Sunday, 22 May 2016

FM4 - Spectatorship - Experimental & Expanded Film/Video: David Lynch


David Lynch: Commercial Surrealism  


'Lady Blue Shanghai' is a 16-minute internet promotion motion picture for Dior starring Marion Cotillard, Gong Tao, Emily Stofle, Cheng Hong, Lu Yong and Nie Fei.

Lynch has made several commercial short films for promotional purposes before, like many other experimental filmmakers; Kenneth Anger and Chris Cunningham. As advertisements can largely function on the visual aesthetics, and don't necessarily require narrative logic, the medium makes an ideal platform for filmmakers like Lynch to further their art and fund future projects.

When watching 'Lady Blue Shanghai' consider whether mainstream cinematic expectations have conditioned your viewing experience to anticipate conventional narrative elements. Experimental and expanded film/video traditionally offer more challenging forms that transcend casual engagement with visual narrative and elicit more active participation in what the image may provoke in the imagination of viewer. This is the issue at the heart of spectatorship, you may feel that you may require narrative logic to enjoy film but is it really necessary when pure visual interpretation may lead to a different kind of emotional experience?



Written, directed and edited by David Lynch
Art direction by John Galliano in collaboration with Robert Lussier.
Music by David Lynch, Dean Hurley, and Nathaniel Shilkret.

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