Experimental Films in Class

During Class, Martine showed us a variety of films that can be classed as experimental, this has made me feel a little bit more comfortable about our ideas so far, as i was unsure that they would fit in to the genre of 'experimental'. However, i now feel that almost anything can be experimental so long as it doesnt follow the majority of the rules of Hollywood movies.

Ballet Mecanique - Fernand Leger (1924)

This is probably what i previously would have considered as 'Experimental', a montage of a selection of seemingly random objects or characters, all in black and white, with the tempo of the soundtrack quite different to the images
Its not something that i would particularly choose to watch as i dont find it particularly entertaining, however, i do see how, for its time, it was an amazing piece of work, purely for the amount of different techniques involved and played about with, and without pieces similar to this within the period of time that this was created, other pieces of work that i do find entertaining and enjoyable probably wouldnt exist.. i appreciate the work that was put into this piece as a building block for more recent pieces that have been created since, even if i dont particularly enjoy watching this specific film..

Hauschka - Jeff Desom (2008)

I particularly liked this piece, I liked the use of what im assuming was stock footage (however i may be wrong, it could just be various manipulated images). I like the old postcards. It reminded me of September 11th, as the piano falls in slow motion it reminds me of the falling bodies, the paper that must have been thrown from a building reminds me of the ash clouds and paper that fell from the falling buildings. I think the use of music gives it a calm, sombre, emotional feeling. As the shadow of the falling piano fell onto passing trams and cars i was expecting to see something tragic happen to the people inside. Im glad it didnt as i think that would take away the focus from the falling objects. I like how this piece moved me, id love to be able to make something that had that kind of effect on people in the future.
 
Telling Lies - Simon Ellis (2000)
 
 

 
I particularly like this piece because it is so simple an idea. It cant have taken a lot of efforrt to create once the initial idea was created either, which is something that also appeals to me, though it is definately one of those pieces that you cant replicate without it seeming like youve just copied it.
I like how the colour is used to show the viewer the words that are merely thought and unsaid.
 
Fisticuffs - Miranda Pennell (2003)


 

 
I really enjoyed this film. It was obviously created by overlaying lots of different shots and must have been massively choreographed and must have taken so long to plan out. I loved how skillfully the shots were put together. I like the idea of the line dancing metaphor as well, and i think this was what made it so entertaining. Its a fantastic example of non-linear metaphorical narrative.
 
Worst Case scenario - John Smith (2002)
 
 

 
I initially really liked this piece, purely due to the quite interesting artistic shots that were used with black and white lines throughout, however its incredibly long and i found myself getting very bored with it after a few minutes, expecting something to happen, almost willing a 'worst case scenario' to occur, and in the end it feels like nothing has really happened.. I like the use of repetition but i think if i used repetition i would have to use a lot less repetition to ensure i dont bore viewers.