

Structuralist Film

Critic to Know: PETER GIDAL Seminal Text: "Introduction" of Structural Film Anthology (1976)

Structuralist or Materialist film is what Minimalism was to sculpture in the 1960s. In his paradigm book Structural Film Anthology (1976), English theoretician and filmmaker Peter Gidal writes frankly that "Structural/Materialist film attempts to be non-illusionist" in its attempt to "demystify the film process." Structuralist film, like Minimalist objects, doesn't actually represent anything. Instead, it exposes the relations between the camera and the way an image is presented, and explores the characteristics specific to the medium—spotlighting elements like flatness, grain, light, and movement. Tony Conrad's film The Flicker (1966), exemplary of the movement, consists purely of rapidly alternating black and white frames, achieving a kind of strobe light effect. If you're hesitant to submit yourself to the full fifteen minutes of Flicker (we don't blame you), then take a look at Gidal's introduction in the Structural Film Anthology to get a better idea about what this strange movement was really about.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Tony Conrad, Hollis Frampton, Michael Snow

Feminist Film

Critic to Know: LAURA MULVEY Seminal Text: Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist, currently teaching film and media studies at Birbeck, University of London. Drawing from psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Mulvey’s seminal essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975) was crucial in inaugurating the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism. Mulvey was the first to term what has come to be known as the “male gaze.” In the essay, she argues that classic Hollywood cinema inevitably positioned the spectator as a masculine and active voyeur, and the passive woman on screen as object of his scopic desire. The essay challenged conventional film theory and paved the way for an entire era of feminist artist’s work on the male gaze (think Cindy Sherman’s Untitled film stills.). After reading “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” you’ll never look at a Hitchcock or John Wayne the same.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Peggy Ahwesh, Barbara Hammer, Laurie Simmons

Camp & Queer Cinema

Critic to Know: SUSAN SONTAG Seminal Text: "Notes On Camp" (1964)

Susan Sontag was one of the most revered writers, filmmakers, political activists, and critics of her generation. Sontag wrote extensively about photography, culture and media, AIDS, and the Vietnam War. Sontag’s most well known essay, “Notes on Camp,” is crucial for anyone interested in the legacy of queer filmmakers like Jack Smith, who is most known for his banned film Flaming Creatures (1963) that right-wing politician Strom Thurmand mentioned in anti-pornography speeches. Although Sontag does not define camp, she writes that the essence of a “camp” sensibility lies in “its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” For anyone interested in the kitschy, exotic films of Jack Smith and underground Queer Cinema, Sontag’s “Notes on Camp” is a must.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Jack Smith, Andy Warhol , Isaac Julien

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A Critical Guide to Understanding Experimental Film

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what is experimental film?

Experimental film, referred to as avantgarde cinema , is a genre that defies traditional storytelling and filmmaking techniques. It explores the boundaries of the medium, prioritizing artistic expression and innovation over narrative coherence. These films are characterized by their unconventional structures, visuals, and approaches to sound and editing, challenging the audiences to think differently about cinema and often blurring the lines between film and other art forms.

Origins and History of Experimental Film

Experimental film begun to take shape in the early 20th century, closely connected with various avantgarde art movements. The rise of modernism, with its emphasis on departing from traditional forms, laid the groundwork for experimental cinema. The Dadaists , Surrealists , and Futurists artists, among others, looked to challenge traditional aesthetics and societal norms, which naturally extended into the art of film. At this time, several avantgarde short films were created, with famous ones being Entr’acte (1924) and Anémic Cinéma (1926).

One of the earliest pioneers was Dziga Vertov, a Soviet filmmaker whose work “Man with a Movie Camera” (1929) exemplified the spirit of experimentation. Vertov’s film was a documentary-style depiction of Soviet life, but it was notable for its lack of a narrative. Instead, it employed a rapid montage of unconnected images, creating a kaleidoscopic view of reality. This emphasized the medium’s potential for abstraction and montage , concepts that would become central to experimental film.

The post-World War I era saw a surge of filmmakers like Luis Bunuel, Germaine Dulac, and Man Ray exploring the possibilities of non-narrative film. Their works often blurred the lines between cinema, painting, and sculpture, utilizing techniques such as slow motion, superimposition, and reverse motion to create surreal and dreamlike experiences.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the experimental film movement continued to develop. This period saw the rise of Poetic Realism and the influence of surrealism in film. In France, directors like Jean Vigo, with his film “L’Atalante” (1934), blended poetic imagery with a loose narrative structure, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Meanwhile, in the United States, filmmakers like Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke produced works such as “The City” (1939), a semi-documentary that utilized montage and visual poetry to depict urban life. The experimentation of this era laid the groundwork for the more radical departures from narrative cinema that would emerge in the post-World War II years.

Characteristics of Experimental Film

Non-narrative structure: Unlike traditional films that follow a linear story-line, experimental films employ non-linear or non-narrative structures. They may consist of disjointed scenes, abstract imagery, or even lack a coherent plot altogether.

Visual and auditory experimentation: Experimental filmmakers frequently use unorthodox visual and auditory techniques. This can include the use of unconventional camera angles, extreme close-ups, rapid editing, and innovative lighting. Soundscapes in these films might incorporate ambient noises, non-diegetic sounds, or complete silence.

Personal and introspective themes: Many experimental films delve into personal or philosophical themes, reflecting the filmmaker’s thoughts, emotions, or worldview.

Focus on the medium: A recurring theme in experimental film is the exploration of the medium itself. Filmmakers could draw attention to the mechanics of filmmaking—such as the materiality of film stock, the editing process, or the interplay of light and shadow.

Short form and low budget: Many experimental films are short in length, ranging from a few minutes to half an hour. The low-budget nature of these projects results in greater creative freedom, as filmmakers are less constrained by commercial expectations.

Important Filmmakers and Films of Experimental Cinema

Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali were key figures in the surrealist movement , known for their iconic experimental film “Un Chien Andalou” (1929). This 16-minute silent short is famous for its disjointed narrative and shocking imagery, notably the scene of a woman’s eye being slashed. The film utilized dream logic and delved into the subconscious, reflecting the surrealists’ intent to challenge traditional film.

Maya Deren was a pioneer in American avantgarde cinema, celebrated for her poetic and visually inventive films. Her seminal work “Meshes of the Afternoon” (1943), delves into themes of identity, memory, and the subconscious. The 14-minute film features Deren in a recurring loop of dreamlike sequences, encountering mysterious objects and figures. Deren’s use of slow motion and symbolic imagery creates a sense of disorientation, significantly influencing the development of experimental film in the United States.

Stan Brakhage was an influential experimental filmmaker known for exploring the visual potential of film. His notable work “Dog Star Man” (1961-64) consists of four abstract films meditating on cosmic and existential themes. Brakhage used experimental techniques like hand-painting on film and multiple exposures to create vivid, dynamic visual textures.

Kenneth Anger is an American filmmaker renowned for his focus on occult themes, pop culture, and homoeroticism. His influential film “Scorpio Rising” (1963) is a 28-minute piece that combines documentary footage, staged scenes, and a rock-and-roll soundtrack. The film portrays motorcycle enthusiasts and interweaves imagery of biker culture with religious and mythological symbols. Anger’s work often examined the interplay of power, desire, and the occult.

Legacy and Influence of the Experimental Film

Experimental film has significantly influenced cinema and other artistic practices, leaving a lasting impact on various forms of visual media. Techniques such as rapid editing and non-linear narratives, pioneered by experimental filmmakers, have been incorporated into mainstream cinema, television, and video games.

The genre has been pivotal in the growth of independent cinema , as experimental filmmakers operate outside the commercial studio system . Institutions like the Anthology Film Archives in New York and Canyon Cinema in San Francisco have played key roles in preserving and promoting experimental film, offering a platforms for both new and established filmmakers. By challenging traditional notions of narrative, experimental film has expanded the theoretical discourse around cinema, encouraging audiences to seek the boundaries between reality and illusion and engage with the medium’s aesthetic and philosophical aspects.

Refer to the main blog page for more educational insights on filmmaking techniques and cinematic history.

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What Is Experimental Film Definition

Apr 11, 2022

Understanding the Definition of Experimental Film

Diving into the realm of experimental film unveils a universe where the rules of traditional narrative cinema dissolve, giving way to an exploration of visual arts, sound, and non-linear storytelling.

This style of filmmaking not only challenges our perceptions but invites us into a space where each frame is a canvas, each sound a note in an avant-garde symphony.

The history of experimental film stretches back to the very roots of cinema itself, with pioneers who dared to envision the medium as an untamed art form.

Navigating through these waters reveals not just the techniques and styles developed over the years but the profound impact this genre has made across global cultures.

In this article, we'll unravel the intricate tapestry of experimental cinema, from its definition to its pioneers and the contemporary landscape it inhabits.

Exploring the Core of Experimental Cinema

Embarking on the journey through the realm of experimental cinema, I find myself intrigued by the unique landscape it presents, a stark contrast from conventional storytelling methodologies.

Within its core, experimental film thrives on innovation, pushing boundaries that traditional cinema often dares not approach.

Identifying the traits that set it apart becomes an adventure in itself, exploring how filmmakers leverage non-traditional narrative techniques to convey their visions.

The emphasis frequently shifts from a linear storyline to a more abstract exploration of visuals and sound, where the latter sometimes eclipses the former in importance.

Perhaps one of the most captivating aspects is the active attempt to break the fourth wall, fostering a direct engagement with the viewer that challenges passive consumption and invites a deeper, more interactive form of interpretation.

As I delve deeper, each of these components offers a key to unlocking the essence and the boundless possibilities inherent in experimental film.

Identifying the Traits That Set It Apart

One striking attribute that renders experimental cinema distinct lies in its relationship with narrative structure: instead of adhering to a tried-and-true, chronological order, these films often embrace a nonlinear narrative. This mode beckons audiences into a labyrinth of time and memory, where the beginning, middle, and end are reassembled into a mesmerizing puzzle, inviting interpretations as diverse as the viewers themselves.

Another defining trait is the intrinsic use of visual and auditory elements not merely as storytelling tools, but as central characters of the film. The deployment of avant-garde techniques, such as montage, surreal imagery, or unconventional soundscapes, contributes to an atmosphere where the usual significance of word-based language diminishes, replaced by a rich tapestry of sensory experiences:

Montage creates a unique rhythm, juxtaposing disparate images to evoke new meanings.

Surreal imagery challenges the boundaries between dream and reality, questioning the very nature of visual representation.

Unconventional soundscapes blur the line between music and noise, transforming ambient sounds into a narrative voice.

Delving Into Non-Traditional Narrative Techniques

Immersing myself deeper into the essence of experimental cinema, I've come to appreciate the artistry behind non-traditional narrative techniques. These methods, daring and unconventional, play with the viewer's sense of time, perspective, and emotion: they invite the audience into a unique storytelling experience that defies easy categorization.

Nonlinear narratives shuffle the deck of time, creating a collage of moments that challenge our conventional understanding of beginning, middle, and end.

Abstract storytelling favors imagery and sound over explicit dialogue, crafting narratives that are felt rather than explicitly understood.

Interactive narratives engage the viewer in an active dialogue with the film, breaking traditional passive viewing habits.

The exploration of these narrative techniques does more than simply entertain; it nudges us towards a broader understanding of narratives themselves. Witnessing how experimental filmmakers bend the rules of storytelling, pushing narratives beyond the confines of spoken language and linear progression, has been an eye-opener. It underlines the capacity of film to be not just a mirror of reality but a powerful lens to view, distort, and reimagine it.

The Role of Visuals and Sound Over Story

In the realm of experimental film, the traditional hierarchy where story reigns supreme is often overturned, placing a seminal focus on visuals and sound. This shift allows filmmakers to explore the texture of cinema itself, unearthing new ways to communicate through the film medium beyond the constraints of conventional narrative.

This emphasis on visual and auditory elements over a straightforward storyline does not dilute the film's impact; rather, it enriches the viewing experience. By prioritizing these elements, experimental cinema invites audiences to engage with films on a more instinctual level, challenging them to find meaning and emotion in the abstract.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Direct Viewer Engagement

Engaging with experimental film often feels like a conversation rather than a one-sided presentation, primarily due to the audacious strategy of breaking the fourth wall. This bold move transforms a passive viewing experience into an interactive dialogue, making me not just an observer but an active participant in unraveling the story's essence.

This direct engagement uniquely challenges my perceptions and expectations. When a film acknowledges my presence as a viewer, it disassembles the conventional barriers between the film and its audience, inviting me to step into its universe and interact with its layers of meaning in a more personal and profound way.

The Historical Roots of Experimental Film

Stepping into the historical roots of experimental film transports me directly to the tumultuous waves of the early 20th century.

It was then that the avant-garde movement began to weave its influence, redefining visual storytelling with its radical ideas and techniques, thereby etching key milestones in the evolution of this filmic genre.

I find myself captivated by how deeply world events, from wars to cultural revolutions, have indelibly shaped the course of experimental cinema, molding it into a platform where filmmakers reflect, reject, or reimagine the reality around them.

This journey through time not only highlights the genre’s resilience but also underscores its perpetual commitment to exploring the uncharted territories of artistic expression.

Tracing Back to the Early 20th Century

Embarking on a historical journey reveals that the seeds of experimental film were sown in the rich soil of the early 20th century. It was a period marked by fervent artistic experimentation, with pioneers like Georges Méliès and the Dadaists challenging the very fabric of visual storytelling through their groundbreaking works.

The creation of "A Trip to the Moon" by Méliès, alongside the anarchic spirit of Dada films, served as cornerstones that significantly influenced the trajectory of experimental cinema. Their audacity to redefine the language of film, incorporating elements of fantasy, surrealism, and innovative narrative structures, catalyzed a movement that thrived on pushing the boundaries of the medium.

Influence of the Avant-Garde Movement

The influence of the avant-garde movement on experimental film is profound, redefining the realm of cinema with a fresh perspective. It breathed life into a world where filmmakers were encouraged to explore, dissect, and reconstruct the traditional filmic language, transforming the canvas of the screen into a dynamic field of artistic expression. This movement signified more than a break from convention; it marked the beginning of an enduring dialogue between filmmakers and their medium, urging each frame to become a statement, each cut a manifesto.

Rooted in a desire to communicate the ineffable and to shatter the illusion of realism that dominated traditional cinema, the avant-garde movement fostered an environment where visual arts, literature, and cinema converged, birthing films that were as complex and variegated as poetry. Here, the narrative was not abandoned but reinvented, offering a kaleidoscopic view of reality that challenged audiences to engage with film in a manner that was both intellectually and emotionally more demanding. The avant-garde did not just change how stories were told; it revolutionized what could be considered a story.

Key Milestones in Experimental Film Evolution

Navigating through the annals of experimental film evolution, one standout milestone greets me vividly - the advent of Man Ray's "Le Retour à la Raison" in the 1920s. This piece’s innovative use of the rayograph technique opened my eyes to the possibilities of creating cinema without a camera, marking a pivotal moment that expanded the vocabulary of film language beyond the conventional boundaries of narrative and visual storytelling.

Another significant leap in this journey dawned with the release of Stan Brakhage's "Dog Star Man" in the 1960s. Witnessing Brakhage's work, a defiant embrace of visual abstraction and personal expression, further underscored the shift from narrative to a more visceral, visual poetry in motion, crystallizing my understanding of experimental film as a realm where filmmakers can explore the depths of human experience without the anchor of traditional storylines.

How World Events Shaped Experimental Cinema

World events have undeniably sculpted the contours of experimental cinema, infusing it with a sense of urgency and relevance. Events such as global conflicts, cultural upheavals, and technological milestones not only influenced thematic choices but also spurred innovations in film techniques and narratives:

Global conflicts brought forth a stark realism and an introspective quality to films, compelling filmmakers to explore the human condition amidst chaos and destruction.

The rise of new technologies offered novel ways of capturing and manipulating images, leading to groundbreaking visual styles that redefined cinema’s potential.

Cultural revolutions, embodying shifts in social consciousness, catalyzed a move towards more abstract and symbolic storytelling in film, seeking to capture the zeitgeist of the times.

This dynamic interaction between global events and experimental cinema not only carved a niche for the genre but also ensured its continued evolution. It stands as a testament to the resilience and adaptability of filmmakers who, faced with a changing world, responded with ever-evolving artistic expressions.

Pioneers Who Shaped Experimental Filmmaking

Diving deep into the heart of experimental cinema, we uncover layers upon layers of innovation, spearheaded by bold visionaries from the early days to the contemporary scene.

These pioneers, unbounded by traditional cinematic norms, have significantly influenced the trajectory of film as an art form.

Exploring their groundbreaking work, from the avant-garde origins with filmmakers like Maya Deren and Luis Buñuel, to the modern experimentations by artists such as David Lynch and Michael Snow, illustrates a fearless pursuit of redefining what film can convey.

Their defiance of conventional storytelling, reliance on visual poetry over narrative, and embrace of abstract soundscapes serve as a beacon for understanding how these trailblazers have forever altered the fabric of cinema.

As we delve into the contributions of both the early masters and contemporary innovators, it becomes clear that their collective legacy is not just in the films they've created but in their unwavering commitment to expanding the boundaries of cinematic expression.

The Visionaries of Early Experimental Cinema

Exploring the visionaries of early experimental cinema leads me directly to the likes of Maya Deren and Georges Méliès, who not only revolutionized what we perceive as cinema but also expanded its expressive potentials. Deren's mesmerizing dances with the camera and Méliès's magical narratives paved new paths, illustrating that cinema could transcend storytelling to become an immersive art experience.

I find myself deeply moved by the audacity of Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel as they crafted "Un Chien Andalou," a piece so surreal and so defiant of conventional logic, it forced viewers to question their own perceptions of reality. Their work epitomizes the essence of experimental film, guiding us toward the uncharted territories where film intersects with dream, symbol, and the subconscious.

Contemporary Masters of Experimental Techniques

Moving beyond the early innovators, the landscape of experimental cinema thrives with contemporary masters who continue to challenge the sensory and narrative conventions of film. Filmmakers like David Lynch and Michael Almereyda stand out, employing dream sequences and surreal visuals that plunge the audience into the depths of human psyche and emotion, bridging gaps between the tangible and the abstract.

Their work, rich in symbolism and daring in execution, serves as a testament to the unyielding power of experimental film to explore and express the complex layers of reality and perception. Lynch, with works like "Mulholland Drive," and Almereyda, through films such as "Experimenter," redefine storytelling, proving that cinema can indeed venture far beyond the traditional confines of narrative to evoke profound, often unsettling, reflections on existence.

How These Filmmakers Defied Convention

The filmmakers that marked the birth and evolution of experimental cinema carved their names into the annals of film history by boldly stepping away from the beaten path, challenging every convention that defined mainstream cinema. Their defiance was not mere rebellion but a deeply rooted conviction that cinema could and should do more than narrate stories linearly; it had the potential to be a playground of the mind, where narrative coherence takes a backseat to exploration of form, texture, and the inner workings of human perception.

By intertwining unconventional narrative structures with striking visual and auditory elements, these pioneers dismantled the traditional frameworks governing film. In place of familiar story arcs, they proposed a cinematic language where the emphasis was on evoking sensation, emotion, and introspection. Through their lens, film became an uncharted territory ripe for experimentation, setting the stage for nuanced dialogues between the filmmaker and the viewer, far beyond the confines of conventional storytelling.

Understanding the Viewer's Experience

Embarking on the exploration of experimental cinema from the viewer's perspective unveils a realm where conventional expectations of films are set aside, making way for a more immersive and personally reflective experience.

This divergence from mainstream cinema lies not just in the visual or narrative approach but significantly in the manner it engages its audience.

Facing the challenge of open interpretation, viewers are invited to navigate through emotional landscapes that differ vastly from the structured emotional cues of traditional narratives.

This journey is not one of passive reception but an active engagement, where ambiguity becomes a key element, fostering a depth of interaction that extends beyond the screen.

Such engagement not only demands a willingness to venture into unexplored territories of storytelling but also promises a unique reward: a personal and profound connection to the film that is as varied as the audience itself.

The Challenge and Reward of Open Interpretation

The challenge of open interpretation in experimental film rests in its invitation to viewers to partake in the creative process, a departure from the spoon-fed narratives of traditional cinema. It requires a leap of trust into the unknown, embracing the ambiguity as part of the cinema's allure. This journey demands an active engagement, setting the stage for a deeply personal connection with the film.

But with this challenge comes remarkable rewards. The freedom of interpreting a film without predefined boundaries opens a treasure chest of emotional and intellectual discoveries. Each viewing experience becomes unique, a reflective mirror that reveals different facets of the film and, intriguingly, of oneself. This form of cinematic engagement turns every film into a living, evolving entity, enriching the viewer's relationship with the art of filmmaking.

Emotional Impact vs. Traditional Narrative Engagement

The emotional impact of experimental films stands in stark contrast to the engagement strategies of traditional narratives, primarily because these films do not bind themselves to the typical story arcs or character development paths. Instead, they invoke emotions through a collage of visuals and sounds, engaging my senses and intellect in ways that more formulaic stories seldom achieve.

This divergence encourages a form of engagement that feels deeply personal and introspective. Where traditional narratives guide emotions along a predetermined path, experimental cinema invites me to feel and interpret the abstract, resonating with my personal experiences and thoughts in a manner distinctively unscripted and raw.

The Role of Ambiguity in Viewer Engagement

Ambiguity in experimental cinema plays a fascinating role in engaging viewers. It transforms the act of watching a film from a passive experience to an engaging puzzle, where the meaning is not handed to you but discovered through personal interpretation.

This reliance on ambiguity encourages a form of engagement that is both challenging and rewarding. It requires me to draw upon my own experiences and emotions, filling in the gaps left by the filmmaker, and in doing so, crafts a viewing experience that is uniquely mine.

Experimental Film Techniques and Styles

Stepping into the intricate world of experimental film requires a keen understanding of its techniques and styles, which are as diverse as they are innovative.

This section digs into the common methodologies filmmakers employ, starting with an overview of these pioneering techniques that range from the avant-garde to the digital manipulations of today.

Next, we explore how advancements in technology have not only expanded the toolbox available to creators but have also fundamentally changed the way stories are told, enabling narratives that were once impossible.

The conversation then shifts to a trend that is reshaping the landscape of cinema: the blending of genres and mediums.

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Each topic sheds light on how experimental cinema continues to evolve, driven by an incessant curiosity and the relentless pursuit of expressing the inexpressible.

Overview of Common Techniques Used

Exploring the realm of experimental film, I constantly encounter innovative techniques that set this genre apart. The use of montage stands out, where filmmakers juxtapose seemingly unrelated images to create new, often provocative meanings that challenge my perceptions.

Another technique I find mesmerizing involves the manipulation of time through editing, where the sequence of events is deliberately altered. This disorients my sense of continuity, compelling me to engage more deeply with the unfolding narrative and seek coherence within the abstraction.

How Technology Has Pushed Boundaries

In my exploration of experimental cinema, I've observed the transformative impact technology has had on pushing the boundaries of this genre. The advent of digital filmmaking tools has not only democratized the process, enabling creators from diverse backgrounds to contribute their visions, but it has also introduced a new vocabulary of visual effects and narrative possibilities that were once unimaginable.

My journey through the evolution of experimental film techniques exposed me to the remarkable ways in which technology catalyzes innovation. From the manipulation of digital images to the integration of virtual reality, these technological advancements have expanded the canvas upon which filmmakers can express their most abstract ideas, fostering a cinematic experience that is continuously evolving and challenging traditional perceptions of storytelling.

Blending of Genres and Mediums in Modern Works

In modern experimental cinema, the blending of genres and mediums stands as a testament to the evolving landscape of filmmaking: artists are no longer confined to traditional boundaries, choosing instead to weave together elements from diverse forms of creative expression. This blend enriches cinematic language, allowing filmmakers to convey complex themes and emotions through a multifaceted narrative structure that intrigues and challenges the audience.

Genre/MediumImpact on NarrativeExampleVisual ArtsIntroduces texture and depth to storytellingAndy Warhol's explorationsLiteratureEnhances narrative complexity"La Jetée" by Chris MarkerDigital MediaExpands storytelling possibilitiesInteractive installations

The intersectionality between different artistic mediums not only broadens the scope of what movies can communicate but also creates a unique space for dialogue between the filmmaker and the viewer. By blurring the lines between cinema, visual arts, literature, and digital technology, experimental filmmakers are crafting new experiences that push viewers to engage with content in more dynamic and thought-provoking ways.

The Global Landscape of Experimental Cinema

As my journey through the intricate world of experimental cinema unfolds, I'm invariably drawn to how this art form flourishes differently across the global canvas.

Each culture and region stamps its unique signature on experimental filmmaking, reflecting diverse societal narratives, traditions, and aesthetic values.

The proliferation of film festivals dedicated to experimental genres provides a fascinating window into this rich diversity, offering platforms where unique voices from every corner of the world find expression and resonance.

Meanwhile, the advent of digital platforms revolutionizes access and distribution, breaking down geographical barriers and democratizing the filmmaking process.

This dynamic interchange not only broadens the audience for experimental film but also injects fresh perspectives into its evolving definition.

Differences Across Cultures and Regions

In my explorations, I've observed that the interpretation and manifestation of experimental cinema vary significantly across cultures and regions, often mirroring the societal, historical, and aesthetic nuances of their origins. Europe, with its rich tradition of art cinema, tends to emphasize philosophical and avant-garde expressions, while Asia's contributions frequently draw from a deep cultural heritage, blending traditional storytelling with cutting-edge technology.

North America's experimental film scene thrives on its spirit of innovation and diversity, often pushing the envelope in both form and content to reflect its ever-changing societal landscape. This fascinating geographical diversity has taught me that experimental cinema cannot be confined to a single definition; rather, it is a fluid and evolving art form that adapts and transforms to reflect the unique perspective of its creators and their cultures.

Experimental Film Festivals Around the World

Traveling through the vibrant ecosystem of experimental cinema, I've been drawn to the pulsating heart of film festivals around the globe. These gatherings serve as vital showcases for the avant-garde, where filmmakers and enthusiasts converge to celebrate the unorthodox and the groundbreaking.

My visits to festivals from Cannes to Toronto have revealed them as crucial platforms for dialogue and discovery. They not only elevate the visibility of experimental works but also foster a sense of community among creatives who dare to defy conventional filmic language.

How Digital Platforms Are Changing Access and Distribution

The advent of digital platforms has revolutionized the way experimental films reach their audiences, effectively transforming both access and distribution. By eliminating traditional barriers such as geographical location or the need for physical mediums, these platforms enable filmmakers to share their work globally with the click of a button.

This global bridge created by digital platforms not only democratizes filmmaking, allowing creators from any corner of the world to showcase their art, but it also diversifies the audience reach. Such an expansion enriches the experimental film landscape, inviting a broader spectrum of interpretations and appreciations that fuel the genre’s continuous evolution.

The Intersection of Experimental Film and Other Arts

Delving into the intersection of experimental film and other arts, I've come to understand its vibrant role as a crossroads for diverse artistic disciplines.

Collaborations between filmmakers and artists from various fields not only expand the horizons for what can be achieved visually but also enrich the narrative and emotional depth of the works produced.

This fusion of experimental cinema with visual arts and music stretches the boundaries of traditional filmic experiences, introducing audiences to a symphony of sensory and conceptual novelties.

Exploring the realms of multimedia and interdisciplinary approaches further reveals how these avenues provide fertile ground for innovation, allowing creators to interweave narratives in a tapestry of combined mediums.

This intersection not only challenges our preconceptions of film as an isolated art form but exemplifies its profound capacity to encapsulate and express the broader spectrum of human creativity.

Collaborations Between Filmmakers and Other Artists

In my exploration of the experimental film landscape, I've been particularly inspired by the synergistic power of collaborations between filmmakers and artists from other disciplines. These partnerships often lead to the creation of works that transcend traditional boundaries, enriching the filmic tapestry with diverse textures and voices.

Such collaborations underscore the essence of experimental cinema as a fertile ground for interdisciplinary innovation, where the confluence of visual arts, literature, music, and even technology sparks a unique creative alchemy. This cross-pollination not only deepens the narrative and aesthetic dimensions of the films but also introduces audiences to new perspectives and sensory experiences:

Artistic DisciplineContribution to FilmImpact on AudienceMusicSonic landscapes that shape the film’s emotional toneEnhances emotional engagement and interpretationVisual ArtsStylistic and thematic richness through diverse visual techniquesExpands visual literacy and appreciationLiteratureNarrative depth and complexityStimulates intellectual curiosity and dialogueTechnologyInnovative storytelling methods and interactive experiencesEncourages active participation and redefines viewing experience

Experimental Cinema's Influence on Visual Arts and Music

Embarking on a dive into experimental cinema has opened my eyes to its profound influence on the visual arts and music. This genre, with its bold explorations and innovations, acts as a catalyst, inspiring visual artists to venture beyond traditional confines and experiment with new forms, textures, and concepts. The interplay between moving images and static art forms engenders a creative osmosis, pushing the boundaries of what visual art can be.

Similarly, experimental film has reshaped my understanding of music's role within the cinematic universe. It encourages musicians to compose scores that are not just auditory accompaniments but integral components of the narrative experience. This merger expands the emotional landscape of film, offering a multi-sensory journey that challenges and enriches my perception of storytelling.

Multimedia and Interdisciplinary Approaches

Exploring multimedia and interdisciplinary approaches within experimental film illuminates a fascinating pathway of artistic fusion: it represents a merger where different forms of art transcend their conventional boundaries to create something entirely new. This cooperative venture emboldens filmmakers to venture into narratives that are not only visually captivating but also rich in layered meanings.

Engaging with digital art to explore nonlinear storytelling.

Incorporating performance art to emphasize the physical expression within narrative arcs.

Utilizing interactive technology to invite audience participation in the unfolding story.

These methodologies not only expand the toolkit available to creators but also redefine the audience's role from passive observers to active participants. By doing so, they challenge us to reconsider our preconceptions about the narrative and visual potential of cinema, encouraging a deeper engagement with the material presented.

Challenges Facing Experimental Filmmakers

Embarking on the creation of experimental films introduces a unique set of challenges, distinct from those encountered in mainstream cinema.

Among these, finding adequate funding and securing distribution channels emerge as towering hurdles, often stemming from the genre's departure from conventional narratives and commercial expectations.

This reality criticaly underscores the ongoing struggle for recognition within the broader cinematic landscape.

Moreover, as an experimental filmmaker, I grapple with the delicate balance between preserving my artistic vision and making my work accessible to a wider audience.

These obstacles not only test the resilience and creativity of creators like myself but also define the intricate journey of bringing experimental films from concept to screen.

Funding and Distribution Obstacles

Navigating the landscape of independent and experimental filmmaking, the initial and perhaps most daunting challenge I encounter lies in the realm of funding: the adventurous nature of this genre does not always align with the risk appetite of traditional financing sources. This fundamental mismatch often leaves groundbreaking projects struggling to move past the concept stage.

Once over the hurdle of securing funding, another significant challenge materializes: distribution. The unconventional nature of experimental films, rich with abstract storytelling and avant-garde techniques, frequently stumbles against the distribution gates guarded by mainstream expectations. Getting these unique visions in front of an audience demands not just perseverance but a creative approach to distribution channels:

PhaseChallengeStrategyFundingLimited interest from traditional financiersExploring grants, crowdfunding, and niche investorsDistributionMainstream platforms' hesitanceUtilizing digital platforms, film festivals, and independent cinemas

The Struggle for Recognition Within the Mainstream

The struggle for recognition within the mainstream is a vivid testament to the divergent nature of experimental film. Often, these pioneering works fail to fit neatly within the commercial frameworks or popular genres that dictate much of mainstream cinema's appeal: their inventive narratives and unconventional aesthetics can be challenging for wider audiences to digest.

The initial challenge lies in the conceptual divergence from mainstream expectations, where the integral value of experimentation is frequently overshadowed by a preference for conventional storytelling.

Subsequently, experimental filmmakers face the task of navigating a film industry that prioritizes marketability over artistic innovation, making it difficult to secure the visibility necessary for wider recognition.

Finally, bridging the gap between the avant-garde and mainstream audiences necessitates finding ingenious ways to present experimental works in contexts that facilitate broader appreciation and understanding.

This journey illuminates the resolute dedication required to forge a path for experimental cinema within a landscape dominated by mainstream preferences. My engagement with this genre underscores the importance of fostering environments that celebrate rather than marginalize cinematic innovation.

Balancing Artistic Vision and Audience Accessibility

Striking a balance between my artistic vision and making my work accessible to a broader audience poses a complex challenge. My commitment to pushing the boundaries of cinema often intersects with the need to ensure my films resonate on a universal level, drawing in viewers who may not typically engage with experimental works.

This equilibrium demands a thoughtful consideration of how abstract ideas can be grounded in emotions or themes that connect with a wider audience, without diluting the experimental essence that defines my work. Crafting narratives that remain true to my artistic intent while inviting diverse interpretations is a tightrope walk, one that requires constant navigation and adjustment.

The Future Directions of Experimental Cinema

As I venture deeper into the exploration of experimental cinema, I stand at the precipice of its future, eager to unveil how emerging trends and novel technologies promise to redefine the boundaries of this enigmatic genre.

The allure of virtual reality and interactive media beckons with the potential to immerse audiences in uncharted narrative landscapes, offering an unprecedented level of engagement.

Meanwhile, speculation abounds regarding the visionary creators poised to lead the next wave of experimental filmmaking.

These elements collectively hint at a horizon brimming with innovative storytelling techniques, where the fusion of traditional cinematic artistry with cutting-edge technology heralds an exciting new chapter in the evolution of experimental film.

Emerging Trends and New Technologies

The advent of virtual reality (VR) stands as a monumental shift in the landscape of experimental cinema. This technology plunges the audience into a fully immersive experience, where the boundary between the viewer and the film blurs, offering a new realm for storytelling that is as vivid as it is boundless.

On another front, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in filmmaking introduces a transformative approach to creating and interpreting experimental cinema. AI's capacity to analyze and generate film content opens up unprecedented avenues for narrative complexity and visual innovation, heralding a future where films are not just watched but interacted with in dynamic, unpredictable ways.

The Role of Virtual Reality and Interactive Media

The exploration of virtual reality (VR) and interactive media heralds a new dawn for experimental cinema, promising to overthrow traditional passive viewership models. By ushering audiences into an active role within the narrative's unfolding, these technologies are redefining the essence of engagement in film: they transform the act of viewing into an immersive experience.

This transformative leap opens a myriad of possibilities for experimental filmmakers to craft stories that are not just seen but lived. With VR and interactive media, the narrative becomes a multi-sensory journey, challenging creators and audiences alike to rethink the boundaries of storytelling and participation:

Virtual reality immerses viewers in the heart of the narrative, making them active participants in the unfolding drama.

Interactive media invites audiences to influence the course of the story, creating a dynamic storytelling environment that is both engaging and unpredictable.

Predictions for the Next Wave of Experimental Filmmakers

Peering into the crystal ball for experimental cinema, I sense an upcoming wave of filmmakers who defy even the current boundaries of what we consider 'experimental'. This vanguard will likely harness new technologies and cultural narratives to create films that speak more directly to the global, interconnected issues of our time: climate change, digital privacy, and cultural identity.

Their storytelling methods might shift dramatically, moving away from the screen as we know it, to incorporate augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and immersive installations that demand physical as well as emotional engagement from the audience. This evolution in storytelling formats will challenge us to redefine our engagement with cinema, moving it beyond a shared dark room into spaces and formats yet to be imagined:

Augmented reality films that overlay cinematic narratives onto our everyday landscapes, blurring the lines between film and lived experience.

Mixed reality productions that combine live action, CGI, and real-time viewer interaction, creating a unique narrative for every viewer.

Immersive installations that envelop the viewer in multi-sensory narratives, transforming passive viewing into an active, physical exploration of story.

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What is Experimental Film?

As a genre, experimental film is a niche. These films by definition are unconventional, and therefore almost never reach a wide audience. But it is nonetheless an essential niche: experimental films have always formed the vanguard that goes on to determine the mainstream.

No formal characteristics

Many experimental films use the physical properties of the medium : photosensitivity , grain, color saturation - but this often manifests itself in very different ways . In the reference books about film history, the genre of experimental film often gets a rather cursory treatment. This is in part due to its very diverse scope; it is not a genre that can easily be described in terms of its formal characteristics. Likewise, experimental films are sometimes made in disciplines outside of film, such as science, visual art, or music. When interpreting these films, the usual film-theoretical framework comes up short.

Gallery or cinema?

Though internationally oriented, the experimental film scene is a traditionally closed community, one that has little connection to the rest of the Dutch film world. It is a subculture that largely takes place outside of the regular cinemas. These films are more likely to be screened in museums, galleries, cinema clubs, and special festivals, and it has its own distribution channels.

Since the Second World War, there has really only been one period when experimental film became visible to a wider audience. That was at the end of the 1960s and the early 1970s, an era that was dominated by revolution, and a yearning for freedom and experimentation. In that period, experimental film briefly won a regular place in the Dutch film circuit.

This heyday is where the roots of experimental film’s traditions can be found: an international orientation and national activities; a formal approach and intuitive expression; the academy and the independent studio.

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An introduction to Experimental films

This definition covers experimental films, artists' films and avant-garde films An international film practice that has explored cinema’s capacity to manipulate light, motion, space, and time, and/or expresses the filmmaker’s personal artistic vision. Usually linked to broader trends and practices in fine art, avant-garde film is particularly closely associated with modernism , tracing its origins to 1920s Europe in the work of artists motivated by a desire to add a temporal dimension to painting and sculpture. Formative early works Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, Germany, 1923–25) and Symphonie diagonale (Viking Eggeling, Germany, 1923–24) explore the musical organization of filmic time; while Le ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger, France, 1924) and Anémic cinema (Marcel Duchamp, France, 1926) offer graphic investigations of Cubist space. The influence of Surrealism is apparent in La coquille et le clergyman (Germaine Dulac, France, 1927) and Un chien Andalou (Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel, France, 1928); and that of Futurism and Constructivism in Chelovek s kinoapparatom/Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929). Elsewhere in pre World War II Europe, the avant-garde impulse informs the work of Len Lye, Norman McLaren and Alberto Cavalcanti in Britain , as well as the poetic documentaries of Joris Ivens in the Netherlands and Henri Storck in Belgium . In 1929, the first international conference on avant-garde film, held in La Sarraz, Switzerland, was attended by Sergei Eisenstein, Cavalcanti, and Richter, among others.   ... Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020).  Avant-garde film . In  A Dictionary of Film Studies . Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2022

In the Library collections

To find books and other resources about experimental films in the Library's collections, use the subject heading experimental films . Use this same search to find actual experimental films located in the Jones Media Center. Other related subject headings are listed below.

• experimental films Most works are located on Baker Stack Level 4 in the call number range PN 1995.9 .E96 .
• surrealist films
• avant-garde film This is a keyword search looking specific at titles in the online catalog.
• avant-garde cinema This is a keyword search looking specific at titles in the online catalog.
• cinematography, abstract
• video art This is a subject search in the online catalog.
• video art history and criticism

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Articles and other writings about experimental films can be found in many publications. Our collection does not include titles which look exclusively at Experimental films.  You can use Film & Television Literature Index , or Academic Search Complete to find articles. MLA International Bibliography is another option for articles.

A selected list of experimental films

Find more experimental films in the online catalog .

• Avant-garde. 3: experimental cinema, 1922-1954 by Kino International Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9705 Long before home video there flourished an alternative cinema culture on college campuses and around art theaters, where foreign film fare was often accompanied by a short subject. As reliable 16mm film equipment became available to non-professionals, artists independent of film centers began experimenting with cinema. Serious film societies sprang up in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, holding semi-private screenings of non-commercial artistic films. For years, these pictures have been exhibited only in infrequent museum screenings, if at all. This collection is of mainly American pictures, principally one-man artistic endeavors made from little more than an artist's desire to express feelings with a camera.

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What are experimental films?

Experimental films are also known as avant-garde, which literally means the ‘vanguard’ or ‘advanced guard’—so people ahead of their time! Unlike mainstream cinema, which usually sticks to established structures and techniques, experimental films prioritise expression and innovation. They can vary a lot in style and approach, but they tend to have a few things in common:

• Non-traditional narrative : Experimental films often spurn linear storytelling in favour of more fragmented or abstract narratives.
• Innovative techniques : Filmmakers use unconventional methods in cinematography, editing, and sound design.
• Focus on form and content : The emphasis is often on a visual and auditory experience rather than on plot or character development.
• Personal expression : Many experimental films reflect the unique vision and style of the filmmaker.

Experimental vs. mainstream cinema

One of the biggest differences between experimental and mainstream cinema is the narrative structure. Mainstream films often follow a three-act structure with a beginning, middle, and end. Experimental films usually use non-linear or fragmented narratives, focusing more on mood and atmosphere than on plot.

In production, mainstream movies are normally going for a polished and commercially viable finished product. They might use expensive special effects, well-known actors, and so on. Experimental films are more likely to use things like found footage, hand-painted frames, and weird camera angles.

Audience expectations are generally different for experimental films when compared to mainstream cinema. Avant-garde films are for niche audiences who are used to the unconventional storytelling methods, and they often have a limited release at film festivals, galleries, or independent cinemas. They’re more about artistic expression than being a commercial hit. Mainstream films, though, are designed to attract big audiences and make money at the box office. This means they have to appeal to a wide range of viewers, so they often stick with clear storytelling, relatable characters, and satisfying endings.

A quick history of experimental cinema

The beginning.

In the 1920s, cinema was starting to get into its stride. The resistance it had seen from the upper classes (as a low-brow form of entertainment) was fizzling out, so artists and filmmakers began to explore film as a means of artistic expression.

European avant-garde movements like Dadaism and Surrealism had a big influence on this, and films like Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí (yes the artist!) broke new ground with dreamlike sequences and shocking imagery. Un Chien Andalou is a short film with disjointed imagery, and it opens with a scene where an eye is cut open with a razor. These shocking visuals were meant to evoke emotions and thoughts, rather than get across any kind of narrative.

What are Dadaism and surrealism?

Dadaism embraces chaos and absurdity, with a focus on the unconscious mind and dream logic. It came out of reactions to the First World War and had an anti-bourgeois sentiment. Quite often filmmakers would use collages with found objects and strange materials to make their work.

Surrealism was influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theories and uses techniques like automatism and juxtaposition to create outlandish and illogical scenes that are supposed to unlock deeper parts of our imagination and experience.

Mid-20th century

Experimental cinema had a bit of a boom in the mid-20th century, particularly in the United States and Europe. Maya Deren ’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) uses surreal, symbolic imagery and advanced editing techniques to explore themes of identity and perception. Kenneth Anger 's Scorpio Rising (1963) combined pop culture and occult symbolism, using a soundtrack that integrated rock and roll music with provocative visuals—pretty ground-breaking for the time! Anger is quite often credited with laying the groundwork for modern music videos .

S tan Brakhage ’s work, particularly Dog Star Man (1964), pushed the limits of visual abstraction, using techniques like painting directly onto film and using extreme close-ups of natural objects. His films didn’t have traditional narratives, focusing instead on the sensory and emotional impact of the sound and visuals.

F ilm co-operatives and independent cinemas sprung up, which provided platforms for these experimental works to be shown and discussed, helping the genre to grow.

Late 20th century

Digital technology opened up new possibilities for experimental filmmakers in terms of lower production costs, so there was flexibility to experiment, and new voices of the genre started to pop up from around the world.

Directors such as David Lynch , with films like Eraserhead (1977), kept pushing the boundaries of narrative and visual style. He was in his early 30s when the film was released to mixed reviews describing it as "a dream of dark and troubling things".

Contemporary experimental films

In terms of up-to-date experimental films, you might wonder how they can make them stand out or be shocking, when so much has already been done! Well, the likes of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Lars von Trier are continuing to push those boundaries. Von Trier favours trilogies, either by style or by theme, and is such a fan of avant-garde that he even founded Dogme 95 (along with Thomas Vinterberg) in 1995, his own filmmaking movement that set out ‘purifying’ principles like:

Films must be shot on location, without bringing in props or sets.

Diegetic sound only; music must be part of the scene.

Handheld cameras should be used for all filming.

Colour film must be used without special lighting.

The film must take place in the here and now; no historical or futuristic settings.

Genre movies are not allowed.

The film must be in the Academy 35mm format.

The director must not be credited.

With the evolution of technology, filmmaking has been democratised (to an extent), and this has meant more experimental films from diverse cultural backgrounds. Online platforms and film festivals that centre around avant-garde cinema have also been crucial in bringing experimental works to wider audiences.

Standout experimental films

1. un chien andalou (1929), directed by luis buñuel.

We’ve mentioned this French silent film already, but it’s renowned for its shocking and surreal imagery, including the scene of a razor slicing through an eyeball. These images were inspired by the dreams of the two writers Buñuel and Dali , who we can only assume had been eating a lot of cheese before bedtime. The audience response to the film was surprisingly positive, which upset Dali a bit as he’d wanted to shock and upset them! Un Chien Andalou has since influenced countless filmmakers and artists with its bold and interesting...(!) approach.

2. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), directed by Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied

Deren's short silent film was co-directed by her husband and has since been recognised for its historic and cultural significance by the Library of Congress . This is another film heavily influenced by surrealism and explores a woman’s psyche through symbolic imagery like a silhouette of a woman with a flower on a drive and a phone off the hook. The sequences repeat and the narrative becomes circular, making it hard to understand what is reality and what is a dream.

3. Dog Star Man (1961-1964), directed by Stan Brakhage

Dog Star Man is actually a series of four short films (plus a prelude, so five films in total) that were originally released in instalments but later were regularly shown as one long film, as intended. It’s a sort of abstract visual poem that uses hand-painted frames.

"Brakhage creates a myth of his own personal history from his birth, past relationship to his mother and father, and present relationship to his wife and son. His myth is seen in a cosmic context, earth sun and moon playing a part." — LUX

4. Scorpio Rising (1963), directed by Kenneth Anger

Scorpio Rising combines documentary footage with stylised sequences, exploring themes of rebellion, sexuality, and the occult. It was shot over three months in New York and split into four sections featuring imagery like Christian iconography and even Nazi imagery. Its use of music in particular made it a hit, and it’s since been considered to be the foundation for today’s music videos, particularly during the MTV era.

5. Eraserhead (1977), directed by David Lynch

Written by, directed by, and starring David Lynch, Eraserhead is a nightmarish journey into the subconscious, told in a non-linear way. It’s a low-budget, black-and-white film that didn’t really get much fanfare on release but later would become a cult classic.

6. Tropical Malady (2004), directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Tropical Malady is a romantic psychological drama that blends realism with folklore, and explores love and identity in a non-linear narrative. It’s been described as a diptych as it’s essentially a work of two parts. The first half follows the relationship between a soldier (Keng) and a country boy, and the second shows Keng trying to track down a shaman who can turn into a wild beast.

7. La Jetée (1962), directed by Chris Marker

La Jetée is a short French science fiction film in black and white, set in the aftermath of a Third World War. It tells the story of a man who is sent back in time to find a solution for humanity’s survival after the Second World War. The film is made up almost entirely of still photographs, which emphasises the film’s core themes of memory and time.

8. Wavelength (1967), directed by Michael Snow

Wavelength consists of a continuous 45-minute slow zoom across a New York City apartment until it gets to a photograph of the sea stuck to a wall. It’s very minimalistic and has an emphasis on form, all of which make the duration a bit of a challenge to engage with but fit the film’s themes of the passage of time quite well! Events do happen during the slow zoom, just so you know.

9. Blue (1993) by Derek Jarman

Blue is a British avant-garde film that consists of a single static shot of a blue screen with a voice-over, sound effects, and music. In the VO, Jarman talks about his experiences with AIDS, his failing eyesight, and the impact of the disease on his life and work. The blue screen is a metaphor for the emotional and physical pain he’s going through at the time. Blue was the last feature film he released before his death, just four months later.

10. The Holy Mountain (1973) by Alejandro Jodorowsky

Another surreal film, The Holy Mountain involves Alejandro Jodorowsky exploring spirituality, mysticism, and transformation. A Christ-like figure joins a group of characters representing plants in the solar system, and they set off on a quest to reach the Holy Mountain for enlightenment.

Conclusion: Experimental or avant-garde cinema

It’s not always easy to enjoy or understand experimental films, and having added context about the influences or reasons behind the filmmakers’ choices can be really helpful for that. There’s no doubt, though, that over the last 100 and some years, experimental films have continually pushed the boundaries of what cinema can be, getting us to think beyond regular storytelling.

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This page was written by  Marie Gardiner . Marie is a writer, author, and photographer. It was edited by  Andrew Blackman . Andrew is a freelance writer and editor, and is a copy editor for Envato Tuts+.

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Pushing Boundaries: The Role of Experimental Films

In the realm of cinema, experimental films stand as a unique and daring genre, pushing the boundaries of traditional storytelling and visual expression. These films, characterized by unconventional narratives, avant-garde techniques, and innovative use of visuals and sound, play a vital role in challenging audiences to expand their understanding of the cinematic art form.

Page Contents

• 0.1 Embracing the Unconventional
• 0.2 Innovation in Visual and Soundscapes
• 0.3 A Platform for Artistic Expression
• 0.4 Challenging Audience Perception
• 0.5 Nurturing Emerging Filmmakers

Embracing the Unconventional

Experimental films thrive on the unconventional. They defy the norms of linear storytelling and challenge traditional filmmaking techniques. Directors of experimental cinema often explore non-traditional narrative structures, fragmented storytelling, and abstract visuals to create a cinematic experience that transcends the ordinary.

Innovation in Visual and Soundscapes

One of the defining features of experimental films is their commitment to innovation in visual and soundscapes. Directors and cinematographers in this genre leverage non-traditional camera angles, editing techniques, and special effects to create visually striking and thought-provoking compositions. Similarly, sound design in experimental films goes beyond conventional norms, often featuring avant-garde soundscapes and non-linear auditory experiences.

A Platform for Artistic Expression

Experimental films serve as a powerful platform for artistic expression. Filmmakers in this genre use their creations to convey abstract concepts, delve into the depths of human emotions, and explore societal issues. By breaking away from conventional storytelling, experimental filmmakers can communicate complex ideas through the language of cinema, inviting audiences to interpret and engage with the content on a deeper, more personal level.

Challenging Audience Perception

The role of experimental films extends beyond the creative process; it challenges audience perception and fosters a more active and engaged viewing experience. Viewers are prompted to question traditional norms, embrace ambiguity, and interpret the film’s meaning through their own unique perspectives. The open-ended nature of many experimental films invites discussions and interpretations, encouraging a more participatory relationship between the film and its audience.

Nurturing Emerging Filmmakers

Experimental films also play a crucial role in nurturing emerging filmmakers. The genre allows aspiring directors and creators to break away from conventional storytelling constraints and explore their unique voices. Film festivals and independent platforms often provide a space for these experimental works to be showcased and celebrated, fostering a community of artists who are unafraid to challenge the status quo.

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Experimental Film Practice and the Biosphere

• First Online: 05 September 2024

Cite this chapter

• Karel Doing 3  

Experimental films are often concerned with the formal and material qualities of the medium. Such a “materialist” approach is recurrently framed in terms of a comment or critique on mainstream cinema. However, in contemporary experimental cinema posthumanism and new materialism have had a profound impact on the thinking and practice of moving image artists. Increasingly, practitioners have started to explore points of view beyond the human by focusing on subjects such as animals, plants, rocks, and energy transfer. Furthermore, a critical inquiry of the immanence of filmmaking as a process has gained traction, leading to more ecologically aware forms of practice. Instead of a utopian outlook such films attempt to deal with the complexities and contradictions of a perilous present. This chapter traces and investigates this shift from the medium specific to the ecologically aware by looking at a diversity of films and filmmakers who have contributed to this debate, either by developing new techniques or via the introduction of new concepts.

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Jean-Louis Baudry, “Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematographic Apparatus,” Film Quarterly 28 (Winter. 1974–1975): 40.

Peter Gidal, Materialist Film (London: Routledge, 1988), 8.

Vivian Sobchack, Carnal Thoughts Embodiment and Moving Image Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 53.

Laura U. Marks, Touch: Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002), 3.

Scott C. Richmond, Cinema’s Bodily Illusions: Flying, Floating, and Hallucinating (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016), 149.

Peter Gidal, Structural Film Anthology (London: British Film Institute, 1976), 23.

Richard L. Gregory, Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing (Fifth, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 225.

Thorsten Fleisch, “Borderline Animation,” Animation , 4, no. 2 (2009): 193.

Stan Brakhage, Metaphors on Vision (New York: Film Culture, 1960).

Katherine N. Hayles, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 3.

Donna J. Haraway, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ Manifestly Haraway (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), 7.

Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (Oxford: Polity Press, 2012), 79.

Luke Smythe, “Len Lye: The Vital Body of Cinema,” October 144 (2013): 76.

Silke Panse, “2 Ten Skies, 13 Lakes, 15 Pools—Structure, Immanence and Eco-aesthetics in the Swimmer and James Benning’s Land Films,” in Screening Nature: Cinema Beyond the Human, ed. Anat Pick and Guinevere Narraway (New York: Berghahn, 2013), 44.

Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucen e (Durham: Duke University Press, 2016).

Paraula D'Autor. ‘Paraula D'Autor: Eve Heller’, Last Lost | Xcèntric: http://xcentric.cccb.org/en/cataleg/fitxa/paraula-dautor-eve-heller-last-lost/225189 , 2009 (accessed July 5, 2022).

Sarah Keller and Paul N. Jason, Jean Epstein: Critical Essays and New Translations (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012). http://site.ebrary.com/id/10589702 , 295.

Thomas Lamarre, “Animation and Animism,” in Animals, Animality, and Literature, ed. Bruce Boehrer, Molly Hand, and Brian Massumi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 293.

Arne Johan Vetlesen, Cosmologies of the Anthropocene: Panpsychism, Animism, and the Limits of Posthumanism (London: Routledge, 2019), 157.

David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World (New York: Vintage, 2017), 95.

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Doing, K. (2024). Experimental Film Practice and the Biosphere. In: Knowles, K., Walley, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Experimental Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55256-4_21

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A (Very Brief) History of Experimental Cinema

The world of experimental or avant-garde (vanguard) cinema has a history just as rich as narrative film (it could be said that the two run on parallel tracks). While usually associated with European filmmakers, America has its own rich tradition of avant-garde and experimental filmmakers. Very loosely defined as any film that doesn't use narrative cinematic technique to achieve its goals, the avant-garde is worthy of study for any filmmaker or student of film.  The Dissolve  recently featured two experimental avant-garde shorts -- one by the filmmaker who made the amazing credits for  Enter The Void .  Click below to learn more about the history of the wonderfully strange world of avant-garde and experimental cinema, and watch some of its classics.

The credit sequence for Gaspar Noé's 2009, mind-bending epic  Enter The Void  was singled out by Quentin Tarantino as, "Hands down best credit scene of the year -- Maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history." Q.T. is arguably given to hyperbole, but it's almost impossible to watch these credits and not be affected. If nothing else, they demonstrate how a credit sequence can stand alone as art (just like the classic works of Saul Bass ). NOTE: These are a slightly truncated version of the credits, the full version is not available for embedding, but you can watch them  here :

The man behind these credits is German experimental filmmaker  Thorsten Fleisch , whose work explores the medium of film in beautifully non-traditional, non-narrative ways. His 2007 short film  Energie!  is no exception:

Fleisch transformed his fascination with tesla coils into -- animated artwork, exposing photographic paper to high voltage and then arranging these “electrophotographies” into a kind of flipbook. A tinkerer by nature, Fleisch uses "Energie!” to show how awe-inspiring raw electricity can be, and how impressive the  manipulation  of those forces can be. It’s an experiment about experimenting.

That may sound abstract, but just watch and see for yourself:

Of his working methods, Fleisch says, "I normally don’t know where it will lead me in the end. I just try to find what I think looks interesting and beautiful." The film won multiple awards at film festivals and is a wonderful example of film as art for art's sake. Fleisch created the work by exposing photo paper to electricity and then making a sort of flip book. The film is almost a science experiment, but it's also art, and is a way for him to explore electricity in a tangible, visual way. The film finds beauty in something ordinarily hidden.

A Little Context:

Today it seems easy to look back and see how film's development into a narrative art was a foregone conclusion, but when motion picture technology was invented in the late 19th century, there was (just like with the internet twenty years ago) a sense of limitless possibilities. Without an established cinematic grammar, most early films were just one shot, like those of the The Lumières brothers, whose "actualities" were recordings of real events, with no narrative:

There is an urban legend that when audiences first saw  Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat , many fled the theatre, thinking the train was coming right at them. Whether true or not, it's a certainty that early motion picture audiences were disoriented by the new images they saw (remember, photography was still in its comparative infancy at this time, so  moving pictures must have been almost too much for the Victorian mind to process.)

The film grammar we know today was developed and codified in the 20th century by directors like D.W. Griffith in the U.S. and Sergei Eisenstein  in the Soviet Union (along with countless others); Eisenstein's development of  montage theory  established new uses for editing (Soviet films from the 1920s have thousands of cuts, while American films of the same period have hundreds). Montage theory was Marxist and ideological, but its implications were far-reaching and his editing techniques were quickly absorbed into the language of film. Eisenstein established the idea that two juxtaposed shots create a new meaning. If a person is looking at something offscreen, and then we cut to something, an assumption is made that the person was looking at that object.

The Kuleshov Effect , named after Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, demonstrated that an audience would create a meaning based solely on editing. Audiences were shown a film consisting of a shot of an expressionless man (Ivan Mosjoukine, a popular Soviet actor) intercut with different images. Though his face was completely neutral, it was interpreted by audiences to be reacting to the different images he was "looking" at:

Enter The Avant-Garde

With this grammar of narrative film established (shot, reverse shot, P.O.V., etc.), self-consciously avant-garde cinema came out of a ravaged post-WWI Europe in the 1920s to turn it on its head; visual artists and writers set out to ridicule conventional notions of plot, character, and setting, which they saw as bourgeois and limiting (narrative film purports to be a rendering of life in time, and these artists wanted to point out how artificial this imitation was, as well as challenge the idea that there was one way to make films, and tweak the nose of the middle-class values of most narrative films).

The Cinéma Pur  (Pure Cinema) movement aimed for films focused entirely on movement, rhythm, and composition, with no focus on narrative. Influential filmmakers included visual artists  Marcel Duchamp  and photographer  Man Ray , whose 1926 film  Emak-Bakia  (Leave Me Alone) is a superb example:

An American example of  Cinéma Pur  can be found in the other short from The Dissolve, Mechanical Principles  (1930), by the photographer  Ralph Steiner . The film is a "study of machines in motion, cut to the rhythm of the machines themselves." Steiner made many industrial films, but for this piece he cut out the final product and instead concentrated on the images of the machines themselves; removed from context, they take on their own beauty:

Other avant-garde filmmakers were inspired by Freudian notions of the unconscious. One of the most famous,  Un Chien Andalou  (1929),   was made by Spanish filmmaker  Luis Buñuel  and artist  Salvador Dalí , and is an example of the  Surrealist  school. Inspired by dreams the two had, the film  is a 'surreal' mix of images, purposely designed so that, according to Buñuel, "No idea or image [might] lend itself to a rational explanation...Nothing, in the film, symbolizes anything." It is a pure feast for the eyes, and arguably one of the most influential films ever made:

In 1961, French filmmaker Alain Resnais'  Last Year at Marienbad  commented on much experimental film that had come before, using editing to create uncertainty about causal relations between events as well as the continuity of time and space. It was unique among experimental films for being a cultural event, an avant-garde film that was seen by a large audience. Even today, the film is still controversial and viewers continue to puzzle over Resnais' maze:

The avant-garde affected many of the so-called "film school generation" directors who were trained at Universities in the 1960s. As a student at USC, George Lucas saw, and was influenced by, many classic experimental films, and was particularly enthralled by Canadian filmmaker Arthur Lipsett's 1964 short  21-87: 

His work at USC reflects his fascination with experimental cinema, as can be seen in this 1966 student short,  Freiheit: 

And David Lynch, who has always kept one foot firmly planted in experimental cinema, started by making experimental shorts:

Most of the classic avant-garde films were not widely seen (remember, until recently there was no YouTube, or even home video, and anyone wanting to see these pieces had to seek out rare prints, or attend film schools that kept copies for study). Nevertheless, they were tremendously influential on narrative film and their stamp can be seen in modern cinematography, editing, visual effects, and aesthetics. Music videos contain some of the prime examples of avant-garde and experimental film techniques, and whether they are aware of it or not, all filmmakers are using ideas and techniques that come from the avant-garde.

I've tried to cover a few of the touchstones of the movement, as well as provide a little context, but there were many, many schools and countless practitioners of avant-garde and experimental cinema ( far too many to name here ), and any filmmaker would be well-served by a thorough study of the subject -- just as much they would by studying classic Hollywood films. Many of the classics of the genre are available online, as well as scholarly essays and analysis far more erudite than I've provided.

What do you think? Are you a fan of experimental/avant-garde filmmaking? Who are some of your favorite filmmakers, and what are your favorite movies that were left off this list? What lessons do you think an indie filmmaker in 2013 could learn from a 1920s' French surrealist? Let us know in the comments!

Link:  Art Meets Science and Industry in this Week’s Shorts -- The Dissolve

• What Is Hyperbole? (Definition and Examples) ›

Can You Make a Movie For Under $300 That's Accepted by Slamdance?

The answer is yes. this is how the filmmakers behind all i've got and then some pulled it off..

Standup comedy and filmmaking have a lot in common. Sure, one is individual performance art and the other is a collaboratively made audio visual medium, but hear me out. Both are art forms incredibly hard to break into that are often thankless, requiring an indelible passion to "make it" in, as they say.

Something beautiful about the Slamdance darling All I've Got and Then Some is the way it captures the passion-driven ethos of both mediums in front of and behind the camera.

All I've Got and Then Some is a day in the life of Rasheed, a homeless standup comic on his way to his first paid gig. Shot documentary-style in a way that blends the likes of Kevin Smith and Sean Baker, it's a miracle of indie filmmaking. Rasheed Stephens, the star and centerpiece of the film, and Tehben Dean, documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, are credited for literally almost every role. And all for a budget of under $300.

Below, we chat with the filmmaking duo all about the trials and tribulations of making a feature with a minuscule budget, as well as a punk as heck anecdote on Rasheed's early days as an indie filmmaker.

Check it outtttt.

Editor's Note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.

NFS Interviews Rasheed Stephens and Tehben Dean

No Film School: How did you guys kind of get the idea for the All I Want and Then Some ?

Tehben Dean: Rasheed had another film that I was going to shoot. We started to reach out to talent and stuff, but it lined up right around when the strikes were announced last year. So nobody's agent would talk to us, and so we were like, all right, well, what's next?

Then a week or so later I remembered that Rasheed pitched this idea for web series a couple years ago that was based on his experience when he first moved to LA, about this guy living in his car and dating a girl that lived two cars behind him. We could do that, but let's make it a feature, and more about the standup comedy experience.

Rasheed Stephens: I was thinking about that idea too, man. Tehben came up with the idea to make it a day in life of [a standup comic], and that way we could save time too. Also make it with a more effective budget, and more efficient as far as the storytelling.

NFS: Yeah, totally. It gave me a Clerks vibe a little bit.

Stephens: Oh yeah. I love Clerks .

NFS: It was almost a Sean Baker/ Clerks hybrid, which I thought was cool.

Dean: When we were editing Rasheed said, "you need to watch Tangerine ." And I had never seen Tangerine , and I waited to watch it until after we finished. I didn't want to be too influenced. Afterwards I was like, oh, that's a really good movie. A lot of people have commented on a similarity.

NFS: Did you guys shoot on iPhone like Tangerine ?

Dean: It was all shot on a RED Komodo. And then we had a little Hi8 [camcorder] that was mixed in throughout a few places.

Stephens: It is an amalgamation of all those films— Clerks, Tangerine, and Robert Rodriguez' El Mariachi .

Our whole crew is right there that you're looking at. Tehben was our sound guy. He was our gaffer. What else? AC, camera Op, and co-director. So that's the El Mariachi reference. We were Clerks because of the dialogue—we wanted everything to be grounded. We were Tangerine because of the innovativeness. We shot this film for under $300.

Dean: We just went out and did it. It was me, Rasheed, and we somehow managed to get 55 actors, which still kind of blows my mind, because I wasn't part of figuring that part out. But the fact that we got 55 actors in the film that we shot in one week, to me, is one of the more impressive aspects.

All I've Got and Then Some

Courtesy of STRONGWOMENINFILM

NFS: Yeah, absolutely. Were a lot of them comics that you knew from the comedy community, Rasheed?

Stephens: Some of them. I think about maybe 10 percent of people in the movie were comics. The rest of them were actors cast by our co-producer, Amaka. But you think that number is accurate, Tehben?

Dean: Yeah, probably 10, 15 percent. And then the rest were actors that Amaka cast. And then some friends of Rasheed's. There were a few people that I brought in.

We had to find people and most of the time we'd bring an actor in and they'd be there for two hours. We'd shoot their scene and then they'd take off apart from the main characters. We did a lot of scenes per day.

NFS: I feel like it'd be pretty segmented to be like. Did you know any of the employess that worked in the locations where you shot? Or did you kind of just ask, hey, is it cool to shoot a quick little scene here?

Dean: It was a combination. Some people we asked, a lot of the locations were ones we had access to or friends' places.

Stephens: So I'm not going to lie, that hotel thing—when I was homeless, I figured I could eat in the morning if I went to a Continental Breakfast. I didn't look like the homeless guy. I would get up, shave, I'd go work out, and then I'd go to a hotel.

One of the girls at the hotel I used to sneak in, she told me it's a good place where I can get a continental breakfast. We shot in there and that girl gave us permission.

So yeah, that was amazing.

NFS: Yeah, I love that guerilla style. Was that pretty stressful for you, Tehben, to be operating so many positions?

Stephens: Tehben volunteered that shit himself. Whatever scene I wasn't in I would try to hold some mics. I would try to be a swing guy if I could.

But, again, we didn't have the resources, so we had to use everything we had in our own wheelhouse.

Dean: We some some microphones and a couple of small lights. I've shot a ton of documentary over the last 10 years, and so working as a one man band is something I'm very used to doing. The audio part on the other hand was something—not that I didn't want to do—but it came down to [the fact] we couldn't afford to hire somebody. Also, I trusted myself more than bringing on someone who was willing to do it for free and didn't really know what they were doing.

That was probably the most stressful part to me. But my brother's a pro sound guy, but he lives in Portland and he was not available. He was on another job, but I was able to hit him up with questions. Then he did the post mix on it, so he was able to clean up my mess.

Stephens: Before we collaborated, both of us had a plethora of experience doing multiple different jobs. I've worked as a casting director, producer, writer, director. So once worked cohesively together, we became magical because we both knew we could do a plethora of jobs at different times.

Of course it wasn't easy, but it's fun when you're in it. We both lived in a process and started making up stuff on the fly. I love doing stuff like that.

Dean: I would also say that honestly, there's something very just fresh about working with no crew. It in a way, it limits what you can do, but in another way, it expands what you can do.

Because Rasheed was in most of the scenes and I was shooting, and so most of the time it was just I could shoot anywhere I wanted on set. I was never going to run into crew. I was never going to run into lights or trucks. There was so much freedom to be able to be there in the environment. And that was part of the whole idea, too, because I had this idea in my head for a very long time that I wanted to shoot a narrative film, but approach it shooting a documentary. Rasheed's story was the perfect idea for that, and it also facilitated us being able to do it with virtually no money. Because I have a camera package, I didn't really need other gear. I didn't really need a lot of other crew.

Dean: Also we can do it quickly, because I never planned to shoot coverage.

And just the freedom of going into a scene and having a lot of improvisational dialogue. We worked with the actors, figured out what the scene is—sometimes we had key lines that they would need to say or points to hit—but we worked that and then we'd run through it and then we would make adjustments. Run through it again.

Each time we did a take, I shot it. That was the only take I was ever going to get. And I never shot one piece of coverage because I knew in the edit it was going to be cut like a documentary. It's more rehearsed than a documentary. We did multiple take, but I wanted it to still like it was captured in real time. So sometimes there's some jump cuts in there, and there might be a couple of times in the film where I jump from one take to another.

NFS: Rasheed, did you feel like the uphill battle of making an indie film was at all similar to the grind of standup culture, if that makes sense?

Stephens: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Standup is a thankless art. And sometimes filmmaking industry is a thankless art. I think film has more instant gratification than comedy.

I always say comedy is the hardest art, because I know comics that are really good that have been doing it for 20 years and they still haven't cut through but still have the love to do it. With filmmaking, at least, let's just say you want to be a director, you can at least go out and get paid as a PA for a while to get some kind of compensation. With a comic there's nothing else you could do for work other than work at a comedy club. But how many comedy clubs are there? There's not that many.

So I think they do have similarities, but I think there's a slight difference [in so much that] monetary gain is kind of impossible until it becomes possible [with comedy].

Dean: I think there's big overlap. This is a universal thing too, is that it's something you do because you're passionate about it. It's very difficult, and there's only the certainty that if you don't try it, you won't succeed.

This film really is about that, the standup bit before people make it, but also I think anybody in the film industry can relate to what it's about because it's about following a dream and it's all the challenges and roadblocks that come up. It would be much easier to just quit and go home.

This was a very meta process for me because we made it out of that sort of desperation. And so we just like, alright, we're just going to do it. We're going to do it ourselves. I'm not going to ask permission from anybody. And we made it. And then once we finished it, we showed it to cast and crew and some audiences, and it got really good reception. We got into Slamdance.

NFS: That's awesome. Do you have any advice for filmmakers, or even comics or comedy filmmakers? Any demographic you guys want.

Stephens: Actually, it's crazy. We were going to reach out to you guys up at Slamdance because our journeys are like an exact personification the title "No Film School." My journey started as a standup comic, an actor, and nobody was booking me. So I decided to create my own roles.

So, true story, when I first moved to LA, I would hang out at LA Film School on Sunset Boulevard. I would start conversing and networking with some of the students, and I realized all of them had became this plateau. They had no ambitions, no desires. I'm like, hold on, you get this equipment for free and you guys only use it when you have a project? So I found a way to start sneaking in that school.

I would read scripts all day, and I would teach myself how to write scripts. I would use those scripts as templates, and I would use their computers because they had free Final Draft. I would write so many scripts.

And then—this is fucked up—but I stole somebody's student ID and I rented out a camera. I asked somebody I knew that could work a camera and we started shooting content. That's how much desire I had. It took six months for them to finally kick me out.

[But before that] for my first film, Coffee and Cabbage , we used their 400 seat state-of-the-art theater. I had my first screener there. I filled it out with 220 people and I didn't even go to that school.

When I tell people I have ambitions bigger than an elephant—that's the kind of desire I have. I to want to pursue this thing I love. I snuck into a school and possibly went to jail [for it].

NFS: That's an amazing punk film school story.

Dean: I would just say that if you truly believe it's what you want to do, then don't give up and don't wait for anybody to give you permission, because it's very easy to be like, "Oh, I need this, I need that." But the only way you learn is through experience and making mistakes, and then finding successes. So don't give up.

Keep at it if that is truly your passion, but it's going to be hard

NFS: And sneak into LA film school. I think that's the best advice.

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Avant-Garde and Experimental Film by Robin Blaetz LAST REVIEWED: 24 July 2018 LAST MODIFIED: 24 July 2018 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791286-0082

Experimental and avant-garde film is cinema made outside of the film industry on an artisanal basis, largely without regard to the structures and demands of traditional narrative film. While experimental film as a separate mode of film practice is international, its most prevalent manifestations were in western Europe before World War II and North America and Britain in the postwar period. Avant-garde film is often produced in the context of the larger art world, particularly in relation to the visual arts and literature. It is also frequently produced as a critique of dominant, classical Hollywood cinema and functions in relation to political movements and strategies, such as feminism. Although experimental films present myriad structures, lengths, and concerns, filmmakers have traditionally favored 8 mm and 16 mm formats. Currently, filmmakers are using video and new media of all kinds as well as including film in larger multimedia installations. Scholarship and writing about experimental film run the gamut from deeply personal and casual in tone to highly dense and theoretical. Unless otherwise noted, the material in this bibliography is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students who have some knowledge of film history. Given the paucity of material written about experimental film as well as the countercultural nature of the films and the filmmaking practices, some original texts are included that have been supplanted with revised versions of film history because they are inaccurate or unsubstantiated; yet, they remain useful for the obscure material and historical perspectives they provide.

Given the broad range of films that are called experimental, no single anthology can cover the entire field. MacDonald 1988–2005 , a formidable five-volume collection of interviews with a wide range of avant-garde filmmakers, is the most inclusive source, while Dixon and Foster 2002 and Graf and Scheunemann 2007 are single volumes that include the work of filmmakers who are unavailable for interviews. Michelson 2017 is an indispensible volume for its brilliance and coverage. Posner 2001 is a short but rich guide that accompanies a seven-disc DVD set of restored films. MacDonald 2014 examines the blend of documentary and avant-garde film through interviews. The Sitney 1975 , Sitney 1978 , and Sitney 2000 edited volumes (all cited under P. Adams Sitney ) are essential, given P. Adam Sitney’s premier role in writing and editing the history of the field, while the Mekas 1972 edited volume is more specific to the rise of the American Avant-Garde in the 1960s and 1970s and is written by a filmmaker and activist rather than a historian. James and Hyman 2015 covers postwar experimental film in Los Angeles. UbuWeb: Film & Video contains not only films but written material by and about many experimental filmmakers.

Dixon, Wheeler Winston, and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, eds. Experimental Cinema: The Film Reader . London and New York: Routledge, 2002.

Covers the field of experimental and avant-garde cinema from the 1920s onward, concentrating on movements and varied key figures, with a concentration on issues such as gender, sexuality, and race, as well as the impact of technological innovation.

Graf, Alexander, and Dietrich Scheunemann, eds. Avant-Garde Film . Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007.

This hefty, wide-ranging anthology is the result of a research project at the University of Edinburgh that aims to connect the history of avant-garde film to the wider avant-garde in literature and art. It establishes a continuum between the contemporary moving image and the classical experimental film that preceded it from the 1920s onward.

James, David, and Adam Hyman, eds. Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles, 1945–1980 . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015.

Enriches the history of avant-garde cinema by moving beyond the usual New York and San Francisco film scenes to consider the work of Los Angeles-based filmmakers. In addition to scholarly work, the book includes historical documents, photographs, and information about postwar film series.

MacDonald, Scott. A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers . 5 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988–2005.

These five volumes of in-depth, perceptive, truly enlightening interviews with a multitude of filmmakers offer a veritable history of the field. The author’s overriding concern is with experimental cinema as a form of critique of conventional media.

MacDonald, Scott. Avant Doc: Intersections of Documentary and Avant-Garde Cinema . New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

This collection of interviews, including one with Annette Michelson and several about Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, focuses on filmmakers and some specific films that exist between and blur the conventional categories of documentary and avant-garde filmmaking.

Mekas, Jonas, ed. Movie Journal: The Rise of a New American Cinema, 1959–1971 . New York: Macmillan, 1972.

A collection of the columns written for the Village Voice beginning in 1958 under the title “Movie Journal” by a filmmaker who is also one of the founders of the journal Film Culture (New York, 1955–1996; select articles available online ), the Film-Maker’s Co-op, and Anthology Film Archives.

Michelson, Annette. On the Eve of the Future: Selected Writings on Film . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017.

A collection of the most influential essays written by one of avant-garde film’s original and most important scholars. Includes essays about Marcel Duchamp, Maya Deren, Joseph Cornell, Hollis Frampton, Martha Rosler, Harry Smith, Michael Snow, and others.

Posner, Bruce, ed. Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1893–1941 . New York: Anthology Film Archives, 2001.

Assembled to accompany a seven-disc DVD collection of restored films, this short volume includes thirty essays and articles by both filmmakers and scholars, as well as sixty-five annotated photographs.

UbuWeb: Film & Video .

This page on the UbuWeb website contains links to a good deal of written material by and about experimental filmmakers and their work. It also features an eclectic and unpredictable array of films that can be watched on the website. The films are not always approved by the filmmakers for inclusion and the quality of the material is variable.

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How to Talk Experimental Film: A User’s Guide

As a medium, film is unique because it captures life in a way that cannot be captured through other forms of art, like painting or photography. Film is able to represent time, its duration, and motion, which brings it the closest to capturing life itself. Even the most conventional, mainstream film or video is able to accomplish this captivating feat. (If you beg to differ, notice what happens when there’s only one moving image in the room.) Experimental films not only capture or represent life, but also challenge the form and content of filmmaking and its conventional patterns, in order to provoke and, at its best, transcend how we compose our lives on and off-screen.

So what qualifies as experimental ?

A video opens with a unique score of digitally-manipulated industrial sounds mixed with a distorted version of a familiar pop tune, the 1997 teenage anthem, “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. A jaundiced character with glowing cat eyes giggles in the pitch of a crazed raccoon. She drives happily through cyberspace, looking in wonder at the digital snowflakes floating across the screen. That’s the opening of Ryan Trecartin’s 2007 “ I-Be Area (Pasta and Wendy M-PEGgy)” . Or how about the genre-bending and taboo-ignoring film “ Palindromes” by Todd Solondz? The conceptual film centers on a 13-year-old protagonist named Aviva (notice, her name is a palindrome), who is played by eight different actors of varying races, ages, and genders. The film is a dark, fearless, and unblinking look at teenage sexuality through multiple voices and vantage points: a fragmented look at a modern-age identity crisis.

Within the broad genre of experimental film, there emerge at least two different types of players: filmmakers who experiment with form and narrative content, and artists who use film or video as a medium through which to express their vision. This distinction between filmmakers and artists is not to say that filmmakers can’t be considered artists, or that artists can’t be considered filmmakers. In fact, the lines are not always clearly defined. I myself struggle with how to identify myself: filmmaker or artist (or both)? And in reality, my primary mode of identification varies depending on the particular context.

However, it’s important to understand that experimental film isn’t a simple or singular catchall. There’s a spectrum of people who create experimental films for different reasons. The results are excitingly diverse and varied and for that, The Independent thought it would be helpful to check in with someone working in the medium, me, for an introductory grasp on terms and definitions:

EXPERIMENTAL FILM

For me, experimental film is essentially a broad stroke or umbrella term for moving images that explore the human condition, nature, or fantasy in ways that haven’t been traditionally explored before. “Experimental film” includes a wide range of works, from a video performance of a heavily made-up woman smearing her face on a pane of glass (Pipilotti Rist, “ Be Nice to Me “) to Wes Anderson’s “ Moonrise Kingdom “. These are films in which filmmakers and artists are experimenting with the form (think jump cuts, overlays, the use of text on screen, films that use both animation and live-action) or content. Let’s keep in mind that most filmmakers aren’t experimenting the way scientists are, with the use of the scientific method that we all learned back in our middle school days. But we do know that they’re playing with (some quite methodically and others more freely) and therefore expanding the genre. Their intent isn’t to continue in the way mainstream films have been made. Instead, they want to challenge it.

Of course, the scope of experimental film is quite broad. Some films dabble in experimentation, with one camera angle or a topic that’s taboo or unconventional. Other films really push the boundaries, so much sometimes that we can’t even really decide if it is a film or not.

AVANT-GARDE FILM

I’m probably not alone in thinking of art critics in a gallery with affected intonations when I think of the term “avant-garde.” The term itself, before it was applied to art, was a military term that literally means “forward guard.” It described the soldiers on horseback that led troops into battle. They were on the front line of troops to go out and face the enemy.

Forgive the metaphor, but avant-garde filmmakers are those original soldiers on horseback. They’re first. They’re fearless. And their films usually aren’t well received by the general public. Avant-garde films are wholly experimental, pioneering films: films that after you’ve seen, you turn to friends and ask with wide eyes, “What was THAT?” These are the types of experimental films that a lot of people have a hard time digesting. They can be confusing, strange, grotesque, and purposefully disjunctive. And that’s okay. Because avant-garde films aren’t crowd-pleasers. The filmmakers creating those works know that.

It is important to note that “avant-garde film” was a term first used to describe Dadaist and surrealist films of the 1920s. A film that’s still widely regarded as one of the most avant-garde films in history is Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s 1929 film, “ Un Chien Andalou “. The film opens with a man causally sharpening a straight razor on a piece of wood. Wagner’s powerful, imposing score drives the action forward. Cigarette smoke unfurls as he concentrates on his task, glancing at the moon. The man opens the eyelid of a calm woman and slices her eyeball in half with the straight razor. The moon is temporarily spliced in half by the horizontal movement of a stray cloud. The woman’s eye spits out a gelatinous substance.

In the 21st century, we hear all the time that in art, “nothing is new.” As an artist, I can’t (and won’t) wholeheartedly agree with that statement. However, I will acknowledge that as modern filmmakers or film viewers, we have a relatively long history. If I were writing this article in the 1920s, I could give you tons of examples of what’s called “avant-garde film,” and every film would be shockingly novel. It’s a little harder now: as a society, we have seen more films, we reference more films, we pay homage to more films, and we borrow from more films. So, it’s important to also consider that avant-garde is a term steeped in chronology. What was once avant-garde may now be the most popular film type.

Take for example the most commonly cited “influential film” for filmmakers: “ Citizen Kane ” by Orson Welles. When this film first came out, it was monumentally innovative for its time: the use of the newsreel, the death of the protagonist in the first scene, the unreliable narrator, the signifiers, the ambiguous sound, the deep focus…and the list goes on. The thing is, today’s unguided audiences probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish Citizen Kane as an innovative, avant-garde film, which it was for its time.

So I suppose that begs the question, what is avant-garde film today? Funny enough, it’s mostly likely seen in museums and galleries…yes, the beacons of affected intonations. But it’s true. Current avant-garde films are less likely to be exhibited in a movie theater because the form does not prioritize the viewing experience of the audience in the way that commercial films do. Museums and galleries (sometimes) allow for flexibility: artists and filmmakers can make space another dimension that the viewer must experience, which is why avant-garde often intersects with the realm of video installation.

UNDERGROUND FILM

“Underground film” is a term that was coined in the 1960s and is still used today, though certainly without the same connotation. You can see the term in the film festival circuit: the Boston Underground Film Festival, New York Underground Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival…and so on.

While budget constraints are still a very real challenge for modern filmmakers, having a film be seen is not as problematic. The Internet and all the available viewing channels, even specific channels made for people who appreciate experimental film, eliminate the barriers filmmakers faced a few decades ago. The Internet, after all, in most nations anyway, is public. So in an era when we as a society can’t (or perhaps won’t) hide anymore or operate in true secrecy, underground film doesn’t carry the same bite.

Of course…unless we’re talking about banned films, like Todd Haynes’ “ Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story “. The 43-minute film re-enacts the story of musician Karen Carpenter, who tragically died of anorexia, with a cast made up entirely of Barbie dolls. It was released in 1987 in film festivals, but was recalled when Haynes lost a lawsuit regarding the music licensure in the film. As a result of the lawsuit, the Carpenter estate has required that all copies of the film have been recalled or destroyed. So, if you happen to find a copy of the film and share it with someone else, that would certainly be an experience in the vein of underground film. (I dare you.)

While instances like Superstar are rare in the United States, the spirit of underground film is still alive because of the money issue. Funding is little and budgets are tight for filmmakers (and the arts in general), so many still carry on that attitude, or even write into grant proposals, “this film will be made no matter what.” Lots of filmmakers are putting together crews that work for free, working long and impossible production hours, and doing everything and anything to get a film made, even if it means bankruptcy or begging for money. Scrappy, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, DIY-style filmmaking is actually more popular than not. In fact, some might argue that the underground film attitude of the 1960s is perhaps the spirit of independent film today.

As a term and a medium, “video” tends to be more elastic and flexible than “film.” Videos can range from recorded performances (also known as video performance), to short movies (which can also be referred to as “short films”), to sculptural works that include moving images (also known as “video installation” or “new media installation”) to moving images that are digitally recorded as opposed to chemically processed. Video can challenge conventions of exhibition as well. For example, movies or “films” are conventionally made to be watched in theaters. (Whether or not they are being watched in theaters nowadays is another topic). Videos, on the other hand, can demand to be exhibited in alternative ways, such as in video or new media installations, where the display space is an important part of the experience.

“Video art” is a really flexible genre, and its ambiguity is a gift for experimental artists. It’s an art that uses the moving image as its medium. Instead of paint, video artists use the camera and the technology’s unique qualities. The canvas is the screen. The term is broad and can reference anything from a tightly edited short film with a beginning, middle, and end, to one that has none of those typical narrative guideposts (or even end credits for that matter) to a filmed performance in which an artist walks around a square in an exaggerated manner (a Bruce Nauman piece, aptly titled “ Walking in an Exaggerated Manner around the Perimeter of a Square “). And of course, video art catches all other video pieces that lie between the spectrum of a short film and video performance, such as music videos.

I personally love video art as a genre because it allows me to do things that films can’t do, like experiment with the idea of modularity and singularity. Last year, my creative partner Danny Roth and I produced an experimental video project, titled “ 7 d.a.y.s. “, in which we conceived, produced, and edited one video a day for seven days. The project grew out of a fascination with the ephemeral and the fleeting beauty of the creative idea. Each video was themed and named for the day on which we created it. Themes included memory, art&madness, city, trance, spinning, senses, and nature. The intention of the project wasn’t to create seven perfect, whole films, but to capture a week’s worth of creativity on video. The videos are meant to be impulsive, visceral, fleeting. In addition, we also wrote poetry and text for each of the videos because, for me, words and the act of writing are as integral to my life as visuality. One interesting thing to add here is how I term my work. The title is 7 d.a.y.s. , but what I use as the subtitle varies from time to time. Sometimes I call it “an experimental film project,” other times I call it “an experimental video series,” and others, I call it “a conceptual film project.” This just goes to show the elasticity of these genres and how they can overlap and intersect with each other.

VIDEO INSTALLATION

The term “installation” is another flexible term. It’s a word used to describe works that use space as an additional dimension in a work of art. Installation pieces are often sculptural in that they activate and consider space. “Video installation,” then, describes works that activate space with video. A prime example of a video installation is American artist Tony Oursler’s work, where video projection is a key element. Oursler innovatively moves the viewing space away from the big screen, or little screen, and onto unconventional surfaces. He might project video of faces engaged in monologue or dialogue with the audience onto stuffed bodies, or bedroom scenarios (the space under a bed), for example. I’d say that it’s the moving image in his works that shocks, awes, and inspires audiences. “ Little Worlds “, a collection of Oursler’s work is currently exhibiting at the Honolulu Museum of Art until June 23, 2013.

Despite the device on which a moving image was created and what term is used for it, what makes a film (or video) experimental is the unconventionality of its form or content. These kinds of films allow the audience to see and experience the world in a way that they’ve never seen or experienced before, through uniquely calibrated eyes. The process may shock us, amaze us, or disturb us. Most experimental filmmakers and artists I know are shooting for all three, plus a quality or two that defies articulation.

Minhae Shim contributes to The Independent from the vantage point of a filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist, and writer. She is an active blogger , and is particularly interested in exploring and extending the traditions of avant-garde cinema and conceptual art. She recently completed and exhibited a video installation, Video Sassoon . She’s currently helping to edit The Independent’s Guide to Film Distribution, Second Edition . She can be reached at [email protected].

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Experimental Film

Article by Bart Testa

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Film, Experimental

Canadian experimental filmmaking had 2 historic beginnings separated by about 30 years. The first occurred when the new NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA (NFB) recruited the Scots artist Norman MCLAREN in 1941 to start an animation department. McLaren created very popular and critically acclaimed experimental animated shorts, including Fiddle De Dee (1947), Begone Dull Care (1949), Blinkity Blank (1954), Mosaic (1965) and Pas de deux (1967). Hardly constrained by the didactic assignment he had from the NFB, McLaren's trenchant wit and technical daring throughout his long and productive career engendered the tradition of strong and innovative Canadian animation. But it did not lead to further development of experimental filmmaking.

One of McLaren's assistants at the NFB, Arthur Lipsett, did suggest further possibilities. Lipsett produced a cycle of avant-garde collage films during the 1960s including Very Nice, Very Nice (1961), Free Fall (1964) and Fluxes (1967). Recycling discarded footage and sound rolls from NFB documentaries into unexpected combinations, Lipsett created a narrow but very intense oeuvre with considerable satirical edge. He had no successors, however, and the NFB never again sought to house experimental work. The main effect of Lipsett's films was to inject the idea of avant-garde film into a Canadian film culture, which began in this decade rapidly to open its perspective beyond the documentary mandate of the NFB. However, Lipsett's impact would be felt chiefly in English Canada.

Just before Lipsett began making films, a Belgian photographer, Guy Borremans, joined the NFB as a cinematographer and independently produced La Femme Image (1960), a French-language poetic political allegory cast in the trance-like style of classic French surrealism. No one followed his example. Although Montréal saw the rise of important abstract painting in the 1950s and 1960s which might have prompted a cinema equivalent (as such a style had in the USA), Québec's young cineastes were turning toward the Parisian nouvelle vague and, under its inspiration, dedicated their talents toward forging a new narrative Québec filmmaking.

The sole exception to the nouvelle vague movement among the Québécois was Vincent Grenier, but his work came later. His carefully structured and lyrically inflected films, Window Wind Chimes: Part 1 (1974), La Toile/Shade (1975), Le Puits de Lumière/Light Shaft (1975) and Intérieur, Interiors (to AK) (1978), echoed developments in English-speaking experimental cinema, including those pioneered by English Canadians such as Michael SNOW and Joyce WIELAND rather than an indigenous Québec cinema.

The second beginning really came together, after some delay, at the end of 1960s, but when it did Canadian experimental film had a pervasive, indeed international impact. It did not arise in any film institution like the NFB or out of Canadian film trends, Lipsett's example notwithstanding. The creative impulses stemmed from Canadian painters and arose simultaneously through a group of artists in southwestern Ontario and through Snow and Wieland, who were living in New York during much of the decade. In London, the irreverent Pop collagist Greg CURNOE made several films, such as Sowesto (1967-69), and was the subject of Jack CHAMBERS 's portrait-film R-34 (1967), both films extending Curnoe's playful anarchism in other media into cinema. Their friend Keewatin Dewdney's The Maltese Cross Movement (1967) provided a startlingly witty allegory of film technology as well as a lucid technical demonstration of the mechanics of movie projectors. There were other more isolated experiments such as Burton Rubenstein's The Hyacinth Child (1966) and A Bedroom Story (1966) and Peter Rowe's Buffalo Airport Visions (1967).

Due to their erotic content and counter-culture flavour, John Hoffsess briefly created a stir with The Palace of Pleasure (1966) and The Columbus of Sex (1967) before becoming a film critic. Horror movie director David CRONENBERG prefaced his commercial career with 2 idiosyncratic dramas, Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970) - often taken for experimental films but rather student-like dramatic shorts presaging his later work. No sense of a shared project, or major works, cohered around these efforts, and none of the artists sustained their film experimentation.

The exception was Jack Chambers. Already recognized as an important painter by the mid-1960s, Chambers was drawn to filmmaking through several theoretical essays he wrote on the relation between photography and his art. In his first 2 films, Mosaic (1964-5) and Hybrid (1966), Chambers took up an impressionistic diary mode. His choice was to become very influential over the next decade. Chambers advanced quickly toward the complex montage style that, in his 2 major films, Circle (1968-69) and Hart of London (1968-70), arrived at a formal authority and expressive intensity unprecedented in Canadian film experiments. Composed of found black and white television news footage, Hart of London was a film that brought issues of photography and documentary into the forefront of Canadian experimental film. Chambers's influence in all respects proved to be both enduring and formative, and he was an acknowledged leader of Canadian cinema at the end of 1960s. Unfortunately, suffering from leukemia and shepherding his energies for a brilliant final period in his painting, Chambers ceased making films.

About the same time Chambers was making Hart of London in Ontario, Michael Snow in New York was making Wavelength (1967) and <--> (Back and Forth) (1969). These works would transform how experimental film was regarded and how it would be made for the next decade. Snow's breakthrough signaled the second beginning of Canadian experimental film.

Snow and Wieland (they were married at the time) had gone to New York to paint in the early 1960s, but once there they became involved with the New American Cinema experimental group led by Jonas Mekas. With Snow's New York Eye and Ear Control (1964) and Wieland's Patriotism I and II (1964-65), and Water Sark (1965), the 2 Canadians already foreshadowed an epochal shift in avant-garde cinema. The complex montage and swift camera movements of Stan Brakhage's filmmaking, a quasi-abstract style that resembled New York School action painting, defined the signature mode of American experimental cinema by the middle of the decade. In a powerful counter-move, the 2 Canadians made films with greatly simplified forms and bold representational imagery.

Drawing on her concurrent work with box-assemblages, Wieland achieved a reductive style with Sailboat (1967). At the same time Snow condensed the new tendency with Wavelength , which consists (or appears to) of a single zoom across a New York loft. With this summary gesture Snow successfully contradicted the highly wrought expressive montage style prevailing in the American avant-garde. Although often compared, suggestively, with minimalist art in Snow's case and with Pop art in Wieland's - both of which were displacing the action style of American painting - their films' greatest impact was on the filmmakers and critics who saw in them a new form of experimental film, soon labeled "structural film." Within a year of its completion, Wavelength became the focus of an emergent new international experimental film style.

By the time the couple returned to Canada in the early 1970s, Wieland had made Reason over Passion (1969). The film's importance in implanting avant-garde cinema in the Canadian cultural nationalism of the Trudeau era (Wieland's title was Trudeau's famous political motto) cannot be overestimated. Wieland continued with a cycle of political films: Pierre Vallières (1972), Rat Life and Diet in North America (1973) and Solidarity (1973). She concluded her film work with a conventional narrative feature, The Far Shore (1975), a fictional account of Canadian painter Tom THOMSON . Its commercial and critical failure concluded Wieland's filmmaking and she devoted the rest of her career to her well-received works in other media. In addition to energizing a feminist school within Canadian avant-garde filmmaking, Wieland, more than anyone, established experimental cinema as a Canadian political artistic mode to be reckoned with.

Snow's presence as the major Canadian artist of his generation was also soon consolidated in this period; in large measure this occurred at home through photo-art and sculptural works. But, internationally, it was his 2 long and challenging films, La Region Centrale (1971) and Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen (1974) that secured the high reputation Canadian experimental film gained abroad. In several respects, La Region Centrale is the purified essence of Canadian cinema. It brings together the long-important landscape-art tradition (of the GROUP OF SEVEN painters, for example) and the theoretical problems of the photograph in a single monumental form. La Region Centrale synthesizes the demands of photo-representation and the abstractive tendencies of modern experimental image-making. The tension between these representational media and abstract form, once they were brought into the foreground by Chambers, Wieland and Snow, would underwrite a great many technical and formal experiments, just as the particular interest in landscape iconography their films manifest would recur repeatedly in the filmmakers who followed.

Although 10 years younger, David RIMMER , working in British Columbia, was quickly recognized as the fourth key Canadian experimentalist with Surfacing on the Thames (1970), Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper (1970), Seashore (1971) and Canadian Pacific I and II (1974-75). Rimmer's films became, alongside Wieland's and Snow's, the signature works of Canadian filmmaking of the 1970s. Rimmer was also something of a bridging and exemplary figure for younger film artists. Like his immediate predecessors, he fixed his attention on photographic characteristics; he used structural forms of film, made a superb cycle of landscape works, and, like Chambers in Hart of London , he often drew found-footage into his works.

But Rimmer's procedures differed from Snow's quasi-axiomatic elaborations of very simple gestures, like the zoom in Wavelength . Rimmer's films were instead process-oriented, using techniques like step-printing, looping and optical printing that suggested further elaboration while Snow seemed to summarize what might be done. The effects Rimmer achieved in his first films, and the technical realizations in later work such as Narrows Inlet (1980), Bricolage (1984), Along the Road to Altamira (1986), As Seen on TV (1986) and culminating in the late cycle of portrait and travel films like Black Cat White Cat It's a Good Cat If It Catches The Mouse (1989, shot in China), and in Local Knowledge (1992), made Rimmer a consummate artist-craftsman for the next 20 years of avant-garde filmmaking.

Rimmer was also the quintessential West Coast film artist, more at ease in his art and intellectually relaxed than his Toronto colleagues, and others soon joined him. Chris Gallagher's Atmosphere (1979) and Seeing in the Rain (1981) form a diptych of films that use the camera for simple but suggestive acts of seeing, while Mirage (1983) parallels the later collage pieces of Rimmer using a simple passage of a hula dancer, some wartime documentary footage and a snatch of Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii to create a satire on imperialism. Though she made few films, Ellie Epp's Trapline (1976) maps another way out of structural film toward a cinema of delicate implication, while her notes in origin (1987) is the most deceptively modest landscape film made in Canada after Sailboat .

In the same period, Al RAZUTIS worked in Vancouver on two multi-part serial films he eventually assembled as Amerika (1972-83) and Visual Essays: Origins of Film (1973-1982). Although these serial pieces were unsuccessful as wholes, parts of each, notably 98.3 kHz (Bridge at Electric Storm) and Lumière's Train (Arriving at the Station) , are powerful montages of optical printed found and processed footage that surpass Rimmer's work in their force and energy. Their virtuosity never led Razutis to a sustainable style or project, but his influence was strong and pervasive. One part of Amerika , the tumultuous combine-film Message From Our Sponsor , achieved notoriety when it set off a film-censorship controversy in the 1980s that centred on Ontario. The controversy soon embroiled other film artists including Snow, whose Rameau's Nephew was banned briefly. The resulting debates eventually changed Ontario's censorship policy, but had another interesting result - revealing to a wide public the organizational strengths Canadian experimental film had developed in just a few years.

Funding was, by the later 1970s, coming through the CANADA COUNCIL and provincial and municipal arts councils (the largest being Ontario's). Unlike Canada's mercurial feature-film funding arrangements, experimental filmmakers enjoyed a comparatively stable (if very modest) funding set-up that used an artist's jury granting process. Filmmakers themselves built sustainable artist-managed organizations such as the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) in Toronto and Canadian Filmmakers Distribution West in Vancouver. Other regions also saw similar bodies being formed, such as the Winnipeg Film Group, the Saskatchewan Film Pool and Atlantic Independent Media.

The founding of several production-exhibition groups, the best known being The Funnel Experimental Theatre in Toronto, alleviated another problem - regular exhibition - since avant-garde artists never hoped to reach commercial movie screens and conventional museums and galleries only spottily showed the work. Initially, these co-operative groups were formed on the fringe of counterculture movements. The CFMDC was begun at Rochdale College, Toronto's late-1960s experiment in hippie utopianism; The Funnel arose out of the punk scene of the later 1970s. But they rapidly developed a momentum and purpose entirely of their own. Simultaneously, art colleges such as Emily Carr College in British Columbia, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and Ryerson Polytechnic Institute and Sheridan College in Ontario incorporated experimental film into their curricula, harbouring established film artists as teachers and providing instruction for students in a kind of cinema fairly regarded as a fine art alongside more industrial kinds of filmmaking. Indeed, the success of the film component of the O Kanada! arts exhibition in Germany during the mid-1980s confirmed the durable international reputation of Canadian experimental film established by Wavelength 2 decades before.

By the 1980s, a new group of college-trained filmmakers had appeared, and these artists sustained continuity with their predecessors. The autobiographical aspect of Chambers' and Wieland's films (especially her Water Sark ), in which the chronicles of everyday life become the basis for transformations into artistic forms, proved particularly formative. Examples include Judy Steed's Hearts in Harmony (1978) and Richard Raxlen's Autobiographical Juvenilia (1983). A cycle of such films that would prove influential on a whole group of filmmakers was made by Rick HANCOX with House Movie (1972), Home for Christmas (1978) and Waterworx (A Clear Day and No Memories) (1982), Beach Events (1984) and Moose Jaw (1992).

Hancox was also a teacher at Sheridan College and a group of young filmmakers came under his tutelage that soon gave autobiography further prominence, notably through Phil Hoffman's handsomely crafted cycle of self- and family portraits begun with The Road Ended at the Beach (1983) and continued with Passing through/torn formations (1988) and Kitchener/Berlin (1990). Gary Popovich also made several ambitious autobiographies: Immoral Memories 1 (1988) and Self-Portrait, Taking Stock (1992).

The autobiographical mode held special appeal for women filmmakers inspired by Wieland and, like the films of Hoffman, were often family portraits. Veronika Soul's New Jersey Nights (1979), Barbara Sternberg's Transitions (1982) and her masterpiece, A Trilogy (1985), Gail Mentlik's Glimpses of My Mother in the Garden (1991), Helen Lee's Sally's Beauty Spot (1990) and Susan Oxtoby's All Flesh Is Grass (1988) are variously indicative of the vitality and variety of autobiography in women's films.

Perhaps Vancouver filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming best exemplifies a sustained feminine autobiographical project parallel to Hoffman's with her Waving (1987), You Take Care Now (1989) and Pioneers of X-Ray Technology (1991), in which Fleming creates a comic-pathetic picaresque persona whose memories and adventures she weaves with an elliptical image montage.

Entering filmmaking slightly before these filmmakers, the later 1970s, Bruce ELDER also made his first impression with an autobiography, The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1979). Shortly after this, Elder embarked on a trio of enormous films, Illuminated Texts (1982), Lamentations (1985), Consolations (1988), eventually accumulating a 36-hour multi-part cycle concluding with Exaltations (1992), released as 6 feature-length pieces at the rate of one a year. The whole was entitled The Book of All the Dead . In its complexity of formal usages and epic range of poetic and image references, Elder's cycle is the most ambitious film experiment since Snow's work of the early 1970s and, dwarfing the efforts of his colleagues, it is the magnum opus of the second generation of Canadian experimentalists. In addition to his filmmaking, Elder began in the late 1970s to write critical essays on Canadian avant-garde film that he revamped and expanded in a book, Image and Identity (1989), regarded as the authoritative interpretation of his Canadian precursors.

Through the 1980s, Canadian experimental filmmakers felt the influence of a form that succeeded structural film in the international avant-garde, and especially its British-feminist version. This was the so-called "new narrative." Its leading proponent in Canada was a westerner, Patricia Gruben, whose first 2 films, The Central Character (1977) and Sifted Evidence (1982), gave the form its template shape in Canada. Following the British pattern, Gruben soon left experimental film to direct features, starting with Low Visibility (1984). Others took her place, however, including Anna Gronau, whose Regards (1983) was a signal work, as was Midi Onodera's Ten Cents A Dance (Parallax) (1985) - the latter especially for introducing gay themes into the form.

Few Canadian filmmakers stayed with the new narrative format longer than one or 2 films (though it dominated contemporaneous Canadian video art), nor did it remain exclusively a feminist form. Richard KERR 's On Land Over Water (Six Stories) is a 6-part work that begins with Ernest Hemingway and proceeds toward a woman's recollections. Kerr then made 2 political allegories, The Last Days of Contrition (1988) and Cruel Rhythm (1988), using highly stylized sound-image montage woven around a sketchy narrative conceit. When Kerr moved from Toronto to Regina to teach, he devoted himself to a set of filmed and video-based landscape studies such as Machine in the Garden (1991), inspired by a travelling film exhibition of Canadian avant-garde films he curated in 1989 for the Art Gallery of Ontario, Spirit in the Landscape . In the mid-1990s, Kerr made a narrative feature film, The Willing Voyeur (1996), and a number of video-generated installation pieces.

The 1990s have been a quiet decade in Canadian experimental film, as financial and social changes have made independent experimental filmmaking increasingly difficult. Arts funding has been severely curtailed as well as politicized, generally to the disadvantage of avant-garde filmmakers. Several important artists continue to produce important films, among them Snow, who opened the decade with See You Later (Au Revoir) (1990), an eerie self-portrait shot with a "Super-Slo-Mo" video camera, and followed with To Lavoisier, Who Died in the Reign of Terror (1991), a return to the long and complex form he had not used since 1981's Presents .

Rimmer's masterpiece, Local Knowledge , was completed in 1992, as was Elder's The Book of All the Dead . New experimental films have been appearing less frequently and few possess much ambition. The politicization of the arts across North America, the rise of video as a preferred independent-production medium (especially in the case of gender-, gay- and lesbian- and race-themed work) and notable confusion about artistic direction have contributed to an ongoing crisis in experimental filmmaking. In an odd paradox, the historic prestige of Canadian experimental filmmakers was recruited to promote a number of young feature film directors such as Atom EGOYAN and Patricia ROZEMA , who felt the influence of the avant-garde and were later mislabelled as themselves avant-garde artists.

However, several filmmakers have weathered these difficulties. The mostly widely publicized of these is Mike HOOLBOOM , whose prolix outpouring of films since 1980 has traversed forms and styles with alacrity. He has collaborated regularly with other artists, notably Kika Thorne and Ann Marie Fleming, and has gradually assumed the air of the movement's leader. A contemporary of Hoffman and Kerr and their fellow students at Sheridan College, Hoolboom's work is often autobiographical and acted, as is Was (1989). Other films by Hoolboom have been theoretical, such as the virtually imageless talking film White Museum (1986). Some have been abstract or rooted in travelogue. In recent years, Hoolboom has made a series of AIDS-related films, such as Frank's Cock (1993) and Letters from Home (1996), a political allegory modelled loosely on Razutis's Amerika, Kanada (1993), and a feature-length psychodrama, House of Pain (1995), that have secured him a high profile and demonstrated the superior efficacy of experimental films over video work as a political medium for reaching audiences. Also a prolific journalist and critic, Hoolboom has assembled 2 books of his writings: Fringe Film in Canada (1997), a collection of interviews with filmmakers, and The Plague Years (1998), consisting of essays and autobiographical fragments.

Younger than Hoolboom, and potentially more interesting than many of the more derivative filmmakers of the 1990s, are filmmakers who are returning to the image-processing impulse Rimmer and Razutis exemplified 20 years ago and that Elder deployed throughout The Book of All the Dead to powerful effect. In the 1990s this encouraging tendency might be exemplified by Carl Brown's collaboration with Snow on To Lavoisier , the culmination of his experimenting with the chemical manipulation he has applied to the skin of celluloid to produce often astonishing visual effects. Brown has been only intermittently successful at devising forms for his films, though some, like Re:Entry (1990), manage to combine a gradually evolving trance-like lyricism and his image-surface improvisations.

Both of Wrik Mead's strongest films, Warm (1992) and Homebelly (1994), are psychodramas, belonging to a form rarely seen in Canadian cinema. Mead's films uses highly designed settings, an "etched"-grain film surface and step-printing to give his actors an odd, anguished metre of performance. Gariné Torossian's first successful film, The Girl from Moush (1993), is a family-portrait piece transformed by re-photography and jittery montage, a technique that she has continued to develop in subsequent films such as Drowning in Flames (1994). The return by newer Canadian filmmakers to this kind of attention to the photographic armature of the film medium suggests that the inaugurations of Canadian experimental film by Chambers, Snow, Wieland and Rimmer remain usable touchstones and that the drain on ambition and imagination occasioned by distractions into new narrative, video and more practical difficulties with funding avant-garde films are temporary.

External Links

Toronto International Film Festival The website for the Toronto International Film Festival. Check out the latest film news and links to the Bell Lightbox, the Film Reference Library, Cinematheque Ontario, Sprockets, Reel Learning, Film Circuit, Canada's Top Ten, and related features.

Recommended

Earle Grey Award

Acadian cinema.

What is an Experimental Short Film? A Beginner’s Guide to Avant-Garde Cinema

Experimental short films occupy a fascinating niche within the broader world of cinema. By throwing out conventions and challenging preconceived notions about film structure , storytelling, and meaning , avant-garde shorts provide viewers with a bold, innovative, and unconventional experience.

Table of Contents

Defining the Experimental Short Film Genre

First, let’s start with a working definition of what experimental short films are at their core:

As a genre, avant-garde filmmaking emphasizes original , conceptual , and abstract approaches to mood , tone , editing , story structure , lighting, and other technical elements .

The experimental director’s goal is often to challenge preconceived notions about cinema itself or convey a subjective inner experience rather than tell a linear story.

Though “experimental film” originally referred to a period of avant-garde European and American cinema in the 1920s-50s, it remains a vibrant genre. Contemporary experimental shorts continue pushing the envelope today.

Early Origins of Avant-Garde Cinema

While every art form has its periods of progressive, experimental work that rebel against conventions, few had as radical an influence as the early avant-garde film movement did on cinema.

Visionary European and American filmmakers embraced these innovations as tools for creating highly conceptual, non-narrative works that exemplified what art and cinema could be.

Some pioneering experimental directors and their influential works include:

Common Themes and Characteristics

While avant-garde films vary wildly, some patterns and shared characteristics emerge:

Surrealism and Subjectivity

For example, Buñuel and Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou depict shocking images like a sliced eyeball along with deadpan characters and dream logic transitions.

Minimalist Storytelling

Rather than feature-length plots, experimental shorts often have bare-bones frameworks or vignettes conveying mood. Brakhage’s The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes is a 32-minute film depicting autopsy footage in a poetic, abstract way.

Metaphorical Visuals

For example, Maya Deren’s At Land (1944) shows a woman moving through different environments to represent herself discovering freedom.

Rule-Breaking Techniques

Defamiliarization.

Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) took mundane urban scenes but revealed novel perspectives through editing.

Social Commentary

Why create experimental short films, artistic freedom.

Experimental directors are driven by pure artistic impulse and realizing fresh creative visions without commercial constraints. Form follows function in expressing an inner experience.

Challenging Perspectives

Evoking reactions.

From bewilderment to discomfort to inspiration, experimental films can elicit visceral reactions by making the familiar seem alien. Ambiguity invites individual interpretation.

Expanded Cinema

Influential experimental short film directors.

The Ukrainian-American filmmaker created some of the most influential American avant-garde films of the 1940s-50s. Meshes of the Afternoon(1943) showed how editing and repetition could reflect feelings of alienation and dreams.

Stan Brakhage

Kenneth anger, david lynch.

Lynch’s surreal nightmare worlds reveal avant-garde underpinnings. Early short films like The Alphabet (1968) and The Grandmother (1970) incorporated unsettling soundscapes and symbolic storytelling.

Luis Buñuel

Jean-luc godard, tips for creating your own experimental shorts.

Want to take inspiration from the avant-garde and create your own experimental shorts? Here are some tips to guide your innovative film projects:

Have a Clear Creative Vision

Learn the “rules” before breaking them, edit unconventionally.

Editing can make or break experimental shorts. Play with pacing, cuts, montages, repetition, and sequencing to provoke new perspectives.

Embrace Non-Narrative Forms

Lean into tone and mood, be intentional with “mistakes”.

Subtlety is key with techniques like jump cuts or broken continuity. They shouldn’t just feel sloppy.

Leave Meaning Open to Interpretation

The future of experimental filmmaking, digital avant-garde.

Directors like David Lynch have incorporated glitch effects, multimedia, and other digital tactics into recent experimental works, evolving the genre.

Short Form Experimentation

YouTube and Vimeo provide ready avenues for experimental shorts, music videos, and other projects to reach audiences directly.

Hybrid Approaches

Underground film communities.

Though not mainstream, vibrant underground communities of experimental filmmakers collaborate and share work outside the Hollywood system.

VR/Interactive Media

Immersive technologies like VR, AI, and interactive video provide new frontiers for avant-garde concepts that subvert passive viewing and linear narrative conventions.

A Living Art Form

Conclusion – what is an experimental short film.

The avant-garde short films expand perspectives, push aesthetic boundaries, and champion pure creative vision over commercial considerations. By subverting expectations and predictable formulas, experimental shorts refresh your senses and reveal cinema’s exciting potential.

Ready to delve deeper into the radical possibilities of avant-garde filmmaking? Pick up a camera, break some rules, and let your creative impulses run wild. With an artistic vision and willingness to innovate, your groundbreaking experimental short could be the next to influence generations. The limits are only what you make them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you know if a film is experimental, how do you make an experimental short film, what do experimental films tend to be, what are the 3 characteristics of experimental film, what are the six characteristics of experimental films, do experimental films avoid telling stories, do most experimental films do not tell a story.

Most experimental films primarily focus on innovative aesthetics, rule-breaking techniques, and evoking reactions rather than conveying a clear storyline from start to finish. However, some may incorporate loose narrative threads or vignettes as a structural framework.

What’s another name for experimental films?

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What is Avant-Garde Cinema — History, Examples & Styles

A vant-garde cinema, a term synonymous with artistic rebellion and cinematic innovation, has challenged and redefined our understanding of film narrative and aesthetics. This cinematic art form bravely departs from the mainstream, offering unconventional narratives, styles, and techniques that push the boundaries of traditional filmmaking. In this post, we will dive into the history of the movement, some of the best examples, and how they function as high art.

What is Avant Garde Cinema?

First, let’s define avant-garde cinema.

Blurring the lines of conventional storytelling and visual presentation, avant-garde cinema requires a more nuanced exploration to fully comprehend its essence. Let's begin by looking at the avant-garde film definition.

AVANT-GARDE FILM DEFINITION

What is avant-garde cinema.

Avant-garde cinema , derived from the French term 'avant-garde' meaning 'vanguard' or 'forefront,' represents films that are experimental or innovative, pushing the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or status quo in the cinematic world. These films often reject traditional narrative structures, explore abstract concepts, and emphasize on the visual and aural artistry of the medium.

The term avant-garde cinema was coined by French film critic and theorist, André Bazin, who noted that these pioneering works of art were emotional and even spiritual in nature, allowing viewers to explore the unknown through a unique lens.

Avant-Garde Film Characteristics:

• Non-linear storytelling
• Focus on mood and tone
• Emphasis on visual artistry
• Experimental film techniques
• Exploration of social, political, and abstract concepts

Avant-Garde Film History

History of avant-garde cinema.

The origins of avant-garde cinema can be traced back to the early 20th century when it emerged alongside avant-garde movements in painting and literature.

Surrealist artists of the 1920s found immense possibilities within the cinematic medium. Some of the earliest and most iconic experimental films include René Clair's Entr'acte , Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy's  Ballet mécanique  (embedded below), and Marcel Duchamp's Anémic Cinéma .

Ballet mécanique (1924, silent)

Filmmakers like Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí were pivotal in pioneering this innovative film genre with their groundbreaking work, Un Chien Andalou (1929), which boldly defied traditional narrative conventions.

Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Post-World War II, there was a significant surge in avant-garde filmmaking as artists and filmmakers aimed to challenge the commercial dominance of Hollywood and explore new artistic frontiers. The 1960s saw the rise of the New American Cinema movement , pushing the boundaries of traditional filmmaking with its experimental and non-conformist approach. 

These avant-garde filmmakers embraced unconventional storytelling techniques, innovative editing styles, and bold visual experimentation, creating a dynamic and thought-provoking cinematic experience.

Avant-garde cinema continues to evolve and inspire contemporary filmmakers, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and challenging conventional filmmaking norms. It remains a captivating and influential form of cinema that shapes the film industry's landscape and the evolution of the art form.

Understanding Avant-Garde Movies

Avant-garde film characteristics.

Avant-garde cinema is a captivating genre that boldly challenges mainstream narrative conventions. This distinctive style of filmmaking exhibits several key characteristics, contributing to its artistic allure. 

Non-linear Storytelling

Avant-garde movies deviate from traditional linear storylines. Instead, they prioritize mood , tone , and visual symbolism to convey their message. By eschewing conventional narrative structures for a non-linear structure these films invite viewers on a thought-provoking and immersive journey. 

The Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky

Emphasis on visual artistry.

Avant-garde cinema places greater importance on visuals than dialogue or narrative. Through the use of imaginative camera work, captivating lighting techniques , and thoughtful mise-en-scène , these films create stunning visual textures that allow viewers to experience the film in a uniquely personal way. 

Enter the Void by Gaspar Noé

Experimental film techniques.

Pushing the boundaries of creativity, avant-garde cinema embraces experimentation with various film techniques. From unconventional editing to innovative cinematography, these films strive to create unique visual experiences that challenge the viewer's perception and expand the possibilities of storytelling.

Focus on Mood and Tone

Rather than relying solely on plot progression, avant-garde films prioritize the creation and exploration of mood and tone. Through deliberate use of lighting, sound design , and visual aesthetics, these films evoke emotions and immerse the audience in a rich sensory experience.

Fallen Angels by Wong Kar-wai

Exploration of social, political, and abstract concepts.

Avant-garde cinema often delves into thought-provoking themes , including social commentary , political ideologies, and abstract concepts. 

By pushing the boundaries of storytelling, these avant-garde movies provoke introspection, stimulate intellectual discourse, and challenge societal norms.

Related Posts

• What is French New Wave? →
• The History of Film Timeline →
• Auteur Theory: The Definitive Guide →

Famous avant-garde films 

Throughout the rich history of cinema, numerous avant-garde films and filmmakers have emerged as true pioneers in their approach and artistic vision. 

Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí

Considered a surreal masterpiece, this film has become a cornerstone of the genre. Its unconventional storytelling and haunting imagery continue to captivate audiences, challenging traditional cinematic narratives.

Un Chien Andalou (1929) A Short Film by Luis Bunuel

Meshes of the afternoon (1943) by maya deren.

A landmark film that introduced a dream-like narrative structure, Meshes of the Afternoon remains an influential work in avant-garde cinema. Deren's exploration of the subconscious realm and symbolism paved the way for experimental storytelling techniques.

Meshes Of The Afternoon (1943) Maya Deren

Eraserhead (1977) by david lynch.

In the vast canvas of cinema, few pieces are as artistically audacious and psychologically piercing as David Lynch's Eraserhead . It's not just a film; it's an experience - one that defies the boundaries of conventional narrative and plunges you into a surreal dreamscape. Here's a scene that you're never forget.

Eraserhead  ·  Chicken Dinner

The hauntingly uncanny visuals, coupled with the abstract storyline, exemplify Lynch's distinctive style , serving as a testament to the power of avant-garde cinema. Eraserhead isn't merely a passive viewing; it's an immersive encounter that enthralls the senses and provokes introspection. For more on how Lynch works with avant-garde techniques, watch this directing style breakdown.

David Lynch Directing Style  •   Subscribe on YouTube

The color of pomegranates by sergei parajanov.

Through the lens of Sergei Parajanov, The Color of Pomegranates is a kaleidoscopic tapestry of brilliance. It's not your standard flick; it's a cinematic poem laced with a symphony of sounds and a tableau of vivid imagery .

Parajanov, in his audacious attempt, paints the life and work of Sayat-Nova, the 18th-century Armenian poet, not as a linear biography, but as a dreamscape of emotions, thoughts, and inner turmoil.

The film's storytelling doesn't follow conventional logic but instead, like a poem , it flits from one metaphor to the next.

The Color of Pomegranates  ·  Sergei Parajanov (1969)

Mirror by andrei tarkovsk .

Mirror , Andrei Tarkovsky's introspective masterpiece, deftly interweaves memory, dreams, and reality into a mesmerizing cinematic tapestry. This non-linear narrative is a deeply personal journey into Tarkovsky's own childhood and experiences, challenging the viewer to reflect alongside him.

It's an experimental film that demands attention, rewarding viewers with its profound exploration of human consciousness.

Mirror  ·  Restoration Trailer

Soy cuba by mikhail kalatozov .

Soy Cuba is a groundbreaking film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. It showcases the passion and struggles of the Cuban people during the pre-revolutionary era. The film's innovative cinematography, including breathtaking long takes and dynamic camera movements , contributes to its artistic and immersive storytelling.

Soy Cuba 1964 funeral

The importance of avant-garde cinema cannot be overstated. With its audacious creativity and exploration, it is a keystone of filmic innovation. It takes our understanding of cinematic language, bends it, breaks it, and remolds it into something thrillingly unfamiliar. In its courage to be different, it keeps the art of filmmaking eternally fresh, forever evolving, and endlessly inspiring.

The Definitive Guide to Auteur Theory

Having explored the captivating realm of avant-garde cinema, let's now turn our attention to another influential cinematic paradigm. Next, we delve into auteur theory, which explores the unique vision and distinctive authorial voice that some filmmakers bring to their work.

Up Next: Guide to Auteur Theory →

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