Experimental Film
I am not a great fan of most Experimental film but I do understand the concept. It tends to use other means rather then narrative and story telling to evoke an emotion. It is considered to engage the audience more by making them have to work out what the piece is telling them. Experimental film is what it says and so explores different mediums and ways of filming something. They play around with sound and imagery to try and find new ways to further develop cinema and film as it is today.
Experimental film uses alternative mediums in thoughtful yet sometimes pointless ways. I think Experimental film is necessary as it opens up new ideas and inspirations for film makers but don’t believe it should be put on the pedestal that it is. I understand that experimental film makers are messing around with the media to try and find that spark that could revolutionise film or help add a fresh concept. Still with that in mind I think a lot of it is quite pretentious and over rated. Moth Light 1963 is a perfect example.
Now I know you could get many connotations from this like “It’s like an Autumn walk” or “It’s like a moth flying around” but it’s just a man who has stuck pieces of leaf and moth in some film scratched the words Moth Light into the beginning and played it.
As for examples like Eraserhead 1977 and The Last of England 1988 to me there just random distressing images thrown together. There not particularly well made or well edited and after a while there quite boring. To make things like that you must be under some sort of influence and as many of the more decorated Experimental film makers were allegedly drug abusers, that would explain it. Another reason I dislike Experimental film is that they say there trying to evoke an emotion but why is it normally a negative one. Most of the pieces I’ve seen display feelings like depression, suicide, lonliness and hate. Where are the positive ones?
One piece of experimental film I do like is “Play” by Samuel Beckett directed by Anthony Minghella.
Now this is well made and has some actual intentional symbolism. The editing is quite dark yet effective and the content is really interesting and engaging. The director looks as though he has actually thought about what he is doing and it shows. Having good actors like Alan Rickman help as well. I really like this piece, it is still dark, quite eerie and doesn’t follow a particular narrative yet it doesn’t try to be too weird. For me I think the key to a good film, experimental or not, is a good balance between being different (trying new things) and not going too far. If you go too far you shut out your audience which I know experimental film isn’t meant to be revolved around but art isn’t just for the artist or they wouldn’t show it in public.
People need to like their piece or they won’t be able to keep up their drug habit. Seriously though, experimental concepts are like anything in film, if you use too much you’ll ruin the finished product. Too much CGI ruins films just like being too experimental. Take Bronson for a modern example. A brilliant film which explores experimental concepts quite widely.
It breaks the fourth wall, has various alternate realities for the viewer and uses different medium for certain scenes e.g. when he talked of robbing a post office they just showed a picture of the building and then the money he stole. The whole film is extremely different and it really works because they’ve got the balance right.
