Experimental Film: Spectatorship Approaches

Experimental film is very difficult to define. Critics and theorists argue over even defining it as experimental – some prefer avant-garde, underground, alternative etc. However, we can suggest some general conventions:

• ‘By and large, this is film-making without story, characters or plot’ – (A. L. Rees)
• No budget
• Intensely personal
• Completely different distribution and exhibition (Societies/museum/universities versus cinemas)
• Individual versus team
• Does not have a mass audience ideology/ conventions to consider 

First we have to consider what is conventional in film? Consider Micro techniques (mise-en-scène, sound, cinematography and editing), funding, distribution, narrative/content, technicians, representation (women, ethnicities, sexuality), audience, promotion, genre etc. What normally occurs and how could film-makers experiment with these different conventions? What is the different between mainstream, art cinema and avant-garde? If you’re not sure on definitions, research the terms further.

Why does it change our expectations as spectators and how do we react to the different and unusual in film? Consider how you feel when you watch a ‘mainstream’ film and compare it to art cinema or avant-garde?