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.

Sense of Space - The Bates Motel Editing

With the Bates Motel edited, it is very hard to show exactly how we have been creative with our piece. We didn't encounter any problems as such, only where a lack of recordings is concerned. We could have done with a few more recordings of breathing and the movement of clothes in order to give a detailed sense of a character within a place (i.e. Marion in the hotel room).
The greatest triumph I feel was the atmosphere underlying the whole piece, it gives a real sense of movement from the bedroom to the bathroom. I think our creative use of panning gives a sense of where everything is in the room, in particular, the bathroom and window in relation to the character at the desk in the bedroom.

Here is a visual example of our editing

Here you can see how panning and volume was used to give the impression of Marion leaving the bedroom and heading for the bathroom. We stay static in one place as she moves away and then reappear with her in the bathroom.

Sense of Space - The Bates Motel Planning

The Bates Motel

Equipment List

1 x Marantz 660 Recorder

            Settings:         PCM 44.1k

                                    Presets 1 and 2 (Mono and Stereo)

                                    Phantom Power 

1 x Omnidirectional Microphone

1 x Rifle Microphone

1 x Tie Clip Microphone set

1 x Hydrophone plus contact rubber

The Bates Motel

Visual and Audio Timelines

This is the initial stage of our planning. We watched the scene through from 0 to 3 minutes exactly and charted exactly what was happening and when.

This is the 0 – 1 minute visual representation of our audio timeline. There will be 4 tracks, and the first track will be saved for atmos tracks.

This is the 1 – 2 minute audio timeline. As you can see, the fourth track is from now until the end reserved for the shower sound FX.

This is the 2 – 3 minute audio timeline.

Ideas for sound recording:

Stabbing – a knife thrust into a boned chicken

Quiet room atmos – near a window with distant traffic

Bathroom atmos – room in which heating can be heard, recorded near a radiator

Shower – 2 x mono tracks, one close to the head of the shower, one where the water hits the tub

Curtain rail – actual curtain rails OR coathangers

Curtain pulled off – coat poppers and metal nails

Body thump – chicken dropped on the floor

Everything else can be made with the actual object at close range.

Sense of Space - Proof!

Proof that the scene in question in Psycho is not nearly as effective without the music

Link to YouTube (embedding disabled)

Sense of Space - Douglas Gordon

In researching art based around Psycho itself, I found the work of Douglas Gordon. He has created '24 Hour Psycho'. I have included pictures and exerts from the Guardian Arts archive to describe the work and the interview with the artist himself.


Link to Guardian Arts article on 24 Hour Psycho

Douglas Gordon's exhibition 'What Have I Done?' begins with a slowed-down version of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho. A different take on a familiar classic, it introduces many of the important themes in Gordon's work: recognition and repetition, time and memory, complicity and duplicity, authorship and authenticity, darkness and light.


Douglas Gordon in his own words:
"24 Hour Psycho, as I see it, is not simply a work of appropriation. It is more like an act of affiliation... it wasn't a straightforward case of abduction. The original work is a masterpiece in its own right, and I've always loved to watch it. ... I wanted to maintain the authorship of Hitchcock so that when an audience would see my 24 Hour Psycho they would think much more about Hitchcock and much less, or not at all, about me...

A large mirror reflects Gordon's 24 Hour Psycho back at itself, beginning a game of spatial illusion and psychological instability that continues throughout the exhibition. Also caught in the mirror is a new work, Fog (2002). Using original footage shot by the artist, Fog takes its inspiration from a 19th-century Scottish novel by James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824).

I think it is very interesting that Gordon's aim is to elevae appreciation of Hitchcock's work by slowing down his piece: "I wanted to maintain the authorship of Hitchcock so that when an audience would see my 24 Hour Psycho they would think much more about Hitchcock and much less, or not at all, about me". This too, is our aim in creating 'The Bates Motel', to take away from what I believe is fairly unimaginative and poor sound for such a beautiful piece of cinematography, and make the sound match the brilliant tension created by Hitchcock visually. 

Sense of Space - Jym Davis

Following the theme of 'horror'/'thriller' that comes with Psycho, I have proceeded to look for some further artistic inspiration. In my research I have come across Jym Davis, painter and video artist, who does a lot of haunting pieces with evocative soundscapes.

Jym Davis Website

Link to Jym Davis Art Website


Link to Jym Davis YouTube Channel

White Space

Here is the first example that I came across; a variation on the theme of creation, inspired by the creation of Adam...
"formed man from the dust of the ground"
A human head emerges and descends from a chalky white pool, referencing the original man being created by God, though it possesses qualities of science fiction with its etherial quality.
I think that this piece is useful to my project because when you listen to the sounds, you can really sense tension and an uncomfortable atmosphere from the digital warping.

In Flux

The description on Davis' YouTube channel reads:

"If "White Space" is about the materials of the Genesis Bible creation account, then "In Flux" is about the spiritual...a figure passing from life into death. We are again presented with a figure's head, this time the white mud is replaced by a blurred light and eminating colors."

This piece is especially beautiful in terms of sound. The recordings in this can be derived from natural sounds, but they have been digitally edited to make body sounds, which I think is a really interesting concept. It is this avante garde style that really evokes a terrifying atmosphere when you close your eyes and listen to the soundtrack.

Sound and video art

Jym Davis also plays with how sound and video art is presented. For example, His works 'Chapel' and 'Peep-hole' are sculptures through which videos can be viewed. I like the idea of playing with how the audience would experience our sound art piece, perhaps through headphones rather than speakers.

'Chapel' (w/a Brett Mullinix), video sculpture, LCD screen, video loop, 2009

'Peep-hole', video sculpture, wood, LCD, video loop, 2007

Sense of Space - Rich Ragsdale

In my research on YouTube I have found director and composer Rich Ragsdale, whose filmic pieces are extremely inspired by his own music.


The first piece I came across was this test for an experimental dance piece. Like Psycho, it relies heavily on its soundtrack and camera/edit techniques to create the effect that it does, however, I have picked out some really fantastic moments of sound where the low frequencies and almost electronic wavering create such a spine chilling atmosphere. Like Psycho, the music comes to a definite climax, and I think we need to pick this out in our sound piece - we need to do something digitally to make the stabbing of Marion a landmark in the project.

Continuing to research Rich Ragsdale, I found that he takes a special interest in German expressionist cinema and silent film. Many of his pieces are based heavily around a soundtrack, so there is not much more that I can take from his work. 


Link to Rich Ragsdale YouTube channel