The Experimental Hand Out

Experimental film is separate from the studio system exploring how certain subjects and themes can be portrayed in film. The films are normally abstract and at times improvised to create a feel or atmosphere in a film. By reading this booklet about experimental films I have noticed elements of the art form within my own film production. Some films may be inspired by a poem; I think by experimental film taking poems and interpreting them with a visual aid it cause the audience to think about the words and the image and what they mean when they are both combined. Experimentalists don’t necessarily have to go out and film their own footage to create their film allot of them use footage from other sources i.e. (newsreels & video sharing sites like YouTube). When experimentalists affix this type of footage to their films they are free to twist facts or create a totally fictional story.

Another unique ways experimentalists explore different aspects of film is by using animation, strips. Using both narrative and non-narrative films experimental films can take a storyline in any direction. Sometimes an experimentalist’s film may not make any sense at all to the audience. It might just want to evoke certain emotions or highlight a subject or maybe even an object. Voiceovers and external sounds are used in experimental alot. In the handout it gives an example of a experimental film which explores the theme of religion, where a nun discovers her sexuality. This is a so called ‘Taboo’ subject and wouldn’t normally be put in conventional films.  Film is stretched to its limits when it comes to experimental films to the point where it can be offensive to some viewers. By putting to opposite themes into a film like Holiness and Erotica, in reality those themes bear no resemblance to each other and would never be put together. But that’s what makes it experimental hence the breaking of normal social barriers.  Compared to the experimental films mentioned my film would be seen as the ‘safe’ choice when it comes to content.