EXPERIMENTAL FILM

The first project of this semester is to create an experimental film inspired by a word, object or poem.


As a student that is not too familiar with experimental works, I need to do a little bit of research on what an experimental film is and what types of experimental film exist. 


Also known as avant-garde, experimental films are knowingly non-conformist. They work against the norms and traditions of the cinema institution and are often made by singular independent filmmakers. 


The first text that I studied was FILM ART: AN INTRODUCTION (9TH EDITION) by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. In order to make sense of the huge amount of introductory knowledge that the book presented me with, I decided to write the key information in a sketchbook and present the research that I had done around some of the films mentioned in the text. This was more to organise my thoughts around the subject as a beginning to my research. 

Brief descriptions of what it means to be 'experimental'.

Types of Experimental Film

Found-Footage Films

Found-footage films. Example: 'A Movie' (d. Bruce Conner 1958)

A found-footage film is one for which the visual matter already exists. In the case of 'A Movie', the footage was taken from old newsreels and soft-pornography. Additionally, the score that underlies and dictates the form of the whole film also already existed; 'The Pines of Rome'. Part of the reason that the film is so powerful is that the images were not set up for the purpose of the piece, therefore there is a harsh but beautiful realism to them. The juxtaposition of images forces us to look at what we are seeing in a different way and create associations amongst them, whether they exist or not. This derives from Eisenstein's theories of montage. 

Link to 'A Movie' - Bruce Conner 1958

'A Movie' supposedly charts the decline of civilisation, which is apparent towards the end of the film. Images of huge well-known disasters such as bridges buckling and ships sinking are compared to risky sports and stunts, for example. Similar shots compare a wagon pulled by horses to a tank, and images of heights are linked to images of danger. The final series of shots show a diver exploring a sunken ship, and as he disappears into the wreck, the film finishes. There is no 'the end', which represents the fact that is nowhere near at the bottom of its decline as a race.

Conner's film can also be described within another type of experimental form:

Associational Form

Associational form - Example: 'Koyaanisqatsi' (d. Godfrey Reggio 1982)

Associational form also draws on Eisenstein's theories of montage. It is the method through which visual juxtaposition creates associations through which we may conclude a metaphor or meaning. For example, as shown above, the likening of a woman to a rose through lyric poetry is not taken to mean that she is thorny and susceptible to aphids. Instead we associate a rose with its non-literal characteristics, its beauty, and therefore assume that the poet is saying that a woman is beautiful.

'Koyaanisqatsi' is a hopi Indian word that means 'life out of balance', as the film is subtitled. 

The film itself was made between 1975 and 1982 and was one of the first examples of filmmaking around the environmental theme. It is an apocalyptic vision of two very different world, revising the human-nature relationship. The images are portrayed through associational form in order to show the contrast between humans and nature; it suggests that humans are 'out of balance' with the natural world. 

Technically, the film was outstanding for its time. There is much use of time-lapse and slow motion, as well as moving vehicle shots. However, some of the footage (for example a rocket launch) is unlikely to have been filmed by members of the crew, which suggests that parts of the film are made from found-footage. 

Reggio associates hills and airplanes, subways and clouds, rockets and pedestrians. In places, the associations are more deliberate: at one point the image of sausages being churned out of a factory machine is followed by time-lapse footage of people on escalators, thus comparing modernity to machine. 

Extra info on 'Koyaanisqatsi'

Abstract Form

Abstract Form - Example: Ballet Mécanique (d. Fernand Léger 1924)

Alternatively, abstract form does not work to associate images with ideas that we ourselves conclude. Instead, a film may be based entirely around the contrasts and comparisons of shape, colour, size or movement in images or an image. An abstract film will be shot and edited entirely according to its pictorial qualities.

The first example, 'Railroad Turnbridge' is a classic example of this type of film. Richard Serra places a camera in the middle of a railroad turnbridge and watches the contrast of the geometrical shapes of the bridge in comparison to the sweeping landscapes surrounding it. 

Link to 'Railroad Turnbridge' - Richard Serra 1976

This example, 'Ballet Mécanique' is an early example of French experimental film. The film systematically compares the functions of the human body to machines and repetitive mechanical movements. A woman on a swing is contrasted with the backwards and forwards movement of a pendulum. The shapes of a hat and a shoe are compared in a single shot. Close-ups of mechanical pieces are shown as similar to the movements of a mouth, eyes and legs. Though we understand the theme being made, the film is not entirely forcing it. The difference with abstract form is that the film pays very close attention to the shots, images and placement of objects within that image. 

Now that I have researched some types of experimental filmmaking, I can now develop on these ideas and begin to seek examples of experimental texts and writings and theories about them.